Rosher.Net

On a rainy birthday day-off, I’ve just enjoyed a rare but delicious hour in a hot bath, and finished off Jack Glass, by Adam Roberts (Kindle version). In my youth I lived on science fiction, and then as the years went by I tended toward fantasy, when I had any time to read non-fiction at all. This is a welcome return to sci-fi, bought on spec, frankly, because of the startlingly colourful book cover (which I then abandoned by buying the Kindle version, all in black on grey!)

I really enjoyed the story, which is a kind of triple how-dunnit.The writing style reminds me of the old Astounding stories, and the melange of sci-fi with crime thriller works well. It took me just a little while to get into the book – the first part is a locked box mystery based around a collection of prisoners and how one gets out. I was into the second section, another enclosed puzzler, before realising the connection. By the time the third story picks up, one more conundrum to solve, I was ready.

The story finished a little sooner than I expected, but really satisfyingly well. I was only at 88% (remember when we had page numbers?) when the book moved into a glossary and then a collection of poems which further build upon the universe in which the story evolves. I doubt this is the only book that will make use of the MOH (a technology of reproduction; modulated ova haptide manipulation!).