The Strange

Written by Nathan Ballingrud

Narrated by Lyssa Browne

Ray Bradbury meets The Martian in this chilling tale of Mars' first colony, fallen to madness after all contact with Earth ceased, perfect for fans of Jeff VanderMeer.

Anabelle Crisp is fourteen when the Silence arrives, severing all communication between Earth and her new home on Mars. One evening, while she and her father are closing their diner in the colony of New Galveston, they are robbed at gunpoint.

Among the stolen items is a recording of her absent mother’s voice. Driven by righteous fury and desperation to lift her father’s broken spirits, Anabelle sets out to confront the thieves and bring back the sole vestige of her mother. Accompanied by her loyal robot, an outcast pilot and a hardened outlaw, Anabelle must travel through derelict mining towns where a mineral called the Strange has transformed its residents in bizarre ways, across the Martian desert and to the shadowy Peabody Crater where she will discover than New Galveston, once a safe haven, is nothing more than a guttering candle in a dark world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781004135134

Nathan Ballingrud

Nathan Ballingrud is the author of the collections Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, and North American Lake Monsters. He is a two-time winner of the Shirley Jackson Award and has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards. His novella “The Visible Filth” was adapted into the movie Wounds, written and directed by Babak Anvari; North American Lake Monsters was filmed as Monsterland, an anthology series for Hulu. His first novel, The Strange, was recently published. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.