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Anticopernicus
A brief novel by the author of "Yellow Blue Tibia" and "New Model Army". 4-chapters in total; only available for e-purchase.
First contact: despite our cosmic littleness, the aliens have come to visit. But they have parked their interstellar craft on the outskirts of the solar system, and despite friendly interaction (their English if fluent and idiomatic) they will come no closer. So an Earth ship, the "Leibniz", crewed by the best and the brightest, begins the slow haul towards the Oort cloud, in the hopes that meeting these alien creatures will answer the most profound questions humanity can ask.
“Anticopernicus” is not their story, though. It is the story of Ange Mlinko, an ordinary individual working the Earth-Mars trade routes, largely uninterested in the arrival of alien intelligences. And because the focus is on her, it remains to be seen whether this short novel can answer the following questions: why have the aliens come? Why won't they come any closer than the furthest edges of the solar system? What does this have to do with the nature of the mysterious ‘dark energy’ pervading the cosmos? What about the celebrated Fermi Paradox? And most pressingly: could Copernicus have been wrong all along?
First contact: despite our cosmic littleness, the aliens have come to visit. But they have parked their interstellar craft on the outskirts of the solar system, and despite friendly interaction (their English if fluent and idiomatic) they will come no closer. So an Earth ship, the "Leibniz", crewed by the best and the brightest, begins the slow haul towards the Oort cloud, in the hopes that meeting these alien creatures will answer the most profound questions humanity can ask.
“Anticopernicus” is not their story, though. It is the story of Ange Mlinko, an ordinary individual working the Earth-Mars trade routes, largely uninterested in the arrival of alien intelligences. And because the focus is on her, it remains to be seen whether this short novel can answer the following questions: why have the aliens come? Why won't they come any closer than the furthest edges of the solar system? What does this have to do with the nature of the mysterious ‘dark energy’ pervading the cosmos? What about the celebrated Fermi Paradox? And most pressingly: could Copernicus have been wrong all along?
38 pages, ebook
First published July 15, 2011
6 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Adam Roberts
237 books566 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Adam Roberts (born 1965) is an academic, critic and novelist. He also writes parodies under the pseudonyms of A.R.R.R. Roberts, A3R Roberts and Don Brine. He also blogs at The Valve, a group blog devoted to literature and cultural studies.
He has a degree in English from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD from Cambridge University on Robert Browning and the Classics. He teaches English literature and creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. Adam Roberts has been nominated twice for the Arthur C. Clarke Award: in 2001, for his debut novel, Salt, and in 2007, for Gradisil.
Adam Roberts (born 1965) is an academic, critic and novelist. He also writes parodies under the pseudonyms of A.R.R.R. Roberts, A3R Roberts and Don Brine. He also blogs at The Valve, a group blog devoted to literature and cultural studies.
He has a degree in English from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD from Cambridge University on Robert Browning and the Classics. He teaches English literature and creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. Adam Roberts has been nominated twice for the Arthur C. Clarke Award: in 2001, for his debut novel, Salt, and in 2007, for Gradisil.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 23, 2014
I finished Adam Roberts Anticopernicus his self-published "dwarf novel" which is 99c on Amazon and similar on Amazon.uk; also available on Wizard Tower if you want an epub
At 15k words I would estimate about 40 print pages, but Anticopernicus reads like a true novel and it has enough stuff to satisfy; a story of first contact including a clever "explanation" of the Fermi paradox and dark energy with the title hinting at what those are, but being Adam Roberts, the strength are style, characters and his musings through the eyes on the main character, a solitary divorced pilot Ange Mlinko who was on the long list for the crew of Leibniz, the ship sent by Earth to the Oort Cloud where the aliens, named Cygnics parked their suddenly appearing vessel and sent a message to Earth to come to them.
While ultimately she is not chosen and not having that much interest in the mission, Ange's pov seems to diverge from the continuing alien saga (it takes a long time for the Earth ship to get to the Oort, so lots of time for the story), but then when she takes a routine cargo job to Mars, well things happen...
As opposed to I what felt the author's long-windiness in New Model Army where his musings about the nature of love/attachment/destiny bored me to no end and sadly they were the core of the novel in many ways taking pretty much the middle of the book when our gay hero is taken prisoner by religious fanatics who want to turn him and they end up discussing about all the above as they were grad lit students in the pub, here I really liked the musings about humanity's place in the universe and the resolution of the novel was in a true sfnal spirit
Very, very good stuff and at 99c worth all the money and more offering in those 40 pages what others offer in 300; as for editing (as in self-published) there was only one typo that jumped at me
Here is the full FBC review:
INTRODUCTION: I never made a secret of my admiration for Adam Roberts the science fiction writer, whatever disagreements I have with his opinions as a reviewer. Mr. Roberts will soon have out By Light Alone which is a big expectation novel of mine to be bought and read on publication and on a recent visit to his website to see if an excerpt of that one is available, I stumbled across the announcement for his first experiment in independent e-publishing, the "dwarf" novel Anticopernicus. Of course that was an immediate buy. Anticopernicus is available on Amazon or Amazon.uk for a very modest price and it is also available on Wizard's Tower if you want an epub.
"A brief novel by the author of "Yellow Blue Tibia" and "New Model Army". 4-chapters in total; only available for e-purchase. First contact: despite our cosmic littleness, the aliens have come to visit. But they have parked their interstellar craft on the outskirts of the solar system, and despite friendly interaction (their English if fluent and idiomatic) they will come no closer. So an Earth ship, the "Leibniz", crewed by the best and the brightest, begins the slow haul towards the Oort cloud, in the hopes that meeting these alien creatures will answer the most profound questions humanity can ask. “Anticopernicus” is not their story, though. It is the story of Ange Mlinko, an ordinary individual working the Earth-Mars trade routes, largely uninterested in the arrival of alien intelligences. And because the focus is on her, it remains to be seen whether this short novel can answer the following questions: why have the aliens come? Why won't they come any closer than the furthest edges of the solar system? What does this have to do with the nature of the mysterious ‘dark energy’ pervading the cosmos? What about the celebrated Fermi Paradox? And most pressingly: could Copernicus have been wrong all along?"
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: At ~15k words I would estimate Anticopernicus is the equivalent of about 40 print pages, but it reads like a true novel and it has enough stuff to satisfy. The novel is a story of first contact including a clever "explanation" of the Fermi paradox and dark energy with the title hinting at what those are, but being an Adam Roberts book, the strength are style, characters and his musings through the eyes on the main character, a solitary divorced pilot Ange Mlinko who was on the long list for the crew of Leibniz, the ship sent by Earth to the Oort Cloud where the aliens, named Cygnics parked their suddenly appearing vessel and sent a message to Earth to come to them.
While ultimately she is not chosen and in consequence she stops having much interest in the mission which is the talk of almost everyone on Earth, as potentially changing life and all as we know them, Ange's pov seems to diverge from the continuing alien saga- it takes a long time for the Earth ship to get to the Oort, so lots of time for the story. But there are bills to be paid, a house to be maintained, so she takes a routine cargo job to Mars with two quite different crew-mates, Ostriker of the loud voice and strong opinions and the elderly, quieter Maurice, and well things happen...
This part is the core of the novel and it combines action with musings about humanity's place in the universe. While the story keeps the characters at arm length emotionally, I really liked Ange and her seeming detachment and solitude, though as the story progresses we come to see her as really interesting and enjoying her life. Ostriker is clearly a foil for both Ange and the author's opinions, so we are inexorably drawn to dislike her, but ultimately she is still a crewmate of Ange and the heroine has to make peace with that.
Anticopernicus (A+) is very good stuff and worth all the money and more, since it offers in those 40 pages what others offer in 300, while it has a great resolution in true sfnal spirit. Despite being self published, the editing was top notch too, with only one typo that jumped at me. Highly recommended as a blend of literary fiction, space sf and musings on humanity and our place in the Universe. Since the style is so Adam Roberts, I think Anticopernicus serves as a very good introduction to the work of the author, so I also suggest to give it a try if you want to see why I rate Adam Roberts in my top 10 list of contemporary sf writers.
At 15k words I would estimate about 40 print pages, but Anticopernicus reads like a true novel and it has enough stuff to satisfy; a story of first contact including a clever "explanation" of the Fermi paradox and dark energy with the title hinting at what those are, but being Adam Roberts, the strength are style, characters and his musings through the eyes on the main character, a solitary divorced pilot Ange Mlinko who was on the long list for the crew of Leibniz, the ship sent by Earth to the Oort Cloud where the aliens, named Cygnics parked their suddenly appearing vessel and sent a message to Earth to come to them.
While ultimately she is not chosen and not having that much interest in the mission, Ange's pov seems to diverge from the continuing alien saga (it takes a long time for the Earth ship to get to the Oort, so lots of time for the story), but then when she takes a routine cargo job to Mars, well things happen...
As opposed to I what felt the author's long-windiness in New Model Army where his musings about the nature of love/attachment/destiny bored me to no end and sadly they were the core of the novel in many ways taking pretty much the middle of the book when our gay hero is taken prisoner by religious fanatics who want to turn him and they end up discussing about all the above as they were grad lit students in the pub, here I really liked the musings about humanity's place in the universe and the resolution of the novel was in a true sfnal spirit
Very, very good stuff and at 99c worth all the money and more offering in those 40 pages what others offer in 300; as for editing (as in self-published) there was only one typo that jumped at me
Here is the full FBC review:
INTRODUCTION: I never made a secret of my admiration for Adam Roberts the science fiction writer, whatever disagreements I have with his opinions as a reviewer. Mr. Roberts will soon have out By Light Alone which is a big expectation novel of mine to be bought and read on publication and on a recent visit to his website to see if an excerpt of that one is available, I stumbled across the announcement for his first experiment in independent e-publishing, the "dwarf" novel Anticopernicus. Of course that was an immediate buy. Anticopernicus is available on Amazon or Amazon.uk for a very modest price and it is also available on Wizard's Tower if you want an epub.
"A brief novel by the author of "Yellow Blue Tibia" and "New Model Army". 4-chapters in total; only available for e-purchase. First contact: despite our cosmic littleness, the aliens have come to visit. But they have parked their interstellar craft on the outskirts of the solar system, and despite friendly interaction (their English if fluent and idiomatic) they will come no closer. So an Earth ship, the "Leibniz", crewed by the best and the brightest, begins the slow haul towards the Oort cloud, in the hopes that meeting these alien creatures will answer the most profound questions humanity can ask. “Anticopernicus” is not their story, though. It is the story of Ange Mlinko, an ordinary individual working the Earth-Mars trade routes, largely uninterested in the arrival of alien intelligences. And because the focus is on her, it remains to be seen whether this short novel can answer the following questions: why have the aliens come? Why won't they come any closer than the furthest edges of the solar system? What does this have to do with the nature of the mysterious ‘dark energy’ pervading the cosmos? What about the celebrated Fermi Paradox? And most pressingly: could Copernicus have been wrong all along?"
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: At ~15k words I would estimate Anticopernicus is the equivalent of about 40 print pages, but it reads like a true novel and it has enough stuff to satisfy. The novel is a story of first contact including a clever "explanation" of the Fermi paradox and dark energy with the title hinting at what those are, but being an Adam Roberts book, the strength are style, characters and his musings through the eyes on the main character, a solitary divorced pilot Ange Mlinko who was on the long list for the crew of Leibniz, the ship sent by Earth to the Oort Cloud where the aliens, named Cygnics parked their suddenly appearing vessel and sent a message to Earth to come to them.
While ultimately she is not chosen and in consequence she stops having much interest in the mission which is the talk of almost everyone on Earth, as potentially changing life and all as we know them, Ange's pov seems to diverge from the continuing alien saga- it takes a long time for the Earth ship to get to the Oort, so lots of time for the story. But there are bills to be paid, a house to be maintained, so she takes a routine cargo job to Mars with two quite different crew-mates, Ostriker of the loud voice and strong opinions and the elderly, quieter Maurice, and well things happen...
This part is the core of the novel and it combines action with musings about humanity's place in the universe. While the story keeps the characters at arm length emotionally, I really liked Ange and her seeming detachment and solitude, though as the story progresses we come to see her as really interesting and enjoying her life. Ostriker is clearly a foil for both Ange and the author's opinions, so we are inexorably drawn to dislike her, but ultimately she is still a crewmate of Ange and the heroine has to make peace with that.
Anticopernicus (A+) is very good stuff and worth all the money and more, since it offers in those 40 pages what others offer in 300, while it has a great resolution in true sfnal spirit. Despite being self published, the editing was top notch too, with only one typo that jumped at me. Highly recommended as a blend of literary fiction, space sf and musings on humanity and our place in the Universe. Since the style is so Adam Roberts, I think Anticopernicus serves as a very good introduction to the work of the author, so I also suggest to give it a try if you want to see why I rate Adam Roberts in my top 10 list of contemporary sf writers.
September 2, 2012
Anticopernicus is a cheap short story/novella about first contact, with some intriguing differences between humans and potential other human races, and some interesting speculation about current science. It's pretty well written: despite my science-stupid brain, I could follow the story quite easily, even though it's playing with things we don't actually understand.
For a short story, it's absorbing, complete in itself, and worth thinking about, which is pretty much all I ask from a short story. (I don't expect world-building, huge amounts of backstory, multiple characters with depth, etc -- and they aren't present here: there's just enough of each to make it interesting.)
For a short story, it's absorbing, complete in itself, and worth thinking about, which is pretty much all I ask from a short story. (I don't expect world-building, huge amounts of backstory, multiple characters with depth, etc -- and they aren't present here: there's just enough of each to make it interesting.)
August 8, 2011
In less than 50 pages, this first contact story feels more like an accomplished novel than many 1000 page books.
May 1, 2025
interesting
More of a deep dive, this one. In terms of its themes and ideas, the novella fits nicely with Roberts’ longer work The This.
More of a deep dive, this one. In terms of its themes and ideas, the novella fits nicely with Roberts’ longer work The This.
July 13, 2017
This was a very clever idea. Too short really to be a novel but it's SF, and SF is a literature of ideas. The central point in this novel is precisely why Copernicus was wrong. To explain the arguments would be to spoil the story Rest assured though that Ange, while seeming superfluous is in a way of crucial importance. In another way though, perhaps not at all.
Not only does Mr Roberts explain why Copernicus was wrong, he also explains dark matter and dark energy and even solves the Fermi paradox. An excellent achievement in four chapters.
Not only does Mr Roberts explain why Copernicus was wrong, he also explains dark matter and dark energy and even solves the Fermi paradox. An excellent achievement in four chapters.
December 4, 2024
Contains Spoilers
What a wonderful novelette! And only for 99 cents, WTH?!!
If you appreciate imbibing philosophy via story rather than argued through dense monographs-- then look no further. Anticopernicus, like Voltaire's Candide, delivers a philosophical punch in a handful of pages. With Adams, it's not the nature evil but a creative take on the anthropic principle against the background of a cold equations scenario.
What a wonderful novelette! And only for 99 cents, WTH?!!
If you appreciate imbibing philosophy via story rather than argued through dense monographs-- then look no further. Anticopernicus, like Voltaire's Candide, delivers a philosophical punch in a handful of pages. With Adams, it's not the nature evil but a creative take on the anthropic principle against the background of a cold equations scenario.
July 10, 2018
Fun and thought-provoking, as all of Roberts' work. But very clever. And brief. :)
February 22, 2024
Quick read
I have read this before maybe in a collection of short stories? It's based on an interesting idea and well worth the time reading
I have read this before maybe in a collection of short stories? It's based on an interesting idea and well worth the time reading
October 23, 2012
This is a long short story, a novella that has the tight focused flavour of classic sf - before the bloat. I was sort of expecting not to have the encounter at all but when it happened there was enough of an interesting idea that I didn't mind. The female main character is almost a meta-commentary on the older male sf characters - I like the psychology used to create this modern version.
I read this as a part of the Writer and Critic Podcast on self-published ebooks (episode 24)and, apart from "Paintwork" by Tim Maughan which I haven't read yet, it was by far the best of the lot. That Roberts was the ringer of the group, a writer who has been through the traditional publishing process before trying this experiment of putting this story out by himself, MAY speak volumes about what kind of additional skills and quality that are added by working with editors -- or he may just be the superior writer of the bunch. So no definitive lesson from the experience, but interesting data. I will certainly try more work from Roberts.
I read this as a part of the Writer and Critic Podcast on self-published ebooks (episode 24)and, apart from "Paintwork" by Tim Maughan which I haven't read yet, it was by far the best of the lot. That Roberts was the ringer of the group, a writer who has been through the traditional publishing process before trying this experiment of putting this story out by himself, MAY speak volumes about what kind of additional skills and quality that are added by working with editors -- or he may just be the superior writer of the bunch. So no definitive lesson from the experience, but interesting data. I will certainly try more work from Roberts.
January 22, 2012
A short novel from one of my favourite authors, available only as an ebook, and well worth reading. As he usually does, Roberts takes one central idea from science fiction, and explores it. In this case, it is the Fermi paradox, which he manages to solve in the most original way I've yet heard of, along the way overturning Copernicus.
July 2, 2012
Recommended for science fiction readers who are into "big ideas". Well written, but since I read this immediately after Yellow Blue Tibia, which I rated 5 stars, not that much to my taste.
July 22, 2011
Quite short, but then it was also 99 cents. I read and enjoy this author's blog, so I decided to get the book on my Kindle. The story was interesting and the prose occasionally pretty great (and otherwise good).
I'm not sure yet if this one will stick with me, but it just might.
I'm not sure yet if this one will stick with me, but it just might.
May 22, 2012
SPOILER: I'm not a huge fan of the anthropocentric payoff, but, on the other hand, I like that it takes anthropocentrism to the highest degree possible. Absolutely brilliant opening, suitable for teaching in an object-oriented ontology or ecocritical environment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2016
It wasn't bad, but it didn't grab me like I hoped. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for the message? Taking the story as non-literal probably would have made me like it more, but now that I'm done I can't really be bothered to retrofit a crazy theory to it.
But I always enjoy a first contact story.
But I always enjoy a first contact story.
September 11, 2011
This is a small book about the loneliness and inconsequence of life, told in the frame of a SF first contact story. It's a satire of our meaninglessness and the meaning of meaning.
September 4, 2013
I like the fresh ideas about universes and reality. It puts the fi back in the sci or does it ... ?
January 25, 2025
Small novella which centers around one idea to explain many others. It's a bit dry but gets the message across and stirs the mind; not a small achievement for such a tiny novel.
March 29, 2017
I really appreciate the economy here: a mystery that sets up a genuinely mind-blowing revelation, coupled with a neat little character arc, all in fifty pages. BOOM.
A surprising number of typos, though.
A surprising number of typos, though.
January 29, 2019
Writing style: Meh
Idea/Payoff: Excellent
Saw some good reviews and as it was 99 cents decided to give this a try. The writing style is not particularly to my taste, and as much as halfway through, though I liked the main character, I was thinking this was going to be a 2 maybe a 3 star rating. However, it's short, about 15k words according to the author's website, and so I kept going. I'm very glad I did, because the idea behind this story is brilliant. I won't really say more than that, it's short and cheap, just read it. 4 to 4.5 stars. (The deduction is purely for stylistic reasons.)
Idea/Payoff: Excellent
Saw some good reviews and as it was 99 cents decided to give this a try. The writing style is not particularly to my taste, and as much as halfway through, though I liked the main character, I was thinking this was going to be a 2 maybe a 3 star rating. However, it's short, about 15k words according to the author's website, and so I kept going. I'm very glad I did, because the idea behind this story is brilliant. I won't really say more than that, it's short and cheap, just read it. 4 to 4.5 stars. (The deduction is purely for stylistic reasons.)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews