Derwin Mak
Auteur van Where the Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy
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Algemene kennis
- Geboortedatum
- 19--
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- Canada
- Geboorteplaats
- Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
- Woonplaatsen
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Opleiding
- University of Waterloo, Ontario (MS|Accounting)
American Military University - Beroepen
- science fiction writer
chartered accountant - Organisaties
- Venerable Order of Saint John
Royal Canadian Military Institute
Royal Heraldry Society of Canada - Prijzen en onderscheidingen
- Prix Aurora (Best Short Form Work in English, 2006)
- Korte biografie
- Derwin Mak
Derwin Mak lives in Toronto, Canada. He is a chartered accountant and an Officer of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. He has Master’s degrees in accounting (University of Waterloo) and military studies (American Military University). He is also a member of the Royal Canadian Military Institute and gave a lecture about Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine and Yushukan War Museum there.
His science fiction stories include “The Siren Stone”, which was a finalist for a 2004 Aurora Award, Canada’s science fiction award; and its sequel, “Transubstantiation”, which won the 2006 Aurora Award for Best Short-Form Work in English. His novel The Moon Under Her Feet was a finalist for the 2008 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English. He co-edited, with Eric Choi, The Dragon and the Stars, an anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories written by ethnic Chinese outside China.
Derwin’s website is www.derwinmaksf.com.
[source: publisher's website. http://www.weirdandwondrousbooks.com/...]
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I’m thrilled by this notion and was eager and excited for this collection. I have a not-so-trivial complaint, however. The cover art. It’s pretty, to be sure, but that is a Western dragon depicted on the cover, not an Eastern dragon. Doesn’t matter, a dragon is a dragon, you say? Think again. Unlike their Western counterparts, Eastern Dragons were considered to be good luck symbols, wise advisers and revered as sacred because of their ties with the Emperor. For me this is rather disruptive and irritating.
Onto the stories, however, which in theory, should have made up for the cover art’s lack.
“The Character of the Hound” by Tony Pi
I have never read nor heard of this writer before, but now I want to read more of his writings. Part cautionary tale for traitors, part murder mystery and learning when to compromise, this story was engaging from the first page. Wu Fan is an engineer for the Song Dynasty and is called upon to perform a special service for his country; he is to house a shen (spirit) to help solve a murder and theft. The story moves at an even pace, with Lu Fan and then Lu Fan/Quan Shen (Hound Spirit)’s narratives being distinct, but familiar. Its an interesting concept and one I hope the author explores in another short story or even a longer novel.
And that, my friend, ends what I enjoyed best about this anthology. The very first story in the collection is the only story I truly wanted to read again. The other seventeen stories failed to impress me, but more importantly they failed to entertain me. In William F. Wu’s “Going’ Down to Anglotown” I felt distinctly uncomfortable with the author’s depiction of what would have happened if Asia had more dominance over America than Europe. By the time I reached “Bargains” by Gabriela Lee (an author I’ve read before in the short story collection By Blood We Live) I was wondering if I had read the back cover correctly.
I have no doubt that the authors included are talented, and I’m likely to even enjoy a couple of them outside of this anthology, but I could not enjoy them this time around. I know better than to fully trust the backcover blurb on a book–they are rarely ever truly indicative of the book within–but the forward filled me with hope. I just wish the book had fulfilled that hope better.… (meer)