Swiftly - Hardcover

Roberts, Adam

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0575075899 ISBN 13: 9780575075894

Publisher: Gollancz, 2008

Synopsis

A Wellsian sequel to Gulliver's Travels and a unique piece of SF literature all of its own. It is 1848 and the British Empire has grown rich exploiting Lilliputian slaves—the finesse of their working allowing unheard of feats of minature engineering; even Babbage's computing device has been made to work. But now the French have formed a regiment of previously peaceful Brobdingnagian giants and invasion looms. In a world where humanity is both smaller and larger than it once was, love and hate loom large. Mankind discovers itself at the center of scale. Lilliptians are 12 times smaller than us but there are those 12 times smaller than them, and 12 times smaller again and so on. And the scale of being goes up from Swift's giants also. Adam Roberts has written both a rip roaring 19th century adventure, a love story, and a thought-provoking pre-atomic SF novel about our place in the universe.

About this title

About the Author:

Adam Roberts is the author of Gradisil and Salt, both of which were shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

Review:

"The king of high concept."  —The Guardian

"A brilliant burlesque conceit, and Roberts exploits it in bravura fashion." — Locus

"A worthy science fictional successor to Swift's indispensable masterwork . . . equal parts adventure story and social commentary. Its philosophy is Swift's, but its success is all Roberts's own."  —Strange Horizons

"An endlessly inventive writer . . . one of our most intelligent and versatile authors."  —SFRevu

"Darkly satirical . . . a dystopian vision in the tradition of Swift, Orwell, and Atwood."  —The Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Gollancz
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0575075899
• ISBN 13: 9780575075894
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 370