SF Canada member Craig Russell’s most recent short story appears in the Parallel Prairies anthology which is published under the Enfield & Wizenty imprint of Great Plains Publications Ltd. (edited by Darren Ridgley and Adam Petrash).
The Canadian prairie teems with life – not all of it of this world. The nineteen stories in Parallel Prairies allow the reader to get acquainted with baby dragons, killer insects, faery kings, infernal entities and more.
During the launch in October at the Brandon University library, Craig Russell spoke with a Brandon Sun reporter, commenting: “I think the landscape really does influence how you think about your writing.” His story is about a woman who grew up in Brandon, but goes to the University of Manitoba to complete the degree she started as a young woman. She encounters a mysterious document in the University of Manitoba library. “It leads her on an unexpected adventure into the Northern Canadian shield where her courage and her sanity is tested by something from another world,” Russell said.
Praise for Parallel Prairies:
“…a kaleidoscope of style and subject matter. Echoes of iconic storylines pulled from the annals of cult sci-fi, fantasy and suspense ring through Manitoba’s landscape.” — The Uniter
“So much fun! I’m loving this book … the stories take place in Manitoba, but they transcend.” — Joanne Kelly, CBC Manitoba
Craig Russell’s first novel, Black Bottle Man, won the 2011 American Moonbeam Award gold medal for Young Adult Fantasy. It was a finalist for the Prix Aurora Award for Best English Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel, as well as for two Manitoba Book Awards in the same year. His second novel, Fragment, was published by Thistledown Press in Oct. 2016. He’s a lawyer, supervising the land titles system in southwestern Manitoba. He lives in Brandon with his wife, where they’re restoring their 1906 Victorian heritage home.
Parallel Prairies can be purchased through Great Plains, McNally Robinson, Chapters, and Amazon.