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The Aurora Awards are for the best Canadian SF/fantasy of the year  as voted by the fans.  Voting will begin shortly (and on this site we’ll announce how and where you can vote ) — with the winning selection announced at Keycon in Winnipeg the May 21st-23rd weekend.

For more information about the Aurora Awards, go here: Aurora Awards

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As a whole, her are some of the finer snippets:

“The freshness and playfulness of the theme is infectious.”

“…though the stories do get progressively darker, the transition feels natural and not jarring…”

“… there is a refreshing lack of black and white dogma…”

“… another narrative thread of semi-poetical nature that intrigued, foreshadowed and enriched the story.”

“It’s a wondrously creative concept and the individuality of each champion of humanity is emphasized by the disparateness existing between the writing styles of each story’s author. Each story is a unique experience wholly self-sustained and entertaining.”

To read the full review, follow the link to their page: http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=14134 or read after the jump.

Where do archangels turn when divinely empowered shooters intended to be the official champions of mankind—who are males prepared to fight the four horsemen of the apocalypse—are given to four chicks instead? An intriguing collection from Calgary-based Absolute X-Press Publishing including a variety of mostly Alberta-area authors, Women of the Apocalypse brings an irreverently imaginative eye to the increasingly popular idea of how the apocalypse might come about (hello 2012 paranoia) and how four regular women randomly selected to defend the earth would react to the ultimate imposition.

Written by four different authors, Eileen Bell, Roxanne Felix, Ryan T. McFadden and Billie Milholland, the book is a collection of short stories following each of the four female champions. The freshness and playfulness of the theme is infectious and though the stories do get progressively darker, the transition feels natural and not jarring moving from the horseman of Pestilence through War, Famine and the ultimate encounter with Death.

For a book that functions under the theological assumption that there is such a thing as divinity, there is a refreshing lack of black and white dogma with most narrative tension arising over unexpectedly grey areas. Omnipotence as a divine attribute is clearly brought into question as the whole premise of the collection is that a mistake gets made. An archangel is assigned to each new female champion and the results of the pairing are as varied as the quality of writing throughout the book. The manifestation of famine is so topical that I can just imagine the glee with which Milholland set about constructing this story.

The real stand out in the collection is “Deus ex Machina” by McFadden in part due to the introduction of another narrative thread of semi-poetical nature that intrigued, foreshadowed and enriched the story. Perhaps too subtle, Deus has the most confusing storyline and though suspicions haunt the story, the last few paragraphs fail in pulling the multiple threads together in total cohesion.

Each story relies heavily on tricks and stunts and while the collection does have its moments of winking at itself, it also can take itself too seriously and the result is an unfortunate infection of gimmickries. One is constantly keeping a distance because at any moment, another twist will happen. Novelty is fascinating, but it’s not substantial enough to make a whole meal of the book.

The problem with any such collaborative effort is the lack of an overarching point of view or thesis. And if you are not searching for any reasoning behind the motivations of characters, if you simply wish to accept that because this is how things are written, it makes sense, than what I am lamenting will not bother you. I kept hoping for a moment when the characters would meet or their interrelationships would become apparent. But no, in this post-modern age reasoning is old-fashioned and randomness has become literary logic.

It’s a wondrously creative concept and the individuality of each champion of humanity is emphasized by the disparateness existing between the writing styles of each story’s author. Each story is a unique experience wholly self-sustained and entertaining. But the cohesion that should exist in such a case, well, it is simply not there.

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Robert Sawyer has this to say (among other things) about the Women of the Apocalypse:

This is, without doubt, one of the major theme anthologies of 2009, and deserves a place on the Aurora Award ballot — as do the individual stories. The anthology recently made the bestsellers’ list published in the Calgary Herald.

You can read his full review here.

About Rob Sawyer (taken from his webpage)

# Rob has sold 20 science-fiction novels to major U.S. publishers, and his books have been translated into 16 languages; the hit ABC TV series FlashForward is based on his novel of the same name.

# He is one of only seven writers in history — and the only Canadian — to win all three of the world’s top science-fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo (which he won in 2003 for Hominids), the Nebula (which he won in 1996 for The Terminal Experiment), and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (which he won in 2006 for Mindscan).

# He’s also won a record-setting ten Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (”Auroras”), as well as an Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada.

# He’s won the top science-fiction awards in Canada, China, France, Japan, Spain, and the United States; in total he has received 42 national and international awards for his writing.

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On November 13th (Lucky Friday the 13th) We shared Pages on Kensington Books in - Calgary, Alberta, with Craig DiLouie (The Great Planet Robbery) and we had a fantastic time!  Meeting so many new friends, and touching base with old friends!  Our thanks to Pages. And we are truly sorry 6 foot Ryan frightened you!  He had a sleepover, you see….

On November 21st, 3/4 of us — plus 6 foot Ryan of course — hung out at Wee Book Inn on Whyte Avenue (Edmonton, Alberta).

We sold a bunch of books, and met some wonderful people.  And dogs!  Must never forget the dogs!  Thanks to Dave the Manager and the wonderful staff.  We had a great time!

On November 22nd, we were thrilled to find out that Women of the Apocalypse made it on the Calgary Herald Bestseller List!  WooHoo!

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Four women. Four shooters. Four destinies to save the world…

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are coming. And four Archangels find the perfect champions to save the world: fighters, warriors, soldiers, and brave men,  all ready to fight for humanity against end times. All they have to do is drink a shooter — a caustic mix of alcohol and divinity that will imbue them with the conviction to battle the Four.

The only problem is these warriors don’t drink the shooters. Call it fate, chance, or what you will, but four women drink the divine concoction. Alexandra Carlton, Julia Wolfe, Emily Keller and Dinah Medrano must all take up the mantles of champions … whether they want to or not.

Four writers, four heroines, four Women of the Apocalypse. The world will never be the same again.

The Women of the Apocalypse is a collaborative project due to be published by Absolute XPress. Four writers, four heroines, four Riders of the Apocalypse — the world will never be the same again.

Pawns Dreaming of Roses

By Eileen Bell

Alexandra Carlton always manages to let the wrong man into her life. But the First Horseman of the Apocalypse?
When the Archangel Raphael asks Alexandra to stop Pestilence, the First Horseman of the Apocalypse, she realizes this is her chance to make up for her worst sin, and to do something great with her life. But soon she realizes that some sins will never be forgiven, and a promise made to an angel can send you straight to Hell. Read the excerpt….

A Choice Among No Choices

By Roxanne Felix

Dinah’s life is the way she likes it – organized and efficient. So, when two strange men intrude into her life, she takes the necessary actions to rid herself of them and the complications they bring. Except they offer Dinah a power to change something important, something precious to her above all things. Read the excerpt….

Hungersnot

By Billie Milholland

An elderly Archangel, who loves skinny jeans and designer hoodies, must convince a smart-mouthed young woman, who drives a concrete truck, that her childhood friend is actually Famine, the 3^rd Horseman of the Apocalypse. Then he must try to teach her how to stop Famine before he sets off a trigger gene that will cause global mass starvation. Read the excerpt….

Dues Ex Machina

By Ryan McFadden

Two miles beneath the surface, a massive secret project nears completion — a project that could spell the end of the world’s energy problem. For Julia Wolfe, it also signals the completion of a long and lonely path. However, when testing on the project begins, Julia’s realizes that they are not alone in the subterranean world — there is something down there in the dark…something evil. Read the excerpt….

Pawns Dreaming of Roses

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McNally Robinson Booksellers Presents Ryan McFadden Reading & Signing Women of the Apocalypse Saturday, November 14 Grant Park in the Travel Alcove Reading at 2:00 pm Booksigning to follow When four women drink a divine concoction, they became all that stand between the world and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ryan McFadden is one of four contributing authors to this fantasy anthology — each author telling the story of one of these four heroines. McFadden attended the Creative Writing program at York University and currently lives in London, Ontario. Phone 306-955-3599 (Toll Free 1-877-506-7456)

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It was a whirlwind weekend of signings, launchings, panels, discussions, and networking. The San Jose launch was the first of many readings and signing (for more information, check under appearances) across Canada.

Billie Milholland signing at the mass autograph session in the Grand Ballroom.

Ryan with a copy of Women of the Apocalypse in the dealer's room.

Eileen meeting the public at the Edge booth.

Roxanne Felix signing books.

The writers of Hades Publishing (from left to right): Eileen Bell, Roxanne Felix, Josh Langston, Barb Galler, Sandra Wickham, Billie Milholland, Ryan McFadden

You have to dress so that you match the book...

As the old saying goes: when in San Jose, make sure you eat grasshoppers (because what other reason would Billie and Roxanne have for eating grasshoppers?)

Roxanne and Eileen -- just arrived in San Jose for the whirlwind weekend

Signing books: Ryan, Eileen, and Kathleen (Dragon ReBorn)

Discussing the advantages (and disadvantages) to a collaboration. Roxanne, Eileen, Billie, and Ryan

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Writing is a solitary  pursuit, but four writers – three from Edmonton and one from London, Ontario, found a way to reduce the loneliness while at the same time preserving the individual creative effort. The result is this unusual fantasy anthology, which was written collaboratively.

Eileen Bell, Roxanne Felix, Billie Milholland and Ryan McFadden each chose one horseman of the Apocalypse, one unwitting female champion, and one archangel charged with assisting their reluctant champion.

“We  didn’t talk to each other  about our stories while writing the first draft, in order to  preserve our individual voices.  After that, we all  participated in the editing process, to make each piece the best that it could be. Some days there would be 30 to 40 emails as we worked back and forth.”

“We  chose the Four Horsemen theme because Pestilence, War, Famine and Death are all headliners in the media today.   Our research began with Revelations ( the last book in the New Testament of the Christian Bible)  and continued on into books like The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and War by Gwynne Dyer.” said writer, Billie Milholland.

“The hardest part for me was getting over the feeling that what we humans have done over a few short centuries has been so extreme that the destruction of earth is inevitable,” said Eileen Bell.  “Luckily I had three other writers to talk to through the writing process.  They kept my spirits up so I could finish writing my story. And I wrote the romance!”

After an American launch at the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose, California, on Halloween weekend, Women of the Apocalypse is being launched in Edmonton at the Strathcona Regional Library, 8331 104 Street, on November 7, 2009, from 11:30 to 3, and in Calgary at Pages on Kensington, 1135 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, Alberta on November 13, 2009, at 7:30 pm.

If you would like to speak to the writers, please call Eileen Bell at (780) 462-4146, or email her at eileencbell@hotmail.com

Website: www.womenoftheapocalypse.com

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