All emotions are universal. We born, we dream, we strive, we die...Where the stars rise? Stories that bind us together regardless where we come from or where we are going-on Earth or in space. Futuristic Istanbul. Kerala waters. Cebu jungles. Gyeongbok Palace. Post-apocalyptic Tokyo. Follow twenty-three science fiction and fantasy authors and their stories seen from an Asian perspective and envisioned through Asian eyes. Even beyond being Asian, the characters are diverse within themselves as they explore magic and science and deal with love, race, and politics. Immigrants dealing with racial tension and war camp internment. Orphans facing genocide or questioning the meaning of blood. Families struggling in aftermath of natural disasters or absence of technology. Individuals wrestling between ghostly pasts and uncertain future. Folks striving above class structures or finding a voice in history. But no one is perfect-each is unique, honest, real-a reflection of lives in profound and moving ways.

<p>Set on five continents and spanning decades, We Two Alone traces the arc and evolution of the Chinese immigrant experience. A young laundry boy risks his life, pretending to be a girl to play organized hockey in Canada in the 1920s. A Canadian couple is caught in when Shanghai is succumbs to violence during the Second Sino-Japanese War. A family struggles to buy a home in South Africa in the early years of apartheid. An actor in New York struggles to keep his career alive while yearning to reconcile with his estranged wife. From the vulnerable and disenfranchised to the educated and privileged, the characters in this extraordinary collection embody the diversity of the Chinese diaspora past and present. In these deeply affecting stories, Jack Wang subverts expectations as he captures the hope, pain, and sacrifices of the millions who journey into the unknown to create better lives, and explores the shifting boundaries of morality, the intimacies and failings of love, and the choices circumstances force us to make.</p>

Readers of Wanderlust, an anthology of travel stories, will at once feel that need to roam, the longing for surprise, the thrill of just recognizing the threat of danger, and the nomadic impulse simply to move oneself for the sake of moving, that restless and endless quest for a new beginning — even if it means the end of one life and the start of a new one. In every story a character embarks on a journey of discovery. They travel through the Nordic Viking age, experience family life in Italy, interpret the Lascaux Caves in France, climb Nicaragua’s volcanoes, undertake a road trip through the villages of Mexico, and finally are brought back to the Canadian prairies. Editor and contributor Byrna Barclay draws inspiration from the philosophers who expounded on the theory that, rather than change, a person simply becomes more of what he or she already was at birth. Anthology Contributors: Byrna Barclay, Brenda Niskala, Linda Biasotto, James Trettwer, Shelley Banks, Kelley-Anne Riess, Annette Bower.

Jerry Levy’s gritty, urban tales are driven by arresting prose and engaging human drama. Urban Legend is psychologically intense with characters attempting to overcome personal loss in peculiar ways. In “Paris is a Woman” a man hopes that, by escaping to Paris, he will learn to manage his uncontrollable emotions; devastated by the death of his fiancée, a man in “The Golem of New York” enlists the aid of a rabbi schooled in Kaballah to help him erect a golem in her image; the protagonist in “Stolen Words” uncovers a trove of unpublished literary works that he hopes will result in fame and fortune; and, in “Phoenix Rising” a sculptress about to commit suicide rescues a cat from a busy highway and instantly gains notoriety.

When jazz musicians of the ’30s and ’40s were gettin’ down, when things were really cookin’ they’d say, Yeah, make it tight like that. It meant things were good, as good as they could get. It’s a good thing in fiction, too. The stories in Jim Christy’s latest collection span time and space, taking us from the depression-era Deep South to the modern-day Vancouver commute. Private eyes. Old drunks. Yuppies, hippies, and everyone in between gets the trademark Christy work-over. He roughs ’em up until they show their mettle. His characters inhabit a world where one wrong move, no matter how small, can set in motion the direst of consequences. Luckily, they don’t let it get in the way of having a fine old time. Compelling, transforming, this collection makes you long for the days when a cup of coffee cost a dime, and dignity wasn’t for sale.

Praise for Tight Like That: “the writing is the rock he builds the rest on, a good fresh prose that...never wastes a word" (Globe and Mail) "truly extraordinary and enduring power" (Vancouver Sun ) "Although most of the stories are set in the very recent past, each shows Christy engaging stylistically with the bygone age of grittier, more mercenary story scribblers. The narrative passages are terse and propulsive, the dialogue as sharp as a smashed bottle, and the witty, hardcooked tone gleefully treads the thin line between throwback and anachronism. It’s not surprising that among Christy’s 20-odd previous books is biographical work on Charles Bukowski." (Quill & Quire)

A follow-up to Dragons at Crumbling Castle, this second batch of storytelling gems features short stories written when Sir Terry Pratchett was a seventeen-year-old junior reporter.

Travel has become the world’s favourite pastime, and this collection of stories and essays is sure to fuel your wanderlust. Let renowned Canadian writers including Susan Musgrave, Stephen Henighan, and Pauline Holdstock transport you to the relaxing beaches of the Caribbean islands, the lush forests of South America, the busy streets of Asia, and the edgy clubs of Eastern Europe. With poignant descriptions of faraway places and thoughtful examinations of cultural difference, these writers present fresh realizations about the complexities of foreign culture in tales of unexpected adventure and self-discovery. Enjoy this collection while commuting, drinking your morning coffee, or even while travelling, and indulge your need to get away from it all!

Published in 1973 to honor stories that had appeared before the institution of the Nebula Awards, this anthology introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country. This last volume in the definitive collection of the best science fiction novellas published between 1929 and 1964 contains eleven classics.

This collection of seventeen classic mystery stories, dating from 1837 to 1914, traces the earliest history of popular detective fiction.