Results: Wes Smiderle

roots of our collective unconscious

The Truth Is in There

Editorial
BY Wes Smiderle

Conspiracy fiction has long been considered a sub-genre of spy or thriller fiction. But it’s science fiction that can best embrace the outlandish theories that quietly root in our collective unconscious: Who “they” really are; how the world is truly governed; or why are self-driving cars being rammed down our throats?

Truth ... using details that are plainly untrue.

THE GASLIGHT DOGS by Karin Lowachee

Reviews
BY Wes Smiderle

Easing a reader into a fictional world can be like coaxing a timid swimmer into an outdoor pool. Sometimes the water’s chilly. The key to successfully introducing a vast new world is verisimilitude. A writer must capture the truth of a place using characters and details that are plainly untrue.

The Unnamed City adrift...

THE HEART GOES LAST by Margaret Atwood

Reviews
BY Wes Smiderle

Margaret Atwood has always been wary of the term “science fiction.”

the perfect setting for steampunk

Clockwork Canada

Reviews
BY Wes Smiderle

In his introduction to Clockwork Canada, editor Dominik Parisien calls this country “the perfect setting for steampunk.” He cites the country’s “absurdly large” mass and the fact that it was founded on a railroad, surely one of the more potent and ruthless emblems of steam power.

star-crossed and time-challenged

TRILLIUM by Jeff Lemire

Reviews
BY Wes Smiderle

Trillium is an Eisner Award-nominated comic book series written and drawn by Canadian Jeff Lemire and featuring a pair of lovers who are, quite literally, star-crossed and time-challenged.

A civilization with people in it I could recognize

Julie Czerneda’s IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS

Reviews
BY Wes Smiderle

There’s a moment late in Julie Czerneda’s In the Company of Others when an otherwise stoic character erupts with frustration over the inscrutability of the alien life he and his crew members have stumbled upon.

“All I ever wanted was to someday find a civilization,” he laments. “A civilization with people in it I could recognize, talk to ... Take out for a beer.”

Work and fiction

Cory Doctorow’s MAKERS

Reviews
BY Wes Smiderle

Work is not a popular topic for science fiction. This should be surprising. Employment, or the lack of it, has an enormous impact on our lives, both as a source of income and a linchpin of personal identity. We are what we do.