Rating: 
Summary: Started wonderfully, left me unfilled, and a little scared
Review: The book needs to change perspectives to the people who are doing the most interesting things! It seems half written.Why, when the central action of the book changes, doesn't the perspective of the book. What happened (well, we sort of know) to physist when Kuin took her? (She helped him develop Chr. technlogy and then she fooled him into making one too big). Why didn't we get to watch the events happen in realtime when Kuin found scotts wife and daughter (not too explicitly, of course, but I would have liked to watch the rescue!). And, does the author really think that youths and adults (in America) are this stupid? I guess it's hard to underestimate certain things, but choosing a dictator because he represents "different" when freedom is something that it seems to me everybody can appreciate is a little depressing. And so that depressed me about this book. In short, Kuin offers nothing but destruction, and yet hordes of people flock to join him (because he's a winner?). Illogical.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart and Original Speculative Fiction
Review: I think Robert Charles Wilson is one of the most under-recognized writers in science fiction and that this is one of his best novels. Set in the not-too-distant future, this story hits very close to home. Wilson's writing makes the unfathomable appearance of magnificent monuments from the future seem thoroughly plausible. The chronoliths reveal most (but not all) of their secrets within the framework of an engaging mystery with characters that are interesting and well defined. The narrator, Scott, has a strong, likeable presence throughout and gives the story a unique insight. I wish more writers would attempt to be as original and handle such challenging material. Some of the most compelling questions raised in this novel are how 21st century civilizations would accept their certain defeat and what the complex relationships are between cause and effect. The Chronoliths focuses much more on the political, sociological, and psychological ramifications of future technology than strictly science, making it seem more like classical science fiction than most current sci-fi novels. (In my own opinion it's a very welcomed switch.)
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was excited to read this book as advertised on Amazon, but found it to be lacking in closure. The story dwells too much with the main charater's relationships with his ex-wife and daughter. It boils down to a man's quest for meaning and purpose in his life and relationships with friends. I could criticize furhter but would have to give away the end of the story to warn readers.
Rating:
Summary: superb premise that is ultimately wasted
Review: I was anxious to read this book because of the wonderfully original and exciting premise -- in the year 2020, huge monoliths begin to appear in various places around the world, each paying tribute to a future conqueror named Kuin. Our narrator is at the site of the first chronolith's appearance and is involved thereafter, through acquaintances and his job, in trying to understand their significance and their effect on the world. Wilson is a fine writer, but ultimately this book was disappointing. I kept waiting for some revelation about Kuin, but we never even find out for sure who it is, as if the author intends to write a sequel. Though the narrator is reminiscing from a future after Kuin has made his conquests, we never learn who it is or hear about any of the events commemorated in the chronoliths. Scott Warden is a likeable and complex protagonist, but a majority of the narration, being his discussion of his relationships with his wife, ex-wife, daughter and colleagues, could be transplanted into any novel of any genre. The discussions about the chronoliths themselves are vague jargon-y monologues by Scott's employer, who we are told is brilliant, but every time she begins an explanation someone cuts her off because they won't be able to understand what she is telling them and, in a pivotal scene, she describes events such as Scott's presence at various "arrivals" as significantly coincidental when in fact she often controlled events that precipitated those occurrences. I suppose what I found most disappointing was the difference in scale -- the premise sounds so grand and magnificent, but the trip we take with Warden is mundane and peripheral. It's as if you were fortunate enough to be in Paris when Napoleon rode through the streets, but you were two blocks over and taking a nap -- something fascinating was happening nearby, but you didn't see a thing; Warden is supposedly in the thick of things *and* writing from a future perspective, yet we still never find out who Kuin is or what brought him/her to power, etc. Instead we gets lots of hand-wringing comments of the we-are-all-doomed and will-your-children's-children-ever-laugh-again variety. I wanted to like this book, but I was disappointed. I thought it was a great idea wasted.
Rating: 
Summary: A Twist on Time
Review: The Chronoliths presents a unique mystery that holds our attention but never quite develops into a page turner. It's a good read with a unique view of time-shifted cause and effect. The Chronoliths are sent back in time by a future conqueror, causing significant havoc in the present. Is it perhaps that very havoc which creates the conditions which foster his rise to power? Is he indeed a real figure? Troughout the story we find the same people inexplicably drawn back into the drama. Is this mere coincidence or are they destined to play a part in history? Fortunately The Chronoliths is a quick read. Though it is entertaining enough to hold one's interest, it will not likely keep you up late at night.
Rating:
Summary: Not your ordinary sci-fi
Review: Most sci-fi seems extraordinarily lacking in character. There is no arc. The character remains untouched by the plot. That is certainly NOT the case here. Other reviewers have discussed the plot at length, so I'm not going to beat a dead horse. Simply put, the plot is a mindbender, and definately NOT a cliche. Instead, I want to stress the **emotional** reaction I had to this book. The characters inhabiting this novel live and breath. They have real foibles, they make real decisions. Their lives lived under the shadow of Kuin, the shadow of the Chronoliths is a constant, daily struggle to avoid fate. Imagine a world where everyone feels their fate is already mapped out for them, where you "know" your life will no longer be your own in a very short period of time. The depression these characters feel...it all felt extremely real to me. I found myself crying more than once reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: The picture on the front cover and summary on the back made the book seem WAY more interesting then it actually was. This book is not really Sci-fi. It's more like a biography set in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting put in scene, disappointing elaboration
Review: The premise of this book is compelling: giant obelisks sent back in time by some future warlord, cities destroyed, the future molding itself acting on the past. It makes you think on a story dealing with time-loops issues, scientific speculation, worldwide geopolitic action... but nothing of this is delivered. The author preferred to focus on the tribulations of a couple of characters, caming back to the main topic now and again and always marginally. The sci-fi content of the story is rather poor, and the ending is frustating at its best: abrupt, anti-climatic, and non-informative. It's disappointing to see how a brilliant premise is wasted in this way. Surely the author could have done much better.
Rating:
Summary: Strong Work
Review: Very well written with good character development. An apocalyptic, and hence a bit dark, view of the future, but well worth reading. The science was plausible, lending credibility to the text. Does not deal so much with time travel as issues of time manipulation, if you will.
Rating:
Summary: Keeps the mystery at arms length
Review: I had high expectations of this novel, having read the previous reviews at Amazon. However,the artwork on the dust jacket oversell what is really a high tech bit of 'kitchen sink' drama. I was expecting exciting revelations on the nature of space and time and man's abuse of it. What we get is a turgid (2/3rds of the book) human relationship saga that doesn't really belong in sci-fi unless you have a riviting action packed story to hang it on. (Check out Peter F Hamilton's 'Reality Dysfunction' for that...) In fact not much really happens in this book. Apart from the short description of Chronoliths arriving, we have to wade thru pages of reminiscence and character description that bears almost no relationship to the amazing spectacle of the bigs slabs of glass slamming down to earth from the future. It's almost as if Wilson deliberately scimps over the sci-fi bits as quickly as possible so as not to cause embaressment, nor interupt the soap opera drama of the protagonist. And the ending - without giving it away of course - is totally lame and hammed up to finish it all off quickly, leaving the reader with the true mystery unsolved. Unfortunately, not in the enigmatic sense but like watching a film and the power cutting off two minutes before the end! Summary: I think a good dose of editing might sort out this book.(Plus a complete rewrite of the main theme, of course.) Sorry, but I was disappointed by it all. Like visiting the Forbidden City and finding a Starbucks already there...
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