The Chronoliths 
asked by rob33 on November 2, 2006 5:50 AM
Robert Charles Wilson is an accomplished and acclaimed writer with an impressive body of work. The Chronoliths is his best novel yet, an intelligent, fascinating, and frightening account of a unique incarnation of time travel.
American software developer Scott Warden is living a careless expatriate life on the beaches of 21st century Thailand when a monolithic pillar, sheathed in ice and composed of an unknown, indestructible material, appears in the jungle. The artifact is a chronolith, a memorial commemorating the conquest of Thailand--20 years in the future. As Warden follows his estranged wife and badly injured daughter back to the U.S., more chronoliths celebrating future victories appear, to devastating effect. Bangkok and Jerusalem are destroyed, and societies worldwide dissolve in chaos or teeter on the brink of collapse. As the chronoliths close in on America, Scott joins with biker and undercover agent Hitch Paley and experimental physicist Sue Chopra in a literal race against time to find a way to change the future--which has already happened. --Cynthia Ward
Reviews
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Having read the incredibly disappointing Darwinia (a book whose title was the high point), I was not expecting much from another Wilson. But the jacket looked interesting, and the bookstore was going out of business, so I was able to get it for an incredibly cheap price. I had rather low expectations. It's nice to be substantially surprised.
Chronoliths is exquisitly written. Wilson grabs the reader from the very beginning and pulls you along at a breathtaking pace. The characters are deeply painted and deeply felt; the world Wilson creates is both believable and imaginative. Having lived overseas I could identify with the thoughts and actions of the expat Americans in Vietnam. Initially America is as it is now, at the top of the heap. And then as the chronoliths appear, the country becomes progressively more and more dilapidated, entering a 2/3rds world level. This was also well described and believable. I felt with the characters, and could easily imagine such a country.
Not everything is explained in this novel in terms of the science, but not everything needs to be. The important thing is that there is resolution that both explains the larger issue and resolves all of the various plot threads. This was a very fine book.
Chronoliths is exquisitly written. Wilson grabs the reader from the very beginning and pulls you along at a breathtaking pace. The characters are deeply painted and deeply felt; the world Wilson creates is both believable and imaginative. Having lived overseas I could identify with the thoughts and actions of the expat Americans in Vietnam. Initially America is as it is now, at the top of the heap. And then as the chronoliths appear, the country becomes progressively more and more dilapidated, entering a 2/3rds world level. This was also well described and believable. I felt with the characters, and could easily imagine such a country.
Not everything is explained in this novel in terms of the science, but not everything needs to be. The important thing is that there is resolution that both explains the larger issue and resolves all of the various plot threads. This was a very fine book.
reviewed by runabout on November 10, 2006 6:48 AM
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Well written time distortion science fiction that offers a unique take on a popular theme. Character development and pacing are as good as it gets in a science fiction novel. The only reason I give this 4 stars is the time travel theme that inevitably lead to questions. I have never read one science fiction novel involving time travel that didn't have me questioning one part of the story or another. This is as good as any science fiction novel I have read involving time travel and shouldn't discourage you from reading.
reviewed by dannyboy on November 27, 2006 8:16 AM
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I placed Time Travel in quotes because this book is really not as much about traveling in time as it is about the effects of time travel. Although it lags a bit 3/4 of the way through, overall it is extremely interesting and looks at time travel a whole new way. As always with this author, I was deeply invested in the charactors- and the story.
A great read.
A great read.
reviewed by borat on November 27, 2006 12:11 PM
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Do you believe in coincidences? Scientist Sue Chopra doesn't and she keeps trying to convince Scott Warden that he, she and the mysterious Chronoliths, monuments sent from 22 years in the future are connected, that it is all clear if one can understand the math.
In the story by Robert Charles Wilson we follow Scott through the hard years that follow the arrival of the Chronoliths, tall monuments that praise the soon-to-arrive conqueror Kuin. During that time, Scott tries to make his way in the collapsed United States, maintain a relationship with his daughter and watch as rebellions fire up around the globe in anticipation of the Day of Kuin. Scott notices the way his finds himself involved with the Chronoliths and must come to grips with his role in the events as well as the roles of those around him.
This is the second of Wilson's books that I've read and found it quite enjoyable. He creates rich, complex and highly imaginative stories and fills them with well developed characters.
In the story by Robert Charles Wilson we follow Scott through the hard years that follow the arrival of the Chronoliths, tall monuments that praise the soon-to-arrive conqueror Kuin. During that time, Scott tries to make his way in the collapsed United States, maintain a relationship with his daughter and watch as rebellions fire up around the globe in anticipation of the Day of Kuin. Scott notices the way his finds himself involved with the Chronoliths and must come to grips with his role in the events as well as the roles of those around him.
This is the second of Wilson's books that I've read and found it quite enjoyable. He creates rich, complex and highly imaginative stories and fills them with well developed characters.
reviewed by astrofizzy on November 27, 2006 7:19 PM