adam roberts Archives - Tachyon Publications

December 12, 2018

Lavie Tidhar’s stunning, thrilling UNHOLY LAND continues its assault on Best of the Year lists

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized adam roberts, best of 2018, books bones & buffy, chile, crime time, la tercera, lavie tidhar, maxim jakubowski, review, sarah anne langton, spike gelato, the book lover's boudoir, The Guardian, the speculative shelf, unholy land

The notices pile up for Lavie Tidhar’s enthralling UNHOLY LAND.

THE GUARDIAN, CRIME TIME (selected by Maxim Jakubowski without comment), and THE SPECULATIVE SHELF all select the novel as one of the best books of the year.

THE GUARDIAN (Adam Roberts):

Lavie Tidhar’s UNHOLY LAND (Tachyon) extrapolates from the historical plan to establish Israel in east Africa rather than Palestine. It’s a gripping thriller: clever, bloody, ironic and twisted.

THE SPECULATIVE SHELF (Spike Gelato):

UNHOLY LAND is a stunning achievement. It is packed to the brim with engaging ideas and features a captivating story that I could not stop puzzling over. There is such an ethereal and intoxicating quality to the story and Tidhar’s writing that I found myself floating through the chapters, not always sure what was happening, or whose perspective we were seeing, but knowing that I wanted to keep reading. The intersecting story threads twisted my brain into a pretzel and I loved it.

Photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013

THE BOOK LOVER’S BOUDOIR praises the work.

I really enjoyed this book though it baffled me at times. UNHOLY LAND is about a dozen different things at once and I never really knew what to expect. In one breath I was reading a noir mystery then the next page I was caught up in an alternate history and before I could say WTF I found myself reading about multiple earths. This is truly remarkable and unique book. I had no idea what was going to happen or where the author was going to lead (or drag me) next.This is a truly unique and interesting reading experience. I loved every page.I definitely want to read more by this author.

BOOKS, BONES & BUFFY enjoys the challenging book.

Tidhar’s latest is a challenging but ultimately satisfying read that deals with histories, both real and imagined.

Reading a Lavie Tidhar book is like being in a fever dream. Events, characters, places and impressions swirl around you, creating a sense of unease, or confusion, or sadness. Tidhar pieces the parts of his stories together with magical thread, and connections which seem tenuous at first turn out to make sense later on. I’m in awe of his writing abilities, and although this book may be classified as speculative fiction, I can see this sitting comfortably on a shelf alongside more traditional literary works.

For more info on UNHOLY LAND, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

December 1, 2016

Accolades keep rolling in for Lavie Tidhar’s gorgeous CENTRAL STATION

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized adam roberts, asimov's science fiction magazine 30th anniversary anthology, best of 2016, central station, lavie tidhar, peter heck, review, sarah anne langton, science fiction, shelf inflicted, The Guardian, view from ascraeus

At THE GUARDIAN, Adam Roberts names Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION as one of the best science fiction and fantasy books of 2016.

Of course, the main barrier to a properly global SF remains the anglophone biases of culture and fandom, which give an advantage to writers who work in English. Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION (Tachyon), a sprawling hymn to the glory and mess of cultural diversity set in a future spaceport Tel Aviv, is one example: Israeli-born Tidhar lives in London and writes in English.

Peter Heck in the December issue of
ASIMOV’S
SCIENCE FICTION enjoys the book.

Tidhar follows several such characters, offering a view of the station from each of their perspectives. Several have some connection in the past, notably a love story between an older couple, Boris Chong and an African woman named Miriam Jones. We learn they were lovers long ago before Chong emigrated to Mars. Now he’s back.

The other characters cover a wide range of origins and types; many of them are scrambling to make some kind of living in the strange world that has grown up around this crossroads of the universe.

Back in the 1950s, one critic (Kinglsey Amis? Michel Butor? Tell me if you remember who) observed that the aliens in much American SF had more in common with their readers than the average Mexican did. Here’s a writer who can hardly be accused of that—and yet, even Tidhar’s most alien beings have a share of humanity. Tidhar’s well worth a look if you want an idea of what the next generation of SF is going to look like.

Photo: Kevin Nixon. © Future Publishing 2013

VIEW FROM ASCRAEUS recommends the novel.

For a novel this is, and it is a wonderful thing all by itself. Set around the grand interplanetary Central Station of a far future Israel, this novel ties a loosely connected group of marginalised people into a cohesive examination of identity and history. This feels more like magical realism than SF, given that there isn’t so much a plot rather than a theme, where each fragment binds together into a beautiful tapestry of life.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, lost myself utterly in the world that Tidhar has created. I’ve been falling out of love with SF in recent years, but this book, and some others I’ll be reviewing shortly, have given me renewed hope for the genre. That isn’t to say that this is perfect, it isn’t: it could do with some sort of payoff to conclude the novel, for example, as opposed to just meandering off in med res.

I happily recommend this to your consideration.

SHELF INFLICTED praises the work.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven’t been inspired to write lately, or read, or anything really (except football manager 2017, but that’s a different story altogether) But in my long journey to try and put ideas from brain box A to real world B, I read something that either takes me to places I really want to go…ORRRRRRR they show me a glimpse of the future.

Mr. Tidhar did both, a gorgeous vision of what more likely than not will be the world to come and beautifully written to boot.

Do me a favor and yourself, if you haven’t read this..do.

For more info about CENTRAL STATION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

December 4, 2015

The enthralling SLOW BULLETS is one of the best books of the year

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized adam roberts, alastair reynolds, barbera bella, best of 2015, elan samuel, elizabeth story, military science fiction, novella, review, science fiction, slow bullets, space opera, The Guardian, Thomas Canty, warbler

(Photo: Barbera Bella)

For THE GUARDIAN, Adam Roberts named his best science fiction and fantasy books of 2015, which included Alastair Reynolds’ SLOW BULLETS.

Alastair Reynolds’s SLOW BULLETS (Tachyon) is a treat: a punchy short novel set in the aftermath of an interstellar war.

Elan Samuel of the WARBLER loved the book, as well.

The story that SLOW BULLETS became had me enthralled—it is full of tension, confusion, fear, horror, and loss. It fascinated and inspired me. Most of all, I really, really enjoyed it. With SLOW BULLETS, I’ve become a fan of Alastair Reynolds. if science fiction, mystery, and political thrillers intrigue you, I highly recommend SLOW BULLETS. It’ll sate your hunger as it did mine.

For more info about SLOW BULLETS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty

Design by Elizabeth Story