Status
Available
Call number
Description
Scott Warden is a man haunted by the past-and soon to be haunted by the future. In early twenty-first-century Thailand, Scott is an expatriate slacker. Then, one day, he inadvertently witnesses an impossible event: the violent appearance of a 200-foot stone pillar in the forested interior. Its arrival collapses trees for a quarter mile around its base, freezing ice out of the air and emitting a burst of ionizing radiation. It appears to be composed of an exotic form of matter. And the inscription chiseled into it commemorates a military victory--sixteen years in the future. Shortly afterwards, another, larger pillar arrives in the center of Bangkok-obliterating the city and killing thousands. Over the next several years, human society is transformed by these mysterious arrivals from, seemingly, our own near future. Who is the warlord "Kuin" whose victories they note? Scott wants only to rebuild his life. But some strange loop of causality keeps drawing him in, to the central mystery and a final battle with the future. The Chronoliths is a 2002 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel and the winner of the 2002 John W. Campbell Memorial Award.… (more)
Pages
304
DDC/MDS
| 813 |
Language
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2002)
Sunburst Award (Shortlist — 2002)
SF Site Editor's Choice (2001)
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Winner — 2002)
Seiun Award (Nominee — 2012)
Prix Aurora Award (Finalist — 2002)
Locus Recommended Reading (2001)
User reviews
LibraryThing member ashleytylerjohn
Ugh. Jo Walton, why do you like such dreary books?
What did I enjoy about it? I'd recently read (or tried to, at least) a few books set in a far-ish future where so much had changed that the pleasure of reading was replaced with the arduous task of trying to assimilate an almost entirely new
Unfortunately, very little happened. We followed a tiresome, uninteresting protagonist (the true hero, Sue, was a minor supporting character ... why do authors do this?). He had no discernible personality. Nothing much happened (well, things happened, but they weren't interesting things, and they didn't really build upon each other to lead to other more interesting things ... you know, the way a Plot ought to). By the end of the book, when a character was randomly raped (there must be a trope ought there somewhere for trying to goad readers into caring by raping dull characters), I was so over it.
The men are all manly and the women are "the wife," "the girlfriend," etc., save for the aforementioned Sue. I'm a man, and found this annoying. It doesn't pass the Bechdel test either. Sometimes I wonder if certain authors mentally cast their books ... maybe Mr. Wilson is picturing Duane "The Rock" Johnson playing his protagonist, and he's chortling with glee as he imagines how much fun the character would be. But we're not picturing that, so we get Joe Bland saying boring things as he drifts around the dull book.
Not a fan, I'm afraid.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
What did I enjoy about it? I'd recently read (or tried to, at least) a few books set in a far-ish future where so much had changed that the pleasure of reading was replaced with the arduous task of trying to assimilate an almost entirely new
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culture ... but the Chronoliths begins in a world very much like ours, and instead of a million changes, it introduces one: the arrival of a chronolith. That's the kind of SF I can get behind--what would this world be like if this 1 particular thing were different? It's manageable. So that was a relief.Unfortunately, very little happened. We followed a tiresome, uninteresting protagonist (the true hero, Sue, was a minor supporting character ... why do authors do this?). He had no discernible personality. Nothing much happened (well, things happened, but they weren't interesting things, and they didn't really build upon each other to lead to other more interesting things ... you know, the way a Plot ought to). By the end of the book, when a character was randomly raped (there must be a trope ought there somewhere for trying to goad readers into caring by raping dull characters), I was so over it.
The men are all manly and the women are "the wife," "the girlfriend," etc., save for the aforementioned Sue. I'm a man, and found this annoying. It doesn't pass the Bechdel test either. Sometimes I wonder if certain authors mentally cast their books ... maybe Mr. Wilson is picturing Duane "The Rock" Johnson playing his protagonist, and he's chortling with glee as he imagines how much fun the character would be. But we're not picturing that, so we get Joe Bland saying boring things as he drifts around the dull book.
Not a fan, I'm afraid.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
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LibraryThing member tjd
Like many, I love time travel and this was a clever time travel story that I couldn't put down.
LibraryThing member amf0001
This was a really interesting idea, well told. The ending didn't quite work for me, but until the last 50 or so pages I was hooked. It's a sophisticated treatise about time travel and expectation creating reality. In the year 2020 a huge chronolith appears in Thailand, a man made monolith
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commemorating a military victory 20 years in the future. Then more and more of them come and the world comes apart, under the stress of these battles yet to come, these victories against armies unknown by a victor we have yet to meet. It was complex and thoughtful with the occasional gleaming sentence. I enjoyed spending time with Scott and his struggles and successes and would def recommend this book. A- Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnMunsch
Nifty premise with a very mediocre execution. Based on my theory that only things that had promise but flopped should be the targets for being remade (i.e. Battlestar Galactica), this book will make a great candidate for a remake someday. Fiddling with the characters in this piece about huge time
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traveling monoliths appearing around the globe could only improve the book. I'd give this one a skip. Show Less
LibraryThing member cmwilson101
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson is a time travel story, told not from the perspective of the time traveller, but rather from the perspective of people who experience the manifestations of a traveller to their time. This traveller leaves behind monuments to his great military conquests,
The world these people, including our protagonist Scotty, live in is never directly addressed, but is rather described in passing as Scotty tries to eke out a living and support his family. The details are evocative, and I’d love to read more about this very-near future world which seems all too plausible considering current events.
The events in this story, primarily the mysterious arrival of the monuments, are not the main focus, but rather form a backdrop to the story of family man Scot and his struggle to be a good person & protect his family while the world fragments around them. The characterizations are powerful, and it is rewarding to see Scot evolve into the kind of person he wants to be, and to try to make a difference.
This is not a book to rush through. I would have liked things explained a bit better at the end, but perhaps that has contributed to the impact the book had for me – I have been thinking about the story for days, trying to work out exactly what did happen and why. I am not sure I have arrived at a conclusion yet, but it is thought provoking and worth pondering…a very good book.
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which causes turmoil in a world already devastated by economic crises, pollution, unemployment, and environmental disasters. The world these people, including our protagonist Scotty, live in is never directly addressed, but is rather described in passing as Scotty tries to eke out a living and support his family. The details are evocative, and I’d love to read more about this very-near future world which seems all too plausible considering current events.
The events in this story, primarily the mysterious arrival of the monuments, are not the main focus, but rather form a backdrop to the story of family man Scot and his struggle to be a good person & protect his family while the world fragments around them. The characterizations are powerful, and it is rewarding to see Scot evolve into the kind of person he wants to be, and to try to make a difference.
This is not a book to rush through. I would have liked things explained a bit better at the end, but perhaps that has contributed to the impact the book had for me – I have been thinking about the story for days, trying to work out exactly what did happen and why. I am not sure I have arrived at a conclusion yet, but it is thought provoking and worth pondering…a very good book.
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LibraryThing member harpua
I'm torn on this one really. The first 300 pages or so of this are a great science fiction / mystery / thriller novel. Wilson throws just enough science at you to wet your appetite, but not so much that it overtakes the story. And here we have an interesting story, these great monuments to a
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military victory, sixteen years in the future. We follow the main characters in trying to discover the who, what, and how. Great stuff and I was drawn in quickly. However the last 15 pages or so of the novel were really a let down. I really thought we were headed to a conclusion where we would finally discover our answers, yet the pages kept dripping away and there seemed to be no resolution coming. Finally, I closed the novel feeling like I was left on the edge of a great understanding, only to find none to come. That was highly disappointing. Great novel, unsatisfying ending. I still recommend this one as it really is good up to that ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member cygnoir
As a newbie to the brain of Robert Charles Wilson — of his other novels, I’ve only read Darwinia — I was prepared for big questions with few answers. I was not disappointed. The story here is not one of overt heroics or melodramatic clashes but rather the quiet, bewildering moments of
Not that the story ends without hope, because it does. But I asked myself as I turned the final page if, even as we learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. The central idea of time travel is paired with the idea of belief, and how what we expect to be true or significant (or moral, or just … I could go on) informs the landscape of our future. In a way, we are all constantly time-traveling, remembering the parts of our past to paint us in our best light, only seeing the interesting and shiny parts of our present. We build the future; we build our monuments to the future.
Once again, Robert Charles Wilson asks important questions and leaves it to us to find our own answers.
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humanity as our collective “buckets of grief.” We grieve for the world as it was, the world as it could be, and eventually the world as it is: infrastructure crumbling, paranoia swelling, violence reigning.Not that the story ends without hope, because it does. But I asked myself as I turned the final page if, even as we learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. The central idea of time travel is paired with the idea of belief, and how what we expect to be true or significant (or moral, or just … I could go on) informs the landscape of our future. In a way, we are all constantly time-traveling, remembering the parts of our past to paint us in our best light, only seeing the interesting and shiny parts of our present. We build the future; we build our monuments to the future.
Once again, Robert Charles Wilson asks important questions and leaves it to us to find our own answers.
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LibraryThing member RandyStafford
My reactions to reading this novel in 2002. Spoilers follow.
This novel probably has some unintended effects from it being published post-September 11th since it deals with terrorism of a sort.
It's an effectively done first-person narration presented as the narrator's memoirs.
The central idea of
Wilson, who lives in Toronto, doesn't do all that great of a job evoking the Twin Cities of Minnesota even if he mentions place names like Nicollet Mall. However, I smiled at his invocation of their politics, however unintentional that commentary was. The Copperhead contingent, of which the narrator's ex-wife's husband belongs, is strong there. Named after the Northern appeasers in the Civil War, the Copperheads preach appeasement, adjustment, and the possibile benefits of aligning themselves with Kuin when he finally shows. (The monuments have inscriptions, and the inscription on the first one is allegedly from twenty years in the future.)
The plot is tied together by a tight knot of temporal paradox and coincidences that aren't really coincidences but, as mathematical physicist Sulamith Chopra, the result of "tau-turbulence". The mathematics that allow the Chronoliths also enable space travel.
A slick, fast, thoroughly engrossing read with an interesting take on the psychology of military conquest.
This novel probably has some unintended effects from it being published post-September 11th since it deals with terrorism of a sort.
It's an effectively done first-person narration presented as the narrator's memoirs.
The central idea of
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the Chronoliths, huge monuments seemingly projected back in time to commemorate the future military conquests of a mysterious figure known as Kuin, is interesting. The vast thermal deficit caused by their materialization causes all sorts of disruption with cracking stone, shattering plastic, and freezing water pipes. Sometimes, if they appear in cities, there is a great loss of life However, the main effect of the Chronoliths is that they cast a pall over the future, a literal shadow of doom. At first, the world understandably obsesses over them, and then they just become fixtures of the present, something that has always been present in the world of the young. Wilson, who lives in Toronto, doesn't do all that great of a job evoking the Twin Cities of Minnesota even if he mentions place names like Nicollet Mall. However, I smiled at his invocation of their politics, however unintentional that commentary was. The Copperhead contingent, of which the narrator's ex-wife's husband belongs, is strong there. Named after the Northern appeasers in the Civil War, the Copperheads preach appeasement, adjustment, and the possibile benefits of aligning themselves with Kuin when he finally shows. (The monuments have inscriptions, and the inscription on the first one is allegedly from twenty years in the future.)
The plot is tied together by a tight knot of temporal paradox and coincidences that aren't really coincidences but, as mathematical physicist Sulamith Chopra, the result of "tau-turbulence". The mathematics that allow the Chronoliths also enable space travel.
A slick, fast, thoroughly engrossing read with an interesting take on the psychology of military conquest.
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LibraryThing member Gwendydd
In the near future, strange towers start appearing all over the globe, monuments to future victories by some leader named Kuin. This raises questions about the possibility of time travel and the nature of causality - is it possible to prevent Kuin's victories? To what extent do the towers cause the
There were some interesting ideas here, but the story itself fell a bit flat. I think it is a fascinating premise, but Wilson didn't quite know what to do with it and it felt like the story just petered out at the end. I don't regret reading it, especially because I'm a big fan of time travel literature.
I listened to the audiobook, and it is read by one of my favorite narrators, Oliver Wyman, so I enjoyed the audiobook.
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victories they predict?There were some interesting ideas here, but the story itself fell a bit flat. I think it is a fascinating premise, but Wilson didn't quite know what to do with it and it felt like the story just petered out at the end. I don't regret reading it, especially because I'm a big fan of time travel literature.
I listened to the audiobook, and it is read by one of my favorite narrators, Oliver Wyman, so I enjoyed the audiobook.
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LibraryThing member Guide2
Interesting story with well defined characters. Not quite about time travel, but more about the impact of having some object travel through time.
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
A software engineer, Scott, is 'on break' in rural Thailand when he and his drug-dealing buddy Hitch happen to be in the right place at the right (wrong?) time to be some of the first people to view the first of the Chronoliths - giant obelisks that appear out of nowhere, announcing the military
The book has interesting thoughts on the physics of time, the social effects of monuments (and self-fulfilling prophecies).
However, although the writing in this book is noticeably more masterful than in the earlier book I read by Wilson, the 'feel' of its style, I thought, was still very 'mainstream-thriller.
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victory of the enigmatic Kuin - dated to happen twenty years and three months in the future. And Thailand is only the first - soon more and more appear, causing widespread death and destruction, and causing not just awe but cults, secret societies, frantic military readying and scientific investigation.The book has interesting thoughts on the physics of time, the social effects of monuments (and self-fulfilling prophecies).
However, although the writing in this book is noticeably more masterful than in the earlier book I read by Wilson, the 'feel' of its style, I thought, was still very 'mainstream-thriller.
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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Oh bravo. Exciting, intriguing, rich characters. Very little of that political intrigue I hate. Fascinating predictions of how much technologies will evolve and how little humanity will evolve in the near future woven into a suspenseful 'hard' sf story with just enough science to make it worth
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thinking about but not too difficult. Recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member majkia
When monuments somehow displaced from the near future begin appearing around the world, a small cadre of scientists begin trying to figure out how and why it is happening. The story follows this group of people as they try to make sense of the Kuin monuments while the world falls apart around
Hard science, intriguing characters and unfortunately believeable human reactions to the situation, make the book fascinating, in an aghast kind of way.
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them.Hard science, intriguing characters and unfortunately believeable human reactions to the situation, make the book fascinating, in an aghast kind of way.
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LibraryThing member nwhyte
I love the theme, which is time travel with a quite unique twist - the chronoliths are artifacts appearing from the near future, chronicling the imminent conquests of a mysterious general. A slightly weak ending but fantastic beginning and middle. Great portrayal of dystopian near-future America.
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
Scott Warden as an old man is writing his memoirs about his involvement with the Chronoliths. When he begins his story the year is 21st century. The place is Thailand. Scott and his family are hanging out in a beach side town "busy doing something close to nothing" when a huge 200 foot structure in
The Chronoliths is futuristic enough to acknowledge the world had progressed but not so much that it wasn't recognizable to the reader. Some examples: Scott lived in a society where smokers needed to hold an "addict's" license. Wilson makes some interesting predictions about human behavior and advances in technologies. Portable communication technologies are very similar to what we have today but were virtually unheard of in 2001.
But interestingly enough, the world had also regressed (the draft was introduced in 2029).
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the form of monument appears in the jungled interior. This is no ordinary monument. Its arrival changed the climate, destroyed acres worth of trees and spewed ionizing radiation. But even more curious is the inscription, commemorating a victorious battle sixteen years into the future. Then, another monument appears in downtown Bangkok, killing thousands. Again it commemorates a victory years into the future. Because Scott and a friend the first ones to arrive on the scene of the original monument, they are irrevocably linked to the phenomenon. A scientist from Scott's past recruits him to study the structures in an effort to thwart a future warlord from destroying society. The Chronoliths is futuristic enough to acknowledge the world had progressed but not so much that it wasn't recognizable to the reader. Some examples: Scott lived in a society where smokers needed to hold an "addict's" license. Wilson makes some interesting predictions about human behavior and advances in technologies. Portable communication technologies are very similar to what we have today but were virtually unheard of in 2001.
But interestingly enough, the world had also regressed (the draft was introduced in 2029).
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LibraryThing member TheCrow2
The starting point of Robert Charles Wilson`s book is very simple. Huge war memorials appearing all around the Earth, usually causing a local catastrophe... and remembering victorious wars from the future. The book very convincingly shows the possible political and sociological consequences of the
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happenings. Show Less
Publication
Orb Books (2011), Edition: First, 304 pages
Media reviews
The Chronoliths is a striking if occasionally bleak tale of time and causality that opens in the very near future. The world is going straight to hell, with social and economic crises nearly everywhere.
Subjects
Original language
English
Original publication date
2001-08
Physical description
304 p.; 8.25 inches
ISBN
9780765325280