Tag: sci-fi

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Naïda by Scott Overton

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SF Canada member Scott Overton just launched a new novel about an alien artifact found in a northern Ontario lake. Naïda is the story of how this artifact changes its discoverer, Michael Hart, in a way that has implications for the whole world.

The glowing structure at the bottom of a lonely northern lake is clearly not of this Earth, but scuba diver Michael Hart can’t stay away. It could be a scientific treasure like no other. It could be a trap. It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be someone special.

The alien artifact is ancient but not abandoned, and what it offers will change him forever, leaving him with astonishing abilities and a destiny he would never have imagined. Except it might be a destiny he no longer controls. He might not even be human anymore.

Ocean researcher Sakiko Matthews is desperate to find a cure for Earth’s dying seas, willing to put her career on the line to learn the answers she needs. In Michael Hart she finds a mysterious ally who could be the key to her success, but the price will be terribly high.

The very future of the human race is in the balance, and the actions Michael takes will make him a hero, or the greatest traitor the world has ever known.

Because he is no longer alone, not even in his own body.

There is another.

Naïda.

As the host of a radio morning show for most of his 30+ years in broadcasting, Scott Overton entertained and informed thousands of groggy people as they faced each new day. He brings those same skills and perspectives to his writing, which includes science fiction and fantasy, mainstream and thriller fiction, and even a children’s book.

Scott’s debut novel Dead Air was first published by Scrivener Press. Read a sample chapter, watch the book trailer, and more here. His short stories have been published in On Spec, Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine, AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, the anthologies Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound, Doomology: The Dawning Of Disasters, Canadian Tales of the Fantastic and elsewhere. Scott’s a member of the Canadian Authors Association, SFCanada, and a past President of the Sudbury Writers Guild.

Learn more about Scott’s writing at scottoverton.ca.

Purchase your copy of Naïda from Amazon, Kobo, and other booksellers.

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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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With My Kind by Cait Gordon

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SF Canada member Cait Gordon was recently published in Stargazers, Microtales from the Cosmos, a collection from AE The Canadian Science Fiction Review.

Her short story “With My Kind” stars a disabled protagonist in a micro escape story. Originally launched through Kickstarter, the Stargazers collection was compiled from AE’s 2020 competition for ultra-short sci-fi stories.

Stargazers: Microtales from the Cosmos is a beautifully illustrated collection of the 20 best flash fiction pieces. Stargazers showcases new and under-represented voices in science fiction. Alongside our astral explorers you will get a chance to count down the clock in an intergalactic tourist agency, fight celestial starcopies with ninjutsu, witness the flashpoint of a revolution, get the downlow on astronomer-brand adultery, and even get a chance to reconnect with literary icon Lady MacBeth.

Cait Gordon is a humorist, baker, and Irish-Canadian princess living in the Narnia region of Ottawa’s suburbia. She enjoys reading and writing speculative fiction that celebrates the reality of diversity. In her advocacy work, Cait’s goal is to continue to share and elevate the voices of disabled, Deaf, and/or neurodiverse creatives.

Learn more about Cait and her work at caitgordon.com .

Order your copy of Stargazers, Microtales from the Cosmos directly from the AE website at aescifi.ca.

 

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The Human Template by Dale L. Sproule

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SF Canada member Dale L. Sproule is launching a new book, The Human Template. This title is the first in a series, Book One of the Arboreal Realm Diptych.

Get ready to meet the BioGrid and reconsider what it means to be human.

Join the book launch for The Human Template online today at 2pm EST via Zoom.

The BioGrid is a vast biological computer housed in the root network of a genetically engineered forest. When it self-identified as a forest and refused to work with its creators, someone had to teach the newly sentient trees to see the world from a more human perspective. Dr Veejay Naidu’s breakthroughs in transferring the consciousness of his terminally ill son into an AI made him the obvious choice, but only one upload was completed before a catastrophic solar event took humanity to the brink of extinction.

Fragmented into diverse factions and locked in a never-ending feud, the badly damaged BioGrid lost contact with humanity for hundreds of years. When one of the factions discovered the remains of the human template and resurrected Raine Naidu, the BioGrid started working together toward the common goal of re-establishing an interface with humanity. But the attempt ended in betrayal; with the mind of a curious toddler named Glory turned into a stew of unsalvageable data. At least the data seemed irretrievable, until the child’s older sister, Adoris, worked out a way to access it.

Re-introducing 21st century technology to the ravaged world enabled Adoris to eliminate all opposition on her path to leadership; gaining direct access to the BioGrid and bending the most powerful of the factions to her will. When she took the entire BioGrid hostage, Raine was forced to rally his arboreal friends in a desperate bid for survival.

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 TransVersions – Literature 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 explore his other titles at dalelsproule.com.

Order your copy of The Human Template at Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Chapters, and more.

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For Laika by Lisa Timpf

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SF Canada member Lisa Timpf has a new poem “For Laika” included in The House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature Vol. 2.

In this much anticipated second volume of speculative literature, authors examine relationships and how technology impacts our connections to each other, to nature, to space and time. The writing in this volume is often dark and rich in satire, yet there are many whimsical moments, and a strong undertone of irreverence. Writers deep-dive into challenging themes to bring us stories and poems that explore gender, immortality, the obsolescence of the human body, biohacking, decay, and the evolution of love in a transhuman world.

Lisa Timpf is a retired human resources and communications professional who lives in Simcoe, Ontario. Her writing has appeared in a number of venues, including Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog, New Myths, Third Flatiron, and Scifaikuest.

A graduate of McMaster University’s Physical Education program, Ms. Timpf also completed course work toward an MSc in Sport History at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When not writing, Lisa enjoys cycling and bird-watching.

Learn more about Lisa’s writing at lisatimpf.blogspot.com.

Download a digital copy of The House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature Vol. 2 via Amazon FREE from October 21 through 23, 2020.

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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.