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Splinter
Hector travels across America to visit his father on a ranch. He discovers that he has constructed a cult who await the impact of an asteroid. However, Hector is amazed when the section of Earth that the ranch is on suddenly breaks free from the rest of the planet during the collision. He struggles with his skepticism and acceptance of the fact that he is part of the remnants of the human race, on a splinter from the Earth.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
1 person is currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Adam Roberts
258 books561 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Adam Roberts (born 1965) is an academic, critic and novelist. He also writes parodies under the pseudonyms of A.R.R.R. Roberts, A3R Roberts and Don Brine. He also blogs at The Valve, a group blog devoted to literature and cultural studies.
He has a degree in English from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD from Cambridge University on Robert Browning and the Classics. He teaches English literature and creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. Adam Roberts has been nominated twice for the Arthur C. Clarke Award: in 2001, for his debut novel, Salt, and in 2007, for Gradisil.
Adam Roberts (born 1965) is an academic, critic and novelist. He also writes parodies under the pseudonyms of A.R.R.R. Roberts, A3R Roberts and Don Brine. He also blogs at The Valve, a group blog devoted to literature and cultural studies.
He has a degree in English from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD from Cambridge University on Robert Browning and the Classics. He teaches English literature and creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. Adam Roberts has been nominated twice for the Arthur C. Clarke Award: in 2001, for his debut novel, Salt, and in 2007, for Gradisil.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 20, 2008
This was supposed to be a SciFi book. Instead, it was a book that took a science fiction premise, one that was unsuccessfully used by Jules Verne, and used that to try to make a grandiose point about life. I didn't care much for the grandiose point. The science fiction was way off as well. Heck, it was so off that I couldn't believe anything going on in the story. But if I tried to ignore the bad science, the grandiose story doesn't even have a chance to hold up.
What's the bad science? Something impacts with the earth while the main character is visiting his dad's commune/ranch. The ranch just happens to be in a prime spot while the earth is broken into fragments, and no one else is believed to survive. Gravity remains close (which is attempted to be explained by the thing that impacts being lodged in the fragment he's on, and it's dense enough to still provide consistent gravity). Atmosphere is still maintained at a constant pressure. But this constant isn't consistent on the whole fragment. While I can't buy it, neither can the main character. That is, until the end, when the important, grandiose part of the story comes about.
If you can sit through this, you'll find out that the grandiose revelation is one of the oldest cliches in the whole of science fiction, and some religions. For that kind of payoff, you'll probably end up feeling as cheated as me.
What's the bad science? Something impacts with the earth while the main character is visiting his dad's commune/ranch. The ranch just happens to be in a prime spot while the earth is broken into fragments, and no one else is believed to survive. Gravity remains close (which is attempted to be explained by the thing that impacts being lodged in the fragment he's on, and it's dense enough to still provide consistent gravity). Atmosphere is still maintained at a constant pressure. But this constant isn't consistent on the whole fragment. While I can't buy it, neither can the main character. That is, until the end, when the important, grandiose part of the story comes about.
If you can sit through this, you'll find out that the grandiose revelation is one of the oldest cliches in the whole of science fiction, and some religions. For that kind of payoff, you'll probably end up feeling as cheated as me.
August 18, 2009
This book is SO hard to get into. The main character is totally unlikeable. It doesn't help that he's a walking dick (acts like one plus every woman he sees he's wondering how to get into her pants and talks about how badly he needs to get laid). My fiance gave up before the end of chapter one but I'm trying to drag myself through it. My hopes are not high.
08/18/09: Finished it. The last chapter or so is written in the future tense which is a weird and seemingly meaningless choice. The ending was unsatisfying. All in all it read like a book you have to read for class (and this is coming from someone who majored in English and loved most of the books she read for class). Maybe it would be more interesting if I was reading it for class, then we would be discussing and analyzing it. But it is not an enjoyable sci-fi read and I wouldn't recommend it.
08/18/09: Finished it. The last chapter or so is written in the future tense which is a weird and seemingly meaningless choice. The ending was unsatisfying. All in all it read like a book you have to read for class (and this is coming from someone who majored in English and loved most of the books she read for class). Maybe it would be more interesting if I was reading it for class, then we would be discussing and analyzing it. But it is not an enjoyable sci-fi read and I wouldn't recommend it.
September 26, 2013
I've only gotten about a third of the way into this one and have started reading something else, so it may be a non-finisher. It's not awful, just hard to connect with - mostly because of the main character. The basic ideas & storytelling are OK, if a little outdated in terms of science-fiction / end-of-the-world concepts. Well, I finally finished this one after nearly nine months. It just didn't have anything for me aside from the background reason for the story. I can't really recommend it, but if you like the author's other works, maybe this is for you.
October 21, 2019
To me it didn’t seem like the author of this book really thought out the book before he wrote it. Most of the time he wouldn’t really write more than five pages before one of the characters would think of something that didn’t relate at all to the plot. It made it very hard to remember what was going on in the book if I picked it up later especially if I had set the book down without marking my page. In my opinion, Splinter by Adam Roberts was poorly written but at least provided me with an idea I hadn’t seen before.
I didn’t love this book because it was very hard to follow and underwhelming for such a cool idea. I had never read anything with this idea before and I was expecting a lot just to be let down. One thing that I think could have either been done better or just left out entirely was the backstory. The author mentions the main characters ex-girlfriend a lot when as a character she adds nothing to the plot or storyline. There were also a lot of loose ends in the story that were never wrapped up. One of these was the plant that started growing on their land. It seemed like the author was making up the plant to serve his purposes by filling in plot holes like why the characters didn’t just grow food outside of the house. The final thing that really annoyed me about this book was the ending. The ending of a book should finish the story and wrap up all of the loose ends. However after reading the ending of the book I was left with more questions then I had before! Those were just a few of the reasons that I dislike this book.
While this book could have been an amazing story with new ideas in the end it was just a letdown.
I didn’t love this book because it was very hard to follow and underwhelming for such a cool idea. I had never read anything with this idea before and I was expecting a lot just to be let down. One thing that I think could have either been done better or just left out entirely was the backstory. The author mentions the main characters ex-girlfriend a lot when as a character she adds nothing to the plot or storyline. There were also a lot of loose ends in the story that were never wrapped up. One of these was the plant that started growing on their land. It seemed like the author was making up the plant to serve his purposes by filling in plot holes like why the characters didn’t just grow food outside of the house. The final thing that really annoyed me about this book was the ending. The ending of a book should finish the story and wrap up all of the loose ends. However after reading the ending of the book I was left with more questions then I had before! Those were just a few of the reasons that I dislike this book.
While this book could have been an amazing story with new ideas in the end it was just a letdown.
April 3, 2018
1.5 stars, felt like author intended to write about a father-son thing...but with the cult, and the mystery of the wasted world outside, and the nonsensical nature of staying in a house with people who believe the world has literally broken apart, like tectonically broken, and the crazy characters that, well, they're the followers of the (cult) leader, so there's not much to empathize with in regards to their stories. To give credit, I liked how the book started out, it pulled me in, I liked the mystery of the prophecy of the father/leader. But it just spiraled downward, dissipated in plot-energy, I couldn't quite tell where things were going/leading to (and this was, in this case, a bad thing).
September 19, 2020
Inspired by one of Jules Verne's less known books, this is the story of what happens to a small group of people when a splinter of earth survives the destruction (?) of the planet. To be honest, it's mostly the story of one middle-aged man who refuses to believe what has happened and of his coming to terms with it.
It's quite well-written, and does evoke the style of novels written in an earlier time, but I found it a bit tedious and I really didn't like the ending. Definitely my least favourite of the 10 or so Roberts books that I've read. 2 1/2 stars.
It's quite well-written, and does evoke the style of novels written in an earlier time, but I found it a bit tedious and I really didn't like the ending. Definitely my least favourite of the 10 or so Roberts books that I've read. 2 1/2 stars.
March 25, 2014
"Splinter" is a reworking of the lesser known work "Off on a Comet" by Jules Verne, that began life as a short story for an anthology. However, this is not just a simple reworking of the tropes used in Verne's story, but a whole new approach, in fact both stories could not be more different. Whilst Verne was famous for his info dumps of actual scientific knowledge to explain the more fantastical elements of the tale, Adam Roberts is more concerned with the human and emotional cost of the apocalyptic events described.
Adam Roberts is a very clever writer, he uses unique language and narration techniques, even experimenting with structure. The tale is divided into three distinct sections, written in differing tenses. The first section in past tense, the second in present and the third in future tense. Basing the events around the troubled relationship between a Father and Son, adds the necessary emotional weight to the novel. This central relationship concerning Hector junior and his father Hector senior, is essentially the glue that holds the plot together. Hector junior's reluctance to accept he is now an adult and responsible for his own future is what cause the rift with his father, so in some senses this also feels like a poignant coming of age story.
The unusual structure of "Splinter" and the vague and in some ways baffling ending leave the meaning to your own interpretation. Some may criticise Robert's approach and accuse him of perhaps being a little too clever and losing his way at the end, but I would disagree. Although "Splinter" isn't the greatest of Science Fiction novel, for me there are glimpses of talent here that show this is yet another example of the current generation of exceptional Science Fiction writers, taking the genre to new levels of acclaim. Perhaps even beginning to change long established ideas with regards the respectability of the genre.
Adam Roberts is a very clever writer, he uses unique language and narration techniques, even experimenting with structure. The tale is divided into three distinct sections, written in differing tenses. The first section in past tense, the second in present and the third in future tense. Basing the events around the troubled relationship between a Father and Son, adds the necessary emotional weight to the novel. This central relationship concerning Hector junior and his father Hector senior, is essentially the glue that holds the plot together. Hector junior's reluctance to accept he is now an adult and responsible for his own future is what cause the rift with his father, so in some senses this also feels like a poignant coming of age story.
The unusual structure of "Splinter" and the vague and in some ways baffling ending leave the meaning to your own interpretation. Some may criticise Robert's approach and accuse him of perhaps being a little too clever and losing his way at the end, but I would disagree. Although "Splinter" isn't the greatest of Science Fiction novel, for me there are glimpses of talent here that show this is yet another example of the current generation of exceptional Science Fiction writers, taking the genre to new levels of acclaim. Perhaps even beginning to change long established ideas with regards the respectability of the genre.
April 4, 2016
I would've like this book a lot more if it wasn't focused on sex, sex, sex. All the main character thought about was sex with seemingly every female that was present in the story. He just went through what is purportedly the "End of the World" after an asteroid-thing collided with the Earth, and rather than focus on a character that's interested in the new world that's created, we have Hector Junior.
I probably could've gotten past Hector's sex-obsession if he wasn't such a whiny baby about the whole thing. He's a 38 year old going on 11!
I finished this book merely to see if it would change at any point, but it didn't.
I probably could've gotten past Hector's sex-obsession if he wasn't such a whiny baby about the whole thing. He's a 38 year old going on 11!
I finished this book merely to see if it would change at any point, but it didn't.
December 22, 2008
The relations between father and son and reality and unreality form the core of this literary "sf" novel which is haunting, mesmerizing and a page turner to boot.
I put "sf" in quotes, because except for furthering the premise of the less well known Verne, Hector Servadac or Off on a Comet, the book has nothing to do with usual sf, and if you look for that you will be disappointed.
Rather you can interpret the novel as an extended dream, allegory, excursion into unreality, or just forget about interpreting it and enjoy its superb prose.
I put "sf" in quotes, because except for furthering the premise of the less well known Verne, Hector Servadac or Off on a Comet, the book has nothing to do with usual sf, and if you look for that you will be disappointed.
Rather you can interpret the novel as an extended dream, allegory, excursion into unreality, or just forget about interpreting it and enjoy its superb prose.
December 18, 2014
Odd and on the surface improbable little book but I found it quite compelling. Like many of Adam Roberts' novels it takes a seemingly outlandish core premise -- in this case that some comet or asteroid strikes the Earth and people survive on one of the remaining splinters -- and not only makes the science fiction end of it work but also creates literary drama with real characters.
November 11, 2009
Had I known the premise beforehand and what the story was about, I almost certainly would not have read it.
However, I found it to be surprisingly easy to simply accept the impossible events - and I'm usually into hard SF. The story was engrossing in a way I could not have expected. I wouldn't consider this SF at all; it's speculative fiction.
However, I found it to be surprisingly easy to simply accept the impossible events - and I'm usually into hard SF. The story was engrossing in a way I could not have expected. I wouldn't consider this SF at all; it's speculative fiction.
August 29, 2015
I started reading this, forget that, took it on holiday and then realised that I had already started it and given up. So i persevered. Why? No clue. Didn't enjoy a single thing about thee book, disliked all of the characters to the point that if I was stuck with them at the end of the world I would probably take my chances alone in the wilderness,
October 11, 2011
I was very disappointed with this. Despite having an excellent premise, it just fails to deliver - the characters aren't that likable and the story plods along at an uneven pace.
October 10, 2008
Trying to hard to be written like a Jules Verne book. Not my cup of tea.
December 10, 2009
A little strange at times, but very interesting. Some fascinating characters and ideas.
October 4, 2011
From the start I wondered where this was going. Nowhere. A pastiche of a Jules Verne book but besides that nothing interesting happens. I really didn't care about the plot, characters.
February 21, 2015
What on earth is the last chapter going on about?
too much "thinking" by the man character, mainly self indulgent nonsense.
too much "thinking" by the man character, mainly self indulgent nonsense.
July 23, 2016
An odd little book, but I ended up liking it more than not. Makes me want to read Off On A Comet, anyway
May 16, 2022
Okay story but too short and too generic.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews