Book Review: Aspects by John M. Ford — Strand Magazine Strand Mag

John M. Ford passed away before completing this book, yet it is one of the greatest works of literary fantasy I have ever encountered.

Book Review: Aspects by John M. Ford
Tor Books, 496 pages, ISBN: 9781250269041
$26.99 Hardcover
$13.99 e-book

John M. Ford passed away before completing this book, and yet it remains one of the greatest works of literary fantasy that I have ever encountered. Ford passed away in 2006 with Aspects yet unfinished. At the time of his passing, his work was mostly out of print, and it took a journalist’s one-man investigation to secure anew the rights to his collection. The nearly completed pages of his final manuscript were left to gather dust for over a decade and, if not for luck, they might have never seen the light of day. This would have been an incalculable loss for literature, another shadow in the chasm left by Ford’s early passing at the age of just 49.

Until Aspects, I had never read a John M. Ford novel. For that omission, my life as a whole: literary, personal, professional, has been a poorer one. If I were to offer one piece of advice, it’s this: stop reading my review and go…