8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Incoherent, August 14, 2005
This review is from: Polystom: Two Universes, One Reality (Gollancz Sf S.) (Paperback)
A good novel should often times be more than a story. It should be about something. It should have something to say about our world and the way we live. In Polystom, author Adam Roberts has two major themes to talk about: the nature of reality and our assumptions about the order of our lives. Two interesting questions. Unfortunately, this book comes no where near to giving a satisfactory answer to either.
Polystom is, more than a novel, a collection of three novellas. The first focuses on the failed marriage of the main character, Polystom, while the second follows the violent death of Polystom's uncle. The third brings these two tracks together as Polystom volunteers to help put down a sevant rebellion on another planet. As a noble, Polystom is convinced that war will be glorious, but quickly finds out how mistaken he is.
The work has some pluses. It establishes an interesting universe, one in which there is atmosphere between planets which allows people to travel easily from world to world. The character Polystom is relatively well drawn. But the novel still fails.
It fails for two reasons. The first is, simply, lazy writing. A principal guideline in writing is that one should show and not tell. Don't say a character is angry. Show their features, their actions. Let the reader discover the anger. Polystom features far too much telling, and it bogs down the work. Page after page of what is probably meant to be exciting character development could have been replaced with active scenes showing the same thing, or simply skipped all together. The second novella, featuring Polystom's uncle, suffers from this problem to an especially great degree.
The second problem with the book is its failure in matters related to the two themes mentioned above. As to the idea of the nature of reality, the book presents its arguments all in a rush, and through a long and tortured dialogue between Polystom and his uncle which plays more like a monologue. Indeed, the author seems to realize this as at one point Polystom thinks "...there seemed to be no stopping and no interrupting...his uncle." Moreover, even the points that are presented have been covered in a more interesting and thorough manner elsewhere.
As to the idea of human assumptions as to the order of our lives, the topic is more interesting. Many assume that because people exist, we must be the culmination of some grand process. Our existence is right and morally correct and purposeful, and not just a fluke of nature. An interesting topic, but one that does not get nearly enough attention. Roberts introduces the topic during the first novella, examines it somewhat more in the second, and by the third it has completely disappeared, which is unfortunate.
There were a lot of good intentions that went into this book, but good intentions alone do not make good reading. Instead, I found myself left with a novel that even at 300 pages seemed amazingly ponderous. Perhaps Roberts has had success with other works, but Polystom is not good reading and not worth a reader's time.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mannered, sophisticated science-fantasy. 4.5 stars, April 24, 2004
This review is from: Polystom: Two Universes, One Reality (Gollancz Sf S.) (Paperback)
My first Roberts read, and it's a winner. Structured as three linked novellas, Polystom is set in an Edwardian analog to Garfinkle's CELESTIAL MATTERS, but with an information-age "what is reality?" twist. And I'm a sucker for the old "Ms. found in a [weird place]" device. An unusual, and well-written, science-fantasy.
Best review online is Paul Di Filippo's at scifi.com [google]:
In one strange corner of the universe, six worlds and their several moons orbit tightly around their odd sun, which operates not only by fusion, but by simple oxidation... [end quote]
Pete Tillman, sighing at the work-arounds needed for Amazon's review-posting system. Will this one 'take' on the first try? Second?
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Free SF Reader, September 3, 2007
A young member of the upper classes in a solar system that is only separated by some thousands of miles, and has atmosphere throughout is encouraged to marry.
It doesn't end well, and his uncle is then murdered, leaving him alone and in charge. On finding his uncle's scientific involvement in computer science led him into military work, Polystom decides to join the war on Mudworld and command a platoon.
What he finds there, in the way of computer science literally shakes his faith in reality.
A little reminiscent of [The Miocnene Arrow], but a lot simpler.
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