I Have Purple Hair

So the title of this post actually has absolutist nothing to do with the post, but I couldn't think of a good title, so there you go (Oh but I actually do now have purple hair and it is AWESOME!).   I have FINALLY finished reading Jack Glass by Adam Roberts.  It took me a while to get through it, not because it was bad (it was excellent), but because it has to be one of the densest (in a good way) books I have read in a long time.  What the heck do I mean? you may ask...well read on and I will tell you.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

This will not be a detailed synopsis as all of the myriad details are too hard to keep straight in just a couple of paragraphs, but I will try and give you enough to get the gist of the book.  This is a hard core Science Fiction book broken up into three parts, which I shall go through one by one. We learn right off the bat that the main character in this book, Jack Glass is responsible for all the murders that we will read about...we just don't know how or why.  Our job is to read and try and figure these two questions out.
Part I-In the Box

This is the weirdest of all three parts, it has a much different feel then the rest of the book, but I will get to that in a moment.  In the future, certain prisoners receive an 11 year prison term in which a group called the Gongsi use the prisoners to hollow out and make habitable various asteroids.  A team of seven prisoners and a minimum of survival gear are placed in a small hollow and sealed in.  They then have 11 years to try and survive while making the place habitable and salable.  At the end of 11 years the Gongsi will come and pick up any survivors and they will be free to go.  The seven that are placed in this particular asteroid include the notorious Jack Glass who has been accidentally misidentified as a lesser criminal.  Much scientific theory, economic perusal and of course prison stuff occur through out this story.  The seven men carve out a menial living before starting to turn on each other.  In the end Jack kills the remaining prisoners with a glass knife (hence the name Jack Glass) and ingeniously uses the bodies to make himself a sort of morbid space suit to escape in.  I know this sounds sick and twisted (and in some ways it is) but it is mostly fascinating.
Part II-The FTL Murders
This is a whoddunit type of story in which we are introduced to the future of the Argent clan, the teenage sisters Diana and Eve.  The girls, along with their bodyguards, servants, and tutor Iago have all come to Earth to get used to gravity before Diana's big 16th birthday party.  The girls and their crew live in what they call upland in zero-g so Earths gravity is very very oppressive and debilitating.  Right off the bat a servant is murdered and Diana (who loves to solve mystery's) is put in charge of solving the case (with the sanctioned help of the local police)  We go through several clues and Diana deduces who the killer is in a fairly straight forward manner.  This however is just a small piece of a larger mystery as she soon discovers.  Her and her sister are attacked by the Ulanovs (who are the ruling family) in a bid to take them down before they can start a revolution...I know a bit confusing.  Diana discovers that the murder of the servant and the subsequent solving of the case was actually a set up by her tutor Iago (who is of course Jack Glass in disguise) as a birthday present/test to see if she was ready to lead her family.  Diana decides to trust Iago and runs away with him and the servant Sapho (who was the murderer, but had good cause because the murder victim was trying to rape her).  They head out to the bubble towns of space to hide with the trillions of people who inhabit them.
Part III-The Impossible Gun
This is a more direct continuation of the second story in which Diana, Iago (Jack Glass) and Sapho tell a story backwards.  We start by Jack and Diana bringing a robot to a friend to ensure that the data on it is not corrupted.  After they verify it's completeness they take us back to why the information is so important.  Jack takes the two girls to his own bubble home for safe keeping.  On the way he tells Diana that they have located her sister Eve and that she is safe, Diana is even able to talk with via encrypted channels.  They

arrive at Jacks supposedly unfindable home bubble and proceed to try and formulate a plan.  Alas they are found by a police cruiser carrying the famous police man Bar-le-duc who wants to bring in Jack Glass and gain the reward.  Jack makes a deal witnessed by the above mentioned robot to come peacefully if he lets Diana and Sapho go.  Bar-le-duc agrees and comes down to the bubble to get Jack.  While this exchange happens Bar-le-duc gets himself vaporized by some unknown super weapon.  This sets off a closed room mystery...which the solution to is kind of cheating, but still ends up ok.   We find out that Eva (Diana's sister)is the one who orchestrated the whole downfall of the clan in return for being named head of the Argent clan.  The story ends with Jack declaring his love for Diana as his reason for being willing to trade himself for her freedom.  Diana gently reply's that she does not return his love, and goes on her way.  The servant Sapho stays with Jack and is the one who writes his story.  The End.

I realize that this bare bones synopsis seems a little chintzy, but it is really the best I can do.  I have read other reviews of this book and I am not the only one who is having trouble putting into words my feelings on it.  I loved it, it was rich and dense and at time humorous,  and at times gory and at times horrifying and at times well almost everything.  The author amazingly puts together an old time whodunit type story with a truly hard core Science Fiction story with a bit of a love story a political story and an incredible ability to build this future world.  I kept thinking I was going to get bored with it because it is a heavy read, which is to say there are some very advanced scientific, economic and political concepts liberally sprinkled through out the book, but the author always manages to mix it in with a very readable story.  There were several times where I had to stop and put the book down to digest and think through some concepts introduced because the more I

thought about them the better sense they made and would make my poor little brain go down so many cool rabbit trails.  The author also makes several nods to a ton of different books and authors that add even more flavor to this already full book. I am so used to zipping through books in a couple days it was really nice to read a book that took some effort (in a good way), that I actually had to do some thinking and take my time.  I was initially worried that this "critically acclaimed" book would turn out to be a pretentious slog, but I was so wonderfully surprised.  In my little opinion, this is how your write a smart book, this book does not talk down to the reader, does not expect the reader to have a Phd in astrophysics, nor does it over simplify or ignore laws of physics.  I know this is a super all over the place ramble, but this book was just really awesome in a completely indescribable way.  This book is not for everybody, if you are looking for a light beach read, or a quick space opera this is not the book you are looking for.  This is a book if you are looking to be a wee bit challenged, or want to feel smart, or are just looking for a great SciFi book, then go pick this one up.  I give it 8 out of 10 FTL drives.
What was the last book you were surprised by?  How do you describe a book that seems one thing but once you ready is something completely different? How much do you wish I could write a coherent post?