- Paperback: 241 pages
- Publisher: Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing; 1 edition (Nov 27 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1895836344
- ISBN-13: 978-1895836349
- Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 12.4 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 204 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #887,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The Claus Effect is a continuation of "The Toy Mill", the 1993 Aurora-Award-winning story about a malevolent, post-industrial-revolution Santa Claus and Emily, the little girl whose wish to be a Christmas Elf nearly destroys the world. The Claus Effect takes up eights years later, when events propel teen-aged Emily and West Point cadet Neil Nyman on a breakneck journey through suburban shopping malls, Ontario cottage country, and the frigid northern wastes of the former Soviet Union - battling displaced Cossacks, blue-blooded cottagers and homicidal, down-sized elves along the way. Finally, they must face down the terrifying truth: about Christmas, the New World Order - and the Claus Effect.
About the Author
David Nickle was born in 1964. He lives and works in Toronto, which is less than halfway to the North Pole. His stories have appeared in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Tesseracts4, Tesseracts5, four volumes of the Northern Frights anthology series, and in magazines such as On Spec and Transversions. He works as a political reporter for a chain of Toronto community newspapers.
Karl Schroeder was born in 1962 and was raised in Brandon, Manitoba. He has had fiction published in three of the Tesseracts anthologies, as well as On Spec magazine, Figment and the Barnes and Noble anthology A Horror A Day. Karl was president of SF Canada in 1996-97, and has twice been nominated for the Aurora Award (winning with David Nickle for ‘The Toy Mill’ in 1993).
Karl Schroeder was born in 1962 and was raised in Brandon, Manitoba. He has had fiction published in three of the Tesseracts anthologies, as well as On Spec magazine, Figment and the Barnes and Noble anthology A Horror A Day. Karl was president of SF Canada in 1996-97, and has twice been nominated for the Aurora Award (winning with David Nickle for ‘The Toy Mill’ in 1993).
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Worked better in short form
Aug 7 2008
Format:Paperback
The premise is absurd enough to be a hilarious story, but if it's meant to be humourous, it's written dry enough that you have to interpret the humour for yourself. Actually, the tone of the book is more akin to that of an action movie than a black comedy, with plenty of drama and explosions.
The pacing was a little frantic, and things felt like they were happening all over the place. There are a lot of auxiliary characters, and they all have their own viewpoint, so while there's a lot going on, most of it feels like filler. The transitions aren't always clear, either, and sometimes I would be several paragraphs into a section with a new narrator before I realized we'd switched over.
The Claus Effect started as a clever and tightly-written short story, "The Toy Mill", which won an Aurora Award in 1993. The award was well deserved. I think the biggest issue here is that what worked really well as a short story just became too much for a full book. An evil, vindictive Santa was clever and original in short form, but over the 250 some-odd pages of the novel, it just became weighty and depressing. The characters weren't given any extra depth; instead, there were a bunch of extra ones tacked on, substituting quality for quantity. There were several big action sequences, most of which erupted rather abruptly and ended up going nowhere.
Overall verdict is to read "The Toy Mill" if you can get your paws on it, but skip over the long version. Once I got past the backstory (which basically consisted of the short story), I just felt like I was trudging and not getting anywhere doing it.
The pacing was a little frantic, and things felt like they were happening all over the place. There are a lot of auxiliary characters, and they all have their own viewpoint, so while there's a lot going on, most of it feels like filler. The transitions aren't always clear, either, and sometimes I would be several paragraphs into a section with a new narrator before I realized we'd switched over.
The Claus Effect started as a clever and tightly-written short story, "The Toy Mill", which won an Aurora Award in 1993. The award was well deserved. I think the biggest issue here is that what worked really well as a short story just became too much for a full book. An evil, vindictive Santa was clever and original in short form, but over the 250 some-odd pages of the novel, it just became weighty and depressing. The characters weren't given any extra depth; instead, there were a bunch of extra ones tacked on, substituting quality for quantity. There were several big action sequences, most of which erupted rather abruptly and ended up going nowhere.
Overall verdict is to read "The Toy Mill" if you can get your paws on it, but skip over the long version. Once I got past the backstory (which basically consisted of the short story), I just felt like I was trudging and not getting anywhere doing it.
The perfect anti-yuletide book
Oct 23 2007
Format:Paperback
If you shudder when the Christmas decorations start appearing in the stores the day after Halloween, if your favourite Christmas carol by November 15 is "My Grandmother Got Run Over by a Reindeer", if you wish your pantry were big enough to avoid setting foot in any store after November 30.... in short, if you're fed up with the yuletide, this book is for you! Meet Santa as a vicious, chainsmoking, thoroughly unlovable bad guy, surrounded by a cast of KGB agents, precocious children and a vengeful Mrs. Claus, all tumbling through a wacky plot that defies summarizing. The writing is perhaps a little sloppy, but there are enough delightfully wicked bits to keep you laughing out loud until the last page.
Of course you need to have a certain taste for twisted humour, and this is definitely *not* a book you want to put in a child's stocking -- unless you hate children as much as this politically incorrect Santa. Don't say I didn't warn you; the parents will probably sue you.
Of course you need to have a certain taste for twisted humour, and this is definitely *not* a book you want to put in a child's stocking -- unless you hate children as much as this politically incorrect Santa. Don't say I didn't warn you; the parents will probably sue you.
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