SPLINTER

 By Adam Roberts

 Review by James R.Cain

Adam Roberts is the author of seven novels and additional novellas and to date has twice been nominated for the Aurthur C.Clark Award for best novel.  Splinter is inspired by Jules Verne's "Off on a Comet", a story about a group of survivors stranded of a chunk of land that's knocked off Earth by a comet.  Splinter is a contemporary reinterpretation of the tale.

The story begins with Hector travelling to his father's ranch in the desert where he intends to find out why his father channelled his wealth into the creation of what seems to be a bizarre doomsday cult.  Hector Senior - his father - has been receiving visions from an unknown and suspected alien intelligence about a meteor collision with the Earth, and Hector junior has been invited to the group's end of the world celebration.  Hector attends, wanting to be there to shine the light of sanity on his father when he expects, the following day dawns and the Earth hasn't been destroyed.  However, things don't quite work out as young Hector plans.  

In the night, a violent earthquake shakes the ranch and Hector has a nasty fall.  The next day, he comes to and finds the ranch surrounded by mist, caused he's told by the evaporation of the Pacific Ocean.  The days and nights are shorter and according to his father, the group are pretty-much the sole survivors of humanity stranded on a splinter of the destroyed planet.

I found Splinter to be a very clever and thought-provoking tale as it follows the group trying to survive following the destruction of the planet.  Robert's characterisation and writing is masterful.  The tale is delivered through the eyes of a very sceptical Hector, and the story shines in the telling.  Splinter is at times humorous, at times provocative and even philosophical, but it's never dull as everything is grounded by Hector's humanity.  

The only thing I didn't like was the format of the novel itself.  The book is divided into three parts each of which is told in a different tense.  The first two parts I found very enjoyable, however the final section - told in future tense - didn't quite work as well.  I felt the future tense lost some of the immediacy of the storytelling, and the group dynamic, so vivid in the early sections seemed to fade.  However, all in all, I found Splinter to be a very good read, and I finished the book in a day.  It's a credit to Robert's skill that he's able to tell what at first hand appears to be a far-fetched tale in such a convincing manner.  I for one, have been converted into a fan. 

Publisher:  Solaris

ISBN 13: 978-1-84416-490-5 

ISBN 10: 1-84416-490-X