Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

July 23, 2012

The Frost Centre for Canadian and Indigenous Studies at Trent University Speculates Canada

I have had the incredible opportunity this year to study with the Frost Centre for Canadian and Indigenous Studies at Trent University. This programme questioned all of my notions about Canada and encouraged me to explore new ideas about what is Canadian and what makes up the notion of ‘Canada’ itself. It was a perfect fit for my research on...

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July 23, 2012

McCloud’s School for Supernatural Youngsters

A Review of Kelley Armstrong’s The Gathering (Doubleday Canada, 2012) By Derek Newman-Stille The Gathering, the first book of Kelley Armstrong’s Young Adult/Teen Fiction Darkness Rising trilogy is set in the same world as her Otherworld series. The supernatural is real, but hidden in this world, kept secret by the members of the supernatural races that inhabit it. In The...

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July 22, 2012

Aging Gods Lost in Modernity and the Search For Thought and Memory

A review of “Thought and Memory” by Catherine Knutsson. In On Spec Vol. 24, No. 1, Spring 2012. By Derek Newman-Stille Catherine Knutsson’s Thought and Memory expands on a line from the Norse “Sayings of Grimnir” in which Odin discusses his two ravens Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory) and expresses his fear that the ravens may be lost. Knutsson...

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July 21, 2012

Quote – Questions Best Left To Science Fiction Writers

“It was one of those questions best left to philosophers and science fiction writers.” -Drew Hayden Taylor – The Night Wanderer

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July 20, 2012

Quote – Decisions Create Worlds

“Every time we make a decision, we make another world. We do one thing, and we’re in the world that decision called up, but at the same time, we didn’t do it, so we’re in that other world, too. It goes on forever, all these worlds..” -Charles de Lint – Many Worlds are Born Tonight. In The Very Best of...

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July 19, 2012

Quote – Everything Connected

“But don’t you see? It doesn’t matter if it was a coincidence or not…. It’s more of that ‘small world, spooky world’… Everything’s connected. It doesn’t matter if we can’t see how, it’s still all connected. You know, chaos theory and all that.” -Charles de Lint – Crow Girls In The Very Best of Charles de Lint.

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July 17, 2012

Deathly innocence.

Review of: Dave Cherniak’s There’s Nothing To Fear (On Spec #88, Vol. 24, No. 1, Spring 2012) By Derek Newman-Stille Dave Cherniak’s There’s Nothing to Fear shows an economy of words, but a depth of expression. His story is short, but poignant and is able to encapsulate his poetic skills and ability to draw a mental picture of the setting...

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July 16, 2012

Quote – Outlandish Becomes Routine

“A thing, or event is a source of wonder for a brief time, then it begins to seem routine no matter how outlandish it is.” -Allan Weiss – Heaven and Earth (in Tesseracts Nine. Edge, Calgary, 2005)

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July 15, 2012

Quote – finding out what makes it Canadian

“Canadian science fiction spends a lot of time trying to decide what makes it Canadian.” -Nalo Hopkinson – Final Thoughts (in Tesseracts Nine. Edge, Calgary, 2005)

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July 14, 2012

Amateur Theatre… in Space

Review of “A Little Space Music” by Edward Willett. In On Spec Vol. 24, No. 1, Spring 2012. By Derek Newman-Stille In “A Little Space Music”, Edward Willett demonstrates his creative wit and humour. He plays on an issue that is familiar to any of us who have done amateur theatre… the issue of making a cast out of actors...

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