Trooper 4 by Noah Chinn

SF Canada member Noah Chinn is re-releasing Trooper 4, tomorrow August 1, 2021. Originally published in 2012 by Mundania Press, Trooper 4 is just one of the titles Noah is re-releasing. Look for the recent Getting Rid of Gary and upcoming The Plutus Paradox.

It’s the end of the world – but not as we know it.

A woman wakes up in a motel on the outskirts of a remote Oregon city with no memory who she is and a gun at her bedside. As she explores the world around her it seems that civilization has come to a violent end.

That’s bad.

It might also be the most normal thing that happens to her all week.

 

“Trooper #4 is a genre-bending, existential thrill ride! At least that’s how I’d write the blurb for the front of the DVD. On a more serious note, this really was an enjoyable story that caught me completely off guard… What begins as a yet another end-of-the-world zombie-fest (not quite “zombies” but close enough) takes a mind blowing twist… Chinn’s writing is economical and effective, the pace is fast, and the story is gripping. Trooper #4 has all the elements of a classic action story–compelling hero, evil villain, a world in need of saving–but with enough metaphysical twists and turns to feed every reader’s inner philosopher.” – Kristene Perron (Co-author of the Warpworld series)

“When she wakes in the morning, she has no idea who she is or where she is. She has guns in her motel room, a name tag on her shirt and there’s a cop car on the side of the highway that might have been hers. But why is she here and what happened?…The author does a good job of showing how paranoid people become when threatened by horror they don’t understand and while trying to stay alive. Rules fall by wayside, people take comfort where they can, and even children fight for survival…You won’t fall asleep reading this book.” – LAS SFF Reviews

“Love it. Very original book unlike anything I’ve read in the past. It is horror based on the story, not the gore, which is what I enjoyed the most. The mystery of who [the heroine] was…was different and I was shocked when I found out who she had been the entire time… It left me with gasping… I definitely will continue read more of Noah’s book and hopefully the author will write more of “end of the world” stories in future. This author’s creativity is awesome.” – Zach Sweets

 

Noah Chinn is an author, and has it on good authority to be a moderately amusing fellow. As a published cartoonist and writer, Noah’s work has appeared in distinguished publications, including Amazing Stories, Knights of the Dinner Table magazine, and Canada’s Globe & Mail.

Though he spends entirely too much time hunched in front of a keyboard, Noah does enjoy having an adventure now and then. He’s biked across several countries and even climbs the odd mountain. He recommends the view from Mt. Fuji—if you have a pair of warm gloves and an oxygen tank.

Noah currently lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife Gillian and their ferret Fia Ferretsworth. As an honest-to-goodness nerd, Noah enjoys video games, photography, roleplaying, and travel.

Learn more about Noah on his website noahchinnbooks.com.

Purchase your copy of Trooper 4 from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other online booksellers.

Axis of Andes: World War Two in South America by D.G. Valdron

SF Canada member D.G. Valdron recently released a two-part alternate history chronicle of a second world war in South America.

Axis of Andes is a stunning alternate history, exploring the baroque and tragic journey of Latin America from independence to the depression, and chronicling a dark history that might have been. A tiny change ends up altering the outcome of an election. Rippling outwards, Fascist movements gain more momentum, local politics unravel in new directions. Dominos cascade as the war spreads steadily, involving country after country in a death struggle.

Deep examinations of the history, societies and economies of each combatant reveal the underlying tensions and stresses, the fault lines and tectonic divides that drive the internal politics and international agendas of each combatant. We see scenes of the war and the combatants from their own perspective as the world falls apart around them. Written as both a history and as a series of compelling narratives,

The Axis of Andes is the first part of a two-part Alternate History series which ultimately rewrites the map of South America. Volume One begins the war with the Invasion of Ecuador, the March on Lima, expanding to trench warfare between Peru and Chile, sea battles between Chile and Peru, and a jungle war slowly spreading through the interior.

Reviews for Axis of Andes:

“Valdron’s alternate history is packed with credible variations of actual events which add quirky interest to the fictional trends he extrapolates from the historical infrastructure. … At no time does his fiction seem improbable or unlikely. It all seems to make sense. Internal consistency is one of the great strengths of this book.” – R. Graeme Cameron, Amazing Stories
“It is about the Ecuador-Peru war of 1941, in our timeline a minor conflict in which less than 2,000 people died which went almost unnoticed among the drama of the Second World War. In Valdron’s books however it ignites into a far more bloody affair and South America sees some of the hell that Europe and Asia experienced. … This is a book with an imaginative premise, genuine historical knowledge about areas of the world which we don’t think about as much in the west.” – Gary Oswald, Sea Lion Press
“In a well outlined 1940 South America, Peru, Ecuador and Chile stumble / drift into a war over mostly worthless border territories with a heavy dose of avenging offended national honour layered in. … This first volume ends with things still up in the air: the opposing camps do not have the means to deliver a knockout punch. The follow up should be worth reading.” – Amazon reviewer

D.G. Valdron is a wayward Maritimer, born on the north shore of New Brunswick. His father was a mechanic, his grandfather a carpenter, which provided Valdron with an arsenal of skills, a work ethic, and a practical approach to life. D.G. is currently a lawyer working in the field of aboriginal rights, but has also worked as a mechanic, carpenter, projectionist, cook, waiter, woodcutter ditch-digger, journalist and school teacher.

The Axis of Andes books are available through Amazon.

Food Of My People edited by Candas Jane Dorsey and Ursula Pflug

SF Canada members Candas Jane Dorsey and Ursula Pflug have an anthology now available for pre-order Food Of My People: The Exile Book Of Anthology Series Number Eighteen. This title will release on July 30, 2021.

This unique food-related collection ranges from hard science to magic realism. And each story is accompanied by a recipe. Authors include Melissa Yuan-Innes, Geoffrey W. Cole, and many more.

Eating is a symbolic and magical act—a transformation, a covenant, a ritual, a comfort, a necessity—but all through history, food-themed stories have also had their dark sides. Food can be integral to the magic, the meetings, and the processes of fantastical fiction: from myth and legend to high fantasy, from hard-science speculative fiction to post-modern magic realism, from Hansel and Gretel to Soylent Green, from Persephone to 2001, from Alice in Wonderland to Alien. In this anthology, Ursula Pflug and Candas Jane Dorsey, two award-winning senior writers of literary speculation, have gathered a range of speculative writing that recognizes both our attraction to the candy coating and our fascination with the poisoned apple. Paired with each story is a recipe, real or fantastical, for food mentioned in the story: consume at your own risk!

Candas Jane Dorsey works across genre boundaries, writing poetry, fiction, mainstream and speculative, short and long form, arts journalism and arts advocacy. She has also written television and stage scripts, magazine and newspaper articles, and reviews.

Ursula Pflug is author or editor of ten novels, novellas, anthologies, and story collections. Her fiction has appeared in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., in award winning genre and literary publications including Lightspeed, Fantasy, Strange Horizons, Postscripts, Leviathan, and Bamboo Ridge. Her short stories have been taught in universities in Canada and India, and she has collaborated with filmmakers, playwrights, choreographers, and installation artists.

Learn more about Candas at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candas_Jane_Dorsey.

Learn more about Ursula at ursulapflug.ca.

Order your copy of Food of My People at Chapters, Amazon, or your favourite local bookstore.

Issue 2 of Polar Starlight Available for Download

The new issue of Polar Starlight, edited by SF Canada member Rhea E. Rose and published by R. Graeme Cameron is now available.

Discover poetry from SF Canada member Neile Graham as well as 15 other Canadian writers.

Download Issue 2 for free. Both Polar Starlight and Polar Borealis are currently closed to poetry and fiction submissions, but are open for cover art.

Visit polarborealis.ca to view back issues and to learn more about submitting.

Dale L. Sproule on The Majestic Mutt

SF Canada member Dale L. Sproule was recently interviewed by Akhil Chawla, host of The Majestic Mutt. This podcast explores the brave new world of multiple careers and side hustles in the post 9-5 era.

In the interview below, Dale talks to Akhil about writing as a career, his latest novel The Human Template, as well as The Carnivorous Forest and other fiction projects.

Dale L. Sproule is a writer who has published over 50 short stories in a wide range of media. In the late 90’s he co-published/edited a magazine called TransVersionsLiterature of the Fantastic. The magazine sought out work that came at the genre sideways and published work by a wide range of amazing voices. He has been privileged to interview some amazing writers and has published dozens of non-fiction articles for venues ranging from SF Signal to Books in Canada, from AE Science Fiction to Rue Morgue. Learn more about Dale and his work at dalelsproule.com.

Dreams of the Moon by Lorina Stephens

SF Canada member Lorina Stephens is launching, Dreams of The Moon, a collection of 10 fantastica short stories.

Darkness and light. Wonder and sorrow. The ambiguity, sometimes, of reflected illumination.

In this new collection of both previously published and new short fiction, Lorina presents a progression from darker, sometimes horrific stories which explore religious mythology, mental health, and the beloved dead, to the more light-hearted explorations of spirit guides and illustrations made manifest.

“Dreams of the Moon is a good example of a collection of pieces relating to universal themes addressed in an eminently readable and relatable manner which I believe every reader will find interesting, entertaining, and above all, personally meaningful.” – R. Graeme Cameron

Learn more about Dreams of The Moon at an online launch tomorrow via a live Zoom presentation.

SF Canada Zoom Meeting & Lorina Stephens Book Launch

Time: Jun 8, 2021 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83475737519?pwd=TzZwclAwMEVLUGZrUklUVzNGRWhVZz09

Meeting ID: 834 7573 7519

Passcode: 321877

Lorina Stephens has worked all sides of the publishing desk: writer, editor, publisher. From freelance journalist for regional and national periodicals, to editor of a regional lifestyle magazine and then her own publishing house, she has been in the industry since 1980. Lorina has witnessed publishing evolve into the dynamic form of self-expression which exists today. For 12 years she operated Five Rivers Publishing as a house which would give voice to Canadian authors. Her short fiction has appeared in literary and genre publications, novels under her own house, Five Rivers Publishing, non-fiction under Boston Mills Press and an anthology co-edited with Susan MacGregor, Tesseracts 22: Alchemy and Artifacts.

Learn more about Lorina and explore her other titles at fiveriverspublishing.com.

Order your copy of Dreams of The Moon through Five Rivers, Amazon, or Kobo.