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The Grain Kings
A science fiction novel by the author of "The Inner World" and "The Furies."
208 pages, Hardcover
First published December 19, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 19, 2016
A book of short stories by the wonderfully descriptive Keith Roberts. If I had to nail Roberts it would be that as a writer he is very easy to enjoy, for when at his best, see Pavane, he is very poetical and descriptive. He is not though a great story teller as such. Be that as it may this is a very worthy read at times.
Weihnachtsabend. (1972). An alternative history in that the UK made peace with Nazi Germany with a senior civil servant and a love interest along with a manhunt being of chief concern. Not a bad story.
The White Boat (1966). This is a fantastic piece of writing. The White Boat is in the superb Pavane and it is found here as a short story. I read it through again and came out the other end knowing that it deserved a third read and so have. I love the descriptive beauty of the prose, the way it drags me in and has me hanging off every word. It is a tale of hope and fear and even fulfilling your dreams. It has qualities of redemption. It is about not understanding a changing world. The most gorgeous 22 page story I have ever read.
The Passing of the Dragons (1972). The exploitation of an alien species leads to their demise. Not a bad tale and again Roberts descriptive writing makes a fairly shallow story come to life.
The Trustie Tree (1973). A crash victim on another world is taken by boat via canal system by an indgenious man. Descriptive prose of the man's delirium is the main reason to enjoy this tale.
The Lake of Tuonela (1973). The same planet many years later and a well meaning human takes along a local indigenous guide to assist him in taking a boat along long lost canal waterways. I enjoyed this tale. Again beautiful prose. What I found interesting was the modern take on Manifest Destiny.
The Grain Kings (1972). Very dated. Giant city like grain harvesters from the USA and the USSR charge across the Alaskan plains feeding the world. Cold war feel that seemed a touch irrelevant. Truly average love scene as well.
I Lose Medea (1972). I enjoyed this odd short story about a man who took his girlfriend camping and they had to put up with ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Well kind of. Roberts descriptive prose just dragged me along but I have to admit I have no idea what it is about. But I enjoyed it and that is what counts.
Weihnachtsabend. (1972). An alternative history in that the UK made peace with Nazi Germany with a senior civil servant and a love interest along with a manhunt being of chief concern. Not a bad story.
The White Boat (1966). This is a fantastic piece of writing. The White Boat is in the superb Pavane and it is found here as a short story. I read it through again and came out the other end knowing that it deserved a third read and so have. I love the descriptive beauty of the prose, the way it drags me in and has me hanging off every word. It is a tale of hope and fear and even fulfilling your dreams. It has qualities of redemption. It is about not understanding a changing world. The most gorgeous 22 page story I have ever read.
The Passing of the Dragons (1972). The exploitation of an alien species leads to their demise. Not a bad tale and again Roberts descriptive writing makes a fairly shallow story come to life.
The Trustie Tree (1973). A crash victim on another world is taken by boat via canal system by an indgenious man. Descriptive prose of the man's delirium is the main reason to enjoy this tale.
The Lake of Tuonela (1973). The same planet many years later and a well meaning human takes along a local indigenous guide to assist him in taking a boat along long lost canal waterways. I enjoyed this tale. Again beautiful prose. What I found interesting was the modern take on Manifest Destiny.
The Grain Kings (1972). Very dated. Giant city like grain harvesters from the USA and the USSR charge across the Alaskan plains feeding the world. Cold war feel that seemed a touch irrelevant. Truly average love scene as well.
I Lose Medea (1972). I enjoyed this odd short story about a man who took his girlfriend camping and they had to put up with ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Well kind of. Roberts descriptive prose just dragged me along but I have to admit I have no idea what it is about. But I enjoyed it and that is what counts.
November 15, 2025
Big recommend. Another Outlaw Bookseller recommendation that I quite enjoyed. Some stories more than others but I can without a doubt say I’m Keith Roberts enjoyer now. If you find yourself a copy, pick it up and most definitely read it!
March 29, 2018
This short story collection was published back in 1976. I'm not sure when I read it - I almost certainly got it second hand, I rarely bought new books back then - but I probably hadn't read it for thirty years or more when I picked it off my bookshelf a few days ago.
Yet as I read it, I realised that some of the scenes were still vivid in my minds. The Nazi Hunt that rode the English countryside on a snowy Christmas morning. The vast abandoned canal system on an alien planet. The immense combine harvesters threshing their way across the wheat plains of Alaska.
The stories themselves were less memorable. I wasn't entirely clear sometimes what exactly they were about, and I remembered that I hadn't been sure the first time I read them either. You would have thought that an extra thirty years of life and experience might have given me access to the hidden depths probably concealed here - but no, I'm still not on the right wavelength.
No matter. They were still worth reading for the powerful visions that Roberts creates, of worlds that never were but yet seem completely real. He was very good at that.
Yet as I read it, I realised that some of the scenes were still vivid in my minds. The Nazi Hunt that rode the English countryside on a snowy Christmas morning. The vast abandoned canal system on an alien planet. The immense combine harvesters threshing their way across the wheat plains of Alaska.
The stories themselves were less memorable. I wasn't entirely clear sometimes what exactly they were about, and I remembered that I hadn't been sure the first time I read them either. You would have thought that an extra thirty years of life and experience might have given me access to the hidden depths probably concealed here - but no, I'm still not on the right wavelength.
No matter. They were still worth reading for the powerful visions that Roberts creates, of worlds that never were but yet seem completely real. He was very good at that.
June 8, 2022
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"Keith Roberts (1935-2000) was an influential, if underread and underappreciated, English author (and cover artist) best known for his alternate history fix-up novel Pavane (1968) and powerful short fictions evocative of the English countryside. He won four BSFA awards in various categories (novel, short story, and artist) yet did not achieve the same critical success [...]"
"Keith Roberts (1935-2000) was an influential, if underread and underappreciated, English author (and cover artist) best known for his alternate history fix-up novel Pavane (1968) and powerful short fictions evocative of the English countryside. He won four BSFA awards in various categories (novel, short story, and artist) yet did not achieve the same critical success [...]"
June 10, 2025
SO! I really did not like this book. A large part of that is because, while Goodreads lets you know it is short stories, and the Hardcover lets you know it is short stories the PAPERBACK gives you no hint.
I thought it was a novel for the first story and a half and I was not in the mood for short stories.
Weihnachtsabend (1972) bore no resemblance to the description of the book at all. I had to check the pages heading to make sure the wrong cover had not been accidentally put on the book. Occurs in an alternative world where Germany did not lose WWII but instead joined with England to create an uber empire. We follow the protagonist who works for a ministry as he goes to a Christmas type party. An obscure resistance seem to be trying to contact him. A girl he used to know and he hook up. It was an ok sort of story, better in 2024 than when it was published in 1977 if only because we have google translate and I didn't have to wonder what all the German meant. Well written, seemed kind of pointless, to me as when I read it I thought it was a chapter 1.
The White Boat (1966) Is about a girl called Becky (14 maybe?)on some miserably poor rocky coast in the Northern UK (I think?) who sees a boat (possibly a yacht) that is white and beautiful come in to the bay and becomes obsessed with it... I think. I THINK this is what it is about, it is hard to tell. Well written story if you like stream of consciousness writing (I don't), but the whole thing is from a third person, inside of Becky's head and Becky is so basic she is barely verbal. What was the story about? When is it set? Becky does not know so neither do we.
The Passing of the Dragons (1972)
Starts with zoological/physical descriptions of 'dragons' native species on another planet, I like zoology. The anatomical detail made me very happy and there seemed to be story structure, NO stream on consciousness and actual dialogue. I was, initially cautiously positive now that I actaully knew it would be a short story.
SO this is a planet with a native species that looks a bit arthropod like, only with a vascular system similar to mammalians people call them 'dragons'. They may or may not have built structures and they may or may not be intelligent, they do not communicate with the humans who are devastating their planet and sending them extinct. No one knows why they are dying. We have two characters, our POV character is a 'behaviouralist' who is gathering data on the dying dragons, a right sarcastic nasty a-hole. The other is a Pilot who got him to the planet. A highly trained, idealistic type, maybe a bit dense in his clean-cut way. The scientist mainly entertains himself with baiting, taunting and insulting the pilot.
Well written story, deeply depressing on the behalf of the ecological devastation and the intellectual cruelty. I did not see the point of this story, if it had one.
The Trustie Tree (1973)
Starts with our third person POV (this is the author's favourite thing, isn't it?) injured on a boat floating down a river/canal? We are told it is on an alien planet, Xerxes and that he crashed, was found by aliens called Kalti, the 'boatmen of Xerxes' who have given him medication then left him alone. It is mostly musings on the colour of the sky and the leaves above him. Pretty in its own way but meandering and, once again, felt pointless.
The Lake of Tuonela (1973)
This is set on the same world as the previous story, Xerxes and with a similar/different theme.
Here we have a human protagonist who works on Xerxes and wants to spend his holiday investigating a network of canals and tunnels no one has before. He is denied so he goes anyway, with a single, atypical boatman guide. I didn't hate this one, the voyage is the main point of the story and in depth descriptions of the scenery. Apparently it is all quite pretty. Mathis spends most of his time musing about his life and I just didn't care that much.
The Grain Kings (1972)
The story the book is named after, finally! It could not have been more anticlimactic if it tried:
Yes, there is a huge grain harvesting combine (it's named Patsy) and that should have been very exciting. We don't see much of it though, and entirely through the POV of Harrison who is a reporter who is depressed that he broke up with some woman once. We see him drinking coffee, sipping orange juice, drinking whisky and English (not American) beer. We see sweet F all of the combine.
Then Harrison has a one night stand with the photographers assistant and now - oh great – we get to eavesdrop on Harrison thinking about her as well as his previous ex. The exciting incident with the Russian combine happens two thirds of the way through, I think we get a paragraph or two of that before we have to put up with Harrison thinking about his Alison again and drinking some more whiskey.
His magazine, national Geographic (maybe) decides to put him off the story now something exciting happened and replace him with a 'big gun' and this may depress him a little bit more than he was already depressed and unengaged, but who can really tell? I agree with the magazine, I would not trust this joker to write a shopping list.
I Lose Medea
Thankfully short. Not short enough. Actually I could possibly have enjoyed this one f I was not fed up with the whole collection. There are ghosts. And weird 'wars' that happen between castles and odd and impossible armies from combined time periods. Apparently the protagonist can make read women out of magazine pictures. It reads a bit like a 'just so story' but it could be ok.
Not for a second am I suggesting that Keith Roberts is a bad writer, his writing is lyrical, evocative, contemplative and beautiful. It is just that when I want this much pretty waffle with no story, I read poetry. Most of which has more happening in it, tbh. He has excellent descriptive powers when it comes to boats, canals, scenery and military stuff. Will approach any future writing by this author with extreme caution.
Postscript, 2025: I really didn't enjoy reading this, but it has stayed with me and I think back on the stories a lot. I am enjoying thinking back on them far more than I enjoyed them at the time. I must re-read, I suspect I will love it next time around.
I thought it was a novel for the first story and a half and I was not in the mood for short stories.
Weihnachtsabend (1972) bore no resemblance to the description of the book at all. I had to check the pages heading to make sure the wrong cover had not been accidentally put on the book. Occurs in an alternative world where Germany did not lose WWII but instead joined with England to create an uber empire. We follow the protagonist who works for a ministry as he goes to a Christmas type party. An obscure resistance seem to be trying to contact him. A girl he used to know and he hook up. It was an ok sort of story, better in 2024 than when it was published in 1977 if only because we have google translate and I didn't have to wonder what all the German meant. Well written, seemed kind of pointless, to me as when I read it I thought it was a chapter 1.
The White Boat (1966) Is about a girl called Becky (14 maybe?)on some miserably poor rocky coast in the Northern UK (I think?) who sees a boat (possibly a yacht) that is white and beautiful come in to the bay and becomes obsessed with it... I think. I THINK this is what it is about, it is hard to tell. Well written story if you like stream of consciousness writing (I don't), but the whole thing is from a third person, inside of Becky's head and Becky is so basic she is barely verbal. What was the story about? When is it set? Becky does not know so neither do we.
The Passing of the Dragons (1972)
Starts with zoological/physical descriptions of 'dragons' native species on another planet, I like zoology. The anatomical detail made me very happy and there seemed to be story structure, NO stream on consciousness and actual dialogue. I was, initially cautiously positive now that I actaully knew it would be a short story.
SO this is a planet with a native species that looks a bit arthropod like, only with a vascular system similar to mammalians people call them 'dragons'. They may or may not have built structures and they may or may not be intelligent, they do not communicate with the humans who are devastating their planet and sending them extinct. No one knows why they are dying. We have two characters, our POV character is a 'behaviouralist' who is gathering data on the dying dragons, a right sarcastic nasty a-hole. The other is a Pilot who got him to the planet. A highly trained, idealistic type, maybe a bit dense in his clean-cut way. The scientist mainly entertains himself with baiting, taunting and insulting the pilot.
Well written story, deeply depressing on the behalf of the ecological devastation and the intellectual cruelty. I did not see the point of this story, if it had one.
The Trustie Tree (1973)
Starts with our third person POV (this is the author's favourite thing, isn't it?) injured on a boat floating down a river/canal? We are told it is on an alien planet, Xerxes and that he crashed, was found by aliens called Kalti, the 'boatmen of Xerxes' who have given him medication then left him alone. It is mostly musings on the colour of the sky and the leaves above him. Pretty in its own way but meandering and, once again, felt pointless.
The Lake of Tuonela (1973)
This is set on the same world as the previous story, Xerxes and with a similar/different theme.
Here we have a human protagonist who works on Xerxes and wants to spend his holiday investigating a network of canals and tunnels no one has before. He is denied so he goes anyway, with a single, atypical boatman guide. I didn't hate this one, the voyage is the main point of the story and in depth descriptions of the scenery. Apparently it is all quite pretty. Mathis spends most of his time musing about his life and I just didn't care that much.
The Grain Kings (1972)
The story the book is named after, finally! It could not have been more anticlimactic if it tried:
Yes, there is a huge grain harvesting combine (it's named Patsy) and that should have been very exciting. We don't see much of it though, and entirely through the POV of Harrison who is a reporter who is depressed that he broke up with some woman once. We see him drinking coffee, sipping orange juice, drinking whisky and English (not American) beer. We see sweet F all of the combine.
Then Harrison has a one night stand with the photographers assistant and now - oh great – we get to eavesdrop on Harrison thinking about her as well as his previous ex. The exciting incident with the Russian combine happens two thirds of the way through, I think we get a paragraph or two of that before we have to put up with Harrison thinking about his Alison again and drinking some more whiskey.
His magazine, national Geographic (maybe) decides to put him off the story now something exciting happened and replace him with a 'big gun' and this may depress him a little bit more than he was already depressed and unengaged, but who can really tell? I agree with the magazine, I would not trust this joker to write a shopping list.
I Lose Medea
Thankfully short. Not short enough. Actually I could possibly have enjoyed this one f I was not fed up with the whole collection. There are ghosts. And weird 'wars' that happen between castles and odd and impossible armies from combined time periods. Apparently the protagonist can make read women out of magazine pictures. It reads a bit like a 'just so story' but it could be ok.
Not for a second am I suggesting that Keith Roberts is a bad writer, his writing is lyrical, evocative, contemplative and beautiful. It is just that when I want this much pretty waffle with no story, I read poetry. Most of which has more happening in it, tbh. He has excellent descriptive powers when it comes to boats, canals, scenery and military stuff. Will approach any future writing by this author with extreme caution.
Postscript, 2025: I really didn't enjoy reading this, but it has stayed with me and I think back on the stories a lot. I am enjoying thinking back on them far more than I enjoyed them at the time. I must re-read, I suspect I will love it next time around.
September 17, 2020
I am not sure what "Weihnachtsabend" is doing in a science fiction book, apart from it being alternative history. I read the first chapter, found it quite dull and difficult to read - the sentences are like a semi-automatic, staccato and unforgiving. The social mores also seemed old fashioned. I didn't pick it up for a week, forced myself to continue, thought the second chapter had more plot... then found out it was a short story and it wasn't going anywhere.
Here's a sample (no spoilers):
"The noise, the jangling and stamping, rings back on itself. Cheeks flush, perception is heightened; for more than one of the riders, the early courtyard reels. Beside the house door trestles have been set up. A great bowl is carried, steaming. The cups are raised, the toasts given; the responses ring again, crashing."
Another review here says that some of the stories are good. But flicking though they seem to have the same rapid-fire sentence construction, which I find off-putting.
Here's a sample (no spoilers):
"The noise, the jangling and stamping, rings back on itself. Cheeks flush, perception is heightened; for more than one of the riders, the early courtyard reels. Beside the house door trestles have been set up. A great bowl is carried, steaming. The cups are raised, the toasts given; the responses ring again, crashing."
Another review here says that some of the stories are good. But flicking though they seem to have the same rapid-fire sentence construction, which I find off-putting.
September 29, 2024
It's my first book by Keith Roberts, and I don't know what to think. His shorts are written in a way that they appear quite dull on the surface, but there's always a subtle surreal element beneath the surface. Normally this would be my thing but the stories are almost too monotonous. The titular Grain Kings story was just a bit repetitive.
The final story was probably my favourite. It starts like a nearly Nuts in May scenario but with these creepy spirits closing on the couple pitching the tent up. From there it goes in a completely different direction and gets pretty surreal, but at least this one had atmosphere and was a shorter length.
I may give Pavane a shot as it's considered his magnum opus but this wasn't a good introduction really. The short that is set in the same world as Pavane doesn't add anything to it at all.
The final story was probably my favourite. It starts like a nearly Nuts in May scenario but with these creepy spirits closing on the couple pitching the tent up. From there it goes in a completely different direction and gets pretty surreal, but at least this one had atmosphere and was a shorter length.
I may give Pavane a shot as it's considered his magnum opus but this wasn't a good introduction really. The short that is set in the same world as Pavane doesn't add anything to it at all.
May 9, 2025
I was intrigued by the cover and title of this book. Being from Kansas, I jumped at the idea of sci-fi farming. I didn't realize this was a collection of short stories until I read the last page of the first story. We go from Nazis to, Becky and a white boat....what the heck?!? Even when I read "The Grain Kings" I found myself disappointed.
February 12, 2021
I was looking for some historic sci-fi to read - this one was not a good pick for me. Other than the characters that I could not relate to was the machine element - not the fault of the author - just a bad pick for me.
August 28, 2023
I listened to this as part of the 10tj Sciene Fiction Megapack. It is very interesting. 2023
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May 5, 2019I have the german edition: Die neuen Goetter
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