The Chronoliths
Encyclopedia
The Chronoliths is a 2001 science fiction
novel
by Robert Charles Wilson
. It was nominated for the 2002 Hugo Award
for Best Novel
and tied for the 2002 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
.
after his latest contract has ended. He and his friend Hitch Paley are among the first to find an enormous monolith
which appears out of nowhere in the jungle. On closer examination, it is found to be a monument made of a mysterious, indestructible substance. It bears an inscription commemorating a military victory by someone named "Kuin", presumably an Asia
n warlord -- twenty years in the future.
Over the next twenty years, increasingly grand monuments to Kuin continue to appear -- first in Asia, then in much of the rest of the world. Pro-Kuin and anti-Kuin political movements spring up, leading to the rise of economic problems, fatalistic cults
, and open war.
Scott has become entangled with his former teacher and mentor Sue Chopra, a scientist who has assembled a team of fellow researchers to investigate the chronoliths and learn to predict their appearances. With Sue's team, Scott witnesses a new chronolith that appears in Jerusalem.
Kaitlin, his daughter, becomes caught up in the hysteria and joins a pro-Kuin youth cult; while trying to find her, Scott meets Ashlee, a single mother whose son Adam Mills joined the same cult. This leads to Scott and his companions being on hand to witness yet another chronolith appearance in Mexico
.
Sue Chopra comes to believe that Kuin has made the chronoliths in order to inspire fear and defeatism, making the future victories inevitable by gaining support ahead of time. In an effort to fight Kuin's growing influence, Scott, Sue Chopra and her team plan to destroy the first chronolith predicted to appear in the United States.
The chronolith self-destructs, apparently sabotaged by a maker who exceeded the limits of the technology.
A militant faction now led by Adam Mills attacks their base of operations, takes Chopra hostage, and menaces Scott's family.
Scott lives to see the collapse of the Kuinist movement and a scientific renaissance sparked by Chopra's chronolith research.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Robert Charles Wilson
Robert Charles Wilson
Robert Charles Wilson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.Wilson was born in the United States in California, but grew up near Toronto, Ontario. Apart from another short period in the early 1970s spent in Whittier, California, he has lived most of his life in Canada, and in 2007 he...
. It was nominated for the 2002 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
and tied for the 2002 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Campbell award (best novel)
The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel for best science fiction novel was created in 1973 by writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss to honor Campbell's name...
.
Plot summary
Software designer Scott Warden is living with his family in early twenty-first century ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
after his latest contract has ended. He and his friend Hitch Paley are among the first to find an enormous monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
which appears out of nowhere in the jungle. On closer examination, it is found to be a monument made of a mysterious, indestructible substance. It bears an inscription commemorating a military victory by someone named "Kuin", presumably an Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n warlord -- twenty years in the future.
Over the next twenty years, increasingly grand monuments to Kuin continue to appear -- first in Asia, then in much of the rest of the world. Pro-Kuin and anti-Kuin political movements spring up, leading to the rise of economic problems, fatalistic cults
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
, and open war.
Scott has become entangled with his former teacher and mentor Sue Chopra, a scientist who has assembled a team of fellow researchers to investigate the chronoliths and learn to predict their appearances. With Sue's team, Scott witnesses a new chronolith that appears in Jerusalem.
Kaitlin, his daughter, becomes caught up in the hysteria and joins a pro-Kuin youth cult; while trying to find her, Scott meets Ashlee, a single mother whose son Adam Mills joined the same cult. This leads to Scott and his companions being on hand to witness yet another chronolith appearance in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Sue Chopra comes to believe that Kuin has made the chronoliths in order to inspire fear and defeatism, making the future victories inevitable by gaining support ahead of time. In an effort to fight Kuin's growing influence, Scott, Sue Chopra and her team plan to destroy the first chronolith predicted to appear in the United States.
The chronolith self-destructs, apparently sabotaged by a maker who exceeded the limits of the technology.
A militant faction now led by Adam Mills attacks their base of operations, takes Chopra hostage, and menaces Scott's family.
Scott lives to see the collapse of the Kuinist movement and a scientific renaissance sparked by Chopra's chronolith research.
Publication history
- First hardcover edition, 2001, Tor Books, ISBN 0-312-87384-0.
- First paperback edition, 2002, Tor Books, ISBN 0-8125-4524-9.
External links
- The Chronoliths at Worlds Without End