Category: Fiction Book Reviews

October 16, 2012

Xena Meets Iron Chef

A Review of Karen Dudley’s Food for the Gods (Turnstone Press, 2012). By Derek Newman-Stille Make sure to eat a large meal before you read Karen Dudley’s Food for the Gods. Dudley sets her novel in the ancient Greek world where mythology and Athenian life mix. Nothing prepares an ancient Greek chef for a life of cooking more than being...

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October 14, 2012

UnBuried, UnSettled, and UnEarthed

A review of UnEarthed: The Speculative Elements Series Volume 3 Edited by Sherry Ramsey, Julie Serroul, and Nancy Waldman (Third Person Press, Cape Breton, 2012). By Derek Newman-Stille Once again Third Person Press has illustrated the incredible speculative work of Cape Breton authors with the third instalment of their Speculative Elements Series: UnEarthed. This volume, focussed on the element of...

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October 10, 2012

Animal Cruelty and the Animal in the Human

A review of Stephanie Snow’s “Dog Fight” (In Unearthed: The Speculative Elements Series Volume 3, Third Person Press, Cape Breton, N.S., 2012). By Derek Newman-Stille Werewolves are traditionally figures of excessive masculinity – excessively hairy, excessively aggressive, and excessively woodsy. They often embody characteristics associated with masculine stereotypes. It is therefore exciting that Stephanie Snow presents queer werewolves in her...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 5

October 8, 2012

Montreal Superhero Fights for Diversity

A review of Hochelaga and Sons by Claude Lalumiere (in Objects of Worship, Chizine, Toronto, 2009) By Derek Newman-Stille I have always thought that Canada needs more superheroes and Claude Lalumiere answered my wishes with Hochelaga and Sons. Hochelaga is a very typically Canadian hero. He is not interested in fighting the big battles of the world, but is interested...

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October 1, 2012

The Green in the Human

A Review of Dominik Parisien’s In His Eighty-Second Year in Stone Telling issue 7, March 2012 (http://stonetelling.com/issue7-mar2012/parisien-year.html) By Derek Newman-Stille In his poem “In His Eighty-Second Year”, Parisien plays with the senses, constructing each stanza around a sensory experience. He intertwines the human experience with the vegetative, creating the human as a form of scarecrow or green man living in...

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September 29, 2012

Different Way of Seeing

A review of Just Dance by Erika Holt (in Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales, Edge, 2011) By Derek Newman-Stille Marie-Lunie is a girl who has one eye in one world and one in another. Erika Holt’s teen fiction steam-punky supernatural story Just Dance explores a girl who has discovered that her father has been keeping research secrets....

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September 26, 2012

When Death is Better Than Continuing Fear

A review of Ian Rogers’ Black Eyed Kids (Burning Effigy Press, 2011) By Derek Newman-Stille Featuring one of Ian Rogers’ creepiest monsters from the Black Lands yet, Black Eyed Kids is definitely a book to evoke lingering chills that won’t leave your spine alone. The creepy effect of this book is multifaceted. Rogers presents the most terrifying monster of all...

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September 25, 2012

Titanic and Terrible

A review of Saving the Dead, or The Diary of an Undertaker’s Apprentice by Jennifer Greylyn (in Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales, Edge, 2011) By Derek Newman-Stille This year marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and Jennifer Greylyn explores the Titanic from a supernatural perspective in her Saving the Dead, or The Diary...

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September 21, 2012

True Norse Strong and Free…

A Review of Chadwick Ginther’s Thunder Road(Raven Stone, Forthcoming 2012) By Derek Newman-Stille Had I not known that this was his debut novel, I would have thought that Chadwick Ginther’s Thunder Road was written by an experienced novelist. His characters were well developed, his plot strong and thought provoking. After reading the first two chapters, I flipped back to the...

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September 19, 2012

Imagining Canadian Speculative Fiction

An Editorial on SF Versus Realist Fiction and a Review of Imaginarium 2012: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing Edited by Sandra Kasturi and Halli Villegas (ChiZine Publications, 2012). By Derek Newman-Stille I received a copy of Imaginarium 2012: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing on August 23rd and was so excited that I had to read the essay introducing the volume...

Categories Editorials/Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 4