The Chronoliths

Author: Robert Charles Wilson

Scott and his buddy Hitch chance upon a huge monolith, made of an indestructible material, that suddenly appears in the Thai jungle. And it doesn't just appear quietly, but with a bang and some serious scorched earth around it. The scribblings on its side refer to a future military victory by someone called "Kuin". More of these things appear over the next 20 years, all over the world. Some of them appear in cities, killing millions. Without any apparent explanation-how could there be, since the writings refer to a future event and so the things must be coming from the future!â€”it seems like everybody feels free makes out of it what they feel like. Typical human tendency to try and desperately make senseâ€”any kind of sense, no matter how dumb or unfoundedâ€” out of the nonsensical, in the process overlooking the obvious, which is that it might be designed to do just what it's doing. Political movements and cults spring up around these objects and their presumed maker, "Kuin"; in some cases resulting in wars. Until some bright sparks catch on to the manipulative nature of these artefacts and decide to try and destroy them, even though they appear indestructible. Why it's on the list: Fascinating concept: things appear out of time (the future presumably) for no apparent reason, freaking us all out. Don't know what. Don't know why. Don't know what's going to happen next. Ideal breeding ground for ignorant speculation, which eventually congeals into conviction, fanaticism and stupid wars.