Product Description

Two narrators tell the story of the simmering tensions between their two communities as they travel out to a new planet, colonise it, then destroy themselves when the tensions turn into outright war. Adam Roberts is a new writer completely in command of the SF genre. This is a novel that is at once entertaining and philosophical. The attitudes and prejudices of its characters are subtlety drawn and ring completely true despite the alien circumstances they find themselves in. The grasp of science and its impact on people is instinctive. But above all it is the epic and colourful world building that marks SALT out - the planet Salt rivals Dune in its desolation and is a suitably biblical setting for a novel that is powered by the corrupting influence of imperfectly remembered religions on distant societies. From the early scenes set on a colony ship towed by a massive ice meteorite, to the description of a planet covered in sodium chloride, to the chilling narrative of a world sliding into its first war, this is a novel from a writer who shouts star quality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #345893 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The publishers of Salt, the debut SF novel by a British author, compare it to Frank Herbert's Dune--and certainly the harsh beauty of the planet Salt makes arid Dune seem cosy and lush. Here are great deadly deserts of salt-crystal dunes, "seas" that are supersaturated lakes scummed over with hard salt, free chlorine in the air, inedible salt algae, a corrosive wind called the Devil's Whisper and a sleet of cancer-spawning radiation from the sky ...

Ill-assorted groups of Earth colonists were lured across space by misleading survey reports--or did Salt change during the long voyage? They build their makeshift cities around the salt lakes, struggling to tame this dreadful world. Unfortunately two of the settlements are desperately incompatible, hardly able even to communicate. Senaar city has a rigid, disciplined hierarchy with every person in their place, ordered like atoms in crystalline salt; Als is a leaderless anarchy where anyone might tackle any job, all as fluid as seawater. (Yes, Roberts loves salty metaphors.)

The viewpoint alternates between Petja of Als and Senaar's leader, Barlei, whose non-communication escalates into a war for which Senaar has been prepared all along--although Barlei has hypocritical justifications for everything, including oppression of his own people and Orwellian rewriting of history. Meanwhile, against all his Alsist principles, the gentler, poetic Petja hardens into a charismatic terrorist leader. Their entwined stories are grim, sad and bitter as salt. (Roberts does sometimes overdo the metaphors.) Salt is a skilful, intense, gloomy novel. --David Langford

From the Publisher
Fantastic reviews for this Clarke Award nominated title
'SALT is a tremendous novel that I unreservedly recommend. It is certainly one of the best that I have read this year and Roberts joins my personal list of essential authors, i.e. authors whose books one tries to read as they come out. SALT is a well written, provocative novel that comes without any neat resolution, let alone a happy ending. It is a tremendous achievement and Adam Roberts is certainly a writer to look out for in the future.' VECTOR (The critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association)

'This is a well-crafted novel, written in an assured manner. This tale could easily have been a cliché populated with stereotypical character ciphers, instead of which we have an engrossing tale with no clear-cut implications of who is right and who is wrong. It is not hard to see why Adam Roberts has been nominated for this year's Arthur C Clarke award.' JOE GORDON, Waterstone's Edinburgh.

SALT has been shortlisted for the 2001 Arthur C. Clarke award for the best SF novel published in the UK. This is a great achievement in itself, all the more remarkable given that it is a first novel.

SALT was listed in the First Novel category in LOCUS magazine's list of Recommended Reads from the year 2000

'A strong SF novel somewhat in the same vein as Frank Herbert's DUNE. SALT is a bitter, sometimes grim, and occasionally bleakly humorous novel. It is also accomplished, engaging and fascinating. Most of the SF novels to come out of Britain this year have been sprawling affairs; SALT on the other hand is tightly focussed, tautly plotted and marks Roberts as a writer to watch' LOCUS

'Salt, both in its ambition and execution, invites comparison to other SF novels of high stature. The Dispossessed has already been mentioned as a philosophical precedent. In addition, the almost lifeless salt desert recalls that other desert planet, Arrakis. And in its theme of humans carrying their sins with them wherever they go, Salt brings to mind Frederik Pohl's masterpiece of pessimism, Jem. Let there be no doubt, however, that Salt is a novel that succeeds on its own terms. Roberts' prose carries the weight of a serious theme, but never becomes bombastic or portentous itself. This is the work of a writer who has already found his voice, and has something meaningful to say. With Salt, Adam Roberts has produced the finest first novel to grace the field of science fiction in many years.' SFSite

'His evocation of Salt's bleak landscapes is elegant and evocative, and his narrative is knotty and sophisticated. Neither side is blameless; the moral shading is subtler than blunt schematic didactisim; the tragedy all the deeper. SALT is a strong debut, and an affecting, effective novel.' PAUL McAULEY, Interzone

'Oh-no - not another debut SF novel. But fear not, Adam Roberts' brilliantly written tale of the colonisation of the planet Salt has all the hallmarks of a writer with many years experience.' Barry Forshaw, STARLOG

'The power of SALT quietly creeps up on you, making a convincing and powerful debut' SFX

'Doris Lessing and Iain Banks collaborate to rewrite The Dispossessed, and do a better job of it than anyone might reasonably hope! OK, so it's not exactly a blockbuster by-line but, please, trust me on this one Salt is a moving, intelligent and great book. If you enjoy the political edge of Banks' books and the demands of Doris Lessing's then you'll love Salt. If you enjoy intelligent sf that'll make you laugh and sigh then you'll love Salt. Whatever, you'll love Salt.' INFINITY PLUS

A fascinating concept, deftly executed. Adam Roberts has got what it takes' Peter F. Hamilton

About the Author
Adam Roberts is 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

A stimulating sci-fi read.
THE STORY:
Several colony ships head to a new world full of promise. However, upon arrival they discover their surveys were wrong and the world gains the nickname 'Salt'. Two groups of colonists rise to prominence, but their strongly opposed philosophies inevitably lead to a terrible war.

WHAT'S GOOD:
If you approach this book as a real 'what if...' SF story, you'll be disappointed. It's more a story about human nature with Als, Senaar and Salt itself being largely metaphoric (sorry if that sounds really pretentious, but that's what I got from reading the book). The world of Salt is beautifully described and yet Roberts never leaves you in any doubt about just how dangerous a planet it is, making it a powerful crucible for the people who find themselves stuck there. The really clever thing about the book is that it leaves open the decision of which philosophy (Senaar's militaristic dictatorship or Als' free-living anarchy) is the better one. Petja, at first, seems to be the better man, but when his free and unrestrained emotions lead him to violence and rape, we have to question whether an oppressive yet ordered society is not the better option. But by the same token, the parts of the book dealing with Barlei leave you chafing at his all-too-familiar megalomaniacal mind set.

WHAT'S BAD:
This book isn't a comfortable read, nor a cheerful one with a clever moral, so people looking for a good STORY should look elsewhere. Looking for a good BOOK, however, and here one is.

Gentle? Poetic? What?
Adam Roberts did an excellent job of world-building in this novel. The landscapes of Salt were unforgettable. Unfortunately, I was so repulsed by the main characters (the Alsist Petja much more than the Senaarian Barlei), that the entire book lost its appeal.

I object strongly to David Langford's characterization of Petja as "gentler and poetic." This guy almost kills one of his fellow Alsists in a fight, and rapes a Senaarian woman. This is not my definition of gentle. If anything, I found Petja to be a bigger hypocrite than Barlei.

Although, to be honest, the idea of punching anarchists in the nose does have its appeal.

Finally, the fact that there were no protagonists worth cheering for, made this otherwise promising novel a depressing read.

Most notable for what it doesn't say.
Adam Roerts' _Salt_ is a sparse and harsh book just like the planet on which it is set. It doesn't allow much sympathy with the main characters - both are basically war criminals who end up being responsible for the deaths of thousands. It also paints scarcely any picture of the world in general outside of the particular situations faced by the colonists, and gives almost no background for its characters. Basically, it doesn't give us any soil with which to foster a more comfortable experience with the narrative. Its aridity is the factor that shrinks it down to 250 pages.

This doesn't mean that as several previous posters said, the characters are undeveloped. On the contrary, the characters are very completely developed. It's just that the complexity of the characters isn't spelled out for us. To get a complete understanding of the characters you have to read deeply into the limited material available. Take Barlei's weird obsession with his lieutenant jean-Pierre, which reminds one of Achilles' affection for Patroclus and along with remarks made in the final chapter suggests a radical interpretation of his behavior. Or the references in both narrators' accounts to combat and war being analagous to musical compositions, which seem to suggest that our two protagonists are similar in some deep way.

It's possible as well to use the few references to Earth to figure out that the world left behind isn't exactly the kind of world we live in now. References to the New Vatican States and the World Ecclesiastical Union (or somesuch) paint a picture of a world divided again on religious lines, where the main impetus for space travel is escaping persecution and colonist fleets are privately funded. The group of colonists on Salt seem to be not a wide sample of the human race, but an assemblage of a few Eastern European religious sects that presumably felt that the political consolidation of religion left them little freedom to practice on Earth. (It is never stated precisely which church the colonists belong to but mandatory male and female contraception points to it being radically different from any on Earth today.)

Because Salt has been pared down to its essentials, it reads as carefully structured and highly concentrated prose. You have to work a bit to get what you want out of it, but once you do the book os pretty rewarding.