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Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works

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

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Mark Helprin


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Standard Disclaimer:

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

This discussion and list does not necessarily include every book by Helprin: 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 Helprin tells, how those tales are usually told, and what makes them and Helprin worthy; in sum, to help you rank Mark Helprin (and the works by Helprin listed here) on your personal literary “to do” list.


A Few Words About Mark Helprin

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 Mark Helprin Resources

Mark Helprin Resources on the Web

(Finding critical material on Helprin is not made easier by the fact that Helprin is a widely net-published writer of political-opinion pieces, whose listings tend to clog up most Helprin-related search-result sets.)

Useful overview pages include “The Novels of Mark Helprin” by Colin Glassey at the Teleologic site [archived copy]; “Mark Helprin” an overview at Blowhards [archived copy]; “Mark Helprin: The Gates to the City”, an analysis of his style by Curtis Edmonds at Epinions [archived copy]; “Literary analysis: Mark Helprin and the use of fantasy and realism” by “Melissa N-E” at Helium [archived copy]; A Look at the Novels of Mark Helprin by James Como at the New English Review; and Mark Helprin (The Art of Fiction No. 132) in The Paris Review.

There are some moderately useful reviews of particular books. For Winter’s Tale, the more useful include Benjamin de Mott in The New York Times, Ted Gioia at conceptual fiction [archivd copy] , and “Victoria” at FantasyBookSpot.

Of Helprin’s books nominally “for children”, Peter Neumeyer’s “Children’s Books; who needs Tchaikovsky?” in The New York Times reviews the Swan Lake trilogy.

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Mark Helprin Resources in Print

I could find none.

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Notable Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by Mark Helprin ***

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