Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

February 22, 2013

“Above” Reading Questions

Some Book Club Discussion Questions for Leah Bobet’s “Above” The “Monster”, “Sick”, “Freak”, and “Cursed” people in this book experience severe discrimination. How might their experiences relate to or reflect those of other groups in our society that are stigmatised or discriminated against? Matthew or Teller is a story teller. Why are stories so important in this novel and how...

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February 21, 2013

Empowering the Freak

A Review of Leah Bobet’s Above (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2012) By Derek Newman-Stille Leah Bobet’s novel Above focusses on a group of people who have taken up residence in the sewers. Chased from society above the ground and called “Freak”, “Monster”, “Sick”, and “Cursed”, they retreated beneath the city to create their own society, free of discrimination. Their most...

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February 20, 2013

Quote – Curosity About Being Interested in Everything

“Curiosity’s about having a mind that’s interested in, well, everything. A mind like that craves novelty and adventure. It searches for the good stuff.” -Julie Czerneda – Foreward (Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales)

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February 19, 2013

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night…

A Review of Ian Rogers’ SuperNOIRtural Tales (Burning Effigy Press, 2012). By Derek Newman-Stille I was so excited to see that Ian Rogers had collected a number of his Felix Renn Black Lands novellas into one volume and published it as SuperNOIRtural Tales. I had reviewed his novellas Temporary Monsters (http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/performing-the-monster/), The Ash Angels (http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/spectres-spooks-and-supernatural-s-a-d/ ), and Black-Eyed Kids (http://speculatingcanada.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/when-death-is-better-than-continuing-fear/)...

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February 18, 2013

“The Rest Is Silence” Reading Questions

Some Book Club Discussion Questions for Scott Fotheringham’s “The Rest is Silence” In “The Rest is Silence”, the narrator plays a game with his/her father where they imagine a world without various items. Think of an item and envision what the world would be like without it. What questions or concerns did this book bring up for you about science...

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February 17, 2013

Medusa’s Confusion

A review of Sandra Kasturi’s The Medusa Quintet in Tesseracts 14: Strange Canadian Stories (Edge, 2010) By Derek Newman-Stille In her poem The Medusa Quintet, Sandra Katsuri re-envisions the story of Medusa. She is created as a largely unaware and unquestioning woman who is coping with ideas of perfection and an imperfect body. Her body is destroyed and her vain...

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February 16, 2013

Quote – Useful to Amuse The Enemy

“It is almost always useful to amuse the enemy.” – Ursula Pflug – Airport Shoes (Strange Horizons http://www.strangehorizons.com/2007/20071126/airportshoes-f.shtml )

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February 15, 2013

Interview with David Nickle

An interview with David Nickle by Derek Newman-Stille I was pleased that David Nickle was willing to do an interview here on Speculating Canada and particularly that he shows such a strong interest in the ability of Speculative Fiction to open social questions, challenge taken-for-granted notions, and encourage readers to think for themselves. Spec Can: To begin our interview, could...

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February 14, 2013

Quote – Fighting About Love

“They’d fought as any couple fought – over work, over money – but he’d always taken heart in the fact that the fights, framed as they were by the banalities of life in the city, had always been about their love for one another. “ -Helen Marshall Hair Side, Flesh Side (ChiZine, 2012)

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February 13, 2013

Loss and Changes

A Review of Scott Fotheringham’s The Rest is Silence (Goose Lane Editions, 2012) By Derek Newman-Stille Memories are a significant part of our experience, particularly when things are changing rapidly. Scott Fotheringham’s The Rest is Silence is a novel about rapid changes – personal, social, and environmental. Two narratives intertwine in this novel: that of a man in the Nova...

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