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Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works

  Science-fiction & fantasy literature: a critical list with discussions.

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Matt Ruff


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Standard Disclaimer:

This is a brief discussion of Matt Ruff and, of course, of some speculative-fiction books by Ruff.

This discussion and list does not necessarily include every book by Ruff: it includes only those books that I both know and like. Just as with the author list itself, omission of a particular item may mean I didn’t think highly enough of the omitted item, or it may simply mean that I have not yet sufficient familiarity with it. (In a very few cases, I have listed some books merely on the strength of my opinion of the author: all such books are clearly marked below, as throughout these lists, with a hash mark (#) before the title so you know what’s what.)

I don’t pretend that this discussion is a deep analysis. My intent is no more than to give you a rough idea of what kinds of tales Ruff tells, how those tales are usually told, and what makes them and Ruff worthy; in sum, to help you rank Matt Ruff (and the works by Ruff listed here) on your personal literary “to do” list.


A Few Words About Matt Ruff

Regrettably, I have not yet had an opportunity to write an essay on this author, but the “Other Resources” section below will lead you to some information about the “Notable Books” listed farther down this page.

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Other Matt Ruff Resources

Ruff Resources on the Web

The primary resource is, not surprisingly, Author Matt Ruff’s Home Page; there is also a blog (which seems moribund).

There are few other general Ruff pages (though there are a great many one-off reviews of individual books). There are two newspaper articles on Ruff and his work from his hometown papers: the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Times [archived copy].

There are the inevitable interviews; a sample is his 2007 interview at Bookslut [archived copy].

A more or less representative book review is that of The New York Times on Ruff’s Bad Monkeys. Most reviews of Ruff’s books range from positive to glowing, but for the completist it should be noted that there are occasional contrary opinions, a couple of examples being novelist Tom LeClair’s and that of the Los Angeles Times. For the many others, as always, Google Is Your Friend.

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Ruff Resources in Print

I could find none.

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Notable Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by Matt Ruff ****

(For more possible titles by this author, see the “Unrated Books by Rated Authors” page.)

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This page was last modified on Sunday, 4 February 2024, at 5:32 pm Pacific Time.