Alejada de ninguna parte pero a sólo un paso de Paraíso, en algún lugar de la línea que la une con Sabiduría y donde nunca paran los trenes se hallaba Camino Desolación, un pueblo que nunca debería haber existido, ni siquiera en el Marte de aquella época, donde los milagros ocurrían cada día. En realidad, era tan pequeño y estaba tan apartado que se le conoció tan sólo por las historias que de él se contaban.
Todo empezó hace treinta años con un hombrecito verde. Pero para cuando los hechos acabaron, por Camino Desolación habían desfilado todos y cada uno de los prodigios y anormalidades concebibles en oferta: desde la Feria Ambulante y Fantasía Educativa de Adam Black (completa, con su propio ángel cautivo), hasta el Asombroso Desprecio, Maestro Mutante del Centelleante Sarcasmo y Réplica Rápida, sin olvidar (si alguien pudiera) el Asombroso Bazar Aéreo de Persis Jirones, el martes de Cometas y el primer viaje tripulado a través del tiempo de la historia…

In his first novel, quietly and without anyone noticing*, McDonald re-made Bradbury's Mars for a new generation. All the magic, the weirdness and the wonder is there, plus all the gizmos of our time and a few more besides.

*including the UK publishing industry for too long a time, alas!

This is a highly unusual novel. It is labeled science fiction, though much of it could have been set in the late 19th, early 20th century American West. It involves the founding and evolution of a small settlement on the surface of Mars. Though many years in the future, for very long stretches, technology is virtually non-existent. Travel is largely by train, there are antique airplanes and dirigibles. While there is reference to orbiting space stations and circumstances on Earth, the community operates largely as a Western cow town.

Then, BOOM, you have time travel. The kind of weaponry you might expect on 22nd century Mars makes an appearance. Magical realism crops up from time to time. There are segments of economic evolution that bring to mind early 20th century labor unrest. Like I said, a highly unusual novel.

I read the author’s River of Gods, and thought it fantastic; The Dervish House less so. I believe this book was first published in the 1980s, though this edition was printed in 2009. As an aside, whoever proofread it, should be fired. It is littered with misspellings and typeset errors. In any event, it is strange, though moderately entertaining. I suspect many will find it not to their taste. ( )

An excellent book. Superbly weird and weirdly superb. It's a sort of magical realist/sci-fi book of a sort I've never read before. Or even heard of. Very original.

The characterization and thematic development are especially outstanding 'for a sci-fi book' as well as in general. If his name was 'Borges', he'd be read in literature departments instead of just winning award in the SF ghetto.

There's no hyperbole in the entire history of hyperboles that can adequately capture how much I appreciated this novel. If I had the time and the money, I'd go out and buy the rest of McDonald's books right now. ( )

This read like a rich series of fables linked together in a progress from a rural idyll to an industrial destruction. It has the energy of his later works, but I prefer the riotous phrases and characters in e.g. River of Gods. ( )