Beyond the Great, Bloody, Bruised, and Silent Veil of this World

by Jordan Krall

Find yourself on a starship as it lumbers across the desert. Find yourself on a train looking out at the stars, the earth a blue marble in the infinite black abyss behind you. Find yourself overdosing on narcotics in a bathtub at home. The Red Planet. Pharmaceuticals. The Demiurge. Assassins. Suicide bombers. Underground railroads between worlds. What mysteries link them? Pull back the veil and see. In Beyond the Great, Bloody, Bruised and Silent Veil of this World author Jordan Krall creates a wholly unique experience; all at once revelatory, hypnotic, and hallucinatory. All literal, all parable, all a twisted drug-trip. So read on and know this; it's all true, and it's all in your head.

Genres: Science Fiction, Bizarro Fiction, Horror, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2017

About the author

Books include:

TENTACLE DEATH TRIP
FISTFUL OF FEET
MOTEL MAN
KING SCRATCH
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE APOCALYPSE DONKEYS
PIECEMEAL JUNE
SQUID PULP BLUES
NEWLY SHAVEN SAINT
UNFRUITFUL WORKS
PRELUDE TO SPACE RAPE!
SQUID KILLS
THE PISTOL BURPS
ALL POEMS MUST DIE
FALSE MAGIC KINGDOM
BAD ALCHEMY
THE GOG AND MAGOG BUSINESS
YOUR CITIES, YOUR TOMBS

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The words and possible worlds in this book wove patterns in my mind. The overlying shape is circular as logic repeats itself conceptually. Industry and Big Pharma become the center of gravity, creating soldiers numb and void of reason. Religious symbols are flaunted by nihilists. Overall, the claustrophobia of loneliness and lack of meaningful purpose close the circumference. Sad, but so very plausible.

[Shane Douglas Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll have a longer, more in depth review of this coming soon, but in the meantime, I'll just leave a few words here to tell you about this amazing book.

The first thing you'll find yourself wondering when you read any of Krall's work, but especially this one, is, "how the hell does a human brain come up with an idea like this?"

It's a surreal, twisted mindfuck of a story that moves at an amazing, jet fueled pace, poetic in it's execution and frenetic in it's depiction of the fever-dream settings and the frequently bewildering scenarios that make up the bulk of the book. But if, like me, you find yourself saying "WTF?" repeatedly, don't worry. Go with the flow and enjoy the trip. In the end as the pieces fall into their jumbled places, there's a huge payoff and your confusion will be richly rewarded.

Krall has created a psychedelic, magical acid trip of a story that has the word "masterpiece" resting on the edge of my tongue, and it will likely have the same effect on anyone who reads it. I zoomed through it in a single ninety minute sitting and, once everything came together at the end, I turned around and read it again. If you haven't read Krall's bizarre and original work before, fix that. This is the perfect place to start.

[Danger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not even sure what I just read. Krall paints a hallucinatory vision of the future, one where Mars is a (sort of) corporate slum, full of drugs, cults, and terrorism. The story is delivered in short, spellbinding vignettes that often ask more questions than they attempt to answer - we only get glimpses of this sad, violent planet - what we are privy to is as unreliable as the protagonists are. It’s a short book, but a heavy read, the kind of book that literature classes could devote a week of discussion to.

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jordan Krall is one of these guys who's really good at what others fail to be really good at. He writes atomized, quasi-stream of consciousness puzzles for the audience to piece back together into a novel. Lots of people do that, most of them suck at it, but not Jordan Krall. He's actually pretty great.

So, in this excruciatingly title novel/novella/collection/UFO thing, there is a trip to Mars, a woman drowning in her bathtub, a conspiracy involving the government and pills, and more goodness. What is so much fun about this book (or most Jordan Krall books, really) is that is works as a straightforward science fiction srory but the prismatic nature of Krall's writing makes it work as an allegory for contemporary alienation and I'm sure a lot of other stuff too, depending on your background. It's not subtle, but the visceral charge of the book more than makes up for it.

[Hail Hydra! ~Dave Anderson~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The forming of a company is a spiritual undertaking not unlike the construction of a temple. That is especially the case here as a result of the rich history of crucifixions. Of course, that particular process was conceived as a primitive method of execution but slowly became a beacon of cosmological birth that remarkably appeared independent yet simultaneously at two different planetary sites. The intersecting of two lines, one shorter than the other, creating four ninety-degree angles, solidifies, in the minds of those who form a company, the reality of the formation inherent in the crucifix upon which the taboric-industrial complex could be nailed for all to bare witness.

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, I end up with a novel that astounds me with its almost poetic style, the intricacy of characters and plot and the fine tapestry it weaves only to end up saying, "WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ?"

It isn't that I didn't understand it. Well, actually it is that I didn't understand it. However I doubt the author meant to pull it all together just to make me think I was clever enough to get it. I think Jordan Krall delights in mystifying his audience as long as he makes them think, which is exactly what happens in Beyond the Great, Bloody, Bruised and Silent Veil of this World. It starts with a man named Barry on a "train" to Mars. Here is where I start to lose it. As i read, I often wonder if Barry is one person, multiple persons, or a fiction within a fiction.. Mars itself become a intriguing mess. It seems to be a hive of outcasts, corporate stooges, drug advocates, and perhaps a messiah. There are terrorists with bombs but so do corporate entities have bombs which they may be using in their own seditious ways. I think. You think a book with Patterson-like short chapters would be easy to decipher but we get it in so many perspectives and those perspectives become so entwined with another, it just revs up the imagination even more. It makes me yearn for the relatively simple worlds of Phillip K. Dick and Valis.

The author calls it as "A gnostic SF novella epic" which is as accurate a description I can give. It also tunes into many of the thing this novella does have in common with Phillip K. Dick. That includes a rather mystical outlook and a possibly unreliable description of the world we are visiting. Part of the book involves Yesu and Galileans that will certainly provoke theological inclinations. Yet it all becomes part of the jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces that is this book.

Does it wrap up at the end? Actually it does but in a way that will send you back to read it a second or third time. I read it again. I recommend one reads it twice to get the nuances and twists that happen. But if you are looking for a book that does wrap everything in a bow, you are turning the wrong pages.

So why do I recommend it? For the same reason one may attempt to read Ulysses for the mind boggling trip it sends you on. Now mind you, I'm not comparing Beyond to Ulysses.. That would be silly. For one thing, you will actually finish Beyond. Another, you will want to read it again. I mean, how many people want to even be near the first page of Ulysses after struggling through it? Beyond is a fast and glorious read trapping the reader in its puzzles. Will you understand it? Probably not. Will you read it again to try to understand it? Absolutely. Will you love the act of a master word juggler? I'll bet positive on that one too. For all that, regardless how you decipher the plot, this book with the ridiculously long title gets four stars.

[Michael Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEYOND THE GREAT, BLOODY, BRUISED, AND SILENT VEIL OF THIS WORLD, a novella by Jordan Krall

Find yourself on a starship as it lumbers across the desert.

Find yourself on a train looking out at the stars, the earth a blue marble in the infinite black abyss behind you.

Find yourself overdosing on narcotics in a bathtub at home.

The Red Planet.
Pharmaceuticals.
The Demiurge.
Assassins.
Suicide bombers.
Underground railroads between worlds.

What mysteries link them?

Pull back the veil and see.

In Beyond the Great, Bloody, Bruised and Silent Veil of this World author Jordan Krall creates a wholly unique experience; all at once revelatory, hypnotic, and hallucinatory.

All literal, all parable, all a twisted drug-trip. So read on and know this; it's all true, and it's all in your head.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

Beyond the Great,Bloody, Bruised, and Silent Veil of this World is a really well done science fiction novella that is equal parts sci-fi and horror. I am a huge fan of Jonathan Krall and love his new weird flare. I was surprised to see that he wrote a more science fiction story than bizzaro. Like China Mieville, Krall wields his pen and his words that clearly shows what a talent that he is. I devoured this story and wish that it was a full length novel.

Earth.
Mars.
Drugs,drugs, and more drugs.
Religious undertones, overtones, and symbolism.
Great characters.
Even better writing.

Highly recommended and an author not to be missed!

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a trip... heck I'm not even sure if the spaceship ever landed. If the pills help then ill take a prescription and suit me up for the final kiss under the veil of the world beside us.
Does life on Mars exist?

Some Sci-Fi weirdness BEYOND the unimaginable. Read on....as it says on the back "it's all in your head."

[SARDON · Rating 4 out of 5]

As public interest for Mars renews itself, there probably isn't a more provocative book that you could read right now. It features Krall's signature blend of occult-minded corporate rivalry, the ominous collusion of religion and science, and spatiotemporal travel, all threaded with various psychochemical manipulations to further destabilize interpretation. Irregularly spliced fragments of multiple narratives often cause more complications than corroborations, yielding a polyvocal and polysemic text whose effect borders on the raw, schizoid lucidity of experience itself: on one page, you're reading a transcript of an oddly suggestive business-related conversation, while, a couple of pages backward or forward, you're reading what could be or had been the numinous fulfilment, on Martian terrain, of those conversational suggestions; this is one of many examples of cognitive dissonance in this book. If the most profoundly penetrating myths always have been ancient forms of speculative thought, then Krall is the unsung myth-maker of this planet. Let's hope the conditions of the world allow for at least one more of his visions to be published before human life becomes acutely unsustainable.

[Duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part PKD Gubbish, Part Ballardian nightmare, All Krall, this is an immensely enjoyable tour through the mind of a terrifically talented author operating at the top of his form. The trademark obsessives, weird humor, strange digressions, those are all here. Krall is often linked to the Bizarro group of fictioneers but this volume of his work is more appropriately classed as speculative fiction in the "new Wave of SF" sense and can go toe-to-toe with anyone's work in that field.
Strong stuff, and strongly recommended.

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man​ ​begins​ ​to​ ​settle​ ​and​ ​work​ ​on​ ​Mars,​ ​and​ ​there​ ​is​ ​a​ ​covert​ ​plan​ ​for​ ​Barry.​ ​It​ ​involves​ ​his prescribed​ ​medications,​ ​the​ ​tunnels,​ ​and​ ​possibly​ ​the​ ​fate​ ​of​ ​Mars. The​ ​insanity​ ​comes​ ​in​ ​waves​ ​and patterns,​ ​actually​ ​making​ ​everyone​ ​better​ ​at​ ​what​ ​they​ ​do.​ ​Corporate ​entities' ​corruption​ ​and​ ​greed are​ ​rampant.​ ​​In​ ​all,​ ​a​​ ​​feeling​​ ​​of​​ ​​being​​ ​​lost​​ ​​pervades​​ ​​those​​ ​​who​​ ​​inhabit​​ ​​mars.
Are​ ​the​ ​settlements​ ​there​ ​just​ ​to​ ​cover​ ​up​ ​something​ ​bigger?​ ​And​ ​what​ ​part​ ​of​ ​the​ ​narrative​ ​is the​ ​truth?​ ​What​ ​is​ ​the​ ​significance​ ​of​ ​the​ ​prophet​ ​Yesu?​ ​There​ ​are​ ​many​ ​questions​ ​and​ ​you​ ​may not​ ​get​ ​all​ ​of​ ​the​ ​answers.​ ​If​ ​you​ ​prefer​ ​to​ ​read​ ​stories​ ​that​ ​tie​ ​everything​ ​up​ ​with​ ​a​ ​bow​ ​when​ ​all is​ ​said​ ​and​ ​done,​ ​this​ ​is​ ​not​ ​the​ ​book​ ​for​ ​you.​ ​Written​ ​in​ ​the​ ​style​ ​of​ ​Krall’s​ ​later​ ​work,​ ​this​ ​is chaotic,​ ​bizarre​ ​and​ ​disorienting,​ ​but​ ​the​ ​pieces​ ​do​ ​come​ ​together​ ​to​ ​an​ ​extent​ ​at​ ​closing.​ ​3.5 stars.

[Allen Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! The culmination of many of the themes and techniques the author has been working on for years. A must read.

[Ted Fauster]

Beyond the Great, Bloody, Bruised, and Silent Veil of this World

BEYOND THE GREAT, BLOODY, BRUISED, AND SILENT VEIL OF THIS WORLD
by Jordan Krall

A book review by weird speculative fiction author Ted Fauster

This was my first Jordan Krall, and it definitely will not be my last. More of an epic space poem than a novella, this short read very quickly grabs your attention in the most improbable way--in the form of a swelling, disjointed narrative.

Told not only through an unreliable narrator, but almost entirely void of any guideposts whatsoever, the reader is cast into the emptiness of space (somewhere between Mars and Earth) and fed bits and pieces of a sprawling saga told via numerous viewpoints by characters who are all very likely suffering from what is revealed to be Barrington's Syndrome (go ahead and google it; there's nothing out there), an affliction affiliated with interstellar travel similar to Asperger syndrome.

The short version: If Syd Barrett and Stanislaw Lem were stirred together in a Petri dish, the result would be this novel.

There's much more at work here than can be adequately vocalized, including the channeling of Vonnegut and Burroughs. It stands to reason I simply have to read this book again. And again. I very enthusiastically plan to.

The narrative is so overwhelmingly powerful and addictive. I literally absorbed the entire story in less than two hours. Upon finishing, I felt the same sensation I did after watching 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time. In a weird way, I also felt like I had somehow just sold my soul to the devil.

[...We are losing our sight, anyway. We are losing nearly everything. Generation after generation, the information becomes watered down and distorted and then watered down again and again and again until nothing remains but a ghost behind a veil....]

Krall bends time and reality. His wordcraft is nothing short of stellar, and his timing is impeccable. This is a writer who wields words and cadence like weaponry, punching you in the face along the way, grabbing hold of you like an angry vagrant with a wild but very important, pretzeled story to tell. The tumbling narrative pulls you relentlessly forward in a truly splendorous almost gravitational way that compounds and confounds the further it is allowed to go, which is to the very end.

It's a short read. One I promise you will not soon forget.

[Dave Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barry leaves his girl Susan for Mars. He thinks about her a lot. He takes pills a lot. Booze. Martians. Theres Yesu and so much more. Fun read