Category: ebooks

No comments

The Crystal Key by Douglas Smith is Out Today!

  By , , ,

SF Canada member Douglas Smith has a new release today. The Crystal Key is the second book of The Dream Rider Saga series. Described as Indiana Jones meets Teen Titans in The Dream Rider Saga, a fast-paced urban fantasy trilogy from “one of Canada’s most original writers of speculative fiction” (Library Journal).

Will Dreycott is the Dream Rider, the agoraphobic teenage superhero who walks in our dreams but never in the streets of his city. Case is his girlfriend, a survivor of those streets haunted by voices that warn her of danger. Fader, her brother, is very good at disappearing. Together, they defeated a body swapper and a witch to save the world (The Hollow Boys).

In The Crystal Key, a trail of dark secrets leads Will, Case, and Fader to a hidden world. Trapped between warring cults willing to kill for a mysterious relic, the three friends must master strange new powers that grow stronger and wilder the closer they draw to the truth.

This time it’s not just the fate of the world at stake…but the multiverse.

You can purchase the book from various retailers. Click here for purchase links.

Praise for The Crystal Key:

“The engrossing second installment of Douglas Smith’s Dream Rider Saga trilogy. … Smith continues to demonstrate an ability to expertly weave multiple complex fantasy elements into a cohesive whole. … This fast-paced story delivers in a big way—and Smith has all his ducks lined up for an explosive conclusion [to the series] that readers won’t want to miss.”

—Blueink Review (★ Starred review)

Praise for The Hollow Boys (The Dream Rider Saga, Book 1):

“A must-read story for YA fantasy fans.” —Blueink Review (★ Starred review)

“Inventive, engaging, and boundless fun.” —The Ottawa Review of Books 

“Fast-paced and entertaining.” —SF Crowsnest 

“A fun supernatural tale with well-developed characters and a touch of romance.” —Kirkus Reviews

ABOUT DOUGLAS SMITH

Douglas Smith is a multi-award-winning author described by Library Journal as “one of Canada’s most original writers of speculative fiction.”

His latest work is the YA urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga (The Hollow Boys, The Crystal Key, and The Lost Expedition). His other books include the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World; the collections, Chimerascope and Impossibilia; and the writer’s guide Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction.

Published in 27 languages, Doug is a 3-time winner of Canada’s Aurora Award and has been a finalist for the Astounding Award, CBC’s Bookies Award, Canada’s juried Sunburst Award, and France’s juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane.

His website is https://smithwriter.com.

“The man is Sturgeon good. Zelazny good. I don’t give those up easy.” —Spider Robinson, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner

“A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice.” —Charles de Lint, World Fantasy Award winner

“His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think.” —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner

“Stories you can’t forget, even years later.” —Julie Czerneda, multi-award-winning author and editor

 

No comments

Forgotten Lore anthology now out!

  By , ,

Two SF Canada members have contributed stories to the Forgotten Lore anthology, published by Poise and Pen Publishing! The anthology came about through a group of writers on Discord and is priced as inexpensively as possible–the ebook is free, and all proceeds from the print version go to the Fauna Foundation, an animal sanctuary.

Forbidden magic, half-remembered Gods, the secrets to immortality, final outposts, bloody vengeance and fantastical creatures all abound in these stories. The story by M.L.D. Curelas, President of SF Canada, is “Nickel-Plated Demon”, a hard-boiled urban fantasy. SF Canada member Krista D. Ball has also contributed one of her speculative fiction works.

Forgotten Lore is available through Kobo, Nook, and BookFunnel, and Amazon. Pick up a print copy today and help support this worthy foundation which provides permanent protection for chimpanzees, monkeys and neglected, abused farm and domestic animals from the use and abuse our culture previously inflicted upon them as tools for medical research and education, objects of private ownership, sources of food, and forced entertainment.

No comments

The Antunite Chronicles trilogy by Terry Birdgenaw wins Firebird Book Awards!

  By , , , ,

SF Canada member Terry Birdgenaw never intended to write fiction, but COVID-19 stay-at-home orders created a perfect storm of motivation and opportunity. He enjoyed writing fiction so much that he created a trilogy, and the trilogy is now award winning!

 Antuna’s Story, Firebird’s first place winner for New Fiction, follows the lives of Earth insects transported through a wormhole to a far-off planet called Poo-ponic. Young Antuna encouraged the settlers to work together, but hexs later, conflicts resumed. Despite her convictions, Antuna could not save herself or her diverse friends from the devastation of war. Yet her legacy of Antunite insectism endured.

 The Rise and Fall of Antocracy, Firebird winner for Young Adult Fiction, is an Animal Farm-like story that tracks the insects’ evolution to cyborg insects, the growth and decline of a fledgling democracy, and the destruction of life on the planet caused by a long-ignored climate crisis. It also follows the utopian society created by a group of cyborg insects that escape to Poo-ponic’s moon, Bilaluna, before the planet’s  fragile atmosphere collapses.

The rulers in Firebird’s winner for Dystopian Fiction, Antunites Unite, create an Orwellian society that uses histrionics, bionics, and socionics to subjugate its citizens. An allegorical dystopian tale like 1984, it’s a brave new world out of this world, where freedom-loving spies from the nearby moon, Bilaluna, infiltrate the colony and start a revolution.

Although Birdgenaw riddles the novels with details about insect behavior, he is not an entomologist. Yet his Ph.D. studies in neuroscience and psychology allow him to understand human behavior and what makes autocrats tick. Insect and human behavior are quite similar, as both work together to enhance survival and fight those seen as different. Humans have the same core motivations as their tiny neighbors underfoot.

Find the trilogy here, and find Terry at TerryBirdgenaw.WordPress.com

No comments

Lost Souls by Noah Chinn now out!

  By , , ,

SF Canada member Noah Chinn recently released his first SF novel, expanding beyond his fantasy and mystery oeuvre!

Lost Souls is a fun adventure/comedy involving a cranky pilot, a snarky ship computer, and a stowaway with a memory like swiss cheese.

Maurice “Moss” Foote used to be somebody. Then nobody. Then somebody again, for a while. Now he’s back to square one, using his last hundred credits to try and get back his old ship and start over. Again.

Hel doesn’t have a last name. Or maybe she does. She was born a slave. Or maybe she wasn’t. It’s all rather confusing to her, just like the strange compulsion that has her trying to build… something out of spare ship parts in the junkyard she calls home.

When she sees an opportunity to escape on board a rebuilt transport, she takes it, not realizing what she’s getting herself into. All she knows is the answers she’s looking for are on board that ship. Or maybe they’re inside her head.

Roy “Hellno” Herzog left the Silver Legion in favour of becoming a pirate, only they didn’t like his attitude any more than the Legion did. Now he’s got a lead on a prize so big it could set him up for life, if he can stomach working with other people.

All he’s got to do is track down one runaway slave.

Find Lost Souls here and find Noah Chinn at noahchinnbooks.com.

No comments

New series by Arlene Marks!

  By , , , ,

Brain Lag has just announced the release date of The Earthborn, the first novel of SF Canada member Arlene Marks’ new series about the space alien immigrant experience on Earth! Cover art and the preordering period will be available in January, with publication scheduled for May 2023, according to the press release.

“This is the “Alien Vampires in the Toronto Film Industry” novel you were waiting for!” – James Alan Gardner, author of They Promised Me the Gun Wasn’t Loaded

“THE EARTHBORN moves fast, but not so fast that the humor ever departs, nor the very vivid characters ever grow thin. And the wildly ridiculous feels so darned real. And dangerous. This is a delightful romp, masterfully told by a veteran storyteller who should be on everyone’s reading shelf.” – Ed Greenwood, bestselling and award-winning creator of The Forgotten Realms

Arlene is the creator of the ongoing Sic Transit Terra space opera series, among other current and upcoming novels. Her short fiction has appeared in various publications, including H.P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror, Polar Borealis, and Daily Science Fiction, and has most recently been gathered into a collection titled Imaginary Friends (May 2022, Brain Lag). Her website is thewritersnest.ca.

No comments

Love Letters to Water: An Anthology now available!

  By , ,


Love Letters to Water: An Anthology, conceived and created by SF Canada member Claudiu Murgan, been released by Manor House Publishing!

It gathers 34 authors from 14 countries (Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, France, UK, India, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Finland, Denmark, Japan, The Netherlands) with contributors who include SF Canada member Nina Munteanu, as well as Wade Davis, Emmi Itäranta, Ian Prattis, Lars Muhl, David Zetland, and Carol Kelby. The forward is by the renowned scientist, Gerald Pollack.

The global importance of water to human life cannot be overstated. Love Letters to Water strives to bring forward various points of view and enhance the importance of how we behave vis-à-vis water. From shamans to energy healers, from scientists to economists, all contribute to showing how significant of a role water plays in their life, spiritual journey, and professional development.

Claudiu Murgan, the anthology initiator, primary author, editor and chief contributor, is also the author of three fiction books, two of which are about water. For more about Claudiu, visit: ClaudiuMurgan.com

You can buy Love Letters to Water: An Anthology here.  Proceeds go to fund a new water pump and water reservoir for an orphanage in Cameroon.