The Strange

Reviews

"A propulsive story that reads like a love letter to the space western." "Ballingrud makes this whole strange scenario work with surprising ease." “Ballingrud stretches the boundaries of the genre by employing these grand worlds.” “The most enjoyable novel I’ve read in years, no contest. Before The Strange, I never realized I wanted to be marooned on the dustbowl of Mars, joining an epic quest through ghost towns haunted by the living. Ballingrud is already a master of literary horror, his short stories consistently brilliant. But in his page-turner of a debut novel, that talent radiates brighter than ever before.” “Ballingrud’s brilliant fiction brims with imagination, integrity (I do not use that term lightly), and an authentic world-weary dread that bores directly into your heart.” “Ballingrud is one of my favorite contemporary authors. His work is elegant and troublingly, wonderfully disturbing. “A definite page-turner. The writing is lovely and poetic and a perfect mix of well-written action and character.” "The Strange conjures a Bradbury-esque sense of childhood longing and creates a scrappy heroine that brings to mind True Grit, and yet it is utterly original and surprising. His wonderfully lyric work always feels as if it's part of a dream you once had and never told to anyone—yet somehow Ballingrud knows." The Strange is an adventure tale of the best kind: an unusual setting with vivid characters and an unpredictable ending. With every turn of the page, I wondered what would happen next.” “A surprising, thrilling, emotionally powerful bildungsroman. The Strange is an instant classic.” "Sophie Amoss nails the soft Texas accent of the main character in Ballingrud's first novel, which takes place on Mars in 1931...Amoss shines in her ability to maneuver between characters, including a British robot." Expand reviews