Tag: moral questions

December 21, 2013

Behind the Wallpaper of the World

A review of Michelle Barker’s The Beggar King (Thistledown Press, 2013) By Derek Newman-Stille In The Beggar King, Michelle Barker explores the potential of the fantasy medium for creating a deep coming-of-age story. Jordan is a boy on the cusp of adulthood and in his society youths his age normally receive a talent, a gift that will help them to...

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August 4, 2013

Blind Vision Quest

A Review of Douglas Smith’s The Wolf at the End of the World (Forthcoming) By Derek Newman-Stille The Wolf at the End of the World is a tale that would resonate with the spirit of any environmentalist – the struggle of diverse species to survive, the conflict with human greed and capitalism, the invasiveness of the human presence on animal...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 2

July 10, 2013

Dead Depressed

A Review of James Marshall’s Zombie Versus Fairy Featuring Albinos (ChiZine Publications, 2013) By Derek Newman-Stille Zombies are normally pretty content – they groan, they chase, they eat, they shuffle… but what happens when a zombie becomes depressed? In James Marshall’s Zombie Versus Fairy Featuring Albinos, depressed zombies get promoted. No matter how much they tell their bosses they hate...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 6

May 18, 2013

An Eldrich Digital Light

A review of Kent Pollard’s A Perfect Circle (in Misseplled edited by Julie Czerneda, Daw 2008) By Derek Newman-Stille Thorn was created to be evil, he was made to be an evil wizard… that’s the way he was designed. But, what happens when a wizard designed for a video game accidentally summons the overseer programme for the game? What happens...

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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

March 28, 2013

Superhero Complex(ity)

A review of Masked Mosaic: Canadian Super Stories (edited by Claude Lalumiere and Camille Alexa, Tyche Books LTD, 2013) By Derek Newman-Stille There has been a recent increase in the public interest in the superhero genre with increasing numbers of superhero movies, increasing numbers of people wearing superhero related merchandise and increasingly larger population groups getting excited about the figure...

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March 19, 2013

Between Pages of Experience

A review of Jo Walton’s Among Others By Derek Newman-Stille SF has a pedagogical value – it teaches, it shares experiences, and it opens the mind to new horizons. Outsiders and social outcasts are often drawn to SF as a means to explore a world that seems strange and alienating to them – reading the alien as a way of...

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March 16, 2013

Quote – Who Has The Right To Decide Acceptable Behaviour?

“Who had the right to decide what types of behaviour were acceptable for all species under all circumstances?” -J. Paul Cooper – The Dinner Guest (Canadian Tales of the Fantastic)

Categories Quotes Comment: 1

November 19, 2012

Changeabilia

A Review of Douglas Smith’s Impossibilia (PS Publishing, 2008) By Derek Newman-Stille Impossibilia features Douglas Smith’s fascination with moral questions and morally ambiguous spaces where characters are forced to question conflicting values and ideologies. Through his characters, he asks readers What would change your morals? What are you willing to sacrifice? What would you do for the person you love?...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 2

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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