Gradisil

'' Awards (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/awards/arthur_c_clarke.htm) Arthur C. Clarke Award (nominee) (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/awards/philip_k_dick.htm) Philip K Dick Award (nominee) " The king of high-concept SF. " (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/jon-courtenay-grimwood/) Jon Courtenay-Grimwood "The politics are convincing, the depiction of a near-future world where war is only declared once the planners know victory is assured is a credible development of the present, and the notions of a legal system that institutionalizes war, and that the practicalities of winning the war once victory is declared are the problematic thing, are fine present-into-future SF. Oh, and the digs at Dick Cheney are biting and funny. On the hard SF/mythic side, Roberts's use of Scandinavian legend as an allegory to the magnetic boost technologies he uses to put planes into orbit has the smack of an SF trope that'll become a universal clichГѓ''© in a few years."--Starburst Gradisil is an epic space opera of family revenge and the birth of a nation. Not very long from now, if you are wealthy, space can be yours, space to grow. New technology has seeded a rebirth of the pioneer spirit. A new breed of adventurer has slipped the bonds of gravity and begun a fresh life in orbit, free from interference by government, free from the petty concerns of earth. Who wouldn't want such freedom? Who wouldn't want to escape from society's tangles--from the claws of the corporations, from the stifling love of family? But tradition, fear, and revenge carry a murderous weight, a gravity that is not so easy to escape. The death of Gradisil's grandfather, floating high in the uplands above earth, was only the beginning. And now the US government is looking up at the new nation above our heads with jealous eyes. Gradisil Is A Multi-generational Story Of Murder, Betrayal And Revenge. It Is Told Through The Eyes Of Three Characters And Against A Background Where Mankinds Rush Into Space Has Faded Away Leaving Individual Pioneers To Force Their Way Independently Into Space After The Collapse Of The Big Government Space Agencies. They Ride Up Into Space On The Lines Of Electromagnetic Force That Flower Into Space From Earth Like The Mighty Yggradisil - The Earth Tree Of Norse Myth. Leaving Their Weight Behind They Still Carry A Cargo Of Enmities And Hatreds. Roberts Has A Unique Approach To Sf And Is One Of The Genre's Premier Stylists. This Is One Of His Most Original Novels Yet.