Tag: fantasy

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Night, the Hardest Time to Be Alive by Melissa Yuan-Innes

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SF Canada member Melissa Yuan-Innes, was recently published in Enchanted Conversation: A Fairytale Magazine.

Her fractured fairy tale “Night, the Hardest Time to Be Alive” is a re-imagining of the story of Ondine, but from the point of view of her child, and with a contemporary context.

“Editor’s Note: Love in its many forms can uplift or curse those that find themselves under its spell. It is a theme that resonates in fairy tales set in the past and the present. We hope you enjoy this unique tale as much as we did.”

Melissa writes speculative fiction as Melissa Yuan-Innes and medical thrillers as Melissa Yi. She is an emergency physician and award-winning writer. In her newest crime novel, SCORPION SCHEME, Hope Sze discovers a man with a nail through his skull shortly after she lands in Cairo, Egypt. This man could hold the key to millions of dollars in buried treasure. Previous Hope Sze volumes were recommended by the Globe and Mail and CBC Books as best suspense novels of the season.

Read “Night, the Hardest Time to Be Alive” at fairytalemagazine.com.

 

 

 

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LEXX Unauthorized by D.G. Valdron

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SF Canada member D.G. Valdron recently released a book series titled LEXX Unauthorized. The individual titles are, Volume 1: Backstage at the Dark Zone, Volume 2: The Light at the End of the Universe, and Volume 3: It’s Light and It’s Cold. Volume 4 is currently in the works.

LEXX was a subversive Canadian space opera television show that ran between 1997 and 2002, comprising four movies and fifty-eight episodes. The LEXX itself was a ten mile long bio-mechanical dragonfly designed by an evil theocratic space empire to blow up planets. It was stolen by its crew – a cowardly security guard, a frustrated love slave, an undead assassin and a lovestruck robot head.

The LEXX Unauthorized books chronicle the television show which was known for haunting surrealist imagery and dreamlike structure. The LEXX TV series was created by Salter Street films and shot principally in Halifax, employing Canadian actors and writers. Some notable international actors included Rutger Hauer, Malcolm McDowell, Tim Curry, and Barry Bostwick.

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 LEXX Unauthorized books are available through Amazon.

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Tower in the Crooked Wood by Paula Johanson

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SF Canada member Paula Johanson is re-releasing an ebook version of her short novel, Tower in the Crooked Wood, with publisher Doublejoy Books.

Join Paula on her Facebook page today, November 30, 2020 at noon PST for an online book launch.

They were stolen in the dark to work for a night and a day, building a tower for the wizard Krummholz on faraway Copper Island, in a place where the trees grow twisted in a poisoned bog. Some of the unwilling workers were returned bewildered, bruised, and marked by whips — others died as the uncaring wizard called new workers to his tower. Now Jenia is the only one left of her family willing to leave her orchards and walk five hundred miles in search of her abductor, and the answers to questions burning inside her.

 

Why was she stolen out of the dark? What is wrong at the heart of the tower? And why does the magic twisting the very trees strike a strangely familiar note? All Jenia knows for sure is that she will not let herself be made a prisoner again, not by magic nor by force of arms. When a soldier tries to trap her in a lord’s garden, and a village of gentle people tell her to give up her hopeless quest, Jenia has to choose where to place her trust: in friends, in strength, or in the cunning in her own two hands.

 

And then the wizard Krummholz sends his call out again…

“A wealth of realistic detail lends authenticity to this engrossing tale of a young arborist, ‘a scholar of trees.’ Paula Johanson has created a magical alternative world both mythic in feel, and hauntingly evocative of our own.” – Eileen Kernaghan, author of The Snow Queen.

Paula Johanson is a Canadian writer. A graduate of the University of Victoria, she has worked as a security guard, a short order cook, a teacher, newspaper writer, and more. As well as editing books and teaching materials, she has run an organic-method small farm with her spouse, raised gifted twins, and cleaned university dormitories. In addition to novels and stories, she is the author of forty-two books written for educational publishers, among them The Paleolithic Revolution and Women Writers from the series Defying Convention: Women Who Changed The World. Johanson is an active member of SF Canada, the national association of science fiction and fantasy authors.

Learn more about Paula and explore her other titles at paulajohanson.blogspot.com.

Order your copy of Tower in the Crooked Wood at !ndigo, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and other digital booksellers.

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Hoards of Glory by Arinn Dembo

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SF Canada member Arinn Dembo wrote a new game, Hoards of Glory, for Kerberos Productions Inc. This title was released November 6, 2020 through STEAM.

Kerberos Productions, the makers of Sword of the Stars, have released a new tabletop simulation game for the PC. Hoards of Glory is a Viking-themed strategy game of dice placement, economy and combat for 1-4 players. Playable by up to four friends via the Internet, it also offers a variety of AI opponents to fill in when human players are not available.


Hoards of Glory is the first stand-alone simulation of a tabletop game that Kerberos has released. Their previous tabletop projects, The Pit: The Board Game and Planetary Control, were both modeled using the popular Tabletop Simulator software.

“This is really satisfying. Been missing games night a lot amidst the pandemic, and this scratches that fast paced card/dice game itch. It feels nice to play something with an “around the table vibe” and this game is easy to teach to my friends who aren’t really PC gamers, so I can play with anyone.” – STEAM reviewer

Purchase Hoards of Glory online at steampowered.com.

Discover other Kerberos Productions games at kerberos-productions.com.

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Night Folk by Barb Galler-Smith

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SF Canada member Barb Galler-Smith has been published in Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 47 – November 2020. Her fantasy story “Night Folk” explores retired life from the viewpoint of supernatural creatures.

Galaxy’s Edge is a bi-monthly online magazine published every January, March, May, July, September and November. Select material from the magazine is free for online viewing. Downloads in multiple formats are available from a variety of different venues.

This November issue greets our readers with new articles from regular columnists L. Penelope and Gregory Benford, and reviews of the latest and greatest fiction by Richard Chwedyk.
… “Night Folk,” by Barb Galler-Smith, also takes part in the absence of daylight, where some aging creatures of the night put aside their walking canes to battle some geriatric hunters. It’s not often that we read about retired supernatural creatures, and this story doesn’t disappoint, flipping well-known tropes in this unexpected read.

Barbara Galler-Smith is co-author of DRUIDS, CAPTIVES, and WARRIORS, the DRUID SAGA novels. Barb holds two degrees: Zoology and Education. She’s spent the last eight years substitute teaching every grade and every subject.  Barb also works as an acquisitions editor and sometimes copyeditor for award-winning OnSpec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic.

Barb wrote her first story in the third grade for her new elementary school. The school chose it for inclusion in a 50-year time capsule set beneath the school’s flagpole. She’s been writing science fiction and fantasy ever since.

Learn more about Barb at gallersmith.ca.

Purchase a digital or print copy of Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 47 – November 2020 through galaxysedge.com.

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Boulders Over the Bermuda Triangle by Peter J. Foote

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SF Canada member Peter J. Foote is a co-author of the new novella, Boulders Over the Bermuda Triangle: A Slipstreamers Adventure.

This novella is Book 3 in a series of 15 Slipstreamers stories from Engen Books of Newfoundland. Each of the authors in this series is from Atlantic Canada.

Cassidy Cane goes by many titles — archeologist, anthropologist, adventurer — but none more fitting than that given to her on some strange worlds: Slipstreamer.

Cassidy slips between worlds, traveling to bizarre planets and alternate Earths to find extraordinary new technologies and artifacts that might better humanity!

When Cassidy enters a portal hovering over the fabled Bermuda Triangle, she finds herself on the strange alien world of Xik’en, located in the hub of an asteroid mine and where lizard-people reign supreme! Cassidy must team up with a spirited young Xik’en to save herself and recover the ARC crystals she needs… but can she escape? And what lies hidden below the station, in the Xik’en prison?

“The third entry into the Slipstreamers series was a fun adventure. The story telling transitions between action and heartwarming scenes smoothly. This episode gave us a new perspective on Cassidy, and it really helped her character grow.” – Amazon reviewer

Peter J. Foote is a bestselling speculative fiction writer from Nova Scotia, Canada. He runs the Fictionfirst Used Books, specializing in fantasy & sci-fi titles. He also cosplays with his wife, and alternates between red wine and coffee as the mood demands.

Many of Peter’s stories are a reflection of his personal life, as he is a firm believer in the adage that a writer should write what they know.

Peter’s work has twice been awarded the Kit Sora Flash Fiction Prize: once in March 2018 and again in September 2018. Peter holds the distinction of being one of only three authors to be featured in all the modern From the Rock collections to date.

In total, Peter has been featured in over two dozen publications, with interest in his short fiction worldwide.

As the founder of the group “Genre Writers of Atlantic Canada”, Peter believes that the writing community is stronger when it works together.

Learn more about Peter at peterjfooteauthor.wordpress.com.

Purchase your copy of Boulders Over the Bermuda Triangle via Amazon.