Adam Roberts - Free Library Land Online - Anthologies

Purgatory Mount

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 10:36:29 +0200

An interstellar craft is decelerating after its century-long voyage. Its destination is V538 Aurigae ?, a now-empty planet dominated by one gigantic megastructure, a conical mountain of such height that its summit is high above the atmosphere. The ship's crew of five hope to discover how the long-departed builders made such a colossal thing, and why: a space elevator? a temple? a work of art? Its resemblance to the mountain of purgatory lead the crew to call this world Dante. In our near future, the United States is falling apart. A neurotoxin has interfered with the memory function of many of the population, leaving them reliant on their phones as makeshift memory prostheses. But life goes on. For Ottoline Barragão, a regular kid juggling school and her friends and her beehives in the back garden, things are about to get very dangerous, chased across the north-east by competing groups, each willing to do whatever it takes to get inside Ottoline's private network and recover the secret inside. Purgatory Mount, Adam Roberts's first SF novel for three years, combines wry space opera and a fast-paced thriller in equal measure. It is a novel about memory and atonement, about exploration and passion, and like all of Roberts's novels it's not quite like anything else.

The Black Prince

Sun, 18 Nov 2018 11:06:29 +0200

'I'm working on a novel intended to express the feel of England in Edward III's time ... The fourteenth century of my novel will be mainly evoked in terms of smell and visceral feelings, and it will carry an undertone of general disgust rather than hey-nonny nostalgia' – Anthony Burgess, Paris Review, 1973 The Black Prince is a brutal historical tale of chivalry, religious belief, obsession, siege and bloody warfare. From disorientating depictions of medieval battles to court intrigues and betrayals, the campaigns of Edward II, the Black Prince, are brought to vivid life by an author in complete control of the novel as a way of making us look at history with fresh eyes, all while staying true to the linguistic pyrotechnics and narrative verve of Burgess's best work.

The Snow

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 00:41:54 +0300

The This

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 16:16:56 +0300

The This is the new social media platform everyone is talking about. Allow it to be injected into the roof of your mouth and it will grow into your brain, allow you to connect with others without even picking up your phone. Its followers are growing. Its detractors say it is a cult. But for one journalist, hired to do a puff-piece interview with their CEO, it will change the world forever. Adan just wants to stay at home with his smart-companion Elegy - phone, friend, confidante, sex toy. But when his mother flees to Europe and joins a cult, leaving him penniless, he has to enlist in the army. Sentient robots are invading America, but it seems Adan has a surprising ability to survive their attacks. He has a purpose, even if he doesn’t know what it is. And in the far future, war between a hivemind of Ais and the remnants of humanity is coming to its inevitable end. But one woman has developed a weapon which might change the course of the war. It’s just a pity she’s trapped in an inescapable prison on a hivemind ship.

Shoreline of Infinity 32

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 18:36:10 +0300

Science Fiction and Fairy Tales Special Edition

Adam Roberts – Lad and the Devil Woody Dismukes – A Good Morsel of Clay Mary Berman – Cassandra Takes the Plunge Edmund Fines – The Golden Circle Tour Rhys Hughes – A Gorgon Reversed e rathke – Last Life in the Universe Laura Scotland – Such is the Pathway to the Stars Dave Weaver – The Space Apostle Sofia Samatar – Fairy Tales for Robots

Multiverse - poems from: Cat Hellisen, Bethany Davis and Jane Yolen

Book Reviews

Neom by Lavie Tidhar, review by Iain Maloney
Cast Long Shadows by Cat Hellisen, review by Veronika Groke
To Catch a Moon by Rym Kechacha, review by Callum McSorley
Science Communication Through Poetry bySam Illingworth, review by Ken MacLeod

Interview: Adam Roberts

Even More Science Fiction Fairy Tales... Teika Marija Smits

Guest Editor: Teika Marija Smits

Cover artwork: Fangorn

The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:36:26 +0200

Lizbreath Salamander is young and beautiful. Her scales have an iridescent sheen, her wings arch proudly, her breath has a tang of sulfur. And on her back a tattoo of a mythical creature: a girl.

But when Lizbreath is drawn into a dark conspiracy she will have to rely on more than her beauty and her vicious claws the size of sabres...

A dragon has disappeared, one of a secretive clan. As Lizbreath delves deeper into their history she realises that these dragons will do anything to defend their secrets.

Welcome to the world of The Dragon With The Girl Tattoo. A world of gloomy Nordic dragons leading lives uncannily like our own (despite their size, despite the need for extensive fireproofing of home furnishings), a world of money hoarded, a world of darkness and corruption. A world where people are the fantasy.

A parody (with dragons) of Stieg Larsson's global bestseller, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.

Stealing For The Sky

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 22:26:17 +0300

The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 09:16:17 +0200

A gothic tale of murder and corruption set in 1840s Victorian London, taking inspiration from our most famous 19th century writers.
The 1840s.
Railway Baron Sir Martin Malprelate has been laying waste to the warren of Camden; buying up houses and clearing streets for his new railway line linking King’s Cross with the prosperous town of Middlemarch. He stands to make his fortune ever more vast and to earn the loathing of all who attempt to stand up to him. Little wonder, then, that he meets a violent end on a foggy street after walking out of a particularly bitter meeting with outraged residents facing eviction. But the cause of his death causes more wonder. How could he have possibly fallen beneath the wells of a speeding spectral train running on tracks not yet even built?
Sir Martin’s death is investigated by the police, but the company employ one of its senior engineers, Mr Bryde, to pursue his own investigation. Bryde uncovers a network of...

Lost Worlds Short Stories

Fri, 23 Nov 2018 10:36:27 +0200

New Authors and collections. Following the great success of our Gothic Fantasy, deluxe edition short story compilations, Ghosts, Horror, Science Fiction, Murder Mayhem and Crime & Mystery this latest title is packed with dark valleys, high mountain passes, dinosaurs and endless dark creations. Contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with authors from the US, Canada, and the UK. Classic authors include: Arthur Conan Doyle, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, H. Rider Haggard, Robert E. Howard, Rudyard Kipling, H.P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt, James De Mille, Fitz-James O'Brien, Jonathan Swift, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells.

The Man Who Would Be Kling

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 11:06:29 +0200

The Lake Boy

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 12:45:01 +0200

Polystom (Gollancz Sf S.)

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:16:41 +0200

Bête

Sat, 08 Nov 2014 21:16:41 +0200

A man is about to kill a cow. He discusses life and death and his right to kill with the compliant animal. He begins to suspect he may be about to commit murder. But kills anyway... It began when the animal rights movement injected domestic animals with artificial intelligences in bid to have the status of animals realigned by the international court of human rights. But what is an animal that can talk? Where does its intelligence end at its machine intelligence begin? And where might its soul reside? As we place more and more pressure on the natural world and become more and more divorced, Adam Roberts' new novel posits a world where nature can talk back, and can question us and our beliefs. Adam Roberts is an award-winning author at the peak of his powers and each new novel charts an exciting new direction while maintaining a uniformly high level of literary achievement.

The Parodies Collection

Fri, 08 Nov 2013 21:16:41 +0200

Here, collected together for the first time in eBook (because quite frankly, who would want to carry all of these around as actual books? Imagine the scorn on the bus!) are seven of Adam Roberts’ superb parodies of popular culture. From the Soddit and his not-a-shameless-cash-in journey to the cavern of Smug the dragon - during which he finds a ring, which may well feature in later books and/or films - to A dragon with a girl tattoo (look, it was very popular at the time, OK?), here you will find lovingly crafted, affectionate (well, sometimes) takes on some of the most loved - or at least financially successful - “works of art” of our time. Contains THE SODDIT, DOCTOR WHOM, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE McATRIX DERIDED, STAR WARPED, THE SELLAMILLION and THE VA DINCI COD.