Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

April 19, 2013

Paranoia, Power, Politics, Police, and Protest

A Review of Cory Doctorow’s Homeland (Tor Teen, 2013) By Derek Newman-Stille Marcus was known as m1k3y when he was younger, a web protestor and advocate of human rights who exposed government corruption. In Homeland, Marcus is a young adult, just beginning life outside of university. He has all of the regular issues facing a young person – searching for...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

April 18, 2013

Quote – Need People Not To Say It’s Someone Else’s Problem

“They need people to do the job… To stand apart from the mentality that says, ‘It’s someone else’s problem,’ and to do the thing that needs doing.” -James Alan Gardner – Expendable (Avon, 1997)

Categories Quotes Comment: 1

April 17, 2013

The Disabled and Disfigured Have Become the “Red Shirt” Class

A review of James Alan Gardner’s Expendable (Avon Books, 1997) By Derek Newman-Stille Fans of Star Trek will recognise the term “Red Shirt”, but for those who haven’t seen Star Trek, “Red Shirt” is the term for people on away missions who die to provide plot fodder for the main characters to grow and develop. Generally these plot victims are...

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April 16, 2013

Quote – Any Evil that Entered the World Contaminated the World

“No cure was worth torturing cats and mice. It was like arguing that inventing, then using, the atom bomb was justified because it ended the war and diminished suffering. Any evil that entered the world contaminated the world.” -Scott Fotheringham – The Rest is Silence (Goose Lane Editions, 2012)

Categories Quotes Comment: 1

April 15, 2013

300th Post and The Story of Speculating Canada

Dear readers, Today will be Speculating Canada’s 300th post!! Thank you for all of your support. I thought I would publish a bit about the story of Speculating Canada itself and reveal some of my hopes and dreams about where Speculating Canada is going. Speculating Canada grew out of my current research for my PhD in Canadian Studies at Trent...

Categories Editorials Comment: 1

April 14, 2013

Transformative Art

A Review of OnSpec #91 Vol 24, No 4 (Winter 2013) By Derek Newman-Stille One of the key narrative threads running through Volume 24, number 4 of OnSpec is the transformative power of art and writing. This thread is most potent in Kevin Cockle’s Palimpsest, a short story about a man who learns how to transform the world and people...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 2

April 13, 2013

Quote – SF Taught Us How to Think About the Unthinkable

“It was science fiction, future fiction, SF, that taught us how to think about death and despoilation by radiation, chemical waste devastation, Big Brother, Star Wars and Nculear Winter. So what’s “unthinkable” now?” -Judith Merril – Afterward (Tesseracts)

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April 12, 2013

Interview with Robert J. Sawyer

An Interview with Robert J. Sawyer By Derek Newman-Stille I recently had the opportunity to meet Robert J. Sawyer at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts. We only had time for a short chat since both of us had a great deal of events on our plates, so I wanted to have the chance to do a...

Categories Interviews Comments: 3

April 11, 2013

Quote – Swallowing The Universe in All of its Boundless Absurdity

“We can swallow the universe in its entirety, / its star-spackled, moon-freckled boundless absurdity.” -Sandra Kasturi – Moon & Muchness (Tesseracts 14: Strange Canadian Stories)

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April 10, 2013

Depths

A Review of A.E. Van Vogt’s The Silkie By Derek Newman-Stille Van Vogt’s creation, the silkie is both human and fundamentally alien, integrating elements of “us” with the “Other”. Possessing senses beyond human understanding -enough to reframe the entire sensory network – the silkie sees the world through different eyes, yet it is forced to take a human mate and...

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