OBIR: Occasional Biased and Ignorant Reviews reflecting this reader’s opinion.
Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol 2 – edited by Stephan Kotowych
Published by Ansible Press, November 2024.
Cover art: Summon – by Xiaofan Zhang
There are 49 stories and poems in this anthology. I’m going to attempt to review as many works as possible in the time I have available.
Introduction: Year in Review 2023 – by Stephen Kotowych
This summary of the Canadian SF industry in 2023 is, by itself, worth the price of the book. Everything from the practical consequences of the advent of AI, changes in pertinent government legislation, difficulties holding conventions, and the state of the market is discussed in detail.
Of particular interest to me, Stephen quotes various magazine editors saying few obviously AI-written stories were submitted. He attributes this to the fact that most Canadian zines have limited submission periods. I agree. As publisher of two magazines, I can say that less than 1% of the stories submitted to me were AI creations. Stephen points out that the CSFFA Aurora Awards Board has a policy of no AI whatsoever. That’s my policy, too.
A rundown of the best Canadian magazine markets is no doubt of great interest to writers. I quote his description of my Polar Borealis magazine as an example of the details he provides.
“Online magazine Polar Borealis <polarborealis.ca>, which might be unique amongst Canadian SFF magazines in publishing exclusively Canadian authors (most others have at least some slots open for non-Canadians), published thirty-three short stories and thirty-two poems, plus an editorial by publisher R. Graeme Cameron in each issue. Doug Drexler, Geoffrey Hart, Michèle Laframboise, Christopher O’Halloran, Rhea E. Rose, Lorina Stephens, Andy W. Taylor, and Jean-Louis Trudel all contributed work I enjoyed.”
This pleases me, because the whole point of my magazine is to promote Canadian writers, and I always like to see contributors named in reviews.
To sum up, the introduction is a wonderfully comprehensive and lucid summation of the state of the industry in 2023. I look forward to it being a regular feature in all the volumes to come.
The Canadian Miracle – by Cory Doctorow
Premise:
Canadian aid workers not popular when needed in America.
Review:
William Gibson has maintained that the best science fiction is always inspired by current events. This would be a classic example of that.
I normally avoid making political comments (so many of my friends have stopped talking to each other) but it is my opinion that the dismantling of the services provided by the American federal government is not a good thing. In this story Doctorow extrapolates current trends forward to a time when overcoming difficulties is, by law, entirely up to individuals. Alas, individuals, no matter how tough and willful, are not capable of dealing with massive Mississippi River flooding. So, Canadian Blue Helmets (presumably working for the UN) arrive with needed supplies to help the helpless.
A straightforward situation. Yes, local political nuances are described. Yes, certain fictional liberties are taken. It’s a nice concept that Canada is dealing particularly well with climate change and thus is in a strong position to help less fortunate nations. But the core of the story is internal conflict within characters as to whether leaving politics aside to help purely for the sake of helping is a viable solution or a handicap perpetuating the misery.
I interpret this as a direct appeal to me to stop being silent and choose which side I want to serve as an activist. Well, I have chosen sides but keep relatively quiet about it. At my age I have barely enough energy to pursue my habit of promoting Canadian science fiction literature. Granted, my dystopian novel “Shatter Dark” is a satire of political shenanigans past, present, and future, reflecting my jaded, cynical view of history, but it’s basically a generalized plea for sanity rather than a diatribe against any one political entity.
In other words, this story has not moved me to change my views, but I do accept that it makes a valid point. Further, I am impressed at how deftly Cory Doctorow weaves a political message into fiction without sacrificing entertainment value. Science fiction has always been relevant to contemporary conundrums. This is a superb example of how it should be done.
John Hollowback and the Witch – by Amal El-Mohtar
Premise:
Can a witch cure a hollow back?
Review:
There are many stories about witches. Always a challenge for a writer, as there are innumerable stereotypical aspects already present in the minds of readers. A variation of the witches in MacBeth or many a Disney film at least offers the comfort of familiarity, but something truly original is hard to achieve without it being off putting to those who hadn’t anticipated the unexpected.
This story focuses on a calm wisdom reflecting the role of witches as healers, yet involves a sophisticated tale of revenge and miscommunication. There is, perhaps, an underlying premise that all women are capable of being witches—in both the best and worst sense of the concept—and men are perpetually hapless beings always in need of guidance. Maybe the central idea is that women are wiser than men. Certainly, more maternal.
To put it another way, this is an unusually in-depth study of the complicated emotions which make and break relations between lovers. So to speak, a deeply psychological fairy tale. I would describe it as exceptionally original. A delight to read.
Third Life – by Julie E. Czerneda
Premise:
What happens when you fall in love with an alien?
Review:
I believe it was “The Lovers” by Phillip José Farmer, first published in 1952, which broke a long-standing taboo in the genre against love between human and alien species. Of course, bug-eyed monsters, or BEMs, had always been guilty of lusting after scantily clad heroines, but primarily on lurid covers of magazines rather than detailed in the contents. It was Farmer’s story/novel which blew the industry wide open, not to Henry Miller style literary pornography—which had revolutionized mainstream literature a couple of decades earlier—but to mature treatments of love and sex beyond the pulp fiction of yore.
This story leans more toward fantasy than science fiction, in that it is about an all-consuming passionate affair that is near perfect in its joy. Both man and alien are weavers, and they literally embrace each other with golden threads. What dramatic tension exists has to do with coping with the alien’s life cycle of physical transformation. Perhaps a metaphor for life altering changes in any long-term relationship.
I would term this an example of the growing trend toward “feel good” SF&F as an antidote to all the “doom & gloom” stuff so frequently triggered by history in the making in recent decades. Poetic and mythic in style, it makes for a pleasant “sense of wonder” read.
The Girl Who Cried Diamonds – by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia
Premise:
What would happen to a girl who cries diamonds?
Review:
I believe this may have been inspired by a network news broadcast of a young girl producing polished stones from her eyes. I saw this a number of years ago. The announcers were confused. Was it a miracle? Of course not. One of the oldest scams in existence. The stones had first been inserted behind the girl’s eyes. Out on the street, she would move her eyes until a stone popped out. This was how the family earned their living off gullible onlookers.
I’m guessing Rebecca saw this and wondered what might happen to a child who really can shed diamonds like tears. In the long run, nothing good. Pretty sure this is a metaphor for the loss of innocence suffered by everyone when they leave home for the wider world. Not to everyone’s taste, if only because there’s a little diamond shedding in all of us. Easy to identify with the girl, with her loss. The emotions evoked in this tale linger in your mind. Poignant and powerful, it’s a strong contrast in mood to the previous story.
The Nothings – (poem) by Beth Cato and Rhonda Parrish
Premise:
Home schooling not as safe as you might think.
Review:
Some questions are best not asked. Nevertheless, they should be taken to heart and potential answers not taken for granted. I’d say this poem offers useful advice to all students of life. Its lesson is universal. Rather an important poem, methinks. Everyone should read it.
Six Incidents of Evolution Using Time Travel – by Derek Künsken
Premise:
What originates transformational genius in intelligent beings throughout the cosmos?
Review:
This is not a story so much as an essay describing as fact a theory explaining the common motivation behind civilization and scientific progress everywhere they blossom. The theory is a bit creepy, but quite logical. Unlikely to be true, mind you, but there is evidence in nature that it might be feasible. I hope Elon Musk never hears about it. It’s exactly the kind of jumpstart he’s been hoping to apply to the human race. Got to admit. It’s an intriguing concept. High marks for originality.
And high marks for a grand vision. In its scope, the story approaches the wide-ranging horizons of Olaf Stapledon’s “Last and First Men” and “Star Maker,” a style of science fiction not often seen nowadays. Olaf would approve, as do I.
Manic Pixie Girl – by A.C. Wise
Premise:
A pixie girl down on her luck but still able to interact with men.
Review:
In the words of a chap I knew, “Funny thing, all seven of my wives I first met in bars.” Millions of hopefuls of all genders rely on alcohol and bars to get some kind of love life going. In a pinch, a one-night stand will do. Perhaps unleashed inhibitions is not the best tool for establishing meaningful relationships. Possibly depends on what you’re looking for. Just sex? Or love? Perhaps a combination of both? Neither comes easy.
As a general rule, I think it’s safe to say, the supernatural never enters into attempts to get laid and/or establish a relationship. Judging by this story, that’s a good thing. We’ll just have to totter along with our tawdry human expectations and do the best we can. (Although, at 73, I am no longer interested. I’d rather publish magazines and write novels.)
Still, this story offers glimpses of an ecstasy beyond mortal ken. That makes it a genuine fantasy as well as a bit of a horror story. Remarkable.
The Distance Between Us – (poem) by Rati Mehrotra
Premise:
Passion an opportunity to explain hidden reality?
Review:
Well, it is about sharing feelings, after all. Why not knowledge?
At Every Door a Ghost – by Premee Mohamed
Premise:
What if Himmler’s wet dream came true?
Review:
I mean Himmler would have been in a permanent state of orgasm had the Gestapo had access to the surveillance technology of today. The potential of what already exists far outweighs what Orwell described in “1984.” This story sets out a near future in which the entire world agrees to turn all technological devices into a unified, comprehensive surveillance system run by an AI of unimaginable sophistication and all-pervasive awareness. The idea is to end terrorism. The price? 24/7 monitoring of every human alive. Do something wrong, suspicious, or simply different, and expect to disappear.
Naturally, two dedicated scientists plan to thwart the “system” in order to freely conduct research without fear of consequences. Is this even possible? What are the risks they face if discovered? If they are NOT discovered? Just exactly who or what is the villain in this scenario? I have an easy answer, given that I fear the birthing of such a monstrosity. But never mind AI, nothing involving human beings is ever simple. Premee’s exploration of this problem raises many implications beyond a good vs. evil scenario. Regardless, I suspect this is the future our civilization is heading towards. Deeply unsettling, this story. Thought provoking.
Negative Theology of the Child from ‘The King of Tars’ – by Sonia Sulaiman
Premise:
Can you enter the reality of a poem in order to alter myth?
Review:
Two poems are invoked. One, a love poem “by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, who walked the earth some 160 years before the story of the King of Tars was written in England,” i.e. 1170 and 1330 CE. The first is used to gain entry into the second, which is about an apostate Sultan of Damascus, his Christian princess bride, and the unusual child she gave birth to.
The author’s exploration of the subtext of the legend is multilayered and expressed in poetic terms. The result is a fascinating kaleidoscope of themes and metaphors which shift without pause, yet always on the verge of forming a coherent picture. In one sense the ultimate image is eternally optimistic, in another, perpetually tragic.
In sum, ancient myth, contemporary conflict, and a quest for transcendence are here combined in what I consider a unique, thoughtful, and sensitive evaluation of humanity’s flaws and virtues. Quite brilliant, I think.
Note: In the time available I managed to review just 2 poems and 8 stories. Apologies to the remaining 39 authors I didn’t get around to:
The Bestiary – by Diana Dima
If I Should Fall Behind – by Douglas Smith
A Summer Soup to Cure Magical Thinking – by Kim Harbridge
Your Great Mother Across the Salt Sea – by Kelsey Hutton
Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil – by Elis Montgomery
Solar Gravitational Lens – by Pauline Barmby
The Toll of the Snake – by Grace P. Fong
How Noah Saved the Dinosaurs—A Litany – by David Clink
The Long Way Home from Gaia BH1 – by Manuela Amiouny
Solitaire for Three – by James Alan Gardner
Sleeper Ship – (poem) by Carolyn Clink – originally published in Polar Starlight #10, May 2023.
Secondhand Music – by Aleksandra Hill
Sink your Sorrows to the Sea – by Chandra Fisher
The Lover – by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
For the Robots – (poem) by J.D. Dresner – originally published in Polar Starlight #8, January 2023.
What’s Left Behind – by Isabelle Piette. Translated by Margaret Sankey
Exit Greeting, or How to Cultivate Your Big Book of Grudges – by Chadwick Ginther
Svitla – by A.D. Sui
Predictive Text – by Dominic Parisien
LOL, Said the Scorpion – by Rich Larson
Horsewoman – by A.M. Dellamonica
The Dust Bowl Café – by Justin Dill
Letter to a Brother on a Generation Ship – by M.W. Irving
Revelstoke – Gemma Files
Tongue Mining – Jack Morton
A Siren’s Call, A Banshee’s Wail, A Grandmother’s Dream – by Ai Jang
Wapnintu’tijig: They Sang Until Dawn – by Tiffany Morris
Once Upon a Time at the Oakmont – by P.A. Cornell
Scarecrow – (poem) by David Shultz – originally published in Polar Starlight #9, March 2023.
Hemlock on Mars – by Eric Choi
Lying Flat – by Lynne Sargent
Lady Koi-Koi: A Book Report – by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
In a Cabin, In a Wood – by Kelly Robson
Eclipsed – (poem) by Lisa Timpf – originally published in Polar Borealis #27, October 2023.
The Spoil Heap – by Fiona Moore
As a, so I want to, as I can – by Kelly Tai
And Prison on my Back – by Phoebe Barton
Seeds for Titanium – by Brandon Crilly
The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World – by Nalo Hopkinson
CONCLUSION:
Once again editor Stephen Kotowych has exhibited excellent taste. I have no doubt these works represent the best that Canadian SF&F authors had to offer in 2023. Originality, subtlety, innovate approach and sense of wonder are hallmarks of all the contributions. Every serious reader, and writer for that matter, of Canadian SF owes it to themselves to collect these volumes year by year. Future fans yet unborn will appreciate this ongoing record of Canadian Speculative fiction in times to come. Besides, it’s just plain fun to read this high-quality stuff. And a heck of a learning experience reading these if you’re a beginning writer striving to learn your craft. Thus far, at least, a wonderful series I urge everyone to read. Both volumes are a splendid glimpse of what Canadian speculative fiction has to offer.
Check it out at: < Year’s Best Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy, Vol 2 >
