Gollancz £18.99

By Light Alone, By Adam Roberts

If you're bald, then you had better be rich

Adam Roberts is the master of the big idea; of high-concept science fiction.

He is rare in the genre for eschewing series of recurring characters and worlds, and instead writing one-off books in which he takes an idea, batters it senseless until it is bloody, beaten and unusable by any other writer, and leaves his readers in a state of stunned shock. But however high the concepts he makes his own, they are never at the expense of character, and in By Light Alone, like all of Roberts' recent works, the people make the big ideas leap off the page.

The central conceit is that, a century or so hence, hunger has been eradicated thanks to a treatment that allows human beings to absorb, through their hair, all of the nutrients that they need from sunlight. People can live by light alone.

But rather than ushering in a utopian golden age, this scientific leap has served only to widen the gulf between the rich and the poor. The wealthy elect not to have the treatment, and take pride in old-fashioned eating, so that in a neat reversal of contemporary mores, the dirt-poor are as thin as rakes because they don't consume unnecessary fat, and the fashionable mark of wealth is to be podgy.

No longer having to service the starving masses of the third world, the rich have got richer. From the book's Art Deco cover onward, we are introduced to a Second Jazz Age which is under way in the wealthy West, whose indolent moneyed citizens have languid, meaningless affairs while drinking their way around the world.

In the first section, we are given a view of this world from rich George Denoone, a sympathetic character who is plunged into a nightmare when his young daughter is kidnapped during the family's skiing holiday.

So skilfully has Roberts painted the novel's Gatsby-esque world, that it is a shock when he reveals the flipside and we follow a Messianic young girl on her journey across the poor nations – and into a shocking collision with George's family.

If By Light Alone were written by David Mitchell or Margaret Atwood, for example, it would doubtless be said to "transcend its science fiction" roots, as all literary fiction which borrows SF trappings must. But By Light Alone is unashamedly SF, and would that half the supposed "literary" novels on the shelves today were as well written, thoughtful and intelligent as this.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Arts & Ents blogs

Doctor Who ‘The Name of the Doctor’ – Series 7, episode 13

What a wonderful way to end this momentous series in the 50th year of Doctor Who. From the start of ...

Friday Book Design Blog: Blurb special

Let's talk book blurbs, those quotes you get, usually from other writers, that are meant to entice y...

Something For The Weekend in London: May 17-19

Fela Kuti, Jewish food and The Great Gatsby are just some of the reasons why the rainy weather ahead...

       

ES Rentals

    The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act

    The price of pacifism

    From the Second World War refusenik to the 19-year-old Israeli, Holly Williams talks to five people who risked shame and suffering to take a stand as conscientious objector.
    'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond

    Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond

    To millions, Jason Isaacs is one of Harry Potter's arch enemies – but his wife prefers him as a Scottish TV detective.
    Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

    Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?

    Thomas Hodgkinson spent a week at the tiny platform off the Suffolk coast to find out.
    Not a bad bone: Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

    Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

    If you ignore cutlets and ribs, you'll risk missing out on some delicious and easy meals, says our chef.
    Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

    Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

    Doctors are hailing the revamp of a Bath neonatal unit, where babies sleep more and feed better, as the model for patient care
    One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

    One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

    Epecuen was submerged under 10 metres of water in 1985. Now the floods have gone – and 83-year-old Pablo Novak has moved back in
    The real thing? Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'

    The real thing?

    Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'
    Gordon Ramsey's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

    Gordon Ramsay's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

    The pugnacious chef finally met a shambolic restaurant he couldn't save. John Walsh on when TV makover refuseniks fight back
    Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

    Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

    Glamorous myth of the flight attendant lifestyle undermined by angry employee's claims of 'exploitation'
    Braising saddles: Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it!

    Braising saddles: How to cook horse meat

    Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it! Will Coldwell hoofs it to the kitchen.
    Why bitters are back on the bar: A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails

    Why bitters are back on the bar

    A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails. No wonder we're learning to love them again...
    The 10 Best barbecues

    The 10 Best barbecues

    Whether you're cooking on gas or are a convert to charcoal we've got the perfect way to cook when the sun is out.
    Style icon David Beckham calls time on his long retirement

    Style icon calls time on his long retirement

    David Beckham never disgraced himself but former England captain ceased to be a major player years ago. Remember him at his United peak
    Steve Harper: My darkest times

    Steve Harper: My darkest times

    As the popular Newcastle goalkeeper bows out after 20 years at the club, he tells Martin Hardy about the private battle with depression that threatened his career
    Sir Torquil Norman has designed a flat-pack OX truck for the developing world

    The flat-pack truck with big ambitions

    After making a fortune from Polly Pocket and a doll's house shaped like a teapot, the entrepreneur has turned his creativity to a transporter truck for the developing world. Simon Usborne meets him.