On / Adam Roberts

On

(category: science fiction)
by

Adam Roberts

published by Gollancz in 2001
Nick read a library book, in January 2010

Nick's rating: 3 out of 10

Nick's opinion:

This book reinforced my understanding of "hero" vs "protagonist"... The main character is definitely a protagonist. He grows up in a small village, where he is regularly beaten by his mother. He leaves the village by accident, then life just gets worse and worse.The book demonstrates a series of "civilisations" -- each worse than the other. Things just happen to the protagonist: mostly bad things. Friends and acquaintances all get killed, in increasingly bizarre ways. The physics of the world is finally revealed -- hastily, near the end. The boy finally decides to do something -- pointless and futile. Then he falls back into his preordained fate -- which is never really explained. One reviewer writes, "leaves a taste in your mouth." Sure... a taste like vomit. The author claims it is a story of "precariousness". More like "pointless misery". Written after a difficult period of his life, says the author. An exercise set by his psychiatric therapist, perhaps. Depressing. Pointless.

..o0o..

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