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Sibilant Fricative: Essays and Reviews
“Adam Roberts makes everything wonderful. If he wrote non-fiction about drying paint, I would still be the first in line to read it.” – Jared Shurin of Pornokitsch.
An award winning author in his own right, Adam Roberts makes no concessions when appraising the work of others. His reviews are honest, forthright, and never timid. In Sibilant Fricative Adam considers a broad spectrum of speculative fiction, from fantasy to science fiction, from literature to films. The book opens with insightful consideration of Philip K Dick’s oeuvre followed by Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, and closes with a volume-by-volume analysis of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time opus. Along the way we stop off for a review by text among other amusements – one thing the author never loses sight of is the need to entertain.
“Titan is one of the blandest pieces of fiction I have come across in four decades of reading novels. If the Campbell shortlist is a high-class curry restaurant of delicious, spicy and stimulating food, then Titan is a single slice of white bread and margarine on a white plate under the neon light of a truck drivers’ café.” (on Titan by Ben Bova)
“Let me see if I can boil down Crossroads of Twilight’s 700-pages for you. Drivel. There you go.” (on Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan)
An award winning author in his own right, Adam Roberts makes no concessions when appraising the work of others. His reviews are honest, forthright, and never timid. In Sibilant Fricative Adam considers a broad spectrum of speculative fiction, from fantasy to science fiction, from literature to films. The book opens with insightful consideration of Philip K Dick’s oeuvre followed by Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, and closes with a volume-by-volume analysis of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time opus. Along the way we stop off for a review by text among other amusements – one thing the author never loses sight of is the need to entertain.
“Titan is one of the blandest pieces of fiction I have come across in four decades of reading novels. If the Campbell shortlist is a high-class curry restaurant of delicious, spicy and stimulating food, then Titan is a single slice of white bread and margarine on a white plate under the neon light of a truck drivers’ café.” (on Titan by Ben Bova)
“Let me see if I can boil down Crossroads of Twilight’s 700-pages for you. Drivel. There you go.” (on Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan)
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
7 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Adam Roberts
238 books567 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 26, 2018
"What are you reading, Maggie?"
"A man with a doctorate complains about books he doesn't like for 300 pages."
And lo, it was good.
P.S. Victor you can have your book back now
"A man with a doctorate complains about books he doesn't like for 300 pages."
And lo, it was good.
P.S. Victor you can have your book back now
March 22, 2021
Although I'm not sure about Roberts’s fiction so far, I'm sold on his criticism, which is funny and incisive. The best thing in this collection is probably his critical read-through of the entire Wheel of Time sequence, which, if you don’t remember it, absolutely dominated bookshelves of a certain ilk in the ’90s and consists mostly of painful attempts to recreate a Tolkien-esque atmosphere which fail because they’re not grounded in anything like intellectual coherence. Roberts’s increasing despair is articulated with precision and force. He’s also good on Philip K Dick, Neal Stephenson, Ursula K LeGuin and Tolkien himself.
If you like what I write (and I freely concede that this particular reading diary entry may have been of no use to you at all, but maybe it diverted you from spreadsheets for a minute or two), why not buy me a coffee?
If you like what I write (and I freely concede that this particular reading diary entry may have been of no use to you at all, but maybe it diverted you from spreadsheets for a minute or two), why not buy me a coffee?
September 24, 2014
I follow Adam Robert's blog and actively seek out his articles and reviews where they appear elsewhere. He is one of SF's most entertaining and interesting critics. He is not afraid to say negative stuff about a book but everything he says is backed up and presented in a way that you are free to disagree with.
He does have a tendency sometimes to go for easy targets or to go to extreme lengths for reviewing a book that is sometimes undeserving of his level of analysis or even just time. For instance he didnt really like the first wheel of time book but went on to read and review all of the ones that Jordan wrote - a huge undertaking greater than reading everything in the Gollanz SF masterwork AND fantasy series I think. Why spend so much time reading books you do not like just for an entertaining review....
He is one of the few critics who expects and challenges a writer not just about their plots and characters and ideas but also about their actual writing - something that should happen far more in the genre.
He does have a tendency sometimes to go for easy targets or to go to extreme lengths for reviewing a book that is sometimes undeserving of his level of analysis or even just time. For instance he didnt really like the first wheel of time book but went on to read and review all of the ones that Jordan wrote - a huge undertaking greater than reading everything in the Gollanz SF masterwork AND fantasy series I think. Why spend so much time reading books you do not like just for an entertaining review....
He is one of the few critics who expects and challenges a writer not just about their plots and characters and ideas but also about their actual writing - something that should happen far more in the genre.
November 19, 2021
I loved the author's Wheel of Time reviews on his now-defunct blog, and was hoping for more of that. I thought he had implied he'd read the Brandon Sanderson finale and include that review in this book, but alas, he didn't. So this book just has the same WoT material that was already in the blog. Fair enough.
That said... It felt fine for the WoT reviews to be condescending and snarky: Robert Jordan made the conscious decision to make a fortune churning out an endless series of crappy phone-book-sized novels, and deserves to be called out for it. Similarly with the review of Anathem, which is likewise an indulgent phone-book by someone who should know better and deserves to be panned.
But many of the other reviews in this volume are ALSO occasionally condescending and snarky, in a way that seems less appropriate for some of the other authors being reviewed. Some of it's still amusing; at other times it seems mean-spirited; and very often there's a grating showing-off of erudition.
The few positive reviews that *did* make me want to read new books were for How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, In Great Waters, Osama, The Islanders, and Lavinia.
That said... It felt fine for the WoT reviews to be condescending and snarky: Robert Jordan made the conscious decision to make a fortune churning out an endless series of crappy phone-book-sized novels, and deserves to be called out for it. Similarly with the review of Anathem, which is likewise an indulgent phone-book by someone who should know better and deserves to be panned.
But many of the other reviews in this volume are ALSO occasionally condescending and snarky, in a way that seems less appropriate for some of the other authors being reviewed. Some of it's still amusing; at other times it seems mean-spirited; and very often there's a grating showing-off of erudition.
The few positive reviews that *did* make me want to read new books were for How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, In Great Waters, Osama, The Islanders, and Lavinia.
November 4, 2021
Adam Roberts' reviews on science fiction and fantasy books (and a few movies)
These reviews are extremely entertaining while also giving you solid reasons for why he felt the way he did about each of them. I particularly enjoyed his review of every book written by Robert Jordan in the Wheel of Times series - I am definitely less inclined to start that slog after this.
I liked Roberts' "Jack Glass" book and now I can see how he thinks: he prefers books that challenge the reader rather than 'fluffy and cozy' books. "Jack Glass" was definitely tough. It's rare that I find a book where I have to look up words (never had I seen the word 'ort' used before!) like I did in that fiction work. I'll be seeking out more of the author's reviews.
These reviews are extremely entertaining while also giving you solid reasons for why he felt the way he did about each of them. I particularly enjoyed his review of every book written by Robert Jordan in the Wheel of Times series - I am definitely less inclined to start that slog after this.
I liked Roberts' "Jack Glass" book and now I can see how he thinks: he prefers books that challenge the reader rather than 'fluffy and cozy' books. "Jack Glass" was definitely tough. It's rare that I find a book where I have to look up words (never had I seen the word 'ort' used before!) like I did in that fiction work. I'll be seeking out more of the author's reviews.
October 1, 2022
Collection of reviews previously published on Adam Roberts’ Punkadiddle blog (now defunct). I had read these as they were posted in 2008, and bought this mainly to get a copy of his Anathem review. The rest of the reviews are mostly ok, but tend toward snark for the sake of snark, which is ok for blogging, but maybe not so great when actually published as criticism. I was also reminded of Scalzi’s maxim of the failure mode of clever, though I might contend Roberts doesn’t quite hit asshole mode and just settles at the eyerollingly annoying mark. (Six instances of a “Reggie” Perrin joke are at least 5 too many, and I say this as someone who actually knows who Reginald Perrin is.)
November 20, 2021
A very entertaining look at the popular culture, primarily in prose and setting foot in a lot of genre fiction. Unlike a lot of critics with a slightly higher brow, he admits to and revels in his enjoyment of all levels of popular culture. Particular standouts are Lost (I love it, I get the criticisms, and I'm pleased with the takes the author had here), Iron Man, a Warhammer 40k book, The City and The City and Wheel of Time, which I bought this specifically to read the reviews of.
November 3, 2022
A great way to discover a number of interesting Sci-Fi books: Roberts' reviews of them are generally enthusiastic, even when the books aren't necessarily as well-written as they might be. His writing on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time shows how unedited writing, poor structure, weak narrative and unoriginal ideas can still become bestsellers. And how such books can have huge numbers of fans. You'll be as amazed as Roberts is, I'd think!
July 24, 2023
Wordsmith as swordsmith
Wow! This is like watching a train accident especially his review of the Wheel of Time series(that being a 14 box car crash). His words cut and slash. The humour is so good that I found myself reading passages aloud to my suffering family.
Wow! This is like watching a train accident especially his review of the Wheel of Time series(that being a 14 box car crash). His words cut and slash. The humour is so good that I found myself reading passages aloud to my suffering family.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews