Author(s): Asja Bakic; Jennifer Zoble (Translator); Ellen Elias-Bursac (Afterword by)

Novel | Translated fiction | Eastern Europe

This debut collection of darkly humorous, feminist speculative fiction from the Balkans of sly, uncommon stories by a major talent (Jeff VanderMeer, author of Borne).

Mars showcases a series of unique and twisted universes, where every character is tasked with making sense of their strange reality. One woman will be freed from purgatory once she writes the perfect book; another abides in a world devoid of physical contact. With wry prose and skewed humor, an emerging feminist writer explores twenty-first century promises of knowledge, freedom, and power.

"Bakic's stories are a dark delight--a treasury of forbidden pleasures, moments of resistance and resilience, and terrifying possibilities." --Strange Horizons

"At turns funny, surreal, and grounded in simple language but flung through twisted realities, the stories in this collection are provocative and utterly readable." --The Brooklyn Rail

"Skillfully disorienting." --BUST