Douglas Smith is a five-time award-winning author described by Library Journal as "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction."

His work includes the multi-award-winning urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga (The Hollow Boys, The Crystal Key, The Lost Expedition); the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World; the collections Chimerascope, Impossibilia, La Danse des Esprits (translated), and Borderlanz; and the writer's guides, Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction and Brick by Brick: How to Build a Story.

His short fiction has appeared in the top markets in the field, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, InterZone, Weird Tales, Baen's Universe, Escape Pod, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, The Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & SF, On Spec, and Cicada.

Published in 28 languages, Doug has won Canada's Aurora Award four times, as well as the juried IAP Award. He's been a finalist for the Astounding Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, the juried Alberta Magazine Award for Fiction, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane.

Shifted - The Heroka Stories by Douglas Smith

This is the first time all of Douglas Smith's tales of the Heroka, an ancient race of shape shifters who draw their powers and vitality from their animal totems, have been collected into one volume. Three short stories, one novel, all in one place.

"Spirit Dance" is a prequel story taking place about five years before the novel, The Wolf at the End of the World. Both feature the wolf Heroka, Gwyn Blaidd.

"A Bird in the Hand" and "Dream Flight" feature the bird Heroka, Lilith Hoyl, who will appear in a planned second novel along with Gwyn.

Step into Shifted and enter the world of the Heroka.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Library Journal calls Douglas Smith "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." And that is true. It's great praise, but it only implies something amazing. Doug can write anything he turns his mind to. For this bundle, he's given us all of his Heroka tales (short stories and novels) in one place, which he has never done before. If you've never read Doug's work, then you're in for a treat. If you've read his fiction, you know what an adventure you'll be getting. – Kristine Kathryn Rusch

 

REVIEWS

  • "An immersive and enjoyable reading experience."

    – Publishers Weekly

  • "A vivid and wonderfully written tale about Native Canadian spirits, in the vein of Thomas King."

    – Challenging Destiny

  • "A very interesting turn-around story, in which our expectations are upended at the last minute. ...a good read, and sadly, far too relevant to our own present world."

    – The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf

  • "The story charms as well as pains. In other hands, it would be mawkish, but Smith avoids all the pitfalls and gives us something bittersweet instead."

    – Fantasy Literature
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

From The Wolf at the End of the World:

Everything had gone wrong, and now Mary Two Rivers was running away. Away from the dam site, away from the damage they'd done, stumbling through the bush in the dark, trying to keep up with Jimmy White Creek and ahead of the security guards. And the dogs. She could hear dogs barking now.

What had she been thinking? Why had she gone along with Jimmy and the rest of them? She was an A student. She was going to university in the fall. She had plans, plans to get off the Rez. Plans that didn't include jail.

Hanging a banner over the dam to protest the loss of Ojibwe land was one thing, but then somebody had poured gasoline on one of the construction vehicles and lit it on fire. And she'd let herself be part of it.

Just because Jimmy had a cute smile and cuter butt—a butt that was getting farther and farther ahead of her as she struggled to keep up. She was a bookworm, not an athlete, and the ground was starting to rise. Jimmy was heading for the west ridge overlooking the still dormant dam and its reservoir lake. She didn't know where the other kids were. Everyone had scattered when the guards appeared, and she'd followed Jimmy. Or tried to.

"Jimmy!" she cried in a desperate whisper. "Wait up!" She didn't know these woods anymore. If she lost him, she doubted she'd get far before the guards caught her.

Jimmy stopped on the hill ahead of her, chest heaving, breath hanging misty in the chill October air. The moonlight caught his pale, sweating face, and in that moment, she wondered how she'd ever thought he was handsome. "Mary, you gotta keep up," he panted, his voice breaking. "There's a path through the trees on top of the ridge. We'll lose them in there and cut back to the Rez." He started up the slope again, not waiting for her.

Forcing her trembling legs to move, she kept climbing. Jimmy disappeared over the top. Half a minute later, she scrambled up the last few yards. She looked around. Jimmy was nowhere in sight.

The tall jack pines stood closer here, the undergrowth thick between them, their high tops touching, blocking off the cold light from the waxing half moon. Whatever path Jimmy had taken was invisible, hidden by darkness.

She was alone and lost.

She sank to the ground, shaking. She was going to be caught. She was going to jail. What would her parents say? Their dream was for her to get a degree, to beat the odds of being born on the Rez. Their dream…

She swore softly to herself. Her dream, too. She stood up, anger conquering her fear. They would not catch her. Sucking in a deep breath, she let it out slowly to calm herself as she looked back down the hill she'd just climbed.

The dam and its dark captured lake lay in the distance below. Five burly figures were climbing the bottom of the hill. But worse, ahead of the guards, two gray shadows leapt over the rocks and brush of the slope. The dogs would reach her in less than a minute.

Turning back to the forest, she listened for any sound of Jimmy running ahead. There. Had that been a branch snapping deep in the woods? She moved in the direction of the noise, tripping over unseen rocks and roots. One patch of darkness loomed blacker than the rest. She stepped closer. It seemed to be an opening through the trees. Praying for this to be the path that Jimmy had taken, she plunged ahead.