A Short, Sharp Shock (novella)

This short novel was a surprising page-turner for me. Robinson wrote it in 1990 but it only saw UK publication in 2000. The story is fairly slight; a man awakes on a beach with no memory of his past. He awakes next to a woman who he only knows as "the swimmer". The next morning, she has disappeared, and he sets out to find her. In the process, he explores the strange world that he and many other different characters inhabit; it appears to consist of a single, world-girdling strip of land separating two seas which may be planetary in extent.

Along the way, he is told different stories about the world's origin. Are we in a fantasy world? Are we in some sort of construct? Has this world been terraformed? A range of possible answers are show more suggested; the overall effect is rather like reading Wolfe's 'Book of the New Sun', because everything is familiar yet strange, and there are hints of powerful forces off-stage, or lost in time.

Unlike any other book of Robinson's I've read, it nonetheless kept me turning the pages even though the focus is tight on the protagonist and his companion, the swimmer. The ending could be allegory, or it could point to multiple layers of existence. It's vivid, and haunting, but not suited to anyone who wants a resolution or other sorts of easy answer. show less

Twenty years later, still one of my favorite short stories (novella-length) of all time. Mesmerizing language, inventiveness, and he draws you into the emotional life of the characters - love, growing old together (all shown symbolically of course) while the evil that is death tries to tear them apart. The last line literally feeds back into the first line, a device that reflects the Buddhistic eternally repeating cycles that are suggested in the story. If you like the literary fantastic, go read this.

(Originally on Amazon)

If you scan the other reviews posted here, you will see they are cleanly divided: you will either love this story or you will hate it.

I admit it, I'm a fan of Robinson's writing, but I'm, not one to praise a book because I like the author. I'm in the "Love it" camp with this one. Robinson plants the hook, and plants it deep, with the opening paragraph. What follows next is an undulating story of undying pair bonding. At times the story is very reminiscent of various myths, at others it is a unique fantasy tale. Woven into this tale is a wonderful parable.

If you've read other Robinson stories, you will find this one of the most lyrical tales he's told to date. It is distinctly different from his hard-core Sci-Fi show more offerings, like the Mars trilogy, and different still from his entertaining stories like "Escape Form Katmandu".

If you like pure fantasy, read it. If you enjoy metal gymnastics, read it. If you like things clearly spelled out for you, avoid it. If you thought classical mythology was a bore in school, avoid it. show less

This book reminded me of Robinson's book The Years of Rice and Salt rather than his books on Mars. That's because it is more fantasy than science fiction and quite philosophical. I think if I had to choose I would rather have KSR's science fiction but this was quite good and it certainly made me think.

This is the story of a man from another planet (probably Earth) who ends up on a planet that is virtually all ocean except for a spine of granitic rock that splits the ocean into a south and north basin. The man, called Thel by tree people who find him first (because in their language Thel means treeless one), came ashore with a woman whom he calls the swimmer. She was taken captive by the spine kings and Thel decides to find her. He does show more and frees her and some other captives. One of these, Tinou, takes a golden mirror out of a hut belonging to the spine kings before he leads them off to his people. The golden mirror is part crystal ball, part gateway to another dimension. Thel takes it from Tinou and he, the swimmer and one of the tree people continue to travel west on the spine. The spine seems endless but is it? The mirror may be a way to return to their previous lives but Thel and the swimmer end up in a kind of utopia and Thel forgets about his past. Until...well you'll have to read it yourself. show less

This book, a quasi-magical quasi-SF novel about a man with no memory, finding his way on a bizarre planet, was totally enthralling and absorbing. After finishing it, my perceptions of reality had changed, and it took a while before I was able to relate to the real world again! Robinson's writing in this work, more than most of his other novels, is artistic and literary, almost Kafka-esque. I would also compare A Short, Sharp Shock to a similar book, also a surrealistic fantasy written by an SF author -- The Bridge, by Iain Banks. Aside from their superficial similarities (fish-out-of-water protagonist traveling on a trip of land/bridge on an endless sea), both are astonishingly thought-provoking and deep. Very highly recommended for show more those willing to challenge themselves. show less

An interesting read, very different in flavour from the Mars books. A surrealist quest where Robinson experiments (successfully in my opinion) with his writing style and with a more metaphysical approach to his narrative. I'm not certain that it even qualifies as science fiction, though that doesn't detract from the book at all.

A strange, at times violent, and at times idyllic tale of two lost people. They wander the single rocky land belt of an ocean world, seemingly without purpose.

That last sentiment sums up the book for me pretty well. This is one of KSR's earlier novels, written before the award winning Mars Trilogy. One can clearly see the development of KSR as a stylist and a ponderer of big questions. The story and characters, at first, don't seem to be as engaging as in his later works, but strangely linger in one's subconscious.