Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2014
400 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Twins Yarik and Dima have been inseparable since childhood. Living on their uncle's farm after the death of their father, the boys once spent their days helping farmers in fields, their nights spellbound by their uncle's tales. Years later, they labor together at the Oranzheria, a sea of glass erected over acres of cropland and lit by space mirrors that ensnare the denizens of Petroplavilsk in perpetual daylight. Now the twins have only work in common - stalwart Yarik married with children, oppressed by the burden of responsibility; dreamer Dima living alone with his mother, wistfully planning the brothers' return to their uncle's land.
But an encounter with the Oranzerhia's billionaire owner changes their lives forever and soon both men find themselves poster boys for opposing ideologies that threaten to destroy not only the lives of those they love but the love that has bonded them since birth.
A breathtakingly ambitious novel of love, loss, and light, set amid a bold vision of an alternative present-day Russia.
"Starred Review. As broad as its themes are - touching on political, philosophical and historical divisions - Weil's first novel is rooted in family and fine storytelling; it's an engaging, highly satisfying tale blessed by sensitivity and a gifted imagination." - Kirkus
Facing 400 pages, the reader will trudge through some redundant detailing but will be rewarded by a deep emotional bond with the characters and immersion in a landscape and story line full of natural beauty, resplendent and incandescent." - Library Journal
"A well-timed dystopian tale, the novel beautifully details both the politics of this hypothetical Russia - "oligarchs bred beneath the clamp of communism let loose upon loot-fueled dreams" - and its impact on one small family." - Publishers Weekly
"A genuinely fascinating novel - for its inventiveness, its passionate breadth and vision." - Richard Ford
"Josh Weil writes away from all the official channels, and yet he writes about exactly where we are now. His vision is sustained by proper instinct and intelligent observation. He is certainly among the most gifted writers of his generation." - Colum McCann
"I was intoxicated by this novel's brains and I fell hopelessly in love with its heart. Josh Weil is a spectacular talent." - Lauren Groff
This information about The Great Glass Sea was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Jilan Carroll Glorfield
Josh Weil is the author of the novel The Great Glass Sea and the novella collection The New Valley and The Age of Perpetual Light.
A New York Times Editors Choice, The New Valley won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, the New Writers Award from the GLCA, and a "5 Under 35" Award from the National Book Foundation. Weil's other fiction has appeared in Granta, Esquire, Agni and One Story, and he has written non-fiction for The New York Times, The Sun, Oxford American, and Poets & Writers. A recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, and the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers' Conferences, he has been the Tickner Writer-in-Residence at Gilman School, the Distinguished Visiting Writer at Bowling Green ...
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