Swiftly by Adam Roberts
Ahh, now I have finished a book that is truly a work of speculative fiction. This term has been recently as more acceptable than scifi. But mostly I classify books as either scifi or fantasy. This book doesn’t fit either place.
To my mind speculative fiction asks ‘what if?’ In this case the question is ‘What if Gulliver’s Travels was true?’ Based on what we now know about 18th Century Europe, the answer has to be that the European empires would immediately travel to Liliputia and its neighbors, claim the land and resources and enslave the inhabitants. Add 120 years and then Adam Roberts arrives on the scene to describe the results. The English have enslaved the Liliputians and their like to work in factories, creading products of incredible finesse and delicate design. The French on the other hand are ‘allied’ with the giants which they find to be exceptional war machines. Naturally, France and England are at war, aren’t they always?
Abraham Bates is a young crusader for the rights of the Lilliputians. The opening section very nicely characterises him as a young man on a hopeless quest to free the little people from enslavement. The second section of the book introduces our heroine, Eleanor. She is from an impoverished gentle family and forced to marry a wealthy factory owner. Her chapters very nicely remind the reader of what life was like for a upper class women of the mid 19th century.
Both Abraham and Eleanor get caught up in the war. France has invaded England, taken London and are moving north to York to take posession of a super cannon invented by Eleanor’s father. Abraham, Eleanor and her fiance the Dean of York are travelling north as friends of the French when the Lilliputians begin a battle for freedom. And very effective fighters they are too.
This book is another that can be read on meny levels. On the surface it is an adventure. But so was Gulliver’s Travels. We all know that Swift was an extraordinary satirist and nothing on the page meant exactly what it said. I would dearly love to read this book again after refreshing my memory by Gulliver again. I suspect this book is a very effective sequel.
