Gradisil

Gradisil is an epic space opera of family revenge and the birth of a nation.

Not very long from now, if you are wealthy, space can be yours, space to grow. New technology has seeded a rebirth of the pioneer spirit. A new breed of adventurer has slipped the bonds of gravity and begun a fresh life in orbit, free from interference by government, free from the petty concerns of earth.

Who wouldn’t want such freedom? Who wouldn’t want to escape from society’s tangles — from the claws of the corporations, from the stifling love of family?

But tradition, fear, and revenge carry a murderous weight, a gravity that is not so easy to escape. The death of Gradisil’s grandfather, floating high in the uplands above earth, was only the beginning. And now the US government is looking up at the new nation above our heads with jealous eyes.

Gradisil is an epic space opera of family revenge and the birth of a nation.
Not very long from now, if you are wealthy, space can be yours, space to grow. New technology has seeded a rebirth of the pioneer spirit. A new breed of adventurer has slipped the bonds of gravity and begun a fresh life in orbit, free from interference by government, free from the petty concerns of earth.
Who wouldn't want such freedom? Who wouldn't want to escape from society's tangles-from the claws of the corporations, from the stifling love of family?
But tradition, fear, and revenge carry a murderous weight, a gravity that is not so easy to escape. The death of Gradisil's grandfather, floating high in the uplands above earth, was only the beginning. And now the US government is looking up at the new nation above our heads with jealous eyes.

Publishers Weekly

Written like a love-hate letter to American SF, Roberts's latest is a multigenerational saga of space colonization and betrayal. Centered on the life of Gradisil Gyeroffy, it covers the early years of plucky (and/or wealthy) Uplanders, individuals who take up residence in low Earth orbit, through their transforming war with America and Gradi's sacrifices to weld them into a nation. The forward-looking, freedom-oriented space colonists stand in contrast to their tradition-bound, systems-wedded opponents. Roberts (The Snow) suggests that popular access to space is just a technological improvement away, though the government as represented by the USUF (aka the U.S. Upland Force), rather than rugged individuals, would (and should) lead the way. Not surprisingly, this novel of ideas is talky, and it ends on an ambiguous note. Rewarding the patient reader are some witty asides of social changes (like going from one to three to 14 popes) and an unsparing portrait of a social revolution and its costs to the revolutionaries. (Mar.)

Adam Roberts is professor of nineteenth-century literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of six novels: Salt (2000), On (2001), Stone (2002), Polystom (2003), The Snow (2004), and Gradisil (2006), and two novellas Park Polar (2001) and Jupiter Magnified (2003). His first novel, Salt, was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He has also published a number of academic works on both nineteenth-century poetry and SF, as well as five parodies: The Soddit (2003), The McAtrix Derided (2003), The Sellamillion (2004), Star Warped (2005), and The Va Dinci Cod (2005). He lives with his wife and daughter west of London. Visit Adam Roberts's Web site at adamroberts.com.