An intricate mix of sly humour and sadness, I enjoyed these stories partially because they helped open a window for me that had previously been closed. I do love to see the many incarnations that science fiction can take, and I'm glad that the author set his hand to these. It's not all fun and games as many stories strike a serious note, and the stories swirl with poignant undercurrents. However, there are not enough intersections where science fiction and aboriginal fiction meet and travel together for a time, so I'm very happy to have read this one. ( )

This was a pretty okay collection of stories! The writing was alright, and the stories were a pretty good introduction to sci fi concepts with an indigenous twist. A particular favourite was the one about the kid who figured out the ancient time machine and then died of smallpox. ( )

This is another book I really wanted to like but didn’t, and again, that’s largely my own fault because I know I don’t care a whole lot for most short stories. On a technical level, these were okay but nothing special, except for a moment here and there, and from the perspective of someone used to reading SF/F stories, the ones here are kind of bland. Maybe it’s because Taylor’s deliberately using the tropes that everyone knows and are verging on overdone? Or because he seems to be coming from a lit fic background and not an SF/F one?

Anyway, the indigenous stuff: I’ll admit a lot of that was interesting. He’s got some good ideas and some good twists on the tropes. The time travel story especially. The astronaut one. There’s some good humour in the collection too, laughing at White people and this crazy world we all live in, that sort of thing. But it’s only ever moments. Nothing really pops. A lot of the stories feel a bit like Taylor strained to find a First Nations angle, instead of getting inspired with one.

But then, I’m fully aware that I’m probably not the intended audience. Someone who knows literary short story style better might see more in these, and of course, a Native reader will probably connect more strongly, see more jokes, and get more inspired. It’s a worthy starting point for a conversation about indigenous SF and futurism, but … it’s just a starting point.

Warnings: Not in this one.

6.5/10 ( )

A collection of sci-fi short stories that touch on past and current realities of Indigenous life (particularly in Canada). The blend of Indigenous beliefs and sci-fi was seamless and added an interesting new angle to sci-fi plot devices (time travel, aliens, hidden messages, etc.). ( )

A solid collection; Taylor manages to hit up many subgenres within sci-fi, and also make First Nations issues clear. The stories kind of all have the same voice (which makes sense, since he's written all of them) but I would say the plots are different enough that they don't all feel the same, necessarily. Some are very funny, and some are deeply moving (the one about the man in space whose grandfather has died in particular jumps out at me) and some are tense. It's a short, solid collection for sure. I also LOVED the note in the acknowledgements re: (not) using Kanien'kehá:ka stories and what that means, and I'd encourage writers to read that and think about it, for sure. If you like sci-fi, and you want a little taste of a bunch of different flavors of sci-fi, this is definitely recommended. ( )