Rating: 
Summary: Very interesting...right up until the end.
Review: When I first came across this book, I had never read anything by Wilson, but thought the premise of this was very interesting. Before I was able to get a copy of this book, I came across two other books by Wilson (BIOS and Mysterium) which I read and really enjoyed even though they did not have such an interesting premise. The writing and plot and especially the endings of those books made me even more eager to read this one.When I finally did find this book at the library, I was not disappointed. The characters were very interesting to me, and the premise was everything that I had expected. This book kept me wanting to know what would happen next. However, once I got to the end, I thought it was a little anticlimatic, and I was somewhat disappointed, especially after having been impressed with the endings in the other Wilson book that I had read. Having said that, this ws still a very good book, and worth reading, and I will continue to look for more from Wilson in the future.
Rating:
Summary: how important were the chronoliths
Review: Cut out the SF element of this story completely, and you still have a wonderful novel about an aging divorced dad desperately looking for his daughter in the hands of some religious nuts. Did Wilson even need to invent the Chronoliths, I find myself asking? As I get older, I can't help wondering whether writers such as Wilson--and Gene Wolfe (Free Live Free, another super novel compromised by SF "gadgetry") haven't somehow...been trapped in the boundaries of a genre that is not worthy of them, a genre that cannot contain their vision and compassion. When I think of the [stuff] that passes for mainstream lit and the fact the best works of both Wilson and Wolfe are out of print, I find myself getting depressed and angry at both mainstream lit publishers and SF publishers.
Rating:
Summary: A story out of time!
Review: The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson was enjoyable. A riviting story that kept you turning the pages, wondering what the mystery of the chronoliths is all about. Some interesting similarities to today's societal issues (crumbling infrastructure, rising political factions etc.) The idea of time loop stories have always been fascinating to me. The ending (which seemed to have been rushed by the editors) was interesting and totally unpredictable with a cogent twist. The characters were quite memorable and had a human face. I would like to see a sequel of this story as there were numerous threads left unanswered, but that depends upon how you look at the plot. The merit of the novel outweighs it's minor flaws (some answers you have to discover for yourself) and I would freely recommend this as a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Really liked it
Review: The description initially seemed pretty hokey to me, and my expectations were low. However, I ended up really liking the book, especially the concepts behind the plot - the physical and social ramifications of the Chronoliths appearing, and how that effected how everything played out.
It didn't really progress as I expected either, but the way he wrapped it up was satisfying to me. It seems more and more these days that scifi and fantasy novels are coming in series, so it was nice to discover one I could enjoy without having to follow it up with four sequels.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fabulous Concept that Sadly Is Never Realized
Review: The concept of this book is brilliant and utterly original. I love scifi and this is one of the greatest ideas for a book I've come across. With that said, however, I think the followthrough is disappointing. The book never rises to the potential offered by its concept. The story itself is promising in the beginning, but then it sort of evolves into a tepid made-for-TV movie. Sadly, I think this is something of a habit for Robert Charles Wilson. I felt the same about Darwinia -- great concept that never is realized in the telling of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: As many other reviewers have said, the concept of this book is very interesting. However, two things annoyed me about the book. First, there are numerous plot mistakes in the story. Stupid little things that probably won't annoy everyone but did annoy me. For example, characters don thermal protective suits in order to avoid freezing during an arrival. However, these suits don't seem to include gloves as people routinely touch freezing metal and leave skin behind. A minor oversight perhaps, but hard to believe that they would forget to include gloves. Small technical discrepencies like this abound and are distracting because they hurt the story's plausibility. Second, the ending was not very satisfying. The end just doesn't have any real payoff. You don't cheer for the hero because he isn't very likeable. You don't really cheer for anyone. This book reminded me of Robert Silverberg's The Alien Years. Both books have a similar melancholy tone and unsatisfying endings. I wanted to like this book but cannot heartily recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Unfulfilled promise; unfulfilled premise
Review: Chronoliths - I was very mislead by the undeserved extreme positive reviews of this book. Four and five stars, indeed! There were too many areas of disappointment for even three stars. The best way to describe this book is --- well constructed sentences strung together with unfulfilled promise. Science - time travel was purportedly a key feature highlighted in the reviews. While the chronoliths are sent back-in-time, the explanation of the phenomenon is very cursory at best. Time travel is a not what this book is about. Plot - The largest disappointment is the plot and the final twist that has little to nothing to do with the plot as it developed. The plot moves along on a very good premise - but with a lot of unfulfilled promise. 1) Chronoliths are sent back in time to create a mass belief system - belief that the conqueror is invincible. As time passes in the book belief in invincibility of the conqueror grows. Events happen. The invincibility assertion seems to be proven.
2) A set of characters, the main protagonists, are thought to be keys to the phenomenon. Readers are lead to believe that the protagonists, as a group, are to counter the "mindset" of the invincibility assertion. This was my main motivation reading the book - this is the setup in all of the previous reviews and in the blurb on the back of the book. What are the mechanisms of changing a mindset on a grand scale - how will physical science / scientists grapple with this challenge - a challenge we face in today's world. How will mechanistic physical science help in understanding how we change mindsets? The exploration of establishing the mindset was detailed throughout the book. Unfortunately, exploring how such a mindset would be changed was unfulfilled. "Deus ex machina" a key character, but not the main protagonist, will demonstrate that the conqueror and the chronoliths are not invincible - in so few paragraphs as to be completely unfulfilling In even fewer pages the book ends. A simple mechanistic solution is provided - after the promise of a deeper analysis. Totally disappointing. In paragraph after misleading paragraph, the author asserts of the key characters: "it is no coincidence that we are all together in these events". But by the end there is absolutely no apparent reason why they are all together - nothing but unfolding events "as written" keeps them together. Using characters to tie episodes together is not sufficient plot motivation. Only one character has the unique skill that will eventually change events. The other characters, even though we are led to believe they will have crucial roles in the main event, do not have crucial roles - unless you believe that historian / biographer is a key role. The characters at the end could have been any cookie-cutter characters - and the book would have still ended as it did - there was nothing special or unique that made this group work as a group to succeed. Finally, some have mentioned relationships as key to this book. I like deep involving relationships that are used to motivate and drive plot. The presented relationships have promise to be discussed deeply and explored to develop the main characters but are not. The relationship between an absent father and daughter is given cursory treatment at best. The relationship between the father and the single mother is also cursory. At no time is there any real in-depth exploration - nor do the relationships really motivate the plot - except one instance where the daughter disappears and the "grief stricken" father has to rescue the daughter. Sadly "grief stricken" is what should have been discussed and explored and is not - just passing episodic description, no emotional depth. The reviews of this book were the most misleading, overhyped reviews that I have read in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Wilson's Best
Review: I have been an avid fan since Wilson's first novel came out from Bantam years ago. Wilson's strengths are his ideas and storytelling style. He's not flashy or rushed and I found Chronoliths his best book to date, and the best book of the year. I won't repeat what others here have said in praise of the book, nor will I dwell on what might be perceived as its weaknesses (many people didn't like the inconclusiveness of the ending). I will say that I happened to like the inconclusiveness of the ending because in life some things remain mysterious. More importantly, Mr. Wilson has come up with an original time-travel concept and stayed with it. I believe this book to be a contemporary SF classic and recommend it over just about everything that's being written today. It's not a sexy book, just a well-written, thoughtful meditation on communication with the future and communication with those we love. Well done, Bob.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable time travel story.
Review: Suddenly, monoliths commemorating the future victory of a great conqueror start appearing around the world, inflicting great damage in the spot they appear. This has profound consequences on the fabric of society, and leads to major changes in life as it has been known. I found the concept behind time-travel to be solid and consistent through the book. Time-travel fits nicely into the story, and is not used just to justify the tale. I started this book a Sunday morning on a business travel, and read it completely in one day in the hotel, so engrossed I was. I found the characters enjoyable, and liked the pace of the book. Since it may serve as a reference, other time-travel books I have enjoyed are: Isaac Asimov's "Eternity Inc", Robert Sawyer's "Flashforward" and Stephen Baxter's "The Time Ships".
Rating:
Summary: This book won a major award?
Review: The premise of the Chronoliths is terrific, objects smashing to earth from the future. But they are never really explained,the time paradox is never explored or solved, and while there is some excitement and a lot of demolition, it all goes downhill. The other problem is that the frame of the story is right out of the early 1960's: Not-so-young man's life is falling apart, his wife is divorcing him, etc, etc. There is too much padding for too little real plot, and the book is filled with constant: "I didn't know then. . ." Very disappointing.
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