Why exactly The Chalk Giants is an odd duck starts with the wikipedia quote describing what the book is: 'a linked collection of short stories'. Is it a collection or novel? I would argue it's a loose concept album. The songs are individual pieces of music, but they fit a broader motif.
The first story, “The Sun Over a Low Hill”, describes Stan Pott's frantic escape from a city under curfew circa the mid-1900s. Draconian control measures in place, Potts escapes near apocalyptic urban conditions. Smashing through barriers, he drives a car stuffed with supplies to a lonely house by the sea which houses a small group of people. Throughout this escape Potts' strained sense of identity has a definitive Weirdness to it, in turn leading down dark psychological roads and to even darker decisions. “Fragments” is set at the same lonely house, but tells the story from the other characters' points of view. The Weirdness only gets Weirder, but doesn't lose its humanity.
Massively switching gears—grinding them some might think, “Monkey and Pru and Sal” tells of a strange monkey humanoid piloting an odd vehicle across an abandoned island while Pru and Sal, his two helpers, hunt and gather. Dismayed by the geographical limits of the island compared to the information he carries in books, the monkey yearns for more.
Switching gears yet again, “The God House” goes full pagan. It tells of a virgin groomed for sacrifice to a tribal corn god. A rich, edgy story with an almost Aztec feel, there is magic and blood in the river tribe, and the innocence of the virgin is nothing to be taken for granted. “The Beautiful One” follows closely on the animus of “The God House”. The next generation, it tells of a boy slave made a god at too early an age. His hubris has unintended consequences as this story also winds down some dark paths.
Jumping forward in time, “Rand, Rat and the Dancing Man” is the longest piece in the book. Channeling a mood loosely Arthurian, it tells of a band of explorers traversing a land. They encounter everything from primitive riverland tribes to runaway princesses. But always the ruling king haunts their steps, leading to a dramatic moment in the rain. And the last story is “Usk the Jokeman”. The most subtle of the stories included here, it tells of a Middle Ages king who is faced with a critical decision for his kingdom, and is likewise haunted from the shadows by a bigger, more powerful ruler. The titular joker playing the role of foil, he pushes the king away from a 'happy ending”--an ending not happy in the context of the book as a whole, but one which gains strong meaning set inside the context of the preceding stories.
If The Chalk Giants is a concept album, what then is the concept? At the risk of generalizing, the book is a cut scene depicting the evolution of society. Though it begins at the end, that of Potts' apocalyptic experiences, what comes after is in essence a sequence of stories that capture civilization shifting through its phases, paganism to feudalism to industrialization to beyond. But the stories are perpetually grounded. The characters and their humanity play the central role. Roberts does not shy away from displays of atavism, including sexuality, power, religion, curiosity, and more in defining the arc of civilized existence.
If you were to push me, and not very hard, I would argue the concept of this concept album is not as endemic as it could have been. Out of the seven tales, there are two distinct clusters (the pagan and the post-industrial) which occupy the most space compared to the other stories. Outside these, there are innumerable tales in the arc of civilization that are not told. It's obviously impossible for any author to try to capture all the points on that continuum, but what's presented nevertheless feels limited, and as a result, makes the overarching concept feel a touch forced. It very easily could have been: here are seven tales which don't link whatsoever, enjoy.
And enjoy I would. A central, convening concept is not necessary to enjoy Roberts' writing here, such is the manner in which each piece distinguishes itself, moves in unexpected directions, and never loses its humanity.
So to answer the question in the intro, will this book charm or repel, as always depends on the reader. One man's goose is another's gander. If you like rich, dark fiction set in semi-fantastical places with a human core, give it a try. Looking for light, easy to digest short stories with nothing between the lines, however, this one will not satisfy that desire. Roberts' writing rewards attention and causes reflection.
The following are the seven stories contained in The Chalk Giants:
The Sun Over a Low Hill
Fragments
Monkey and Pru and Sal
The God House
The Beautiful One
Rand, Rat and the Dancing Man
Usk the Jokeman
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