Luminous Chaos Hardcover - 2013

Media reviews

Praise for Aurorama:

Selected for Io9's 'Ten recent science fiction books that make great gifts'

"He is funny, intelligent, lyrically precise, and frequently self-aware." —JAMES WOOD, The New Yorker

"Aurorarama is a magnificent achievement, balancing serious intent with arch humour. It's also beautifully stylish, replete with inventive steampunk iconography and fantastical characters in a stunning polar setting." —The Guardian

"Aurorarama mesmerizes." —Bookforum

"The novel glides on silver skates from the surreal to the absurd to the languorously decadent ... New Venice is irresistible." —LAURA MILLER, Salon

"Aurorarama is perhaps what Jules Verne would write if woken from the dead and offered a dose of mushrooms. An enjoyable amalgam of thriller, fantasy, and polar adventure, topped off with a sprinkling of anarchist intrigue." —The National

"Marvelous, perfect, and perfectly marvelous!... I can hardly wait for its sequels." —PAUL DI FILIPPO, The Barnes and Noble Review

"The most noteworthy contribution to steampunk in almost two decades." —Pornokitsch

"Combining Arctic adventure with Victorian fantasy, this page-turner is as sparkling and colorful as the northern lights." —The San Francisco Chronicle

"Aurorarama entrances and delights. You could spend years picking apart the sly references and the particular myths, poems, novels and songs that inspired Valtat, or you can simply enjoy it for the experience." —JESSA CRISPIN, NPR

"Aurorarama tells a tale of political intrigue (secret police! Eskimos! Prisoner-esque hovering airship!) with some truly lyrical prose." —io9

"A terrific storyteller, Valtat mixes humor and poetry, romance and politics into a surprisingly thoughtful page-turner about social revolution." —MATTHEW JAKUBOWSKI, Paste Magazine