Salt

Salt is a novel by British science fiction author Adam Roberts. Colonists from Earth set out for a distant planet, but during the voyage, a factional skirmish turns into an irrevocable grudge, to play out during the course of their colonisation. Rough-shod settlements are soon constructed around the sterile salt environment, yet old tensions quickly develop into war between two of these settlements, the rigid military dictatorship of Senaar and t... More

Salt is a novel by British science fiction author Adam Roberts. Colonists from Earth set out for a distant planet, but during the voyage, a factional skirmish turns into an irrevocable grudge, to play out during the course of their colonisation. Rough-shod settlements are soon constructed around the sterile salt environment, yet old tensions quickly develop into war between two of these settlements, the rigid military dictatorship of Senaar and the Als anarchy. The novel explores the motivations of their warfare, and the viewpoints of the two narrators illuminate a dreadful, entwined inevitability. In all aspects of theme, setting, character development and prose style, Salt is a very stark, austere composition. Salt is narrated from the dual perspective of central characters Barlei and Petja, who function as representatives of Senaar and Als, respectively. Barlei is a senior military official—effectively a dictator—beholden to the well-defined hierarchy of the colony of Senaar. Petja...

Less