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Parallel Prairies by Darren Ridgley, Adam Petrash, David Jon Fuller, S.M. Beiko, Chadwick Ginther
trilbynorton's review
3.0
I don't live in Manitoba, not have I ever been to Manitoba, or Canada for that matter. I live in the UK, but was gifted this book by a friend who does live in Manitoba, and has regaled me with tales of apocalyptic blizzards, swarms of mosquitoes that blot out the sky, and guerrilla gangs of ticks hiding everywhere waiting to suck you dry. So I was excited to read this collection of short speculative fiction and see if the Manitoba that lived in the heads of its native authors was any different from the Manitoba that I imagined.
Rather disappointingly, most of the stories featured in this collection merely happen to be set in Manitoba. Tales of zombies, Norse world trees, and machines that predict your manner of death could take place anywhere, and don't seem to offer any insights into life on the plains of south-central Canada (at least to this British reader).
There are some standout stories that make this collection worth a read, though. Patrick Johanneson's "Vincent and Charlie" is a touching tale of a man with dementia befriending a crashed alien who communicates by altering memories. Jennifer Collerone's "Seven Long Years" sees a woman and coyote fight a seemingly neverending battle to prevent the province's rivers from devouring its human settlements. Kate Heartfield's "Limestone, Lye, and the Buzzing of Flies" features a (possibly) malignant spirit, brought over by European settlers, continuing to influence Manitoba's modern inhabitants. And Keith Cadieux's "All That Cold, All That Dark" is perhaps the closest to how I imagined Manitoba, telling the story of ill-fated trappers who encounter a wendigo and resort to cannibalism.
Rather disappointingly, most of the stories featured in this collection merely happen to be set in Manitoba. Tales of zombies, Norse world trees, and machines that predict your manner of death could take place anywhere, and don't seem to offer any insights into life on the plains of south-central Canada (at least to this British reader).
There are some standout stories that make this collection worth a read, though. Patrick Johanneson's "Vincent and Charlie" is a touching tale of a man with dementia befriending a crashed alien who communicates by altering memories. Jennifer Collerone's "Seven Long Years" sees a woman and coyote fight a seemingly neverending battle to prevent the province's rivers from devouring its human settlements. Kate Heartfield's "Limestone, Lye, and the Buzzing of Flies" features a (possibly) malignant spirit, brought over by European settlers, continuing to influence Manitoba's modern inhabitants. And Keith Cadieux's "All That Cold, All That Dark" is perhaps the closest to how I imagined Manitoba, telling the story of ill-fated trappers who encounter a wendigo and resort to cannibalism.
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