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Stone (Gollancz S.F.)
by A.R.R.R. Roberts
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Gollancz (2003-05-28)
ISBN: 0575070641
EAN: 9780575070646
Dewy Decimal #: 823.914
Paperback: 272 pages
SKU: 03352
Condition: Used: Like New
Comments: Minor shelf wear on cover, looks unread.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
He's the universe's last criminal--set free with orders to destroy a planet's entire population. If he succeeds, that act would tear apart an interstellar utopia that has existed for centuries, where humans have their every need taken care of by nano-tech machines. To elude detection as the crime is being prepared, the murderer voyages to numerous worlds. In these exotic and varied landscapes, he tries to reawaken his killer instincts--all the while wondering who is behind the contract. In a society that has forgotten how to commit crime, who could possibly aspire to genocide?
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Customer Reviews
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Not Free SF Reader
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-09-03
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
A good example of using a reading list. I have read this one before, a few years ago, and hadn't remembered, even when talking about it. Whacky. Anyway, a man is hired because he has no nanotech in his body, and is willing to kill.
The novel takes it base theme from quantum probability.
Such a combination doesn't really exist anywhere else. He is in prison, being 'executed' - that is, they have removed all his beneficial nanotech and left him baseline.
He wanders around for decades deciding if he should fulfil his contract: namely, killing all 60 million people on a particular planet.
He eventually discovers, after some adventures, who is behind all this, and it is not who he expected. A large quantum motivated manipulation.
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Precious
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-03-17
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Once in a while I 'discover' a new favorite writer. Roberts is one of them. Stone is a great book which perfectly combines the contents/style dichotomy most writers seem to be unable to bridge. Having a soft spot for 'the bad guy', I loved thinking along with Ae to commit the perfect crime (CIA stop reading) whilst figuring out who is behind his jailbreak. His secret confessions to a stone gives him the necessary heart for sympathy. Loved it!
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WoW-undiscovered Sci-Fi Gem
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-05-30
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
WOW!!!! I hope to Godess this isn't a fluke! I loved this book. A very unique story. In this story a "bad guy" is the main character. One of the best sci-fi novels I have read this year, and I read a lot of SciFi. Not your ordinary run of the mill novel in that genre. Basically it is the story of one of the last sickos in the known universe. Someone who is sought out for his ability to kill. In world where nanotechnology makes it very hard to kill people. I mean why would you want to kill in a world where money grows on trees, people live to be a thousand, and fun is a way of life! Why indeed. The end was a bit of a let down for me becasue I had pretty much guessed who the "bad guys" really were, I'm sure you will too but don't let that distract you from a very well written, original, and very entertaining read. I am ordering other books by this author as soon as possible, I hope he keeps it up!
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Great Read
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-08-29
1 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
An excellent read for anyone interested in high-concept. Detailed, imaginative; another great Adam Roberts book.
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Intriguing
Rating (4)
Date: 2003-07-11
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
Stone was one of the more interesting books that I have read this year. The story was just so different, I was hooked on page one. I mean, how many books have you read in the form of letters written to a stone?
One of the things I like most was that as the story unfolded, we all knew that he had broken out of that prison he was describing, and we knew that he was recaptured at some point. What we didn't know was, had he succeded in his mission? And why was he in prison in the first place? And who hired him to destroy the population of an entire planet?
The first person perspective let us get almost disturbingly close to a very odd man, who doesn't seem to understand quite what he's doing even while he's in the proccess of actually DOING it.
The writing style in Stone is slightly skewed, and definitly unique. I have a feeling that you'll probably either like this book, or stop reading after the first few pages.
And as for the characters.... Well, there is only one real character. There are other people who interact briefly with Ae, even get to know him a little, or travel with him, but there really is only one character in this book, throughout the whole story. Well, two if you count the stone.
All in all, I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys an offbeat, odd book, whether a science fiction reader, or fantasy lover, or perhaps even a mystery fan as well. After all, trying to figure out who wished an entire planet dead is certainly quite a mystery.
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