The Compelled

by Adam Roberts, François Schuiten (illustrator)

Arthur C. Clarke Award-nominated writer Adam Roberts (The Thing Itself) and François Schuiten, recipient of the Angoulême International Comics Festival’s prestigious lifetime achievement award, present The Compelled, part one of a two-part a sci-fi novella series and the first book-length science fiction publication that Schuiten has illustrated. A mysterious change has occurred in humanity. Nobody knows how, why or exactly when this change came about, but disparate, seemingly unconnected people have become afflicted with the uncontrollable desire to take objects and move them to other places, where the objects gather and begin to form increasingly alien, monolithic structures that appear to have vast technological implications. Some of the objects are innocuous everyday things—like a butter knife taken still greasy from a breakfast table or a dented cap popped off a bottle of beer. Others are far more complex—like the turbine of an experimental jet engine or the core of a mysterious weapon left over from the darkest days of WWII. Where is the Compulsion coming from? And—possibly more importantly—when the machines they’re building finally turn on, what are they going to do? "The Compelled is a gorgeous-looking e-book written by Adam Roberts with wonderfully atmospheric illustrations by François Schuiten that have an almost retro-Victorian look to them. … The fabulous illustrations of various partly constructed edifices are matched by the wonderfully colourful language in Adam Roberts’ trademark style. He plays with homonyms and synonyms, pronunciation and the misheard words of conversations to add a flowing, rhythmic pace to the plot. The book has a steady and progressive pace that builds up momentum and tension… I’m fascinated to see what happens next."—SF CROWSNEST "Visually gorgeous and highly recommended" —WASHINGTON POST About the authors Adam Roberts is often described as one of the UK's most important writers of science fiction. He has been nominated three times for the Arthur C. Clarke in 2001 for his debut novel Salt, in 2007 for Gradisil, and in 2010 for Yellow Blue Tibia. He has won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, as well as the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel. Roberts reviews science fiction for The Guardian and is a contributor to the SF ENCYCLOPEDIA. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His science fiction has been praised by many critics both inside and outside the genre, with some comparing him to genre authors such as Pel Torro, John E. Muller, and Karl Zeigfreid. François Schuiten is a Belgian comic artist who was born into a family of architects. Since 1980, he has worked with Benoît Peeters on The Obscure Cities series. His graphic novels have been translated into a dozen languages and have received numerous international awards. He has also created many illustrations, posters and postage stamps across Europe. In 2002, he received the prestigious lifetime achievement award from the Angouleme festival. He published his first solo effort, The Beauty, in 2012, and designed a train museum, Train World, which opened in Brussels in 2015. His 2014 exhibition and accompanying book, Revoir Paris, met with international praise. In 2019 his adaptation of the long-running French comic Blake and Mortimer was a runaway French comics industry bestseller, selling over 300,000 copies.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

166 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2020

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Sportyrod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creative sci-fi scenario: people are becoming “Compelled” to bring an object to a cairn-like pile, and attach it to what’s there. The people who become compelled only deal with one object and then revert back to their normal self. In time, these piles become enormous structures.

No-one knows how it started or why and if the compelled are controlled by aliens etc. Some compelled people go to great lengths to achieve their mission, including scrapping aeroplane parts, stealing and breaking the law. One person stole a microphone from a stand-up comedian even (so it’s humourous). Also funny how in some people the compelled aren’t arrested as they have no self control, hence annoying people commit crimes and say they are compelled. And pervs using the excuse too.

If people are making the latest version of the pyramids, why not compel everyone instead of some?

Unfortunately I can’t answer any of these questions as the last line said, “to be continued…” and it was only then I realised it was part one of 2 😢. And part 2 was only just published late last year and hasn’t been translated into English yet. Humph.

The characters were fine but not interacting interestingly and the plot was quite thin. All about the compelled missions and posing philosophical questions but not much in terms of not just going from a to b to c. Perhaps part one was the build up and it will pick up energy.

Possibly an allegory: for uncontrollable urges, instincts, ways of life.

Not as good as Jack Glass but better than High by same author.

[Carlex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that I was interested in this novel a bit because of the recent silly viral phenomenon of the monoliths. However, the subject of compulsion is very interesting, although it is not totally new to me.

The story is good and Adam Roberts's writing makes it very suggestive, and François Schuiten's drawings are an excellent complement. I'm expecting to see if it develops equally well in the next novella, since I must warn that the novel ends in an absolute cliffhanger and at this moment, although I look forward to it, I do not see any sequel announced.

[Paul Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Roberts is the king of High Concept Science Fiction. His novels tend to be based on a single odd concept which he uses as a jumping off point to explore society, attitudes and people; in On, a civilisation that lives in caves and on ledges on an apparently endless cliff, in The Snow a weird apocalypse caused by eternal snowfall that buries the entire surface of the Earth to hundreds of metres.



In The Compelled, the world has been gripped by "The Compulsion", where random individuals are overtaken by the irresistible urge to take seemingly arbitrary items and collect them in huge sculptures, illustrated at the beginning of each chapter with wonderfully geometric otherworldliness by Belgian graphic novelist François Schuiten.



There are as many theories as sculptures (or machines?) - that it is the work of demons or aliens or Gaia herself - but as we join the story the world has largely come to terms with the Compelled and their actions, albeit that the world economy is in recession due to the disruption caused. Police have learnt to deal with the not-theft and have procedures to differentiate from those who are simply crooks using it as an excuse, and some nations give licences to those who have demonstrated they are true victims of the Compulsion.



Chapters alternate through a disparate section of society, all Compelled or Compelled-adjacent, such as the social worker whose job it is to determine Compelled from Chancer (someone demanding all the cash from a bank or to have sex with a certain movie star because they say they are "compelled to do so" seems eye-rollingly common).



As so often with Roberts' work, what could be silly in other hands is turned, by the depth and deftness of his insights and quality of his writing, into something quite special and moving.



Roberts doesn't always nail the dismount, occasionally leaving things feeling unfinished. In this case that is literally situation as just as it seems we might be gaining some insight into what is really going on, he hits us with

"TO BE CONTINUED..."


Personally, I hope he doesn't leave us hanging too long, as I bloody loved this book.


4.5 stars

[Runalong · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual and gorgeously illustrated ebook that captures the feeling of a mystery show like Lost or Fringe in novella form. A global compulsion for people to build strange objects reaches its final phase but is is for good or Ill? Well worth a look and the artwork and writing really ensures the book equals any visual attempt on tv

Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What first drew me to this novella was the promise of illustrations by Schuiten whose bande dessinée work I adore. These were nice enough but nowhere near what I had hoped for.

The story is intriguing. The concept of people being compelled to move random objects in random ways is not new - there was something of this ilk in the Quebecois zombie movie Ravenous - but the author riffs intelligently on the legal, political, and social ramifications of the phenomenon, as well as the personal emotional journeys. Maybe there were too many points of view, as I struggled to follow them, and the cliffhanger ending (more a brutal inexplicable stopping) confused me too as the Compelled we were following seemed to do something contrary to the phenomenon as previously set out.

I hope there’s a sequel, a continuation, or whatever, as I’d like to continue to explore this speculative notion a bit further. However, I’m not sure I’d read the book again, but the future will tell. Three stars it is for the moment.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

People begin having an uncontrollable need to gather items and place them in certain locations, sometimes dismantling them and rebuilding in new forms.

I thought the premise sounded interesting and it starts off so, describing the different implications it has - laws made to protect the Compelled, people taking advantage to steal goods by masquerading as Compelled, countries trying to suppress them but they come back stronger and in more numbers.

But after the initial engaging part, much of the rest of the story was about the lives of a few characters, and some of it was a little dull. It also just ended suddenly - to be continued in another book! Didn't realised this (though it was 160-odd pages). Will have to check out the next book but I'd rate this maybe 3 stars. The illustrations were good too (though on a black and white Kindle the effect is limited!)

[DEGEN Psychonaut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic idea to base a book on and great writing that hopefully continues!

The "to be continued" in the end had me thinking of that scene in The Expanse when the Belter dude decided to fly his ship through the Ring to impress his girl, unfortunately he didn't go "through" ..he went "stop" and so suddenly that he turned himself into a human mist. Okay, maybe the ending isn't that dramatic, but I was digging this really interesting book, that was gaining some of its own momentum, before the last page.

Fingers crossed as I now go look for the continuation. Lord help me if there isn't one. These authors came up with a fascinating idea for a sf/spec fiction book that I need resolving.

[Trish Graboske · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella is "to be continued", so readers will have to wait for the next installment to find any answers.

[Jonathan D McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story that builds and builds

Really interesting concept executed with precision. Some great prose that capture the everyday, can't wait to find out how it all ends

[Brad Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be continued

Illustrations are so few as to make one wonder why make the effort. Story doesn't finish, so don't bother until unless the final installment is published

[Ron Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting and vivid. My only complaint is that this is the first part (half?) of the story -- and I didn't realize that when I started it. I hope the conclusion appears relatively soon.