Distant Early Warnings: Canada's Best Science Fiction

Inspired by John Robert Colombo's Other Canadas, Award-winning Canadian author Sawyer attempts to convey his heritage through the medium of science fiction, compiling a collection of stories by the genre's best Canadian writers. The authors featured are all contemporary Canadian authors, and strictly science fiction (no fantasy), though their stories are not geographically limited. The first and longest story, ""In Spirit"" by Paddy Forde, is a sometimes tedious and maudlin tale about the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York City, while Spider Robinson's ""You Don't Know My Heart"" is set in Key West. Many of the other stories, including James Alan Gardner's ""The Ray Gun,"" Peter Watts's ""Eye of God,"" and Sawyer's own ""Shed Skin,"" explore the theme of unequal power relationships, perhaps exploring the distinctly Canadian preoccupation with the neighboring U.S. Like the Great White North itself, this collection is earnest and worth consideration.