Smith Douglas strana 2 z 2

Think of human emotion as a geography, with peaks of pleasure and valleys of pain. Imagine a drug that flips the valleys and makes them peaks, too. You react now to an event based not on the pleasure or pain that it brings, but solely on the intensity of the emotion created. Pain brings pleasure, grief gives joy, horror renders ecstasy. Now give this drug to a soldier. Tell them to kill. Not in the historically acceptable murder of war, but in a systematic corporate strategy—of xenocide. They will kill. And they will revel in it. Welcome to the world of Scream.Jason Trelayne is a Screamer, a soldier forced to take part in the enslavement or death of entire races. But Trelayne falls in love with Philomela, a Scream Angel, an alien who produces the addictive drug. Does he love her for her beauty, for the drug she gives him, from guilt for what he has done to her people? And does she love truly him as she swears? Or is he simply her only hope for freedom, for her and her entire race? Forced to choose between freedom and love, what will they do?"…a multi-layered tale about a circus that features a pair of ‘angels’ who have the ability to produce a drug that produces pleasure based on intensity of emotion. Factor in that the owner of the circus is in love with one of the angels as well as addicted to the drug she produces, and the story quickly becomes one that holds the reader’s attention until the very end." —SpecFicWorld"Smith describes a disturbingly plausible military application for the narcotic … The basic concept behind the drug strikes me as one of those rare ideas that seems at once so perfect and so natural that someone must have come up with it before; but if someone has, I haven't heard about it, and regardless Smith exploits the potential of the idea extraordinarily well here." —Strange Horizons"…remind[ed] me of the reasons I love the author’s writing: his characterisation, attention to detail and recurring themes of love, faith and redemption." —SF Crowsnest Reviews"A visceral work […] a true pearl of the fantastic literature. Breath-taking." —Café de Ontem"The story has so many layers that I'm still sorting them out. And like an onion, I'm not sure if I'll ever find the final layer." —Tangent Online"A dark and powerful story with a first line that sets the tone for what is to come: 'They stopped beating Trelayne when they saw that he enjoyed it.' (A++)" —Fantasy Book Critic"Scream Angel was especially horrifying and compelling, and I wound up re-reading it again after I had finished the book." —Fluidity of Time

Aurora Award FinalistWhen James Mackaby, respected scholar, husband and father, accepts a dinner invitation from an old rival who has fallen on hard times, he has no idea that revenge is on the menu. During this singular evening, three very separate and very different dinners will take place, all at the same time, all in the same place, all with the same guests. And by the end of the last course, no one’s life will ever be the same again."Another standout is the masterful "State of Disorder," which contemplates the flexibility and fluidity of time." —Ideomancer Magazine"A neat twist on time travel and quantum physics." —Publishers Weekly"The claustrophobic atmosphere of this tale heightens its devilish suspense and draws favorable comparisons to Poe’s tales of trapped, desperate protagonists." —Tangent Online"A chilling story of three dinners in the same place and time, and a very satisfying ending made this another A++ story [in Chimerascope]." —Fantasy Book Critic"A stunning piece of work." —Kim Mohan, editor, Amazing Stories

AURORA AWARD WINNERA Heroka story. The Heroka are an ancient race of shape shifters, drawing vitality from their animal totems. Gwyn Blaidd, a Heroka of the wolf totem, has been a recluse ever since a deadly battle with the Tainchel, the covert government agency that hunts his kind—a battle that cost him the woman he loved. But to save an old friend, Gwyn must again face the Tainchel—and his own dark past.“A vivid and wonderfully written tale about Native Canadian spirits, in the vein of Thomas King.” —Challenging Destiny“Draws on North American Indian myths, particularly the idea of shapeshifters... Smith once more creates a credible and sympathetic protagonist, Gwyn Blaidd, [who] returns to his old stomping ground to help out some fellow shapeshifters who have become embroiled in a conflict with a large logging concern.” —The Fix

A Heroka story. Lilith Hoyl is a Heroka of the bird totem—a shapeshifter who hates the humans who killed her mate and hunt her kind. But when she meets a young girl awaiting a critical operation, their mutual love for birds brings joy back into both their lives.“One expects magic with this set-up, and magic does, indeed, follow, but pain cannot be forever vanquished, for either the girl or the Hoyl. The story charms as well as pains. In other hands, it would be mawkish, but Smith avoids all the pitfalls and gives us something bittersweet instead.” —Fantasy Literature

Aurora Award Finalist. The colony ship, The Last Chance, has fled a plague-poisoned Earth with the remnants of the human race. Launched before completion of its biosphere, the ship is only partly self-sustaining. Humanity has to find a new home—and time is running out. It isn’t called The Last Chance for nothing. When they find the planet, it seems a dream come true. Earth-like, breathable atmosphere, unpopulated. They name it Aurora, for the beauty that dances in its skies. At least, it had seemed beautiful at the time. Now they aren’t so sure.Now people are dying.Gar Franck is the ship’s communication expert. When signs point to a non-human intelligence on the planet, Gar becomes the key to communicating with it. But how can he communicate with an alien being when he can’t even talk to his autistic son, Anton, or his increasingly distant wife, Clara?"There are two stories in "Symphony"...both converge in a spectacular, explosive finale. Smith's prose is poetic and evocative. He creates an intricate fabric of light, color, and sound with effortless flair. The story’s fluid style and the abundance of complex, wrenching emotions [make this] another recommended story in this issue." —Eugie Foster and Marsha Sisolak, Tangent Online"A strong SF-nal story about a 'sentient light symphony' that objects to humans colonizing 'its planet.' How would you communicate with such and how would it react to a baby who lacks all 'human baggage' are some of the issues addressed here. (A+)" —Fantasy Book Critic

Paulo and Dino run a quiet little bar in Toronto, happily retired from their former gig of being immortal gods on Olympus…and Asgard…and… Well, let’s just say they’ve been around. But their peaceful retirement ends when Pop drops in. And the Father of the Gods has brought company. Unwanted company."The Zelazny-inspired 'The Boys Are Back in Town' nicely toes the line between quirky humor and pathos." —Publishers Weekly"A partly funny, partly dark story … I enjoyed this one a lot; one of the most 'pure entertainment' tales of the [Chimerascope] collection." —Fantasy Book Critic

Aurora Award Finalist. Alexander King has everything--wealth, power, a business empire over which he rules. But lately, the corporate game in which he excels has lost its thrill for him. He needs a new game. And then, on the crowded streets of Toronto, in the dead cold of winter, she appears before him. The Dancer. Achingly beautiful, half-naked, and dancing to a song that only she and King seem to hear, she becomes King’s new obsession, an obsession that draws him into a journey through a secret world hidden within the city he thought he knew…and to a very special club."'The Dancer at the Red Door,' with its mix of oblique horror, urban fantasy, and monsters ... recalls British horror novelist Clive Barker at his most disturbingly fanciful." —Quill and Quire"An excellent story … urban fantasy at its best." —Fantasy Book Critic"...intriguing meditation on escapism...evoking Gaiman's Neverwhere, the obligatory helping of Lovecraft, plus a touch of something like Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut" —Strange Horizons"Just as the song of the city leads King throughout his journey, so too does it lead the reader throughout Douglas Smith's beautifully crafted 'The Dancer at the Red Door.' The writing is lean and evocative; every element of the story works double-time as setting informs character, action creates mood, and nothing is superfluous. The song becomes a living, breathing creature which, more so than hearing, I could feel viscerally as I read Doug's wonderful story. Highly, highly recommended." —Rainbow Dragon Recommends

Vaya is an immortal Valkyrie and favorite daughter of Odin All Father, sworn to carry dead heroes from the battlefields of Earth to live forever in Valhalla. One day, she intervenes on the battlefield to save the life of a soldier who has captured her heart, and is forced by Odin to choose between immortality and the man she loves. Vaya chooses love, not knowing that the hardest choice still lies ahead of her."…exemplifies the best elements of Douglas Smith’s writing. A Valkyrie falls for her hero, gives up her immortality for him then has to make that inevitable and awful choice afterwards. As always, even for such a brief time, there is so much life in these characters. I don’t bother to marvel at how quickly I come to care for Douglas Smith’s people anymore, it’s a given." —SF Crowsnest Reviews"A gripping portrayal of Vaya, a Valkyrie, and the ultimate sacrifices one makes for love." —SFRevu

Aurora Award Finalist. When the Shogun’s soldiers burn his village and kill his parents, young Asai is rescued by a strange red hawk and led to a fabled temple. Here, he trains under Ikada, the Warrior of the Red Bird and seeker of the Hidden Light. Asai will be the last Warrior, and unless he can succeed where all other Warriors have failed—to discover the Hidden Light—then his people will suffer a thousand years of misery. But when Sawako, a beautiful young woman, challenges him, Asai must choose between his heart, his people, and his destiny."I loved this tale. ... It has the feel of a myth or legend about a boy who finds that his destiny is closely entwined with the destiny of a people. But rather than repeat a tale we’ve all read before, the author has written something subtly new. … Honestly, I could have read it forever. The ending was that perfect combination of sadness and hope." —SF Crowsnest Review"A spellbinding piece of writing set in a Japan-that-never-was that is both well-plotted and elegantly paced" —Strange Horizons"A superbly told, involving, and brilliantly paced short story, complete with an ending made more tragic by its inevitability... Worth the price of the issue." —Tangent Online "A mini-epic about a young boy named Asai and the phoenix that saves him from death while his village is being raided... If you love Japanese and Samurai stories, this one will give you goose bumps." —Tangent Online"Powerful, moving and not quite predictable (A+)" —Fantasy Book Critic"A wonderfully recounted story, with an excellent pace and a perfect ending." —Bibliopolis

Aurora Award WINNER.The Walker is a child of the two Realms of the Continuum, a prince of Order and of Chaos—and a rebel against both. When he falls in love with an ephemeral, a mortal woman who is the key to the balance between the Realms, he triggers a struggle for her life—and the fate of her universe. "A very different sort of tale. ... A cosmic story of gods which seems to be inspired by the works of Michael Moorcock, and I think he would not be ashamed of it." —SF Crowsnest Reviews"A tale of epic love when a mortal gets caught between a battle of the gods. Smith reminds us that we have the potential to change the world around us and that self-sacrifice can be a means of making the world around us better." —Speculating Canada"The descriptions here have cosmic sweep…" —Locus Online

What happens when the world loses the last of a thing? Four mighty warriors set out to slay the last dragon, opposed by only a fool. But even a fool knows: the last of a thing is something to cherish. "One of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." —Library Journal "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

Hari is the greatest thief that Taryaryo has ever known. Well, at least he was until he tried to steal a certain jewel from the most powerful wizard in the land. The theft went, uh, less than perfectly. Instead of the jewel, Hari finds he has stolen a curse. Now Hari has to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. All the time. Kind of career limiting for a thief. But Hari has a plan to win the jewel and rid himself of the curse. A plan that is also going less than perfectly. The wizard that Hari hired has just been killed by the demon that the wizard summoned, and that demon is about to eat Hari. At least things can’t get any worse. Can they?