Russia, 1946. With the Nazis recently defeated, Stalin gathers half a dozen of the top Soviet science fiction authors in a dacha in the countryside. Convinced that the defeat of America is only a few years away—and equally convinced that the Soviet Union needs a massive external threat to hold it together—Stalin orders the writers to compose a massively detailed and highly believable story about an alien race poised to invade the earth. The little group of writers gets down to the task and spends months working until new orders come from Moscow to immediately halt the project. The scientists obey and live their lives until, in the aftermath of Chernobyl, the survivors gather again, because something strange has happened: the story they invented in 1946 is starting to come true.
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Along with a number of his peers, sf writer Konstantin Skvorecky, whose autobiography is this novel, was summoned to a dacha and told by Stalin himself to come up with a plausible alien-attack scenario. Just as suddenly, they were told to leave and forget everything that had happened. Konstantin spent the next years drinking and smoking himself to death, until he became one of the two Russians who don’t drink. In 1986 he encounters Jan, who was also at the dacha and now works for a government ministry. Jan believes that everything they imagined is now coming true, which means they have a pressing need to get to Ukraine. If Jan is right, someone is going to blow it up and must be stopped. Disaster awaits, for Konstantin is blown to bits at Chernobyl. Then his story gets really interesting, and the laws of reality get bent to nearly the breaking point. Roberts conjures the atmosphere of Konstantin’s era perfectly, makes his journey fascinating, and even makes him a pretty likable crotchety old man. --Regina Schroeder
Review
"Part a droll comedy of manners parodying the fall of Soviet communism, part an intellectual inquiry into the idea of multiple quantum realities and part an attempt to discover why, despite the ubiquity of reported sightings, UFOs have never been proved to exist. As ever with Roberts, the writing is impeccable and the ideas riveting." -- Eric Brown THE GUARDIAN "Yellow Blue Tibia is a more rollicking book all round. Roberts is a very witty writer, and there are moments of superb slapstick here. Who said the literary novel was dead?" -- Stuart Kelly SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY "Combining real events such as the Chernobyl disaster with bleak, Kafkaesque humour, Adam Robert's rich and strange novel is an attempt to reconcile the non-existence of UFOs with reports of sightings. A combination of the novel's sheer ambition and unexpected romance suggests Roberts is coming of age as a writer." -- Jonathan Wright BBC FOCUS "Gripping, captivating, wonderfully funny and magnificently written, completely mess-with-your-head weird. Fantastically evocative of what life was like in Soviet Russia, packed with telling details. Robert's style is beautifully crafted, his dialogue is superb, his charatcterisation perfect. This is a book you've got to read." -- Tom Holt SFX "Yellow Blue Tibia speaks of the fall of Communism, deals smartly with the bizarre status of the UFO in popular culture and mixes peculiar jokes with and almost Clouseau-like action with head-spinning revelations and even a sweet little love story. A cross between Robert Harris's Fatherland and Ian McDonald's Brasyl but reading nothing like either." -- Matt Bielby DEATHRAY Yellow Blue Tibia is certainly a different SF book. It isn't strictly an alternate history, but plays around with its ideas and tropes. It isn't a comedy either, but I guarantee it will make you laugh out loud on at least several occasions. The combination of several farcical scenes with very polite and proper Russian grammar gives rise to some entertaining linguistic combinations even Jack Vance would be proud of. A clever, confounding and strikingly amusing book." SFFWORLD.COM "As always, Roberts has come up with an intriguing and original piece of SF. The story moves quickly and is driven by dialogue which combines humorous banter and philosophical discussions about UFOs and also the suggestive nature of science fiction. Yet another stimulating read from one of Britain's foremost SF writers." -- Kevin Stone INTERZONE "From the opening act in the dacha and the banter between the five sf writers, to the scenes in Moscow and the action & aftermath in Kiev and Chernobly, 'Yellow Blue Tibia' is at times unbelievably funny, and is just a romp and very accessible. Superb and I can't recommend it enough." FANTASY BOOK CRITIC "Killings, kidnappings, interrogations and everything else you'd expect from the KGB, plus a trip to Chernobyl and a most surprising love story, all wrapped up in the blackest of dark comedy with a cast of disturbed and damaged characters. Recommended." -- David V Barrett FORTEAN TIMES
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By Mike Fazey
Format:Paperback
Yellow Blue Tibia, with its quirky humour and uncertain realities, calls to mind Kurt Vonnegut and Philip K Dick. It also reminded me a bit of Stanislaw Lem, in particular, his absurdist novel Memoirs Found in a Bathtub.
Roberts has created some memorable characters here. The protagonist Svorecky has a kind of dry acerbic wit that permeates almost every conversation he has, and the nuclear physicist cum taxi driver with Asperger's Syndrome, Saltykov, is absolutely hilarious. There are some very funny scenes too - Svorecky's impromptu address to a group of Muscovite UFO enthusiasts and his interrogation at the hands of the militia are both eminently chucklesome.
But behind the humour, there's an interesting sociological theme about the UFO phenomenon and why it's so culturally prevalent. The idea that the KGB devoted so many resources to investigating it is both silly and oddly plausible - the Soviet X-Files. I don't think Roberts intended the novel to be a serious exploration of the sociology and psychology of UFO culture - it's more an intellectual entertainment. As such, I think it works pretty well.
So if you enjoy weird ideas and witty narrative, you'll probably enjoy this.
Roberts has created some memorable characters here. The protagonist Svorecky has a kind of dry acerbic wit that permeates almost every conversation he has, and the nuclear physicist cum taxi driver with Asperger's Syndrome, Saltykov, is absolutely hilarious. There are some very funny scenes too - Svorecky's impromptu address to a group of Muscovite UFO enthusiasts and his interrogation at the hands of the militia are both eminently chucklesome.
But behind the humour, there's an interesting sociological theme about the UFO phenomenon and why it's so culturally prevalent. The idea that the KGB devoted so many resources to investigating it is both silly and oddly plausible - the Soviet X-Files. I don't think Roberts intended the novel to be a serious exploration of the sociology and psychology of UFO culture - it's more an intellectual entertainment. As such, I think it works pretty well.
So if you enjoy weird ideas and witty narrative, you'll probably enjoy this.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By T. Davenport
Format:Paperback
I generally find "humorous" SF and fantasy to be anything but. Where's the wit? Where's the elegance, the sense of play? Well, as you may have guessed by the many gold stars above, I thought "Yellow Blue Tibia" was hilarious. It follows Konstantin Skvorecky, one of a small group of Russian SF writers selected by Stalin to create a fictional alien menace that will unite the Soviet people. Abruptly, the project is cancelled and the writers are scattered to the four winds.
Skvorecky tries to forget - as he was ordered to - but twin conspiracies make that impossible. One group believes fervently in the alien menace and wants his help in warning the world. The other group believes just as fervently and wants to facilitate the coming invasion. Together, they drag him through the darkest crannies of the Soviet police state, from Stalin's country chalet to a KGB interrrogation cell to the ill-fated Reactor 4 at Chernobyl. What makes the journey so delightful is Skvorecky's droll narrative voice and the hilarious bon mots he exchanges with his various jailers, interrogators, helpers and would-be assassins. It all wraps up in the best kind of happy ending - the kind that implies that, if only the book were a few chapters longer, it would include the end of the world.
Skvorecky tries to forget - as he was ordered to - but twin conspiracies make that impossible. One group believes fervently in the alien menace and wants his help in warning the world. The other group believes just as fervently and wants to facilitate the coming invasion. Together, they drag him through the darkest crannies of the Soviet police state, from Stalin's country chalet to a KGB interrrogation cell to the ill-fated Reactor 4 at Chernobyl. What makes the journey so delightful is Skvorecky's droll narrative voice and the hilarious bon mots he exchanges with his various jailers, interrogators, helpers and would-be assassins. It all wraps up in the best kind of happy ending - the kind that implies that, if only the book were a few chapters longer, it would include the end of the world.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By K. J. Bonin
Format:Paperback
I suspect Adam Roberts will be a very popular writer in a few years. I say, "Get on board now"
As a long time fan, I ordered the book from Amazon's UK website, as I couldn't wait for the US version.
Yellow Blue Tibia is well written. The story is a page turner. The characters are well filled out. The writing is superb, clever, funny... I found myself smiling often, and even breaking out in laughter on occasion. The setting in the Soviet Union only adds deeper flavor. Well done!
As a long time fan, I ordered the book from Amazon's UK website, as I couldn't wait for the US version.
Yellow Blue Tibia is well written. The story is a page turner. The characters are well filled out. The writing is superb, clever, funny... I found myself smiling often, and even breaking out in laughter on occasion. The setting in the Soviet Union only adds deeper flavor. Well done!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, bad.
This is a terrible mashup of science fiction, lack of research and dumb. Just dumb. I'm not even a Russian speaker and I picked up on some of the mistakes (here's a hint:... Read more
Published 3 months ago by K. ONeill
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pass.
An interesting premise that does nothing to keep the interest. It is slow and tired, like its characters, and at the end left me irritable and anxiously waiting for it to be over. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jose Sierra
3.0 out of 5 stars
Yellow Blue What?
It was the title that attracted me to this. A bizarre title a bizarre book. Some interesting descriptive narrative particularly in the Chernobyl reactor and a bizarre premise -... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Stefano
5.0 out of 5 stars
Science fiction becomes science fact?
Stalin's Russia is needing a cause to continue its control over its citizens in the post-WWII years. What better way than by waging a new war? Read more
Published 10 months ago by Dick Johnson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ideas-Driven not Plot-Driven
Since 2009 when I first read a review of Yellow Blue Tibia, I have been wanting to read it. Its premise entranced me: science fiction writers in Russia invent an alien invasion for... Read more
Published 16 months ago by A_Power
1.0 out of 5 stars
a budget nightmare
A very tired pastiche, which might have been a bit livelier(thank God it wasn't) if the author took some MINIMAL pains to actually research the period/culture/language which he... Read more
Published 18 months ago by fufechka
4.0 out of 5 stars
"communism is science fiction"
As far as Soviet-era UFO conspiracy pastiche can be punted with an iron boot, Yellow Blue Tibia has proven refreshing. Read more
Published on April 4, 2011 by gonzobrarian
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this book!
Either I loved this book, or I didn't love it, or it was some third thing.
But (really) I loved it, and you'll just have to read the book to understand the first... Read more
But (really) I loved it, and you'll just have to read the book to understand the first... Read more
Published on March 10, 2011 by Lea
2.0 out of 5 stars
a drop of vodka in a glass of water
That's how I think of this book: an itty-bitty bit of science fiction diluted into a big glass of verbiage.
The story starts well, and the writing style is pleasant and alert. Read more
The story starts well, and the writing style is pleasant and alert. Read more
Published on February 17, 2011 by Min Jeong Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Find!
This and The City and The City by China Mieville were the only truly exceptional books that I read this year. Look forward to reading more of Adam Roberts in the very near future.
Published on January 1, 2011 by Yoshe
