麻豆视频

By Edward Willett

Published by Shadowpaw Press

$19.95 ISBN 978-1-9993827-0-4

I鈥檝e read Willett鈥檚 work before. I鈥檝e enjoyed every novel of his that I鈥檝e consumed and hoped his latest work would reach the same high bar. It didn鈥檛, it hurdled right over that bar and left it hanging.

This collection of 21 short stories spans Regina-based Willett鈥檚 career. Some of the stories were written as far back as the 1980s while others are from this century. I assumed I鈥檇 be able to detect which tales are his earlier works but I was wrong. All of the stories are expertly written. The only indicator of when Willett penned the stories was the blurb at the start of each one.

聽It鈥檚 a requirement of mine for science fiction works to push the boundaries of imagination. And Willett didn鈥檛 disappoint. Who else would鈥檝e thought to create a slug that sings (A Little Space Music) or a hibernation induction trigger that can put a human to sleep for 72 hours (The Strange One)?

The readers are the ones who benefit from Willett鈥檚 willingness to push the already stretched boundaries of this genre. My favourite short story in the collection is The Wind. This tale is the only one that featured a ghost and Willett handled the situation with his usual panache.

A close second is Devil鈥檚 Advocate , which deals with the subject of a programmable afterlife. The concept of designing what you will experience after you die is a fascinating one.

Willett鈥檚 powerful writing style shines in this story collection. He has mastered the art of showing and not telling, a skill not enough writers can claim to have these days. For example, when talking about the view of the three-quarter Earth, it 鈥渉ung in the sky like it did in the famous Apollo 8 photograph that decorated one full wall of the dining room.鈥� He describes lanterns as 鈥�... not made of eggshell. Nor are they glass. They鈥檙e of a substance woven by tiny worms that feed on vines from the hot, sunny hillsides above this city.鈥� Genius!

Lovers of sci-fi will find Paths to the Stars hard to put down until they finish Je Me Souviens , the last tale in the collection (and Willett鈥檚 personal favourite).

This book hits all the checkmarks for what I feel are the hallmarks of a science fiction work: imaginative, fantastical and mind-bending. If this work was a meal instead of a book, it would deserve a Michelin star.

鈥� This book is available at your local bookstore or from www.skbooks.com