'Veteran horror writer Shirley (Cellars) swaps gory for glory in this inventive
if politically heavy-handed left-wing answer to Tim LaHaye and Jerry B.
Jenkins's evangelical Left Behind series. Child slavers, genocidal soldiers and
corrupt statesmen have fourth-dimensional visions and abandon their wicked ways
in the first part of the novel, narrated by Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Swift
and his conspiracy-nut friend, Ed Galivant, in a style oddly reminiscent of C.M.
Kornbluth's 'The Silly Season.' Readers of all persuasions will relish the
repentance of these universally acknowledged bad guys...' -- Publishers Weekly
'What Shirley does exactly right as a writer is to strip down his novel into a
thrill-packed action ride, with each slice of the knife driven by a series of
very understandable ideals. You'll read this book in a day or two and be charmed
by Shirley's characters and his generous sense of humor. The laughs here are all
over the map. From a subtle suicide to a heavy-handed disposal of heavies,
Shirley spares no-one.
'The Other End is bound to cause comment from all ends of the political spectrum,
but it's not just a tract or a polemic. It reads quite simply, but unpacks with
a surprising level of complexity. Even those treated with the least respect here
are treated in a manner strictly in accordance to Shirley's premise.
He debunks of the LeHaye/Jenkins interpretation of the Book of Revelations with
fact-finding accuracy. Shirley may make as many enemies with this novel as
friends, but he gives anyone willing to read the novel lots to think about, and
sends everyone else to a well deserved, just reward. Vengeance is mine, says
John Shirley.' -- Rick Kleffel,
Metro Santa Cruz
'If you ask me, this is just what we need right now: a sober, non-religious
(though unabashedly left-leaning) account of an apocalypse, specifically
conceived as an alternative to those fundamentalist "End Times" books by Tim
LaHaye and others...Another plus is author John Shirley returning to the type of
tripped-out metaphysical weirdness that typified his bizarro masterworks SILICON
EMBRACE and ...AND THE ANGEL WITH THE TELEVISION EYES With a panoramic scope and
a half dozen or so central characters (along with cameos by President Bush,
Osama Bin Laden and the aforementioned Tim LaHaye, who all go unnamed), the book
has an epic thrust, but is still a fast, easy read. The tone is disconcertingly
cheerful, at least in contrast to much of the author's previous work. I prefer
my John Shirley books tough and nasty (the case with essentials like CELLARS,
WETBONES and THE VIEW FROM HELL), but THE OTHER END is so much fun I can't
complain overmuch. Watching the real bad guys of our world get their just
desserts is gratifying, to say the least; in his introduction the author claims
the book at one time might have been subtitled A WISTFUL DREAM, which does
adequately sum up the overall effect. If at all possible buy two copies and
give one to your local church!'--Fright.com
'...the novel is perfectly toned to express the message the
author was hoping to achieve. John Shirley always has something important to say
and this might be the most perfectly balanced work of fiction and message he has
ever produced. Is it my favorite of his novels? No, but it is important work,
written with almost surgically perfect prose that needs to be experienced.' -- David Agranoff.
Apex Digest
'Shirley, who helped start the splatterpunk subgenre,
admits to a liberal bias, so the anti-mainstream bent of his end-of-the-world
novel can sometimes seem overwrought. But the 12-year-old glee he exhibits while
"doing-in" such obvious villains is infectious.' -- Dorman T. Shindler St Louis Post Dispatch
'THE OTHER END is John Shirley's answer to the left behind scenario. His theory
is that when Judgment Day comes, people of all creeds and religions will have a
choice for true justice if they choose the right path. Although there are many
characters given their second chances, they serve as archetypes and avatars that
move the story along. Mr. Shirley has a wonderful imagination and a way of
creatively (pun intended) putting his ideas into a fascinating and unorthodox
storyline that readers will thoroughly enjoy reading.' -- Bookgasm
'They say winners write history and Harry Turtledove writes alternate history. In
THE OTHER END, John Shirley writes a futuristic alternative tale of Armageddon -
set "about a year from whenever you're reading it" - until now monopolized by
fundamentalists like Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins....John Shirley's
courageous book is an account for the
rest of us. As the title suggests, this is a book for the other end of the
ideological spectrum: the non-superstitious, those concerned with real-world
problems - issues we can see and misfortune we can address here and now....
But the heart of the book does not lie within his challenge of
"conventional" ideas; it lies within the relationship between Swift and his
daughter, Erin, with whom he's grown closer even as his fundamentalist ex-wife
has taken her further away....Shirley makes it clear from the beginning he
doesn't intend
to veil anything, thinly or otherwise.
While the author's vision of Judgment Day isn't meant to be taken literally like
its extreme Christian counterpart, open-minded readers will agree the events and
consequences in THE OTHER END are just as plausible as the side it
opposes.'--Jason Light
'Shirley's passion is obvious...he's got a message the masses could stand to
hear.' -- Tim Pratt, Locus
'[Recommended Reading 2006] Among SF I enjoyed...John Shirley's THE OTHER
END...' -- Faren Miller, Locus
Original Hardcover Limited Edition: 2007