Cizota

by Nathan Ballingrud, Jakub Němeček (Translator)

931, Nový Galveston, Mars: Čtrnáctiletá Anabelle Crispová se vydává přes pustiny oblasti zvané Podivno, aby našla gang Silase Mundta, který ukradl hlas její matky, zničil jejího otce a jí nechal jenom touhu po pomstě. Od chvíle, kdy Anabellina matka odcestovala na Zemi, aby se postarala o nemocnou babičku, tráví Anabelle dny ve škole a noci v otcově dineru, kde je jejím jediným společníkem Watson – rodinný kuchyňský automat a myčka na nádobí. Když přišlo Mlčení a komunikace i zásobování mezi Zemí a jejími koloniemi na Marsu ustaly, život ustrnul v tísnivé nehybnosti – až do noci, kdy zaútočil Silas Mundt se svým gangem.

Ballingrudův román, který zároveň evokuje snové vize Ameriky z Bradburyho Marťanských kronik i tvrdou realitu pohraničního života z Portisovy Opravdové kuráže, působivě zachycuje Anabellinu pouť za pomstou zdecimovaným a rozhněvaným světem. Společnost jí přitom dělá domácí automat, opilý vesmírný pilot a nejdrsnější žena na Marsu.

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Westerns, Fantasy, Audiobook, Alternate History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 2023

About the author

I'm the author of North American Lake Monsters: stories, coming from Small Beer Press in July 2013. I'm currently at work on my first novel and several more short stories. I live with my daughter in Asheville, NC.

Reviews

[Rebecca Roanhorse]

The Strange is an intriguing vision of life on Mars for a small set of settlers mostly intent on mining the planet for a substance they call The Strange. The story follows a thirteen-year-old girl, Annabelle, whose mother returned to Earth right before the settlers lost communication with their home planet and now Annabelle, her father, and the rest of the population of Mars lingers in The Silence, wracked by fear of the unknown and an uncertain future, while Mars and whatever the Strange is grows more and more...conscious. I enjoyed the story a lot. It was an easy page-turner that felt more like reading a tale of the old West (settlers are settlers, no?) with its gritty mining town, small-time ineffective lawmen, and undercurrent of desperation. Annabelle is not your typical protagonist. She has a teenager's steadfast belief in rights and wrongs, and when she decides to seek justice for the wrongs done to her and her father by a gang of miners, nothing will stop her. Not reason or common sense or war engines who roam the desert sands intent on killing anything that passes their way. She sets out to seek her vengeance and save her father with the unlikeliest of companions and ends up finding something else, wholly alien and creepy.

The story is at its best when building characters. The adults who fail to live up to Annabelle's unrealistic expectations feel real, men and women beaten down by hopelessness and desperation. And I was intrigued by the hints of a world before the settlers came - there are mentions of a war on Mars (but little detail given), what caused the Silence, and now, what will happen with the Strange, but don't expect the story to give you the answers. The reader really only knows as much as Annabelle, which is not a lot, and therein lies both the story's strength and weakness. There were times when Annabelle's voice and vocabulary didn't quite feel right and took me out of the story, and there were some throwaway references to the Lakota settling somewhere over there on the other side of the mountain (??) and the prevalence of racism against the one Black family still being a thing on Mars. But nothing was done with either of these observations, so why make them? And there are no BIPOC characters (or queer characters) save Annabelle's Black friend who appears once and is never heard from, again, which is fine but seems a bit like a wasted opportunity. But perhaps that is because we are in the past, not the future. And therein lies my biggest stumbling block with the story. It takes place in 1931. Humans got to Mars a little sooner in this tale, and the trappings of the society they build there reflect that. It was a stumbling block for me. Part of that may be my own biases and what I am used to reading in Science Fiction, but every time I came across a date or some aspect of the 1930s (Annabelle and her father own a diner that serves up Southern home cooking), I stumbled.

That's not to say the book isn't good. It's an intriguing vision of alien life and one that I enjoyed. I blasted through it in a couple of days, a definite page-turner. The writing is lovely and poetic and a perfect mix of well-written action and character, and there's a great undercurrent of horror that I appreciated. Overall, there's a lot to like in this story and it is worth checking out.

[Gareth Is Haunted · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun and captivating, out-of-this-world read this turned out to be.

'My name is Annabelle Crisp. This is the story of what happened to me, what I did about it, and the consequences thereof.'

This book is called The Strange and as the title suggests, this is a very strange yet hypnotising novel.
Events play out in a Martian world, colonised by human settlers within an altered timeline so similar to, yet unlike our own. As the story progresses the characters encounter many strange and fascinating events and entities, including the titular Strange. You will have to read this to find out about that yourself.
To me, this book was a real breath of fresh air. It has all the elements you would want from a science fiction novel, along with plenty of elements that you wouldn't necessarily expect.

'As if summoned by an invocation, ghosts appeared around us in the darkness, too: phantoms curling in the wind with the sand from the dunes, rising up in breezy spirals, coalescing into the suggestion of a form, and the dissolving into the wind like blown seeds.'

The story is narrated by and follows the scintillating adventures of Annabelle, a rather headstrong, petulant, and larger-than-life young girl. She has all the traits you would assume a young girl would have, yet she is so much more than that. My thoughts on her varied throughout my reading experience. One moment, I would feel caringly towards her or feel some kind of pity for the situations she finds herself in. Yet within a few more pages of reading, I would maybe feel something closing in on hatred for her but when thinking back to my youth, things were far more black and white than they appear later on in life, so ultimately this can be forgiven with foresight. I loved this story having such a conflicted and multifaceted main character.

This felt like an amazing blend of science fiction, horror and a dystopian frontier western, with plenty of otherworldly supernatural elements thrown in for good measure. I loved this mix of influences. It felt fresh and full-bodied compared to the majority of science fiction I have read recently and kept me on my toes trying to anticipate what would happen next.
The writing was brilliantly descriptive and kept to a very pleasant pace from start to finish. The overall reading experience was very rewarding and enjoyable with a good balance between action, dialogue, really well-drawn characters and a great knack for telling an extremely enjoyable and multilayered story. I know a book is good when I can picture the events within my mind's eye, with this I almost felt like I was on that lonely and hostile red planet myself.

'I was drawn to it, though it stirred a primordial fear in me. It was the original terror, the knowledge of a predatory hunger lurking beyond the firelight's edge.'
Strange by name, even stranger by nature. Highly recommended!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for providing me with an ARC copy for review.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is certainly appropriate because this is a strange book, but in such a good way. This is a bit of an old school science fiction story set on Mars after what they call the Silence, when they stopped hearing anything from Earth without any explanation. The narrator for this story is a very hard girl named Annabelle who is set on vengeance after a series of events take everything dear to her away. Annabelle was hard to like at times, but she was a great narrator for the harsh and strange lands of Mars. Annabelle has lived her whole life in the main colony on Mars and finds out how little she knows about her home. I liked the writing a lot and this was a very exciting story that was a quick read.

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw that THE STRANGE was available from NetGalley, I requested it right away. Ever since I read NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS, I've been meaning to return to Nathan Ballingrud's work, and now I'm finally here!

On Mars, young Annabelle Crisp seeks to avenge her father. Together, they run a small diner- ever since Annabelle's mom returned to Earth. Then came The Silence. People would travel back and forth to Earth all the time, but now no one has heard from Earth in a long, long time. No one knows what happened or if the Earth even still exists. As a result, Mars is short on supplies; people are hungry and afraid. After her father's diner was robbed, a murder was committed and Annabelle's dad was arrested. She sets out with another loner to retrieve what was stolen and to hold accountable those responsible. Will she be successful? Will she be able to free her father? What happened to Earth? You will have to read this to find out!

Of course the first thing that popped into my mind was True Grit. I finally read the book last year and that young lady was on my mind the entire time I was reading THE STRANGE. Even though this book takes place on a different planet, this feels more like a western than science fiction. I had a lot of questions about the science and how these people were breathing on Mars, but this story doesn't get very heavy with the science at all. I think I might have preferred to know a bit more about how those settlers got there, but I also think that would have been a much longer book.

What I did like was Annabelle and her growth throughout the story. Even though she lives on Mars and is currently motherless, she's actually kind of spoiled. As she insisted on pursuing the robbers, she becomes more and more aware of what she was risking and what she was causing other people to risk on her behalf. In that respect, this is more of a coming of age story than anything else.

I loved the world building and would have enjoyed more of it, however, (again), I'm sure that would have been a much longer book. There's also an alternative history here, because this all takes place in 1931. Yep, that's right-1931. On Mars.

All of this was enough to keep me reading, though I did think that the denouement felt rushed. Everything wound up quickly and many questions remain unanswered. If there is going to be another book, I'm here for it, but as a stand alone this left me feeling a bit...unsatisfied.

Overall though, I enjoyed the ideas, the world building and most of all, the characters. After mulling it over, I ended up with a rating of 3.5/5 but I've rounded it up for Goodreads because they still haven't given us the option of half stars.

Recommended!

*Thanks to Gallery/Saga Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

[Michael Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest joys in reading is being transported to another reality, another realm, another dimension, a different time, and sharing in the imaginings and musings of a skilled author as they relate their tale. Nathan Ballingrud is a master at this, and the swift elasticity he has with telling stories set within, and often intermingling between, various genres shouldn't surprise anyone who has read his short story collections. If you've read Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, then I'm sure you understand. So to have him tackle a science fiction-alternate history-western mash-up on a ghost riddled Mars with such a deft and assured hand is hardly surprising, but it is still worth marveling over.

The set-up is surprisingly simple given all the peculiarities surrounding it. After their diner is robbed and the Sheriff of New Gavleston is too lazy to do anything about it, Annabelle Crisp sets out across the sands to retrieve the most priceless of that which was stolen: the last recording of her mother's voice. Oh, and those peculiarities I mentioned? Well, The Strange is set on Mars, you see. In 1931.

Far from the hard science fiction of an author like, say, Alastair Reynolds, Ballingrud opts for the more fantastical spirits of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, giving us a broad overview of this alternate history. Seeking to escape enlistment into the Civil War, Chauncy Peabody launched himself into space and settled on the red planet. More people followed, like the Crisp family. With them came a new age of prosperity and wonder...until all contact with Earth was lost in what came to be known as The Silence.

Some readers may find themselves lost amidst the lack of details or historical accuracy to shore up Ballingrud's setting, but I had little difficulty escaping into the author's flight of fancy. I was hooked right from the outset and regretted having to put the book down each time I was forced to contend with reality (given the state of reality, can you blame me?). I easily set aside whatever disbelief I had and allowed myself to set foot on Martian soil, eagerly joining Annabelle's campaign alongside the rough-and-tumble outlaw, a drunk, and her robot companion as they left New Gavelston for the wilder and much more dangerous Dig Town, and the Martian desert beyond.

Does it matter at all that Civil War-era America lacked the technology and capabilities to reach Mars, let alone establish any kind of outpost? Not one single whit, as far as I was concerned. I didn't care. Neither does Ballingrud, and thank goodness for that. The dude's following his muse, and I respect the hell out of his ability to carve out a tale and not let silly things like facts or historical accuracy get in the way of something this good. It's a fantasy that's as beautiful as it is occasionally grotesque and macabre. It's also a testament to the fact that an author worth his salt, with a voice so captivating, can spiel together a string of otherwise preposterous hooks and have you so willingly take the bait, catch yourself on his line, and allow yourself to be reeled in so fully.

A human settlement on Mars circa the 1930s is utterly ridiculous, but for a few solid handful of hours I did believe and was fully invested in this whole damn what-if. And it's Annabelle herself that sells it wholesale. She's a mean-tempered, hostile, justice-seeking teenager, angry and ambitious, and fueled by hot-headed justifications. She's so well-grounded and relatable it's hard not to root for her. She's been scorned, let down, and struck with the understanding of how corrupt those around her really are. All of her child-like innocence is snuffed out in one violent night and a red-hot need is all that's left to drive her forward. Annabelle grounds the whole damn thing, and you get sucked right into her orbit alongside her small band of outlaws because she looms large off the page.

The Strange is a marvelous concoction of disparate ideas, but they all join together seamlessly to create a single unified world that reads like True Grit by way of Edgar Rice Burroughs (but, thankfully, without his racism). That Balllingrud is able to execute this story with some clear-headed precision and skill is a testament. He's not just a damn good author, he's a fucking con artist, and I mean that in the best way possible! We should all be grateful this man chose to be a writer instead of a snake-oil salesman, because after this book I fear the kind of grifts he'd be capable of pulling off.

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I buddy read this with a friend which was great because there are so many things to talk about while reading this book. Full review in-coming just wanted to say that this is a contender for 2023 Top Ten.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one. The Strange is a sci-fi Western set in an alternate 1930's on Mars, with horror elements. At times it's a very engaging, propulsive read with interesting ideas and a creeping sense of horror.

It took me awhile to get into it, I think because the prose intentionally gives the vibe of an old western novel and begins with a lot of telling as set-up. But once I got into it, I was very intrigued, up until the ending. That's where it kind of lost me. In part because I don't really see what the choice of setting this in alternate history adds to the story. It just ends up being a weird choice when we're talking about people on different sides of the civil war, racism toward this one Black family, and references to Cherokee and Lakota people on Mars using outdated terminology.

I'm not sure I would go so far as to call this "problematic" but it's certainly not well-thought through and if the author was trying to say something about colonization and race (which I think he might be?) it really falls flat. The ending also just read as kind of absurd and rushed which was a letdown after the creepy buildup that came before. So mixed feelings. When this is good, it's very good and the writing works. But the ending kind of falls apart for me. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

[Scottsdale Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

14-year-old Annabelle helps her dad run a diner on Mars. But when the diner is robbed and a recording of Annabelle’s mother is taken, she can’t sit idly waiting for it to magically come back. She goes searching for the robbers, and, in turn, the recording. She takes their dishwashing robot, Watson, along as a companion.

Along the way, Annabelle meets up with adults who have been shaped by life on Mars, for better or worse. Joe, the pilot who got them there, is a drunk who can barely take care of himself. Sally, on the other hand, has become very good at getting what she needs to survive. Together, they trek across the desert.

This is a ripping yarn. It’s a space western with shades of True Grit. You’ll find yourself rooting for Annabelle, even when she grossly misjudges people.

Ballingrud is known mostly as a horror author, and while I wouldn’t call this novel horror, there are creepy moments. Most revolve around The Strange, the powerful element that’s mined on the planet, and may be affecting the residents in ways they don’t realize.

Highly recommended for sci-fi fans who are ok without a lot of details about their science, and for western fans who want to try something that’s off the beaten path. -Mike M.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
This was a solid space western that took on a fun horror twist. As someone who loves Firefly and The Mandelorian, I love the aesthetics of this niche subgenre. The prose was spot on, creating a genuine historical western feel even though the story was set on a future Mars. However I will also acknowledge that this had a dryer quality than made the story feel long and slow burning, despite the action. I recommend the audio version because it really brought the young girl to life.

[Ruxandra Grrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

THEN: After reading 'Wounds', I could not possibly be more excited for this!
//
NOW: This is a book I was highly anticipating, that's written quite beautifully (the descriptions are quite haunting and savage and lovely), from the author who wrote Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, which I've been thinking about - I so vividly remember parts of those stories, haunting *is* the word -, with a bunch of intriguing scifi/ fantasy/ horror concepts that I love in theory, and yet, I am feeling lukewarm about it. What the heck happened? I'm sad.

I think it's the characters and the world. There's an obvious western inspiration here, and an even more obvious True Grit inspiration - Anabelle is very similar to the protagonist from that (and then the connection to True Grit was acknowledged in the acknowledgments) -, and I am so conflicted, because I did not like any of the characters and yet I am the person who's like: stop calling female characters 'unlikable'! But I have been thinking about it while reading this slowly and I think I would have been fine with Anabelle staying the same as long as some of the other characters were different! But everyone is either gritty in the extreme, but yeah, with a tough shell to crack and a soft interior, or dead inside (in more ways than one). And it felt exhausting. I kept trying to find ways to connect to this world, but I felt pushed back at every turn, by everybody. I get why this world would create these people, I do, but I think they were just not for me, and it felt depressing to spend time with them, it felt cold, distant, removed. The sparse acts of kindness and affection were not enough.

And then the world! Part of it is fucking amazing and part of it makes no sense. I think maybe that some of this is about colonialism? Maybe? But I cannot for the life of me understand why it was important for the narrative that it all take place in 1931 in an alternate universe where the US (and Germany!) have gone to Mars much earlier? Was it just a flavor thing? A texture aesthetic thing? Why do we have to bring the confederacy into Mars and the American civil war? Cause it leads to *strange* decisions, like having a Black family in the community (called by a very outdated, Jim Crow-era word), or mentions of settlements of Cherokee and Lakota people (called by a very old and disrespectful term that was widespread in the 30s).

All in all, this was a story about not giving into desperation and about not losing hope, but we did have to get through a lot of desperation and hopelessness to get to a place where there's a little bit of hope? Maybe? But not enough for me.

I will still continue to read Ballingrud's stuff in the future, because:

Most disturbing were the high wails of human beings, carried on the wind like wisps of blood-dipped lace, a half-articulated cry for help or a lover's name or simply a howl of anguish.

[Thomas Wagner | SFF180 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book like The Strange is one of those wonderful surprises that makes reading SFF such an unbeatable pastime. A book like this is a bolt from the blue — or maybe the red. Nathan Ballingrud delivers one of the most sublimely executed adventures I’ve read in quite a while. And he’s done it not by trying to produce bleeding-edge hard SF or space opera, but by hewing closely to the old-fashioned conceits of planetary romance, a genre that rose to popularity over a hundred years ago and that’s held its own ever since.

This is a space western set on Ray Bradbury’s Mars, essentially Charles Fortis’s classic True Grit played out among the haunted dunes of a red planet colonized by humans since the mid-19th century. But Ballingrud is not simply mining nostalgia. Once his alternate history is established (The Strange takes place, not in the future, but in 1931), the book has the voice and character of a story that could only have been written in the 2020s. Old and new sensibilities are brought together to brilliant effect.

Anabelle Crisp is a 14-year-old girl living in the Martian colony of New Galveston, which lies a short distance from Dig Town, a mazelike mining settlement digging up a mineral called the Strange. (Continued...)

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so badly to love this Sci-Fi/Western mashup! I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re in for the sciency bits… there aren’t any many. Some aspects of the writing I thought were good, but the worldbuilding and low-stakes plot are the novel’s weakest points. You can’t really tell it’s Mars because, even in this alternate history, the author ignores the challenges and implications of humanity colonizing and living on the planet. There’s so much disbelief I am willing to suspend. I mean... horse riding? Mining the Spice Strange?

The protagonist is the most unconvincing of all: why would these grownups go along with this naïve 14yo girl’s bullying is beyond me. I guess, unlike the Deputy, Ballingrud does hide behind a child.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the alternate history of The Strange, humans travelled to Mars in the 19th century, and 60 years later have established a few (sparse) settlements there. Mars trade is largely organised around a substance called the Strange, which is used to give ‘life’ to android-like workers and companions known as Engines. Or at least it was, until the recent advent of ‘the Silence’, a mysterious cessation of all contact with Earth, which has cut off the Mars towns from everyone else – and 14-year-old Anabelle from her mother. When Anabelle’s family diner is robbed, she channels her rage into a quest to get back what was stolen, taking her away from the town she’s grown up in and across a vast, treacherous crater. Basically, it’s science fiction-slash-horror-slash-western. This is a vivid, near-cinematic, story that held my interest by constantly shifting its horizons. I never knew quite what we were going to encounter next.

Really, the only issue I have with The Strange is its surprisingly narrow narrative focus. Reading the first page, in which Anabelle is speaking from the vantage point of old age, I assumed the story would be about her whole life on Mars, not just this one episode when she was a teenager. It is, in fact, just this one episode when she was a teenager. It’s still a captivating story, but it does all feel a bit YA as a result. Anabelle as a character reminded me of Lalage in Antonia Honeywell’s The Ship: she’s a believably written teenager, but that means she is often quite annoying and makes frustrating decisions. It’s also, frankly, a bit unbelievable that a bunch of hardened criminals would do everything a naive girl says just because she’s threatening to dob them in to the sheriff. That’s the weakest aspect of the plot and, again, makes it feel more juvenile than I’d like.

But the imagination on display in The Strange is wonderful. I could picture it all perfectly – Ballingrud is a master of providing just enough detail. The journey across the crater is like Dune meets Mad Max, with its own unique flourishes: the image of Peabody, in particular, is a stroke of genius and will definitely stay with me.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely one that will sit on my mind for a while. There's a lot of great worldbuilding aspects to this Mars-based (but apparently not futuristic!) western. I've been fascinated by this from the very start. Get this: even fifty years prior, in the 1880's the first lander on mars started this whole colonization kick, the wild west on what would otherwise be a Barsoomian planet, able to hold atmosphere and crops, and we have outposts, towns, and cities.

And then all communication and travel with Earth went silent a few years past -- and now we've got the psychological horror of being cut off, alone, and the things that people do in that situation.

And this is just the beginning. I'll tell you -- I got PISSED. And frankly, I fell into this tale, raged with it, and was all down for the OTHER mystery, the one that the book is named for. The mystery of Mars, itself. Add the robots, AI creativeness, the idea of consciousness, and a WHOLE LOT of INJUSTICE -- and we get a really cool western that's also all SF while being very creative.

I don't want to give away the goodies, but suffice to say, there ARE some delicious goodies here and great characters.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Strange' is a wonderful, page turning sci fi adventure, that blends western tropes, horror and a coming of age narrative into a very satisfying whole. It's set in Mars in the 1930s, humans are mining the planet. Teenage heroine and narrator Annabelle helps her father run the town diner and gets pulled into a quest across the planet when robbers attack their business.
Annabelle is pure Mattie Ross (the heroine of Charles Portis' excellent western 'True Grit'), but no worse for that. She's smart, determined, funny and a joy to read. The events of the book and the background to the occupation of Mars are ridiculous in just the right way. It's pure pulpy entertainment, with monsters, robots and peril.
A very enjoyable read from an author I'll definitely be revisiting.

[Jenny Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique twist on a western science fiction tale, like if True Grit and The Martian Chronicles had a baby.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud is described on the inside cover as “At once evoking the dreams of an America explored in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles and the harder realities of frontier life in Charles Portis True Grit, Ballingrud’s novel is haunting in its evocation of Anabelle’s quest for revenge amidst a spent and angry world accompanied by a domestic Engine, a drunken space pilot, and the toughest woman on Mars.”

And it begins with not only a quote from Bradbury but a fantastic setting that is a clear homage to the great storyteller and grandmaster fantasy writer. And make no mistake, this is fantasy, not science fiction and I love Bradbury for his ability to look you dead in the eyes and say, “they got into the rocket ship and went to Mars.” And by the way, Mars looks a lot like Illinois or Nevada and we can breathe and farm and swim in the canals.

Ballingrud has a spunky and fun to watch teenage protagonist who reminded me of Mattie Ross from Charles Portis’ 1968 novel True Grit. And like Mattie, she is out for justice and revenge and is ironically the one best suited to get it and drag it home.

The author mixes in a plethora, a cornucopia of cultural and literary references from Lovecraft to Jules Verne to modern themes. It’s a space western with lots of bells and whistles. Ballingrud is a better than average and our man can string some words together.

And then I just did not like the ending.

About two thirds in and I knew he was not going to tie up all the loose ends. And I loved Clarke’s brilliant Rendezvous with Rama, which ended with a plethora, a cornucopia of unanswered questions. But Clarke demonstrated his mastery by explaining the dearth of answers, and its better because of that. Ballingrud gave us all of these interesting characters and scenes and ideas and then just dropped us off at the corner.

I might read more from him.

[Haniya Halana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Achieving originality in this day and age is almost an impossibility task and writers are the product of their inspiration. That said, a barrage of homages can get in the way of telling a simple, familiar story that could've been great without them.

The Strange sets in 1931, New Galveston in Mars and follows a fourteen-year-old Anabelle Crisp and her father who owns a small diner. A violent man shows up and cause trouble, driving Anabelle's father to violence. Anabelle now must venture across the wasteland to bring back the only thing can save her father.

Starting from just the setting, Nathan Ballingrud pays homage to the late great Ray Bradbury and his novel, The Martian Chronicles. The similarity are too on the nose to not be a homage. Nathan Ballingrud, like Ray Bradbury does not concerned himself too much with detailed scientific world building but uses it merely to tell a speculation of the human condition. As the story progress, we learned of the ore called the strange which is where the novel gets its title from and is another homage, this time to Frank Herbet's Dune. The Strange is also a western frontier with mining community and that brought another homage within the setting, which is True Grit by Charles Portis and True Grit's homages wasn't specifically just the setting either. Besides the barrage of homages though, is how a lot of it were told instead of being shown. The novel is told through first person POV, we're told a lot of things regarding the setting which was a disappointment, because I was hoping for an atmospheric development.

As for another thing that True Grit influenced are the character or at least the main character. I know that the young teen protagonist is not a specifically a True Grit thing but Anabelle Crisp is also a word for word copy of Mattie from True Grit. Anabelle is a big reader with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes being her obsession and she named her companion robot that comes with an English accent as Watson. Watson is another True Grit homage as Mattie has her own travelling companion but Watson is also a homage to Issac Asimov's I, Robot. Besides Anabelle though, their aren't as interesting nor flesh out. The most disappointing one has to be Anabelle and her father, which was a relationship I would have wanted a deeper dive in but it lacks any depth.

The plot kick off when one of the miner came in and stole a cannister that holds recordings of Anabelle's mother. Her father became violent and was thrown to jail by the town's sheriff. Anabelle goes on a quest to retrieve the cannister to somehow help keep his father's sanity and that was essentially the whole story. In its simplicity, Nathan Ballingrud muddles the story with the homages and the unclarity of whether this was a revenge story or this was just an adventure story.

Generally speaking, this was a well written novel from its prose and the structure of the story. There's a voice to the story that made sense with the way the story was framed but it was towards the middle, lost and then it sounded very generic till the end. Another thing that bugged me was while the story was told by an older Anabelle, she never sounds like a fourteen-year-old girl. Old Anabelle telling the story never felt like she was lamenting on her quest so her not sounding like a teenager just felt weird.

The Strange felt like it was written for me with all the homages but it all just got in a way on a potentially poignant story of an older woman lamenting on an old quest she undertook.

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Nathan Ballingrud’s horror stories, and while I was a bit surprised to see him go in the sci-fi direction, I was mostly just very excited to see what kind of weirdness he would bring to such a story. The blurbs I kept seeing for it referred to Ray Bradbury and Jeff VanderMeer, which is a strong selling point for me, and after finishing the book, I have to say, the comparisons are pretty spot-on: it’s a soft sci-fi in the style of Bradbury, with all the weirdness and mushrooms one might expect from a VanderMeer story.

“The Strange” is really a space Western, with emphasis on “Western”: Annabelle was born on Earth, but has spent most of her life in New Galveston, a Martian colony near the mine where a substance known as the Strange is extracted and processed. One day, her mother receives a message about the on-coming death of her own mother, and catches a ship back to Earth. Soon after that, a phenomenon known as the Silence happens, and all communication between the Earth and Mars is severed. Annabelle and her father carry on running the family establishment, a small diner, with the help of a robot named Watson. One night, as they are closing shop, they are robbed at gunpoint, one of the items stolen being the last recording of Annabelle’s mother’s voice. Desperate to get it back, she decides to hunt down the thieves, setting a series of events into motion that will change the way she understands her home and the planet’s inhabitants.

There is no real horror here as there is in Ballingrud’s other work, but there is plenty of darkness, despair and weirdness. He is very skilled at creating unsettling atmospheres, and he really nailed the dingy little town, it’s bizarre citizens and the ominous landscape the story is set in. there are a few unanswered questions by the time the story wraps up, which felt a little frustrating, but Ballingrud is not the type to spoon-feed readers. He created an alternative-history of space exploration, and I would have loved more world-development, but this story is meant to be insular and convey a sense of claustrophobia, so broadening the world might not have made sense.

4 very solid stars. I prefer his horror stories, but this was still a really will and unusual ride, and I can’t wait to read whatever he comes up with next!

[Xanadu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This imaginative adventure is an original blend of sci-fi, fantasy and horror that creates a compelling and satisfying story. Ballingrud's first novel lives up to its title and delivers a visionary experience worthy of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Frank Herbert, driven by authentic characters with enough heart for fans of Stephen King and Robert McCammon. The unusual journey takes readers through an alternative-history like no other, in which space travel became possible in the 19th century. Take a break from the ordinary and treat yourself to a dose of The Strange.

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nathan Ballingrud writes brilliant short stories. I recommend his collection, "Wounds," to any reader interested in quality horror fiction. I was beyond excited to check out his debut novel, "The Strange." The reviews are mostly positive and praise the book. Unfortunately, I fail to understand the hype. Don't get me wrong; it's a solid book that combines space western, horror, and some dope imagery. On the flip side, I found the characterization thin, the plot unconvincing, and the pacing uneven. Near the end, I just didn't care at all about anything that was happening. Ballingrud is a talented writer, and his prose is strong, but "The Strange" didn't awe me.

Format: audiobook listened at 2x speed.

[Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Bland.

The only thing strange about The Strange is how many people whose opinions I respect overhyped it. Wake me up when Ballingrud puts out another Weird Lit collection instead of this soulless Hollywood-style crap.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

True Grit on a 1950s B-movie Mars. If that interests you, you’ll dig this book. Otherwise, your mileage may vary.

For my taste, this confirms Ballingrud as an unflashy but remarkably good writer with a solid talent for atmosphere and character voice. I enjoyed the elegiac tone, and since I happen to think Charles Portis is one of the great American authors, this book works really well for me. Hard sci-fi has never really been my thing—a lot of the time the masturbatory take-me-seriously sciencey stuff just gets in the way of what’s actually interesting. Ballingrud ejects this right out of the flying saucer, so it’s never even a concern. An atmosphere on Mars? Cool, I love it, I don’t need to know more. A 1930s alternate universe with jet propulsion? Awesome, I’m there. I had a great time getting lost in the mood and atmosphere of this book and hope more novels are in his future.

My only real criticism is that some of the plotting gets a bit forced once the book finally has to make something happen in the final third. The unanswered questions don’t bother me much, but the motivation behind the central action is a bit murky. For me that’s okay, everything else around the plot is strong enough to keep me invested. But if you’re a pedantic nerd about this stuff, I can see that section raising the hair on your neck a little.

Generally, a cool sci-fi with an original genre-bending twist that gets a little on-the-nose about its references and a little stodgy in its plotting, but contains strong enough writing to keep you coasting.

Read on hardcover from the library.

[Jeneane Vanderhoof · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wild West has come to Mars in the adventurous, new release, The Strange. Nathan Ballingrud has managed to do on the page what he has done on screen (as he is the creator of the Hulu series Monsterland and the film, Wounds), make magic happen!  And, for a first novel, he has produced a real page turner, with a rare look at what it is like when there is no longer any justice, when you are in this world and out of it. Say, for example,on the planet Mars. 

Because that is where we find Ballingrud has placed his characters, as the story opens. You have got to love an author who titles the two parts of his book What Happened To Me and the second part, What I Did About It. Readers, when they meet and get to know Anabelle Crisp, the thirteen year old readers follow, the one who everything happens to, and the one who does something about it, her very nature is what defines how the two parts were titled. She is simply brief, short and to the point, when she does things, thinks about things. For instance, when she doesn't know something she will say she doesn't know. And, when she feels she needs to do something, even when she doesn't know what that something is, she does it. 

While the attitude is probably, simply, one that comes with the ignorance of youth, the girl has not been helped by the fact that her mother and father took her off their home planet, making them some of the first to set up a colony on another planet, instilling the same sense of ideals, values and beliefs that they grew up with. Sadly, this in no way prepares the girl for the harsh realities of being on another planet especially when things go terribly wrong. 

However, it is this same fearless battle for her beliefs to survive that makes Anabelle go on, taking on all those that are bad on the planet (who aren’t following the “normal rules of society” that she was taught). And, although she tries to keep a fearless mask on her face, the fact that inside, she falters at many of the steps and trials along her journey for justice, are what makes her the courageous character that readers, like I did, want to love. Despite the fact that she may not survive the tasks she has given herself, the fact that she probably won’t survive much longer with all that is going on with the planet and those on it, really is ever present in her mind, no matter how cognizant of things, she may be, she knows it, deep down, still she goes on. 

Anabelle Crisp is one of my favorite character creations ever, and this story is really about how she lost her innocence. Because before everything happened, she thought that there was justice in the world, she thought that people cared and that, in the end, everything is always made right. Those rules and laws that were made, well, people should follow them. Not just because people were there to enforce them and punish ruler breakers, but because most people were, simply, good (or were supposed to be).

 However, even on Earth we have those issues (and many more), and in a world where the food everyone likes is disappearing, no one brave enough to enforce rules and laws, making sure they are obeyed (so why obey them), and “the strange”, an unknown element that was once mined but has now gotten inside the miners, changing them physically, the Wild West is beginning, chaos ensues. Especially since there is a smaller population (a colony)  with no real societal set-up. And, those who live there haven’t been there long. The fact that Anabelle is young , this adds to the reason why she still holds these unalienable beliefs. And now that those have been broken, shattered for her, by what people have done, who they have turned out to be (basically, a disappointment, failures, in her eyes) since no one else will do anything about it, Anabelle chooses to do something about everyone and everything that has happened herself. 

When her mother goes back to Earth to care for an ailing mother she never returns. This is where  the problem begins. Just as Anabelle and her father lose contact with their loved one, Mars has lost contact with Earth. No new ships arrive and the colonists have no idea what occurred, if there is even an Earth, at all, anymore. Sadly, no one prepared for this contingency (go figure) and, given the choice of using up the one trip gas they have in the one spaceship on Mars, not knowing if they will find anything there, the colonists are stuck, with no knowledge to be had (and I’m sure, realistically, this would be what would happen). The only things that matter now, to Anabelle, with her mother gone, are her father, the diner and the recording that was left by her mother, really, the only object that holds any real memory of the woman for Anabelle. 

Since everything is going wrong, the colonists now fearful of their present and future, the one thing they should hold onto is what semblance of life they can retain to maintain. However, all those are not doing this. Well, that is, unless you count Anabelle and her father. And, that is not just because they have the diner because, when it comes down to it, the diner is easily gone from their lives and the loss is quickly accepted. If not for the fact that now they have fallen into bigger problems, her father ends up locked up because of an event her behavior caused and now, Anabelle has gone a little off the reservation.

 But, in comparison to others, Anabelle has no intention of hurting anyone. Well, that is, anyone who hasn’t and won’t hurt her. Because while she may want revenge, when it comes down to it, just like all the others, her response to “what happened” to her, is a reaction outside the norm and, like the others, probably her response to her own fear of all that is going on. Because any type of society they had, is slowly descended into madness. And, considering there is “the strange '' on the planet, that which has intermingled with the miners who mined it, and now, expanding its reach to those that are seemingly being “called to it”. 

And, since everything has gone wrong on Earth and they are all now stuck with no ability to go and find out what happened, as no new shipments of supplies are brought in from Earth it leads all those on the planet to shift into survival mode. The fact that those who mined “the strange” on the planet have now been changed, distorted by whatever “the strange” is, does not help matters either. Because, even when a person has not been infected, they are only waiting for it to happen as all seem to finally succumb to the green, mystery substance. Rather than this be just the Wild West, we could refer to the situation being more like the movie, Cowboys and Aliens. Except that no one aides one another in their plight against the common case. Because it does not seem like anything can be done about “the strange” and what “the strange” will end up doing, to the colony, by the end. 

The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud only gets stranger, from there on out. But, in a good, entertaining, understandable way. Anabelle Crisp is going to save herself and the ones she may love, no matter what she has to do, this little girl is going to find a way to. And, if she can’t make everything right, she will make everything right, for her. Not able to understand why all the people are doing what they are, around her, she gives up trying to make sense of them, and makes a path for herself. And, sometimes there are times when you have to save yourself, that those around you are too far gone into whatever they fell into, not even understandable anymore, you go on, your own way, even if you have to go into danger, the risk of something is better than the rot of eventual lost, which, in the end, I think, is all that Anabelle thinks will happen to Mars. 

The Strange is a coming of age tale for a girl on another planet, as part of a colonial settlement which is in a stage of ruin and almost, utter insanity. And, when society fails, The Strange, is a story of what can happen, what people will do to survive, what those around Annabelle did to survive and her reaction, what she would do, herself, in the end, to survive. It is a story of hope, despair, loss and bravery; definitely a new release you want on your reading shelf. Nathan Ballingrud with The Strange proves he has mastery on the page just as well as he does on screen, whether it be big or small. 

Happy Reading!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was weird.

I happen to like weird. I like SciFi and Westerns and Horror, so it kinda worked for me. But I also completely understand why it wouldn’t work for someone. It’s just effing weird. lol

First of all, if you are looking for hard science fiction or science fictional realism, don’t walk, RUN away. This book is not for you. (I’m doing you a favor, trust me.)

This is set on an alternate reality where Mars is mostly inhabitable without extensive terraforming and environmental suits. It’s like Earth, if Earth were dusty and cold and dark. (It even mentions a monsoon season…?! lol wtf.) You have to suspend a lot of disbelief to go along with the story even if you don’t know much about Mars/science. I enjoyed the story enough I found it easy to ignore but it definitely pinged my “I’m reading a book” radar when stuff like that was mentioned. Hell, let’s not even call it science fiction at this point, let’s just call it fantasy. 😂

The main character is… kinda horrible to follow. She vacillates wildly between enraged and scared and pretending to be otherwise. She’s a teenage girl so I’m willing to overlook that too. I’d also like to note that while not a likable protagonist, she is a well developed character.

I think this aspect would have been more tolerable if there had been some more likable characters in the group to balance them all out? I’m not complaining that they were all deeply flawed, morally grey, because they were, but almost none of them were likable. Like.. Watson. Watson is the only one I liked. The others have moments of likability, but for the most part the characters here are pretty bleak.

The Strange is HEAVY on the horror. There’s not a lot of hope for any of the characters. There’s some body horror. General weirdness. The horror was definitely my favorite part. The imagery was great.

I think the writing was also really great. Ballingrud can put words together into some really beautiful sentences, without them becoming flowery or feeling like they require a lot of effort to read. It flows well and was hard to put down.

My last note is about some of the language used in this book. It contains some outdated terms in regards to naming groups of people that would have been used in 1931 but would not be appropriate today. And I did get the sense he was trying to portray the time period rather than be offensive, but in a world where we landed on Mars in the midst of the Civil War, I have to question why the author felt the need to include it? I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call the book problematic, but it was definitely a head scratcher, and I just wanted to add it as a heads up.

Overall, this was not a bad way to spend my day. I think it will stick with me for awhile. Will definitely check out more from Ballingrud.

[Whitney Jamimah · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were things I really liked about this and things I really did not.

The good is that it was really reminiscent of my one true love, The Dark Tower. It's set on Mars but Mars has a western vibe to it that was just singing to my Dark Tower loving heart.

The bad was that the main character annoyed me so much it made the reading experience tough. I am the type of reader who just cannot get behind a despicable main character. I don't care than Annabelle is just a kid, didn't her parents raise her with a single iota of manners?! She was supposed to be rough and tumble I believe but to me she just came across as rude and I hated it.

[T.R. Napper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A page-turning science-fantasy that sparks with originality, despite treading well-worn ground. Part western, part horror, part old-school SF, The Strange finds something new and compelling in the haunted deserts of Mars.

The protagonist, Anabelle Crisp, is a young woman out for revenge. Vividly drawn, she seethes with outrage and is armed with the sharpest of sharp tongues. I thoroughly enjoyed her journey.

The Strange is not perfect. The ending didn’t quite land for me, the non-scientific setting took a little to get used to, and some of the world-building aspects occasionally felt askew. But I inhaled the book in two days, which can only be a good thing.

[Sjgomzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been described by many as The Martian Chronicles meets True Grit, and I’m certainly not going to come up with a better description or review than that. I loved this so much. One of the best books I’ve read all year.

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the title indicates, this story is mighty strange.

It’s an alt history scifi western with some thrills and horror thrown into the mix(yuppp the author decided to go with all the genres)! Oh and it takes place on Mars because duh!!! They even ferry between planets in flying saucers.

Now we have the insufferable teenage main character Annabelle- who frankly is annoying AF and hard to like. Her attitude and perceptions cause 99% of her problems, yet she continues to act out and do reckless things.

The whole book felt pointless- retrieve the canister then lose the canister. Destroy one ship to build another crappier ship that can carry less people. Why????

[Fiona Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

They stole something from me," I said, calmly and quietly. "They stole something I need and something my father needs. I've sat by while everyone around me just shrugged their shoulders and let it happen and made up reasons why we had to allow it. And then, while we was down, they turned on us, and they took even more. You better believe it's serious. There's gonna be a reckoning, and I'm gonna deliver it."

Will I ever get tired of the space western? Not if I keep getting books like The Strange! It wasn't perfect, but it was a great mix of genres, one I enjoyed a whole lot.

The Silence came to Mars - that's the colonist's name for the sudden loss of communication with Earth. And with that huge loss came a more personal one for Anabelle Crisp - her mother was on the last flight out, and has gone just as silent as the rest of Earth. So when the diner her father still runs is robbed, and a cylinder with the last recording of her mother's voice is taken, she finds there's a line she won't allow to be crossed and embarks on a mission to bring her mother home.

This Mars is a harsh one, Engines (automatons) and humans coexisting, a nearby mining colony where the residents develop glowing eyes from exposure to The Strange, and adults surrounding Anabelle who have decided continued survival of the colony trumps individual upsets. I enjoyed the way the peril wasn't downplayed, and the grit shown by our protagonist - she's a pretty collected kid, but still feels like one; Nathan Ballingrud walked a fine line with her and did it well.

I do wish some mysteries were less developed or more resolved, though. Ambiguity is one thing, but when you have something that gets a lot of focus in a relatively short book, I'd have loved to see just a little more in the way of explanation. I'm pretty bad with ambiguity though, so I didn't want to oversell the impact when I enjoyed the book anyway - it's very likely more of a me thing.

Overall the book itself was a solid win, from an author whose short work I've really enjoyed - I'm excited to see how he goes with more long form work in the future.