The This, by Adam Roberts (brief note)

Second paragraph of third chapter:

`I don’t understand why you have brought me here,’ says the individual. ‘Why not simply kill me, on Earth? Bringing me all the way here, transporting eighty kilos of carbon and water all this way — it is a waste of effort.’

I sometimes feel that Roberts is keener to show us how clever he is than to write a decent story, and this was yet another example. The chapter with a parallel narrative track running in a footnote killed my enthusiasm, and it’s pretty early in the book. But you can get it here.