Super Extra Grande (Cuban Science Fiction) - Softcover

Yoss

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1632060566 ISBN 13: 9781632060563

Publisher: Restless Books, 2016

Synopsis

With playfulness and ingenuity in the tradition of Douglas Adams, Cuban science fiction master Yoss delivers a space opera of intergalactic proportions with SUPER EXTRA GRANDE, the winner of the 20th annual UPC Science Fiction Award in 2011.

Set in a distant future, after the invention of faster-than-light space travel has propelled a still-immature mankind into the far corners of the Milky Way, the novel features creatures of immense variety - amoebas that cover entire worlds, sensual females that feed on substances from their males' reproductive systems, talking reptiles and other creations drawn from the classics of Cuban and international science fiction - all of which serve as colleagues, fellow adventurers, sex partners, teachers or members of the military high command in the Galactic Community governing this part of the universe.

Our protagonist, Jan Amos Sangan Dongo, has a special role in this otherworldly menagerie: He is a veterinarian who specialises in treating enormous animals across the galaxy. When a colonial conflict threatens the fragile peace between the Galaxy's seven intelligent species, Dr Sangan must embark on a daring mission to enter a gigantic creature and find two swallowed ambassadors - who also happen to be his competing love interests.

Coupling his own extensive studies in (earthly) biology with his vast curiosity and wild imagination, Yoss brings us a rare specimen in the richly parodic tradition of Cuban science fiction.

About this title

Review

"Published by Restless Books, this is a handsome book with obligatry cool points coming from the quote from Vice... There are lots of references to classic travelling novels by Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain which is a nice nod... Sangan is a likeable cad of a protagonist, and the plot line keeps you engaged... 7/10" --Starburst

"Intergalactic space travel meets outrageous, biting satire in Super Extra Grande... Its author, Jose Miguel Sanchez Gomez, who writes under the pen name Yoss, is one of the most celebrated and controversial Cuban writers of science fiction... Reminiscent of Douglas Adams but even more so, the satire of Rabelais and Swift Yoss mocks racist and sexist stereotypes while critiquing Western environmental policies via his enormous, bumbling narrator who somehow manages to save the day." --The Washington Post

"A lighthearted space-opera adventure by Cuban author Yoss... This novel's madcap tone is very similar to Douglas Adams; so much so that it's almost impossible to avoid drawing such comparisons (although Adams didn't joke about oral sex with aliens, as Yoss does here). As in Adams' works, the galaxy's species are terrifically alien, sporting six breasts and no teeth or breathing methane instead of oxygen. There are also lots of fun references and wordplay throughout the book: the giant amoebas, for example, live on planet Brobdingnag, which orbits a star called Swift-3, while Jan Amos Sangan Dongo is a riff on sangandongo, Cuban slang for 'really big.' But possibly the most enjoyable aspect of this strange world is that it takes place in a future in which an Ecuadorean Jesuit priest discovers faster-than-light travel, and the first space flight proving his theory is announced by unfurling a banner on Mars that reads 'Suck on this, dumb-ass gringos!' Also, the lingua franca of this future is Spanglish, and all the dialogue appealingly follows suit: 'el amor don't we know it bien! goes beyond lo fisico, even lo quimico. Far beyond.' An exceptionally enjoyable comic tale set in a fully realized, firmly science-fictional universe." --Kirkus

"The best science-fiction writers are the peripheral prophets of literature outsiders who persuade us to explore an often uncomfortable vision of the future... One such prophet lives ninety miles off the coast of Florida, in Havana, and goes by the name of Yoss." --The Nation

"Cuba has produced an author capable of understanding science fiction by writing it like it's rock and roll. Yoss is a thoughtful author who simply seems to understand his work and science fiction better than many of us." --Electric Literature

"Thanks to Restless Books and translator David Frye, we have yet another Yoss novel out of Cuba to brighten our year... Super Extra Grande brings all of the sardonic humor, unconventional characters, and fast-paced plot we've come to expect. As one of Cuba's best-known and beloved writers of speculative fiction, Yoss continually inspires us with his visions of alternative realities." --Bookishly Witty

"Look at this guy. Now read his book. So(insert a lot of o&aspo;s) good." --Words Without Borders

About the Author

Born Jose Miguel Sanchez Gomez, Yoss assumed his pen name in 1988, when he won the Premio David in the science fiction category for Timshel. Together with his peculiar pseudonym, the author's aesthetic of an impentinent rocker has allowed him to stand out amongst his fellow Cuban writers. Earning a degree in Biology in 1991, he went on to graduate from the first ever course on Narrative Techniques at the Onelio Jorge Cardoso Center of Literary Training, in the year 1999. Today, Yoss writes both realistic and science fiction works. Alongside these novels, the author produces essays, reviews, and compilations, and actively promotes the Cuban science fiction literary workshops, Espiral and Espacio Abierto.
When he isn t translating, David Frye teaches Latin American culture and society at the University of Michigan. Translations include "First New Chronicle" and "Good Government" by Guaman Poma de Ayala (Peru, 1615); "The Mangy Parrot" by Jose Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi (Mexico, 1816), for which he received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship; "Writing across Cultures: Narrative Transculturation" in Latin America by Angel Rama (Uruguay, 1982), and several Cuban and Spanish novels and poems."

About this edition

• Publisher: Restless Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1632060566
• ISBN 13: 9781632060563
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160