Product Description

Adam Roberts' fourth novel is his most ambitious yet. In a feat of extraordinary world building he creates a universe where a breathable atmosphere extends out between the planets, where aristocrats cruise interstellar space in biplanes, and skywhals make mysterious distant orbits. Then, with bravura plotting he undermines our own notions of reality and leaves the reader unsure which universe to believe. Gaining a reputation as one of the UK's leading SF stylists and masters of the high-concept Roberts, shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke award with his debut novel SALT, confirms his extraordinary potential with POLYSTOM.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #306043 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 294 pages

About the Author
Adam Roberts is 36 and a Senior Reader in English at London University. His first novel, SALT, was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He has also published a number of academic works on both 19th century poetry and SF.

Customer Reviews

V.well written. Interesting concept, weak story realisation
I chose this largely based on the book cover notes with a mind that it may be along the lines of Moorcocks Dancers at the End of Time. Though no relevance to that, Polystom sketches an engaging world , HG Wells/Victorians in Space, however does not follow through with plot execution or characters you really invest in whilst reading the book. On reflection its culmination veers towards a cyberpunk concept of alternate realities; interesting though not defining.

Nice concepts - failing implementation.
I have previously read three other (stand alone) novels by Adam Roberts, namely Stone, Salt and On. Well...Polystom makes 4 and I will not be buying a 5th.

I find myself buying his books because the ideas and concepts of this author are brilliant - especially when presented in condensed 'synopsis' form on the Amazon website.

The problem is - I have yet to witness a successful implementation of Adam Roberts' brilliant ideas. Maybe he would benefit from teaming up with a co-writer who could take the stories a step further and actually make me care about events and characters along the way.

I'll rate this one at 3 stars - solely for for the interesting concept.

Brilliantly annoying
This book is annoying. Few of the characters are in any way sympathetic. The story meanders.

And then it all suddenly makes sense and becomes somehow worthwhile. Incidentally, I'm not sure that this book has anything to with alternate realities (see other reviews) at all. In fact, I'll go further and say that it definitely doesn't have anything at all to do with alternate realities - and the fact that the other reviewers missed this may have something to do with their low scores.

More of a clinical exploration than a breathless dash through otherwise typical space opera territory, a book that demands a little patience as it sacrifices pretty much everything in favour of its high-concept core. But I like high concept.

Finally, one of the things that makes high-concept 'high' is the general irreality of it all. Clearly, there won't be any alternate reality that we can experience. But what happens in this book WILL happen, in some way shape or form. Therefore: read and be intrigued.