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.
A few years back, I read Nathan Ballingrud’s short story collection, WOUNDS. I remember being really impressed with him as a writer, and with how imaginative and unique some of the stories were. He struck me as an incredibly versatile writer, but even then, I’m not sure I knew quite what to expect heading into his debut novel, THE STRANGE.
I was interested in reading this because I’d enjoyed WOUNDS, and because this is published by Saga, a publisher I really love. And while I try not to get too hung up on one book being compared to another, seeing this one compared to a sci-fi TRUE GRIT pushed this one straight to the top of my TBR.
Because I fucking love TRUE GRIT with my whole entire heart.
And yeah, wow. I think there’s more than a little bit of TRUE GRIT’s Mattie Ross baked into the DNA of Annabelle Crisp, the fourteen-year-old protagonist of THE STRANGE.
One of the big differences being that Annabelle lives on Mars.
It’s 1931, and Annabelle lives with her father in a Martian colony called New Galveston. They own a popular diner. Prior to the beginning of the story, Annabelle’s mother has made a return journey to Earth to care for her own dying mother, Annabelle’s grandmother. And since Annabelle’s mother has left, the citizens of Mars have also experienced something they’ve dubbed The Silence.
They’ve lost all contact with Earth. They are completely cut off, on their own, and with no idea what has happened back home. It creates an eerie tension that permeates all aspects of this story.
The last remnant that Annabelle and her father have of Annabelle’s mother is a recording of her voice that can be played via Watson, the dishwashing robot who helps at the diner. One night, a group of bandits raid the diner, and make off with food, supplies, and sadly, the recording of Annabelle’s mother.
Her father falls into despondency, and Annabelle feels like she has no choice but to take matters into her own (and Watson’s) hands. She sets off to deliver justice to the bandits & recover the recording of her mother.
Unfortunately, the Martian landscape is unforgiving & full of horrors.
Oof.
This book is hard to classify, but in the best possible way. It certainly feels very classic sci-fi, but it’s written in a way that definitely pays tribute to the Western genre. But there’s also more than a little horror sprinkled in, and it’s also a phenomenal coming-of-age story.
Annabelle is, like a lot of fourteen-year-olds, holding onto a lot of anger. A lot of it comes from grief; she’s feeling the loss of her Mom in some unfathomable ways, and bottling up those emotions until they come out in bursts of anger. Like a lot of sharp-tongued narrators, she’s also really funny.
There’s a great cast of supporting characters in THE STRANGE, most notably Sally Milkwood. Sally is a (very) reluctant companion on Annabelle’s quest, but also she represents Annabelle’s only real chance at success. Sally is super rough around the edges, so it was fun to see her very slowly warm up to Annabelle & provide her with some much-needed emotional support.
I adored this one, cover to cover. It felt both deeply familiar & incredibly new. I think Annabelle Crisp is one of the more unforgettable young protagonists I’ve met in a long time & I just loved everything about this book.
Huge thanks to Saga Press for sending a copy my way!
Grimdark Dad 