The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud

Another find for me, a brilliant debut of this year.

Nathan Ballingrud's debut weird (in a good way!) frontier novel set in Mars is a delightful mix of science-fiction, coming-of-age and the True-Grit quest for revenge and justice. Featuring a very small cast of characters, led by the ballsy fourteen-year old Belle (Anabelle Crisp), the story is narrated by Anabelle looking back at her youthful days, drenching the narrative with the tones of nostalgia.

The incident, she narrates, is from 1931 when she used to run a diner along with her father on this 'official' Martian settlement called the New Galveston, a smallish frontier town, sharing the reddish landscape of Mars with other unofficial settlements like the Dig-Town and many others. This is just a few years after the momentous event referred to as 'Silence' when all communications from Earth has ceased. This is also a few years into when her mother has returned back to earth, thus leaving Anabelle and her father to fend for themselves in this town, where all may not be as it seems.

For starters, the residents who are stuck as Miners are outcasts, living from the main town in the decrepit Dig Town. Mining for a mineral known only as "Strange" that is sent back to Earth so it can be refined and used to run "machines" that can do multiple automation jobs. Beyond the town, is the Martian desert, featureless, daunting and never-ending. It is also rumored to be populated by stray "War engines" (leftover by the Germans, when they warred with America for control of the Martian landscapes) and Ghosts - of people, machines or more that roam the deserts.

When one night, a stranger from the mines breaks into the diner and makes off with many supplies stored inside along with her mother's recordings in the form a cylinder, Anabelle's life is forever changed. Her father, already heart-broken by his wife's disappearance, is further broken in spirit by these violent events that hit them. And plucky Anabelle decides she will brave the deserts, to go into the wilds to recover her mother or what is left of her. How this journey transpires is what the rest of the novel is about.

Right away you are struck by how Nathan's changed the course of history, with the settlement of red planet done a while back, in the late 19th century by a pioneering astrophysicist named Peabody Crater. There are multiple interesting references to this winning over of the wild wild west - including one about the "hidden" settlements of Indians on this red planet.

In a first-person narrative, we are given a ringside view of this harrowing journey undertaken by Anabelle to bring back peace into her life. Anabelle is a no-nonsense kid, a fourteen-year-old with the spirit and mind of an adult, possessing an unflinching sense of duty, a romanticized view of adventures in this wild and dangerous world. Hence, the dangers (and of these, there are many!) don't overtly tip over into that space of horrific, but are still fairly scary. Her run-ins with the Dig-Towners who resent the life the townsfolk lead, the clipped battles in the wild with the War Engines, and finally her adventures to recover her mother's recordings that bring her in contact with some of the "outlaws" like Sally, a ‘carter’ who is addicted to Moonshine, Joe Riley, the despondent pilot of the only flying ‘saucer’ stuck on Mars after Silence, and Silas Mount, a miner/ cultist from the deep desert.

Anabelle is a rebel, through and through – and not afraid to speak her mind. And hence, as a reader, you might not particularly like her all the time. She’s selfish and is only driven by the need to re-unite with her mother’s recordings. Accompanying her on this mission, is this delightful machine, a kitchen assistant that she names “Watson” – based on her favorite Sherlock Holmes stories from Earth. Like Anabelle, Nathan paints all his characters with a sharp edge, realistic, desperate people trying to cope in a strange new planet. Mars itself is a wonderfully realized character in this whole story – representing that dreaded frontier, the unexplored wilds that takes on a strange life by itself, imprinting itself onto machines and more.

The Strange reads like a novel of loss – the loss of resources, to the point of losing what dredges of humanity is left among the folks, fighting for survival in this strange pilot. But ultimately, we remember that Anabelle has actually grown old, so it’s also a story of discovery, hope and survival. This read like a well-paced novel, a winner straight from the gates, highly recommended.