Spiral Path Books

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

Aurora Award FinalistThink 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 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.Jarrod is a Scream-addicted soldier forced to take part in the destruction of entire races. But when his unit encounters the Be’nan, aliens who hold the secret to true enlightenment, no one is prepared for the result."…reaches far past the muddled mediocrity of swashbuckling tales forgotten before the page is turned to the next story. I enjoyed the alien anthropology and the details are tremendous…in this tale of tremendous sacrifice" —Tangent Online"My favourite of the selection was 'Enlightenment' by Douglas Smith. A strange story indeed about Earth people engaged in strip-mining planets and relocating indigenous populations. ... The end is horrific in many respects but it's also thought-provoking." —SF Crowsnest Reviews"…[tells of] a spiritual undertaking by a member of a brutal planetary occupation force who "goes native" in which Douglas Smith provides a riff on Ray Bradbury's famous rationale of space travel: for Man to find God in the cosmos. A science fictional depiction of the mistreatment of "aliens" to subvertly criticize the atrocities of imperialist colonization." —SF Site"... unexpected twists and a superb ending; the story is as powerful as any in the [Chimerascope] collection (A++)" —Fantasy Book Critic"Douglas Smith…succeeds in evoking an alien society with mythic/religious overtones in his moving tale ‘Enlightenment’." —New Hope International Review Online"Another strong story, looking at humanity's treatment of indigenous people." —Best SF"...oppressed inhabitants of distant worlds making the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring mankind back to the realisation of what right and wrong truly mean." —Whispers of Wickedness reviews"Nicely judged depictions of alien customs…" —SF Site"...was my favourite of the issue. ‘Enlightenment’ went exactly where I expected it to, but that was where I wanted it to go--I was there for the ride" "Stories [were] great, particularly ‘Enlightenment.’ [I] was just engrossed in the whole thing...and applaud it thoroughly!" "…just blew me away…I was taken away by the lovely prose." "...provoked some really interesting ideas…" "…mind-blowing…" —InterZone readers forum

Aurora Award Finalist.The Builders had made the House generations ago, to shelter the remnants of humanity from the poisons of the Outside. The Inners, the direct descendants of the Builders, now rule the House. The House protects the People, and the Inners protect the House. And Smoothers are the arms and legs of that protection. Big G is a Smoother, ensuring that the daily activities of the House are not interrupted by "Harveys," citizens who suffer violent mental breakdowns in the claustrophobic House. But when Big G discovers a strange photograph of blue and white swirls of nothingness during a Harvey call, it leads him to world within the world he thought he knew—and a world outside it as well."I first read this story in a workshop nearly a decade ago. Since then, Doug sold it to a number of different markets and it was a finalist for Canada’s prestigious Aurora Award. Now it’s out in e-book format. I read a lot, as you can tell, and I don’t remember most stories the next day, let alone decades later. The images and the power of the story have stayed with me all this time. That’s one of the strongest recommendations I can give."—Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Recommended Reading List, Aug 2011"Hands down, my favourite story … I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of a city that encompasses what we know of the known world. … Smith’s version, the ‘House,’ is well conceived, but as always, it’s his characters that drive the story. Big G is pitch perfect. Every aspect of his personality is just spot on. Though he’s not a completely accessible character, portrayed as being not as intelligent as a more usual protagonist, he is completely there and three-dimensional and his reactions and motivations are plausible. It works! The ending is just right. It couldn’t have been any other way..." —SF Crowsnest Reviews"Going Harvey in the Big House" fed into my natural fears, suspicions, and all-round disillusionment with authority. Thereafter, I began an inquiry. I read Orwell’s 1984, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Zamyatin’s We, Huxley’s Brave New World… "Going Harvey in the Big House" led me to places I thought I’d never be, culminating eventually in sweat-soaked nightmares about a post-apocalyptic world." —Cicada

Aurora Award FinalistThe year is 1999. The world awaits a new millennium with a mixture of anticipation and dread. The fear stems from the much-hyped Y2K computer problem, the so-called millennium bug, which could cause uncorrected programs to fail all over the world. PCWare is the world’s largest software company. John Dunne is team leader for the company’s newest operating system, the first with a virtual reality user interface, complete with virtual human agents. But on Millennium Eve, John has problems. A Y2K bug has been discovered in the software…and John’s virtual girlfriend has become far too real."The story deals with the Y2k bug, and although that might seem dated now, the story is not, since its ideas continue to be relevant today." —Bibliopolis

Aurora Award Finalist.On the anniversary of his wife’s death, Liam makes a startling discovery. The particle accelerator experiments that he is conducting for the university are capable of opening a window back in time. Can he tune that window to the night his wife died? Can he actually go back in time to save her? But what of the strange radio broadcasts he keeps hearing? Broadcasts that warn that changing the past could produce a very dark future for the world—or no future at all. How much is Liam willing to risk to bring back the only woman he ever loved?"A very human story of a man hung up on the past for far too long, and a woman who can't make him realize her true feelings. ... The resolution is a key moment of personal growth for our protagonist, and that's really what I ask for in a story." —Scientifically Bookish"This is a great story, that connects [the reader} with the emotional pain and trauma [of the characters]." —Contemplating the Cosmos

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

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. 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

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?

Aurora Award Finalist story from a multi-award winning author. The House promised Jack wealth, fame, and revenge...if it didn’t kill him first.~~~Dr. Lucius Rainer, head of research at GenTech, is dead. But to Jack, it seems that his old mentor still lives on through his house. Certainly, Rainer’s strange island retreat exudes the personality of its late owner: isolated and eccentric, brooding and uninviting. But when GenTech learns that the house holds a working model of Rainer’s final project, Jack discovers that the house shares one other trait with its former owner.Dangerous.The house will open only to Jack’s biometrics, and will only allow two very specific people to accompany him: Wendy, Jack’s now ex-wife, and Deak Sanderson, Wendy’s new lover and Jack’s former rival at GenTech. As the three of them explore the house and its secrets, Jack discovers that some doors—in this house and in life—should never be opened.“A couple months ago I was introduced to Douglas Smith by way of his collected short stories, Impossibilia. So I was looking forward to his story 'Doorways' and was not disappointed. ... This story has a cunningly satisfying conclusion. I find a good short story falls into two categories: There is the complete story, the novel miniaturised, which is a nearly perfect art form. These are hard to capture but constantly illustrated by such writers as Douglas Smith.” —SF Crowsnest Book Reviews“…is based on an interesting concept … The puzzles [in the story] and the final invention that they hint at are intriguing … Smith ties [the story's] denouement’s metaphorical significance in well with the technological concept at the center of the plot.” —The Fix

Twelve-year-old Andy Pembleton's younger brother disappeared two years ago. The loss tore Andy's world apart. His father left. His mother withdrew into guilt, all but ignoring Andy.But Andy is going to change all of that. He has a plan to find his brother—a deeply disturbing one." …about every parent’s worst nightmare. This was a gripping tale and goes to show that not only parents suffer when a child goes missing and how it can warp a child." —Bitten By Books

Mary and her teenage son, Jase, survive by their own wits in a post-plague Earth. On the run from a vicious gang, they are saved by Bishop, a man with mysterious powers who just may be the Dead Man, the legendary hero of the Fall of Earth. But Bishop’s dark past catches up with them all, forcing Bishop to choose between his love for Mary and Jase, or revenge against the men who killed his family."All that you want in a sf short story is here from powerful characters, to action, mysterious happenings, and a dark, violent, but excellent tale. … A bittersweet ending adds to the power of the story. (A++)" —Fantasy Book Critic"…again shows off Smith's flair for the cinematic. … In his preface to the story, Smith announces his plan to write a novel about the Dead Man…I do look forward to reading it." —Strange Horizons"…has echoes of Stephen King wandering about its post-apocalyptic narrative." —Quill and Quire"…a wonderful example of the places this author is unafraid to go." —SF Crowsnest Reviews"…would make a great movie…a unique, post-apocalyptic blend of The Road Warrior and X-Men. … It was very well done." —Tangent Online"I liked the style and subtleties of the storytelling that kept me firmly on the edge of my seat. … The characters were what really impressed me, though—by a few lines into meeting each one you had a clear and definable presence in your mind." —SF Crowsnest Reviews

A woman tries in vain to convince those around her that the world is ending. Is she right…or is she losing her mind?

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

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. 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