Description:
Northern Suns is the second anthology of Canadian science fiction from Hartwell and Grant (following Northern Stars). Grant's introductory essay describes the anthology's 21 stories "ranging from hard science fiction to visionary fantasy, from the horrific to the hilarious. Plus an essay by John Clute, and an updated reference list of the winners of the major Canadian SF and fantasy awards." Writers include Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, and W.P. Kinsella, all of whom are better known for mainstream fiction; Nalo Hopkinson, Geoff Ryman, and Cory Doctorow, whose names are most connected with SF and fantasy; and writers like Eric Choi, Sally McBride, and Alain Bergeron, known to Canadians but not yet familiar to American readers. Grant argues that Canadian SF is distinctive for three reasons. First, unlike British or American SF, Canadian SF didn't evolve from commercial pulp fiction but was published by literary presses. Second, French Canadian authors bring the influence of French and other European SF--"tending toward surrealism, allegory, and folktale"--to bear. And finally, because Canadian SF has been shaped equally by men and women. In his essay, Clute suggests that it's a genre of solitary survivors who transcend human boundaries, unanchored in communities or extrapolated science and technology. Certainly it provides well-written, genre-bending entertainment, which will leave the reader eager to sample more. --Nona Vero
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