July 2013 – Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

July 31, 2013

Upcoming Interview with Lynda Williams on August 2, 2013

Lynda Williams and I have been corresponding for a while, each visiting the other’s website and reading about various comments about Canadian SF. I was therefore very excited when Ms. Williams agreed to do an interview here. It is always very exciting to talk with an author who is comfortable deconstructing and analysing her own work, and whose keen observations...

Interviews/News Comments: 0

July 29, 2013

Penning the Subtle Murmur of Death and Splash of Blood

A review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s This Strange Way of Dying (Forthcoming 2013, Exile Editions) By Derek Newman-Stille Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s This Strange Way of Dying is just one step abstracted from reality, with one foot in The Weird. Populated with monsters, magic, and folklore, her work is fundamentally about the human outsider experience, the deeper engagement with the world that comes...

Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

July 28, 2013

Quote – Pay attention and see what is really there instead of what you expect to see

“You just have to pay attention. If you don’t you’ll miss them, or see something else – something you expected to see rather than what was really there. Fairy voices become just the wind, a bodach,… scurrying across the street becomes just a piece of litter caught in the backwash of a bus.” -Charles de Lint – In The House...

Quotes Comments: 0

July 27, 2013

The Courtesan Prince Reading Questions

Some Book Club Discussion Questions for Lynda Williams’ The Courtesan Prince By Derek Newman-Stille What do you find appealing about Reetion society? What makes you uncomfortable about it? What do you find appealing about Gelack society? What makes you uncomfortable about it? In what ways was Von’s personality shaped by his experience as a courtesan? Why do you think the...

Reading/ Book Club Questions Comments: 2

July 25, 2013

The In-Between Space

A Review of Lynda Williams’ The Courtesan Prince (Edge, 2005). By Derek Newman-Stille The Reetions and the Gelacks, two branches of the human race that were separated from Earth due to temporary losses of space travel. The Reetions developed from the first group of people to leave Earth and settle in a colony. Connections to Earth were lost, and they...

Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 2

July 22, 2013

Coyotes in Urban Turf Wars

A review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Nahaules” (in This Strange Way of Dying, Exile Editions, 2013) By Derek Newman-Stille As in many of her works, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s short story “Nahaules” makes the urban space strange, exploring the intrusion of the folkloric into the cityscape. Nahaules, coyote shapeshifters, old stories, have come into the city, changing the city gradually as scents of...

Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

July 19, 2013

Interview with James Marshall

An Interview with James Marshall By Derek Newman-Stille After reading Zombie Versus Fairy Featuring Albinos, I was fascinated with James Marshall’s different take on the figure of the zombie and his use of the zombie medium to question the zombie-like state of uncritical thought in our society. I appreciate that he was willing to have a conversation about his zombies...

Interviews Comments: 0

July 18, 2013

Quote – Curious

“You pause. You pay attention. You must, you know. Why? Because you’re curious.” -Julie Czerneda – Foreward (Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales)

Quotes Comments: 0

July 17, 2013

Upcoming interview with James Marshall on Friday July 19th

On Friday July 19th, Speculating Canada will be interviewing James Marshall. James Marshall is the author of Ninja Versus Pirate Featuring Zombies and Zombie Versus Fairy Featuring Albinos (both available from ChiZine publications), as well as a guitar player. He has a very different take on the figure of the zombie, and I was curious to find out what inspired...

Interviews/News Comments: 3

July 15, 2013

Commodifying Extinction

A Review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Maquech” (This Strange Way of Dying, Exile Editions, 2013) By Derek Newman-Stille Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s short story “Maquech” is a narrative of wealth disparity and the value attached to animal life. Set in the near future, rare animals that are going extinct have become commodities for the rich, purchased as fashion items, status signifiers, and indicators...