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the complete review - fiction

Steps Through the Mist

by
Zoran Živković

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B+ : small, but nicely done

See our review for fuller assessment.

  From the Reviews:

• "Like a great work of abstract art, this surrealistic novel (...) is layered with subtle symbolism and nuance, and should be savored slowly so that the profound, and sometimes disturbing, existential underpinnings can be duly discerned." - Publishers Weekly

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       Steps Through the Mist is 'A Mosaic Novel' of five stories, each of which is enveloped in a form of mist -- as are, often, the characters. Throughout there are characters who can see differently than others through these mists -- a girl who visits the dreams of others, or several who, in one form or another, see the future(s) -- and are overwhelmed by them.
       Several of the episodes are narrated by or center on those who are skeptical of the claims of these more clear-sighted characters, and what lifts these stories beyond mere playful speculative science fiction is Živković's effective use of ambiguity: these are uncertain worlds he describes, with characters suddenly confronted with tall stories and outlandish-seeming claims -- and yet for the most part these characters can then choose to ignore the confessions they've heard and pretend everything is (almost) as it always was, and as it should be.
       Živković tells these simple stories very well, too, careful not to overdo it yet also confident in his fantasies. This is a fairly small, loosely connected collection -- variations on a theme rather than full-fledged novel -- but quite accomplished and certainly entertaining. A fine little read.

- M.A.Orthofer, 2 November 2011

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Links:

• Blogcritics
• Boom Tron
• Echoes of an Empty Mind
• Fantastic Reviews
• ideomancer (scroll down for review)
• The OF Blog
• Publishers Weekly
• RevolutionSF

• Official site
• Interview at Dalkey Archive Press
• Interview at infinity plus
• Interview at Strange Horizons
• Interview at World Literature Today

• The Fourth Circle
• The Ghostwriter
• Hidden Camera
• The Image Interpreter
• The Library
• The Papyrus Trilogy:
  1. The Last Book
  2. The Grand Manuscript
  3. Compendium of the Dead
• Time Gifts
• The White Room
• The Writer

• See Index of Science Fiction and Fantasy books
• See Index of Eastern European literature

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About the Author:

       Zoran Živković was born in Belgrade in 1948.

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