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Adam Roberts
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The Compelled Kindle Edition

by Adam Roberts (Author), François Schuiten (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 out of 5 stars 49 ratings
Arthur C. Clarke Award-nominated writer Adam Roberts (The Thing Itself) and François Schuiten, recipient of the Angoulême International Comics Festival’s prestigious lifetime achievement award, present The Compelled, part one of a two-part a sci-fi novella series and the first book-length science fiction publication that Schuiten has illustrated.

A mysterious change has occurred in humanity. Nobody knows how, why or exactly when this change came about, but disparate, seemingly unconnected people have become afflicted with the uncontrollable desire to take objects and move them to other places, where the objects gather and begin to form increasingly alien, monolithic structures that appear to have vast technological implications. Some of the objects are innocuous everyday things—like a butter knife taken still greasy from a breakfast table or a dented cap popped off a bottle of beer. Others are far more complex—like the turbine of an experimental jet engine or the core of a mysterious weapon left over from the darkest days of WWII.

Where is the Compulsion coming from? And—possibly more importantly—when the machines they’re building finally turn on, what are they going to do?

"The Compelled is a gorgeous-looking e-book written by Adam Roberts with wonderfully atmospheric illustrations by François Schuiten that have an almost retro-Victorian look to them. … The fabulous illustrations of various partly constructed edifices are matched by the wonderfully colourful language in Adam Roberts’ trademark style. He plays with homonyms and synonyms, pronunciation and the misheard words of conversations to add a flowing, rhythmic pace to the plot. The book has a steady and progressive pace that builds up momentum and tension… I’m fascinated to see what happens next."—SF CROWSNEST

"Visually gorgeous and highly recommended" —WASHINGTON POST

About the authors

Adam Roberts is often described as one of the UK's most important writers of science fiction. He has been nominated three times for the Arthur C. Clarke Award: in 2001 for his debut novel Salt, in 2007 for Gradisil, and in 2010 for Yellow Blue Tibia. He has won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, as well as the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel. Roberts reviews science fiction for The Guardian and is a contributor to the SF ENCYCLOPEDIA. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His science fiction has been praised by many critics both inside and outside the genre, with some comparing him to genre authors such as Pel Torro, John E. Muller, and Karl Zeigfreid.

François Schuiten is a Belgian comic artist who was born into a family of architects. Since 1980, he has worked with Benoît Peeters on The Obscure Cities series. His graphic novels have been translated into a dozen languages and have received numerous international awards. He has also created many illustrations, posters and postage stamps across Europe. In 2002, he received the prestigious lifetime achievement award from the Angouleme festival. He published his first solo effort, The Beauty, in 2012, and designed a train museum, Train World, which opened in Brussels in 2015. His 2014 exhibition and accompanying book, Revoir Paris, met with international praise. In 2019 his adaptation of the long-running French comic Blake and Mortimer was a runaway French comics industry bestseller, selling over 300,000 copies.
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  1. Print length
    166 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    August 25, 2020
  4. File size
    12.7 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
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  7. Enhanced typesetting
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From the Publisher

Selected illustrations by François Schuiten

Giant sphere with planes illustration
On the road illustration
The Arch illustration
Wall Street illustration

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08D8QX21N
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ NeoText
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 25, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 12.7 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 166 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

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Adam Roberts

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
49 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Patrick Schoenfelder
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing, great read.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This is, as noted in another review, the first installment of a longer novel, with the rest coming.

    But this is well worth reading on its own. The plot is fresh, the writing excellent -- it reminds me of Ted Chiang, which IMO is about as good as it gets. The illustrations are of a quality that rarely appears these days.

    Can't wait to read the rest.

    I came to this, BTW, via the web site NeoText. NeoText is new, at least to me, but it seems to be trying to resurrect the days of great magazine fiction and non-fiction writing, harking back to the 60's and early 70's and magazines ranging from "Analogue" to the incarnation of "Playboy" available at the time (yes, at one time it wasn't unreasonable to say you bought it for the writing.) "The Compelled" is just one example of the quality work NeoText is doing. I hope they can keep it up.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Pablo Rodriguez
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great start but it's only the first half
    Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    It's been a couple years since Roberts has published any new fiction so this was a pleasant surprise when Amazon notified me it was coming out (the author hadn't mentioned it in his blogs).

    The premise is interesting, perhaps inspired by the model-building compulsion of Richard Dreyfuss' character in CE3K. I'm also wondering if this isn't referencing the current COVID situation with its corresponding civil unrest but it turns out this is only the first half of the story so I can't tell yet. I was really sailing along reading it so that revelation was abrupt and disappointing. It might be a five-star story but we don't know until the final half comes out. No idea when that is, either.

    The artwork is great, btw. Hard to believe they got all of this into a $2.99 ebook.

    I will definitely get part 2. It can't get here soon enough!
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  • Amazon Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars To be continued
    Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Illustrations are so few as to make one wonder why make the effort. Story doesn't finish, so don't bother until unless the final installment is published
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  • Ollie@TheStoneCloud
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic idea to base a book on and great writing that hopefully continues!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    The "to be continued" in the end had me thinking of that scene in The Expanse when the Belter dude decided to fly his ship through the Ring to impress his girl, unfortunately he didn't go "through" ..he went "stop" and so suddenly that he turned himself into a human mist. Okay, maybe the ending isn't that dramatic, but I was digging this really interesting book, that was gaining some of its own momentum, before the last page.

    Fingers crossed as I now go look for the continuation. Lord help me if there isn't one. These authors came up with a fascinating idea for a sf/spec fiction book that I need resolving.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A story that builds and builds
    Reviewed in Canada on June 21, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Really interesting concept executed with precision. Some great prose that capture the everyday, can't wait to find out how it all ends
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  • Kindle Customer
    1.0 out of 5 stars Odd, not in a good way
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Disjointed and slow. Each new character fails to reveal anything new, and the 'end' is equally unrevealing. Uncompelling. Sorry Adam. Usually like your stuff.
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