Elsewhere
4/5
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About this ebook
"...a gritty, vivid portrait of a half-familiar world...Elsewhere works almost perfectly."
—Newsday
"Will Shetterly not only explores new fantastic territory, he invents a whole new perilous realm, powerfully fascinating. It's a hard-edged vision, sharp as a knife blade, a borderline where punk and funk mix with Blake and Yeats, and Faerie is not as we might expect. Surprising, daring, deeply moving, Elsewhere could only have been written here and now.
—Lloyd Alexander, Newberry Award-winning author of The High King
"Shetterly has just enough distance from his hero to shape [his] troubled journey with skill and conviction, too little distance to patronize."
—The Village Voice Literary Supplement
"...a dynamic cyberpunkish fantasy ... Steeped in both survival and coming-of-age themes, the story will attract a wide genre readership."
—booklist
"My favorite graffito ever used to be on a wall just outside Paddington Station in London: FAR AWAY IS NEAR AT HAND IN IMAGES OF ELSEWHERE. They since knocked the wall down, but if you look closely you can still see the word WHERE. In all the years since, I have been looking for the book to match this statement, and it is clear that this book is Will Shetterly's. I have never known the far away brought so near in any other book."
—Diana Wynne Jones, World Fantasy Award-winning authorof Archer's Goon and Howl's Moving Castle
"Elsewhere breaks ground that other writers will certainly try to cultivate."
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
"An entertaining story with surprising twists and turns that will keep you reading to find out what happens next."
—The Voice of Youth Advocates
"...certain to raise controversy—and the high school kids will love it."
—The Bulletin
"...sometimes violent and profane, yet beautifully written ... Not for the weak of heart, but a book for the adventurous soul."
—The New Advocate
"With a single book, Will Shetterly has redrawn the boundaries of young adult fantasy. This is remarkable work."
—Bruce Coville, author of My Teacher Is an Alien and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
Will Shetterly
I wrote the 2008 World Fantasy Award finalist for best novel, The Secret Academy, and other books. I think my best stories include Elsewhere and Dogland, which Ellen Kushner of public radio's Sound & Spirit on Dogland called, "A masterwork. A particularly American magic realism that touches the heart of race and childhood in our country; it's 100 Years of Solitude for an entire generation of American Baby Boomers, and deserves the widest possible audience."
Read more from Will Shetterly
Dogland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cats Have No Lord Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Witch Blood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nevernever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tangled Lands Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chimera Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMidnight Girl Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Gospel of the Knife Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for Elsewhere
142 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A fantasy novel set in the 1990s shared world of the Borderlands, a rough urban setting on the border between the human world and the realm of faerie. The tag line for the series is "where magic meets rock & roll," which probably tells you most of what you need to know about it. I'd read a couple of books in this series before: Emma Bull's Finder, which I read many years ago and vaguely remember liking well enough, and the anthology Borderland, which I read last year and was kind of underwhelmed by. This one, I think, lies somewhere in between. It's decently written, and Shetterly makes the setting feel real enough. But the story -- which follows a teenage runaway who comes to Bordertown looking for his brother and falls in with a group of bohemian misfits -- really wasn't more than mildly interesting to me. I could say pretty much the same thing about the characters, too. It's a quick read, and not an unpleasant one, but also not very memorable. And now that I'm finished with what was already sitting on my To-Read Pile, I think I'm ready to call myself done with this series.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book takes place in the Borderlands universe created by Terri Windling, whose stories I have never read. Luckily, there's little to know: Bordertown is located at the boundary between the World and Faerie, a mostly run-down place where technology and magic both work sporatically. In this story, an impulsive human boy named Ron comes to Bordertown looking for his older brother, and ends up falling in with a crowd of elves, halfies, and other humans trying to bust the stereotype that the races can't mingle. There's gang violence and drug abuse and sex and rock'n'roll, as is to be expected in a story about teenagers living on the street. I first read this book about fifteen years ago and I remember liking it very much. I still like it now, except that I had a great deal more difficulty following it this time around. I kept forgetting which character was which, and the ending felt extremely rushed. The story behind Ron's older brother is muddled and confusing. I think when I read it the first time, I glossed over a lot of the little details that didn't add up. Or maybe I just missed something this time around. Either way, I did enjoy Shetterly's writing style, which struck me as a more realistic portrayal of teenagers than I've seen in a while. Perhaps the sequel, Nevernever, will clear up some things. I've read it before too, but heck if I can remember what it was about.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A great story, chock full of punk elves and rock music.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exploring the roots of YA/urban fantasy with the Borderlands series. Remarkable.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I’d actually read this before and forgotten. It’s a Bordertown novel, complete with punks, drugs, and unreliable magic. I didn’t like the main character at all, but I remember liking him in sequels.