Splinter (novel)

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Splinter
File:Splinter (novel).jpg
First edition
AuthorAdam Roberts
Cover artistDarius Hinks
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherSolaris Books
Publication date
September 2007
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages252
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OCLC153558628

Splinter is a science fiction novel by the British writer Adam Roberts, published in 2007. It is based on an earlier story by the author, "Hector Servadac, fils", which was part of The Mammoth Book of Jules Verne Adventures. It is a reworking of Off on a Comet, an 1877 novel by Jules Verne. The hardcover edition of the novel is included in a slipcase with a hardcover edition of Off on a Comet.

Plot summary

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As in Verne's novel, the main character is Hector Servadac, however, instead of being stranded on the comet while serving in the French Algerian army, his father is a supporter of a doomsday cult and Servadac is stranded on a splinter of the shattered Earth when the planet is destroyed by a comet. Roberts described the central metaphor as "the trope that the world might end and that we might not even be sure it has happened. We surely wouldn't be wholly oblivious (this is the end of the world we're talking about, after all!) But we might not be wholly certain, either. There would be a lengthy transition period during which we would become increasingly convinced that something substantial had changed in our lives."[1]

Reception

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In the SF Encyclopedia, John Clute described Splinter as an "enjoyable homage to and gloss upon the Verne novel."[2]

References

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  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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