The Chronoliths

Brooks Peck writes: "The Chronoliths, by the underappreciated* Robert Charles Wilson, is a finalist for the 2001 Hugo Award and Campbell Award. The tale begins in 2021 with the abrupt arrival of the first Chronolith, a 200-foot-high monument of unknown composition that memorializes a military victory. It's dated twenty years in the future. More Chronoliths follow, blinking into existence with explosive force--usually in the centers of cities. Each is grander than the last, and each lauds another victory by a leader who does not currently exist." The Chronoliths author Robert Charles Wilson pages 301 publisher Tor Books rating 8.5 reviewer Brooks Peck ISBN 0812545249 summary Big honking monoliths beam in from the future.

Witness to it all is our narrator, Scott Warden. There's nothing special about this guy. He's no clever scientist, no tough soldier. He's just a computer programmer who happens to be close to the location of the first arrival. After that he's pulled into the Chronolith investigation by a series of seeming coincidences. But where the manipulation of time is involved, coincidence becomes a slippery concept--something his co-investigators are well aware of.

I consider this quiet, unassuming novel to be on the cutting edge of science fiction for this reason: it creates a literary metaphor for our current view (and fears) of the near future. Just as giant, mutant bugs stood for our fear of the bomb in the '50s, the Chronoliths represent our fear of what's just around the corner today. But today we can no longer easily predict what the future holds. Science changes things too quickly--so quickly that we can only say with confidence that we cannot say what the future will be like.

Science fiction writers have devised a variety of means to cope with this threat to their livelihood. Vernor Vinge pulls off a plausible (and excellent) space opera in A Fire Upon the Deep by having the universe limit how far science can progress depending on its location in the galaxy. Other writers retreat to the very near future. The rise in popularity of alternate history stories could be another byproduct of this dilemma.

But in The Chronoliths Wilson doesn't resort to any tricks. The novel is all about the unknowableness of the future, as represented by the Chronoliths themselves: impenetrable, unstoppable, and, most importantly, of our own making.

*Perhaps one reason Wilson isn't as well known as he should be is that his novels are not as strong as his short fiction. The Chronoliths, interestingly, is his first novel written in first-person, the point of view he chose for many of his best short stories including "The Perseids" and "The Inner Inner City."

You can purchase The Chronoliths from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

OT re: unrelated not about karma

[drew_kime]

On an unrelated note, anyone else notice the karma system has changed? Apparently, my karma is now "excellent." Man, I want a point system back!

So when I hit the cap, shouldn't my karma be "most excellent"?

Re:Woo hoo!

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoa, slow down there. This is science fiction, not high fantasy.

Re:F.Y.I

[silicon_synapse]

Dude, ducks float. Therefor she must be a witch.

With apologies to the Simpsons

[jcsehak]

On an unrelated note, anyone else notice the karma system has changed? Apparently, my karma is now "excellent." Man, I want a point system back!

My Karma is NOT "Excellent" damnit! I want a number score!

Pgpckt: [panting] Grade me...look at me...evaluate and rank me! Oh, I'm good, good, good, and oh so smart! Grade me!
[CmdrTaco scribbles "Karma = 50" on a piece of paper]
[Pgpckt walks off, muttering crazily and sighing]