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“Chronicles from the End of the World”, Nautilus review, 2011
The first thing I liked about Chronicles at the End of the World is how Gurgu mixes the “Canadian” stories with the “Romanian” ones, succeeding in creating a melange that brilliantly illustrates the different ways of writing SF and Fantasy, and the extreme thematic...
“Chronicles from the End of the World”, Nautilus review, 2011
Beyond the Lighthouse at the End of the Worlds, The Never Ending Library and The Dava of the Gods are stories of a distinct strangeness, that combine in a unique way SF themes and elements with dynamic action meant to captivate the reader and ingredients of a...
“Secret Recipes”, Gazeta SF review, 2011
(…) Therefore, it would be impossible that such a complex world like the one built in Recipearium not to give birth to new stories—and so we find Secret Recipes in Costi’s new book from Millennium Books, Chronicles from the End of the World (in which you can also meet...
“Angels and Moths”, Fantasy Book Critic review, 2009
In “Angels and Moths” Costi Gurgu deals with a missed, in the first instance, alien contact. It is a story with substance and literary force that brings to the table controversial topics. The belief in Divinity, the lure of the soul, the inexorability of fate, the weakness of the spirit and human consciousness are just a few of them.
Review of “Ages of Wonder” ed. by Julie E. Czerneda and Rob St. Martin in “Fantasy Book Critic”, May 25, 2009
“Angels and Moths”, Strange Horizons review, 2009
Gurgu’s “Angels and Moths” approaches sparkle, bringing a surprising and compelling twist to what initially seems like a stock situation of interstellar diplomacy.
Review by Nader Elhefnawy of “Ages of Wonder”, ed. by Julie E. Czerneda and Rob St. Martin in “Strange Horizons”, 26 June 2009
“Radharc”, The Cultural Observer review, 2006
The first story, The Way of the Maps, by Costi Gurgu, it’s also the reader’s introduction into Radharc’s mysteries. Under the pretext of a journalistic investigation meant to find the Petre Bucur’s maps of Radharc, the three journalists make several trips in Radharc, following the standard procedure, entering through Petrator, where St. Peter admits the worthy. Being about the search for Petre Bucur (mysteriously dissapeared) and his maps, the story is a policier, treated in the relaxed-friendly-humor kind, a la Raymond Chandler.
Costi Gurgu’s Bucuresti is one of the waters, the wide avenues turned to rivers, there also being a sea at the end of Lipscani. Spy fishes float through air, the Royal Court is repainted, thriving with life, the place where are the gates of passage from one world to the another—all this written with a great care for detail. A very, very good story; a new world, functional, real characters, their realionships, adventures. Beautiful writing. Perfect to open the anthology.
The Cultural Observer, Radharc by Michael Haulica, 2006