Category: Member News

“Themes of transcendence and family love play out against backdrops of real and virtual worlds in Stanton’s slight neocyberpunk debut, the first speculative fiction title from Canadian indie ECW.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Grim and gritty, high-concept SF, with immortality on the line. Good stuff.” (Matthew Hughes)

“On the road much travelled of neo-cyberpunk, The Bloodlight Chronicles manages to tell a suspenseful and lean story not about glazing-eyes tech gone crazy but about gifted, yet human-sized characters we care about, with some welcome twists.” (Élisabeth Vonarburg)

“Mr. Stanton lands us in a vivid cyber world peopled by avatars, clones, V-pirates, escorts, hackers, sliders, guardians, machine intelligences, the white market, paladins of commerce and more… His characters are honest and real; their reactions to their situations, believable. His dialogue is tight and engaging. His pacing is excellent, and he kept me wondering what was going to happen next. Perhaps most important of all, he handles a difficult theme with sensitivity and courage.” (Susan MacGregor)

Zakariah Davis and his wife Mia are among those infected with an alien virus that vastly prolongs human life, and their blood has become a black-market staple due to its rejuvenating effects. Their teenage son Rix does not carry the Eternal virus, and Zakariah is consumed by the search for an “activated sample” with which to inoculate him. Living in a secret community of the infected, Zakariah is a legend among runners — his brain surgically wired for direct connection to the global computer system where economic activity is conducted by avatars in virtual cyberspace. A deal turns sour and Zakariah narrowly escapes as a fugitive, separated from his family. He is trapped by a power-group known as the Eternal Research Institute, and travels offplanet through a commercial wormhole along with his new business partner and surgical cyber-twin, Helena Sharp, who is seeking the Source of the virus for her own purposes. In the Cromeus colonies, on the other side of time and space, Zakariah will risk everything to give his son Eternal life.

The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation is now available from ECW Press.

The first crop for September from SF Canada members …

• Reconciliation, a novel by Steve Stanton, from ECW Press.
• Avim’s Oath, part 6 of the 10-part Okal Rel Saga, by Lynda Williams, from Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing.
• Feral Hunger, a novelette by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, from Samhain Publishing.

And some more titles that appeared in August …

• Stealing Home, third novel in the Steele Chronicles by Hayden Trenholm, from Bundoran Press.
• “Bones of the Earth”, a poem by Colleen Anderson, in The Country Connection #60
• “A Bird in the Hand”, a short story by Douglas Smith, in Warrior Wisewoman 3 from Norilana Books.

Drowned City Press has reprinted Donna McMahon’s novel Dance of Knives and is launching her long awaited sequel, Second Childhood. Dance of Knives is a post apocalyptic adventure story set in 22nd century Vancouver. The NY Times called it “a technologically aware and emotionally wrenching twist on the old tale of Beauty and the Beast.”

In McMahon’s sequel, the action moves north to Cortes Island, a natural jewel in the inland sea. Author Eileen Kernaghan says:  “This is a writer who knows her science; but clearly, too, she has a close and loving relationship with the west coast landscape. At its heart, Second Childhood is a story of redemption, and the healing power of the natural world.”

There will be a Second Childhood book launch in Vancouver on Saturday, May 15 from 3-5 pm at the Lifestyles Cafe in City Square (12th and Cambie). (Please note that this has been rescheduled.)

More information about the books is available at www.drownedcitypress.ca.