The Strange is a novel (the first novel, in fact) by Nathan Ballingrud, who’s most known for his debut collection North American Lake Monsters, which Hulu’s TV series Monsterland was very loosely based on, and Wounds, which got another Hulu exclusive—this time a film—starring Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson.
This novel is a western that takes place in the 1930s . . . on Mars. That is not a typo, nor did you misread that sentence. On paper, this shouldn’t work—and almost doesn’t. When Annabelle Crisp—a sassy, boorish, mean-spirited 14-year-old—and her father gets robbed at their diner by a mysterious cult leader, Silas Mundt, she sets out on a suicide mission to retrieve a very special item that had been stolen—a recording of her mother: the only thing by which to remember her.
While the western elements—which feels like True Grit with slight modifications—doesn’t quite work for me because I feel like I’ve read and watched this general plot many times before, it’s the science fiction elements and the world-building that I delight it. A Mars-native fungus causing people to go slowly crazy, which is called the Strange; ghosts manifesting via the memories of Mars; various robots; and the colonies of Mars losing contact with Earth, which they call the Silence. I would expect nothing less from Ballingrud when it comes to top-notch world-building (Wounds is case in point), but all this does seem to take the backseat to the western elements, which I thought were . . . just fine.
The main issue I had, however, was with Annabelle, whom other characters kept on pointing out and having issues with her rudeness—especially regarding her utter lack of respect to adults. I was expecting and honestly hoping for a point in the novel where she gets humbled—I mean, she did drag along two other people (they didn’t want to go with her but she threatened them with public execution) for today’s equivalent of an iPhone. There were no consequences, she had very little opposition, and didn’t learn anything—nor did she grow—by the end. She only endured and was just more of the same . . .
. . . also I was probed by the narrative to have an emotional connection to a robot. I didn’t. I never do in any other book or movie or video game; not even Wall-E. For me robots only work well in horror scenarios or for science fiction thought exercises. However, it’s not a very effective strategy if you absolutely require the reader to feel emotional attachment in a particular scene—otherwise the scene fails if the reader doesn’t.
I do recommend The Strange for those who enjoy modern young adult novels, but I can only cautiously recommend it for those who’ve enjoyed Ballingrud’s previous work—the prose is comparatively neutered (which might be because of the editor, I’m not sure) and it’s not as brutal as Wounds nor as brutally honest as North American Lake Monsters. The Strange seems to be written for a particular reader, and unfortunately that particular reader is not me.
All that being said, I do think Ballingrud operates more effectively in the horror genre. Though I could be saying that out of greed—my wanting Ballingrud all to myself. The Strange missed the mark for me, but Ballingrud is still one of my favorite authors. In fact, I think he might be the best living author in the horror scene.
3/5
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