Gypsies

by Robert Charles Wilson

A family with the ability to enter alternate realities struggles to lead a normal life, but when the man responsible for several deaths in their family makes his presence known, they follow him into another realm

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Alternate History

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

I've been writing science fiction professionally since my first novel A Hidden Place was published in 1986. My books include Darwinia, Blind Lake, and the Hugo Award-winning Spin. My newest novel is The Affinities (April 2015).

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent alternate reality story, with crossings between parallel worlds.

Even if it’s one of his first novels, characterization is as great as ever. There isn’t much action but there is a gradual build of tension that makes you hold your breath almost until the end.

There is a mix of sci-fi, fantasy and horror which not many authors can mingle with success, but RCW does it brilliantly.

One of the best atmospheric books read so far.

[Megan Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it about Gypsies that fell short of the mark for me? I think, in many ways, it isn't that there's anything wrong with it, there's just not enough right. It is a perfectly fine entry in a blended sf/fantasy genre, but that hook that reached out and grabbed me and held me close, the way the story did in Spin just wasn't here. Early book syndrome, perhaps? It's only my second Robert Charles Wilson, so it's hard to be sure.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early work, but someone said that they keep reading RCW because this was their favorite book in Jr. High and they want to find another so good. Worth a try, because the reason I have trouble with RCW is he's full of himself... may not have been so much back then....

Ok done. Indeed, this is a work that makes me want to keep trying Wilson's other books. Interestingly, it doesn't read like SF. I mean, it very obviously is, but the emphasis is more on the family story. It's also pretty dramatic, and actually reads more like horror. Fans of Dean Koontz will like it I think, as it does remind me so much of what I've read by him.

I do recommend it. (I will be listing my copy on paperbackswap.)

[Tomislav · Rating 5 out of 5]

This science fantasy is just a little more in the direction of "magic" than most of Robert Charles Wilson's writing, but still has a science fiction feel in most ways. There's some reference to many worlds quantum theory to explain the alternate universes, but the basis is not so important. What there is, though, are well-imagined and described cross-travel between parallel histories, such as the world of Novus Ordo. Without reveling in gore or death, there is also a level of dread that builds the plot tension in the direction of horror. Beyond that, I enjoy the style and characterizations of early RCW immensely, and his themes on the meaning of home, belonging, family. I give this book one of my top ratings.

[Rubén Vilaplana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuando la familia White descubre que tiene el poder de viajar a mundos paralelos su vida se convierte en una huida constante, con esta simple trama Wilson consigue atrapar el interés del lector proporcionando todos los elementos necesarios para el disfrute de una historia cargada de aventuras.

Recomendada para aquellos lectores de cf.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Charles Wilson is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors. His ideas are interesting, and his writing confident, and often beautiful. He can claim what is probably my highest accolade - he is a writer who the reader can trust. By that I mean that his world-building is solid, and his stories and ideas unfold consistently. You feel that he knows what he's doing, even when the story is unusual and surprising.
Gypsies is the tale of three siblings who can step between worlds: it proves to be a dangerous activity.
It is also an exploration of ideas around faith; loyalty, and morality. Are we locked into just one way of living our lives, or can our choices make a real difference? There is a powerful feeling of 'the other' about this book, and Wilson is good at creating a sense of increasing menace and fear.
And he does evoke place very powerfully:
"Almost dark now, the last daylight washing up this windy road, this folded coast. Tall pines and mountain shadows and a sky as broad and clean as the ringing of a bell."
I will be reading more - fortunately, he's written a lot!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I read it in high school. I remember thinking that it wasn’t as well fleshed out as perhaps it should have been, but something about it has stuck with me and I would like to read it again.

[Abe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite Robert Charles Wilson book, but...

... still a good read and as always, highly imaginative. Apparently I still need to add ten more words to this review before I can submit it. There. I did it!

[Earendilion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta novela me ha parecido mucho menos interesante que otras novelas del autor.
Wilson me parece un escritor que ofrece personajes con un gran carisma, por encima de la trama y el estilo pero, en esta ocasión, no he encontrado nada de eso en ninguno de los personajes, y era lo que buscaba.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay, another excellent book by Robert Charles Wilson! Again, it's a parallel universe theme, but compelling characters and story make up for the repeating themes in his books. Such a good author!

[Sugarrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's was just ok for me, he has written better books. This book just didn't pull me in that much :( stroy main idea was pretty interesting though.

[C. Steinmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typisch Wilson eben... etwas verklärt, aber durchaus spannend. Hat was von P.K.Dick...

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heavy on introspection and light on actual plot events, plus when I read a dimension-hopping sci-fi adventure I expect quite a bit more dimension hopping.

[Earl Truss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book like the other few I've read of his. The characters are engaging. He really brings out the emotions of the characters and you can identify with them.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story.

[Carole O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book, about people who can open doors from one Universe to another. really good story, first book I have read by this author , will be reading more.

[John Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read. Very unusual concept. Highly recommend Gypsies and anything RC Wilson writes.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm. I might give this one 3.5 stars if the option existed, but perhaps not. My reason for considering doing so is admittedly perhaps a bit trivial. According to the genre identification on the book cover, this is "Science Fiction." However, it is in fact clearly fantasy, a work in which magic and spells are explicitly invoked as the agencies whereby the fantastic occurs--in this case, the ability of some folk to travel between parallel worlds. There is of course nothing wrong with fantasy, but I prefer to know that that's what I'm reading up front.

That said, this is an engaging and well-written (unsurprisingly; Robert Charles Wilson has a stunning facility with language) adventure story. Admittedly, I was somewhat bothered by some of the character flaws--characters who tenaciously refuse to face reality because they don't like it (in this case, the mother who refuses to teach her son anything about his unique ability, despite KNOWING that there's a dangerous "Gray Man" out there who might track him down, because she wants her son to have a "normal" life) bug me. I don't find them sympathetic, or even particularly easy to understand. Nevertheless, the characters are generally well-developed, with satisfactory blendings of traits that make it difficult to view even the villains simply as bad guys. They are generally given plausible motivations, especially Cardinal Palestrina, who must confront the moral implications of abusing people in order to achieve victory in a war. Do the ends justify the means? Fantastical fiction can provide a useful context for exploring such questions freed from the commplicating factors of real-world politics and ideology. Wilson's recurring interest in alternate worlds and the implications of their existence is of course also strongly in evidence (I haven't read all of his books, but several others I have read address similar ideas).

Anyway, if you like well-written, tightly-constructed parallel worlds fantasy, this is a very good book.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

An early novel from an excellent writer, Gypsies is unfortunately just ok in the larger world of science fiction. The novel uses multiple universe theory, and special people who can travel between them, to tell a basic broken family story. This is classic RCW, turning science fiction tropes into human interest stories, but this one is not quite as rich as Spin or Julian Comstock. Features not one but three to five well drawn characters, superior to most sci fi before or since.
Not sure if this book wanted to be a utopia, a bildungsroman, feminist fable, fantasy, sci fi or horror story. Which is normally a really good thing, and should be a really good thing here, but you only get touches of these various ideas and not a full development of anything. There are some long stretches of dull interior monologue, and the integration of magic doesn't really help it.
In fact, if you'd like a good example of why SF and fantasy really are two different genres, best kept separate, this offers an enjoyable lesson.
Recommended for a fun, quick read; if you want to get theoretical the novel is instructive in potentialities and partially realized ideas and certainly valuable for that alone.

[Jonathan Appleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Charles Wilson is the master of alternative universes. I wonder if his publisher ever says: "Bob, how about something different this time." I actually hope not since they are always intriguing.
I like this whole multiverse concept and RCW really gets it.
This was another one of those old books that suddenly became Amazon singles and were available again. There is a treasure trove here.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, Wilson features a sort of chronic paranoia in the lives of the main characters, but in this case they grow up with it while not really understanding or having it explained. Little by little, they learn the reasons that shaped the lives of their family along with the reader, which sustains the interest. I'm ready for another!

[Brenna Flood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this when I was a teenager, and remember that it was enjoyable, but corny in parts. Might re-read at some point.

[Verity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite book I don't know who many times I've read it.

[Alex]

False

[Rachel Danielle]

Got a lot of elements to it, like Madeleine L'Engle and C.S. Lewis...

[Chris Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a bit clunky... and sometimes doesn't seem to fit together very well... but I couldn't put it down. Definitely worth a read.