Fabulous reviews for Johanna Sinisalo’s The Core of the Sun

Johanna Sinisalo’s The Core of the Sun has been published in January 2016 by Grove Atlantic in the U.S.  The novel is set in a dystopian version of Finland, in which pleasure is forbidden and sex is commoditized.

The book has gathered fantastic reviews, and The Core of the Sun has been selected as the monthly subscriber pick by Green Apple Books in San Francisco.

See all reviews: 

Johanna’s Sinisalo’s dystopian The Core of the Sun is a stunningly evocative novel about the great literary theme of identity, brilliantly rendering the complex struggle between society’s norms, our innate personal qualities, and the transformative substances of the physical world. Sex, drugs, and bureaucracy: what could be more compelling?” —Robert Olen Butler, author of Hell

The novel builds a fascinating story centered on gender politics. – The Washington Post

“Written with wit and grace—Sinisalo describes depression as “a smooth-walled cavity, an open, echoing cave with a darkness living in it deeper than the space between the stars”—the novel maintains an impressive grasp on plot and suspense, easily luring the reader into taking its characters, politics, and striking story to heart.”
– Kirkus Starred Review

“Sinisalo harnesses the smooth writing and nicely calibrated pacing that has made her YA fiction popular, but ups the ante with well-placed and eerily fitting facts about the history of science, clever literary narrative, and complex characterization. This tale will appeal to dystopia lovers and fans of darkly offbeat suspense.” – Booklist Starred Review

 ” — this is an unusual and fun story with a strong dose of social commentary.”  – Publishers Weekly

“Sf, fantasy, and New Weird readers will revel in the elegantly blurred lines of science and mysticism. Readers seeking a reliable, strong, female narrator won’t be disappointed.”
– Library Journal

“Sinisalo’s books can be shelved as literary fiction, science fiction, alternative history, fantasy, or magic realism, but a common factor in all of them is a realistic setting that is then given a twist, an element dropped into the mix that alters the state of things and leads to profound consequences.”
– 
Seattle Review of Books 

“Readers who think they’re over the dystopia trend are about to find themselves proven wrong by so-called “queen of Finnish Weird,”
– Shelf Awareness

“Sinisalos’ imagination—which has previously turned to trolls and Moon-dwelling Nazis—is certainly airborne in The Core of the Sun.
 Tor.com

“Hailed for being “Finnish weird,” this read from Finnish speculative fiction superstar Johanna Sinisalo will especially delight fans of Margaret Atwood’sThe Handmaid’s Tale.”
– Bustle.com

 Sinisalo’s presentation — layers of narrative dominated by Vanna’s, supplemented by Jare’s, and then livened up by interspersing all sorts of sometimes shocking, sometimes amusing odds and ends — is effective and makes for a lively, consistently engaging read.
– 
Complete review

Read also a review in: Houston Chronicle

SinisaloAug2015

Sinisalo’s previous novel The Blood of Angels (Teos 2011), published in the U.S and UK by Peter Owen in 2014, received starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. Her upcoming novel, Iron Sky: Renate’s Story (working title) is inspired by the 2012 cult film Iron Sky, at which Sinisalo worked as one of the concept developers. Rights have been acquired in Germany by Klett-Cotta and in Finland by Johnny Kniga.

RIGHTS SOLD: IRON SKY: RENATE’S STORY
FINLAND, Johnny Kniga
GERMANY, Klett-Cotta

RIGHTS SOLD: THE CORE OF THE SUN
Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
CZECH REPUBLIC, Euromedia
FRANCE, Actes Sud
GERMANY, Klett-Cotta
WORLD ENGLISH, Grove Atlantic

RIGHTS SOLD: THE BLOOD OF ANGELS
Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
WORLD ENGLISH, Peter Owen
FRANCE, Actes Sud
POLAND, Foksal

RIGHTS SOLD: BIRDBRAIN
Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
FRANCE, Actes Sud
NORWAY, Vega
UK, Peter Owen

RIGHTS SOLD: NOT BEFORE SUNDOWN (TROLL – A LOVE STORY)
Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi
ALBANIA, Dituria
BRAZIL, Devir
BULGARIA, Perseus
CZECH REPUBLIC, One Woman Press
FRANCE, Actes Sud
GERMANY, Tropen
JAPAN, Sunmark
LATVIA, Atena
LITHUANIA, Vaga
POLAND, Terytoria
RUSSIA, Amphora
SLOVENIA, Modrijan
SPAIN, Poliedro
SWEDEN, Wahlstrom & Widstrand
UK, Peter Owen
U.S, Grove Atlantic

Contact: info@ahlbackagency.com

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia Prize-winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017. In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature.

Bibliography


2021, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Storm Flute

Johanna Sinisalo


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Strangers Inside

Johanna Sinisalo


2018, Fantasy & Science Fiction

IRON SKY: RENATE'S STORY

Johanna Sinisalo


2013, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Core of The Sun

Johanna Sinisalo


2011, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Blood of Angels

Johanna Sinisalo


2010, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Möbius Twist

Johanna Sinisalo


2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Birdbrain

Johanna Sinisalo


2000, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Troll

Johanna Sinisalo