Land/Space: An Anthology of Prairie Speculative Fiction

Joanne Wotypka is a branch library assistant in the Cameron Library at
the University of Alberta.

Edited by noted science-fiction authors Candas Jane Dorsey and Judy
McCrosky, Land/Space presents a varied set of stories composed by
prairie dwellers and admirers. The short fiction is interspersed with
poetry, which tends to interrupt the flow of the stories.

The collection starts off with “Mormonism and the Saskatoon Space
Programme,” a witty look at the collision of religion and science in
Canada’s heartland. One of the book’s highlights is Judy
McCrosky’s “Horsepower,” an amusing look at the human fascination
with and personification of powerful automobiles (if this is where gene
splicing is taking us, the future will indeed be interesting). Other
stories take the reader into the prairie of the future (whether
paradisiacal, apocalyptic, or simply remote in time) and explore how
this underestimated landscape will be an important part of the future
Earth.

While there are some excellent examples of short fiction in this
anthology, there are also some selections that are a bit weaker, which
makes for uneven reading. Despite this, Land/Space is a worthwhile
addition to the science-fiction section of both home and public
libraries.