Friday, June 13, 2014

Cover art - "Fractured. Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse" edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I’ve talked this week about my desire to see more post-apocalyptic fiction set across the world and I mentioned Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s upcoming anthology, “Fractured”, as such an example. Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan or the Yukon are some of Canada’s provinces reflected in the post-apocalyptic visions projected within the 23 tales of “Fractured” and although, as I’ve already said when the table of contents was revealed, not many familiar writers have stories in this anthology the presence of A.C. Wise, E. Catherine Tobler and Claude Lalumière on the list of authors, the guidance of Silvia Moreno-Garcia in the stories’ selection and the locations are enough points of interest for me when it comes to this collection. As it is the cover we can look upon now. I am not sure exactly why I associate so easily a gas mask with apocalyptic events, but I guess the threat of a pandemic, biological catastrophe, nuclear warfare or extreme rise in pollution and the flimsy protection we have in face of such devastating disasters can create such a connection. So I believe the cover of “Fractured” works perfectly in suggesting its theme of post-apocalyptic fiction. Or at least it works perfectly for me. It might be because of the circuits my mind runs between image and personal imagination, but that is also the reason for which I would have liked for the cover to have a more desolated background, a landscape as an additional element to suggest in the fullest the post-apocalyptic theme. And perhaps I wouldn’t have added the production waste tower billowing smoke from the background, at a first glance it seems to work, after all pollution and gas mask are not a mismatched pair, but the dimension of that particular tower suggests industrial usage and I think that such a scale of production in a post-apocalyptic world might be a bit farfetched. Nonetheless, I have a general good feeling about this cover and I quite like it, as I like the promise of this anthology. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s anthology “Fractured. Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse” will be released on August by Exile Editions.

We like to imagine the end. How we might survive. How we might live after the fateful moment that changes everything. That moment has arrived—welcome to Canada, after the apocalypse! Fractured is a collection of stories by more than 20 writers who imagine life after the end of days. The waters have risen around Vancouver, nuclear disasters have devastated the Prairies, a strange sickness has relocated the capital of the nation to Yellowknife, aliens have invaded Manitoba, and even ghosts have returned to exterminate the living. Across this vast nation, a country fractured and rent asunder by disasters both natural and unnatural, come the stories of survivors, of the brave and the wicked, the kind and the hostile. These are tales that reveal the secrets at this critical point for humanity, exploring a diversity of scenarios and settings from small rural communities to large cities and protagonists from all walks of life.

“No Man is a Promontory” by Hilary Janzen
“Persistence of Vision” by Orrin Grey
“The Dome of St. Macaire” by Jean-Louis Trudel
“Kalopsia” by E. Catherine Tobler
“White Noise” by Geoff Gander
“Edited Hansard 116” by Miriam Oudin
“The Body Politic” by John Jantunen
“D-Day” by T. S. Bazelli
“Matthew, Waiting” by A.C. Wise
“Jenny of the Long Gauge” by Michael Matheson
“Snow Angel” by A. M. Dellamonica
“Keeper of the Oasis” by Steve Stanton
“Manitou-wapow” by GMB Chomichuk
“Saying Goodbye” by Michael Pack
“Of the Dying Light” by Arun Jiwa
“@shalestate” by David Huebert
“City Noise” by Morgan M. Page
“Brown Wave” by Christine Ottoni
“Ruptures” by Jamie Mason
“River Road” by Amanda M. Taylor
“Last Man Standing” by Frank Westcott
“Dog for Dinner” by dvsduncan
“Maxim Fujiyama and Other Persons” by Claude Lalumière

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