EDWARD GAUVIN

At his site The Complete Review, always a trove of helpful links and context, Michael Orthofer gives The Deep Sea Diver’s Syndrome an A-, saying that it offers “a remarkably full story, creating two fascinating worlds [and] a beautful conclusion […]a very impressive flight of fantasy.” At his blog The Literary Saloon, he concludes that it is

“a very good book. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more attention — not even pre-publication Publishers Weekly or (full) Kirkus Reviews reviews — but it’s strong enough that word-of-mouth and internet attention should help it find its appreciative readership. (Yes, it is kind of science fiction — but hardly just.)

Really — give it a try.”

(Incidentally, this is the 3rd translation of mine Orthofer has reviewed, and the first to break me out of my B+ streak.)

Meanwhile, despite misspelling the author’s name so as to make him more Russian, Matt Staggs at Suvudu is unapologetic about Brussolo’s SFnal qualities, and calls DSDS

“an unbelievably gorgeous little novel that lies somewhere between Inception and Blade Runner: a work of acid-laced science-fiction noir that grabbed me from page one and pulled me deep into the darkest waters of the imagination. It left me gasping for air. I’ve never read anything like it. It’s as high concept as anything Philip K. Dick wrote, and reads like a masterful work of magic realism. It borders on surreal. I love it like a beautiful and strange freak of nature that’s almost too good for this world: Hold it tight and keep it close, because You may never see another one like it again.”