Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

September 13, 2014

Adrift

A review of A.M. Dellamonica’s Child of a Hidden Sea (TOR, 2014) By Derek Newman-Stille Home is a complicated, multi-faceted, problematic notion, and A.M. Dellamonica captures this complexity in Child of a Hidden Sea. She begins her novel seemingly mid narrative, with her protagonist floating in the sea, facilitating the sense of dislocation for the reader that would shape Sophie’s...

Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

September 11, 2014

CyberSexualities

A review of Don Bassingthwaite’s “Who Plays with Sin” in Bending the Landscape: Original Gay and Lesbian Writing: Science Fiction (The Overlook Press, 1999). By Derek Newman-Stille Cyberpunk, with its attraction to marginalized characters who live on the edge, has needed to be queered for some time, so it is refreshing to encounter a fantastic queering of the genre by...

Fiction Book Reviews Comment: 1

September 9, 2014

Definitely Not A Chameleon.

A Review of Jason Loo’s The Pitiful Human-Lizard Issue 1 (May, 2014) By Derek Newman-Stille Few superheroes call themselves “pitiful”. Most tend to hypermasculinize themselves to try to make themselves seem beyond the human, more powerful, further beyond moral critique, but Jason Loo’s The Pitiful Human-Lizard plays with the superhero genre and opens it to critique, question, and, yes, pity....

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September 6, 2014

Spectres of Homophobia

Review of Michael Rowe’s Ghosts (Postscripts to Darkness 2014, http://pstdarkness.com/2014/08/08/ghosts-by-michael-rowe/ ) LGBTQ2 populations are haunted by the spectre of violence. Our lives are inscribed with threat and many of us have been victims of multiple violent attacks. Stories like that of Matthew Shepard who was beaten and left to die in a field by homophobic groups haunt queer experience, even,...

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September 3, 2014

The Abduction of Women’s Voices

A review of Nancy Johnston’s “The Rendez-Vous: The True Story of Jeanetta (Netty) Wilcox” in Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction (The Overlook Press, 1999) By Derek Newman-Stille Nancy Johnston’s “The Rendez-Vous: The True Story of Jeanetta (Netty) Wilcox” is a wonderful feminist discourse on the tendency of men to overwrite the narrative and words of women. This is a story...

Fiction Book Reviews Comment: 1

September 1, 2014

Speculative SEXtember: September 2014

This September, Speculating Canada will be a Speculative SEXtember, focused on the theme of the exploration of sexualities in Canadian speculative fiction with a particular interest in representation of LGBTQ2, Queer, or QUILTBAG people. There will still reviews of books that do not highlight sexuality and sexual identities during the month, but a higher than average representation of sexual diversity....

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August 28, 2014

Quote – Walking Through Fear Makes You Stronger

“Walking through your fear makes you stronger. It makes you able to walk through other fears. It gives you courage. It gives you faith that there are bigger powers in the world than you fear. When you walk through fear, you… become a bigger power than the fear. It is its own medicine in the end.” -Richard Wagamese – Him...

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August 26, 2014

Quote – Measuring Value by Who Has Been Loved

“”These days, I can quantify my remaining decades. I can measure them out in life-events. I can gauge my value as a man by who I’ve loved, who has loved me, and by the ones I didn’t love nearly enough.” -Michael Rowe, “Ghosts” (Postscripts to Darkness, http://pstdarkness.com/2014/08/08/ghosts-by-michael-rowe/ )

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August 24, 2014

Northern Heroes With Grit

A review of the Heroes of the North webseries produced by Christian Veil (http://www.heroesofthenorth.com/index.php ) By Derek Newman-Stille There has been an increase in Canadian speculative fiction shows lately with programmes like Lost Girl, Sanctuary, and Orphan Black, and they have been fantastic… but I have found myself searching for a really good Canadian superhero show. Although only a webseries...

Other Reviews Comment: 1

August 22, 2014

Quote – Considering Ourselves Greater than Nature

“That they should envision themselves greater than nature, that they believe they can control eventualities with their industries both amazes and amuses you, the latter in a grim way. You survey the skyline of London, blotted with inky smoke from their factories, fumes that choke the air, and you wonder: are they insane? They cannot breathe. They die of illnesses...

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