Aberrant - Marek Sndelka

Aberrant by Marek Sndelka, translated by Nathan Fields (and some cool illustrations by Petr Nikl) / ISBN 9788086264509 / 220-page paperback with flaps from Twisted Spoon Press / brand new copies with light wear from inbound shipping *** The remarkable debut novel from Marek Sindelka, Aberrant is a multifaceted work that mixes and mashes together a variety of genres and styles to create a heady concoction of crime story, horror story (inspired by the Japanese tradition of kaidan), ecological revenge fantasy, and Siberian shamanism. Nothing is what it seems. What appears to be human is actually a shell occupied by an alien spirit, or demon, and what appears to be an unassuming plant is an aggressive parasite that harbors a poisonous substance within, or manifests itself as an assassin, a phantom with no real substance who pursues his victims across Europe and through a post-apocalyptic Prague ravaged by floods. The blind see, and the seeing are blind. Through these devices, Sindelka weav