The Thing Itself

by Adam Roberts

Overview

Adam Roberts turns his attention to answering the Fermi Paradox with a taut and claustrophobic tale that echoes John Carpenters' The Thing.

Two men while away the days in an Antarctic research station. Tensions between them build as they argue over a love-letter one of them has received. One is practical and open. The other surly, superior and obsessed with reading one book - by the philosopher Kant.

As a storm brews and they lose contact with the outside world they debate Kant, reality and the emptiness of the universe. The come to hate each other, and they learn that they are not alone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780575127746
Publisher:	Orion
Publication date:	12/17/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Adam Roberts is commonly described as one of the UK's most important writers of SF. He is the author of numerous novels and literary parodies. He is Professor of 19th Century Literature at Royal Holloway, London University and has written a number of critical works on both SF and 19th Century poetry. He is a contributor to the SF ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Table of Contents

1 Thing and Sick [Unity] 1

2 Baedeker's Fermi [Plurality] 32

3 The Institute [Totality] 48

4 Penelope's Mother [Affirmation] 105

5 Broadmoor [Negation] 115

6 A Solid Gold Penny [Limitation] 139

7 Pursuit [Substance and Accident] 193

8 The Fansoc for Catching Oldfashioned Diseases [Causality] 239

9 A Dialogue in Four Parts [Community] 252

10 The Last Three Days of the Time War [Possibility and Impossibility] 280

11 Seek, and Thing [Existence and non-existence] 303

12 The Professor [Necessity] 343

Editorial Reviews

A remarkable novel: both gripping and intellectually exciting.—George Monbiot

A time-travelling nerd applies Kant with lethal results in this dazzling philosophical adventure...this is really walking the literary high wire, and Roberts not only keeps his balance, he makes the spectacle compelling—The Guardian

using lit-fic techniques and by not playing by the genre rules, [Roberts] rises to the challenge that Mitchell sets down—SFX

The Thing Itself is evidence of Adam Roberts' inimitable brilliance.—Tor.com

I can't think of another such ostentatiously clever novel that is so dramatically successful.—Julian Baggini

I do appreciate a novel that makes me think while also entertaining me. The Thing Itself marries the two to perfection. There is so much packed within these pages and, without doubt, it's one of those memorable novels that will stand to repeated readings over the passing of time. A book of the year for me, for sure.—For Winter's Nights

Personally, I found it deeply fascinating...The closest reference point for me was Philip K. Dick's VALIS trilogy which fits in the same general literary area but "The Thing Itself" is definitely much more fun.—Upcoming 4 Me

From the Publisher