Speculative Fiction

With Cole barely clinging to life, Eva fearlessly takes the lead to investigate Mihko’s diabolical experiments. But where’s Brady?

After finding out Mihko reinstated the Reckoner Initiative in Breakdown, Cole and Eva confronted Mihko head-on. But when Eva stumbles across a secret laboratory, she finds her worst nightmares come to life. After a vicious battle with Mihko’s newest test subject leaves Cole close to death, Eva is forced to continue their investigation without him. With Brady missing and Cole in recovery, Eva is on her own.

What new terrors has Mihko created? Can they be stopped? And can Eva find Brady before it’s too late?

Awards

• Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Awards, Graphic Novel 2023 Winner

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 15 to 18.

This graphic novel series, The Reckoner Rises, is a continuation of The Reckoner trilogy.  This is the first volume in the series.

Subjects / Themes: Indigenous, Science Fiction, Mental Illness, Superheroes

Additional Information
80 pages | 6.50" x 10.00" | Paperback

An Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual, in the YA fantasy debut from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and the Otherworld series.

Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.

Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.

But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.

Reviews
"This smart, entertaining speculative novel gives readers a unique and moving portrait of young life — and the possibilities for gaming life — from a tribally specific corner of the world." —Publishers Weekly

"A thrilling, high-tech page-turner with deep roots." —Kirkus Reviews

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 12+.

This book is part of the Floraverse series.

This book is available in French: Un pied dans chaque monde

Additional Information
304 pages | 5.50" x 8.20" | Paperback

Wapke—meaning “tomorrow” in the Atikamekw language—is Quebec’s first collection of science fiction short stories by Indigenous writers. Fourteen authors from various nations and different backgrounds project us into the future through their moving, poetic, worrying, and sometimes fantastical tales, addressing current social, political, and environmental themes. From time travelling Indigenous warriors to rebellious language and knowledge keepers, from Big Trees in a lake to a human sausage factory, from living on the land to living in cyberspace, these stories provide a trans-Indigenous colonial critique. The brainchild of Michel Jean, Wapke can be read on different levels: as pure entertainment for sci-fi fans or as a stimulant to serious reflection. It offers an often-captivating social commentary that reveals how Indigenous people view the future as well as a hope that change will come.

Educator Information
This book is available in French: Wapke

Additional Information
160 pages | 5.00" x 8.00" | Paperback

The volume brings together two previously published novellas by Richard Wagamese, Him Standing and The Next Sure Thing, with a foreword from author Waubgeshig Rice. Both stories follow the lives of young men who have dreams for a better future. In their search for fame and fortune, Cree Thunderboy and Lucas Smoke end up on paths where their biggest challenge is staying true to themselves.

In Him Standing, Lucas Smoke learns the art of carving from his grandfather. He discovers that he is a natural; he can literally make people come to life in wood. But when Lucas is asked to carve a spirit mask by a mysterious stranger, he quickly learns that his skill with a knife could cost him his dreams.

In The Next Sure Thing, Cree Thunderboy has two things he does well: playing blues guitar and picking winning horses at the track. Picking winners is just meant to be a means to an end—Cree's goal is to make his living playing the blues. He meets a powerful man at the racetrack who convinces him he can parlay his special skill with the horses into a shot at the fame and fortune he seeks.

Celebrated author Richard Wagamese artfully crafts these thrilling yet vulnerable stories of two young men trying to find their place in the world.

Educator Information
Themes: Indigenous, Coming of Age, Own Voice, Carving, Horse Racing.

Both stories in this collection are about a young Indigenous man trying to find his way and leaning on his background and culture to help him.

Both Him Standing and Next Sure Thing have a surreal or magical element. 

Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools resource collection for grades 9 to 12 for English Language Arts.

Additional Information
248 pages | 5.50" x 8.00"

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade.

Reviews
“Rebecca Roanhorse… [is one] of the Indigenous novelists reshaping North American science fiction, horror and fantasy — genres in which Native writers have long been overlooked.” — The New York Times

"The pages turn themselves. A beautifully crafted setting with complex character dynamics and layers of political intrigue? Perfection. Mark your calendars, this is the next big thing." — Kirkus, starred review

"A a razor-sharp examination of politics, generational trauma, and the path to redemption...Roanhorse strikes a perfect balance between powerful worldbuilding and rich thematic exploration as the protagonists struggle against their fates. Fantasy fans will be wowed." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

Educator & Series Information
This is the first book in the Between Earth and Sky Series.

Additional Information
496 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

The thrilling follow-up to the bestselling, award-winning novel The Marrow Thieves, about a dystopian world where the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted for their bone marrow and ability to dream.

Years ago, when plagues and natural disasters killed millions of people, much of the world stopped dreaming. Without dreams, people are haunted, sick, mad, unable to rebuild. The government soon finds that the Indigenous people of North America have retained their dreams, an ability rumored to be housed in the very marrow of their bones. Soon, residential schools pop up—or are re-opened—across the land to bring in the dreamers and harvest their dreams.

Seventeen-year-old French lost his family to these schools and has spent the years since heading north with his new found family: a group of other dreamers, who, like him, are trying to build and thrive as a community. But then French wakes up in a pitch-black room, locked in and alone for the first time in years, and he knows immediately where he is—and what it will take to escape. 

Meanwhile, out in the world, his found family searches for him and dodges new dangers—school Recruiters, a blood cult, even the land itself. When their paths finally collide, French must decide how far he is willing to go—and how many loved ones is he willing to betray—in order to survive. This engrossing, action-packed, deftly-drawn novel expands on the world of Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning The Marrow Thieves, and it will haunt readers long after they’ve turned the final page.

Reviews
"Lush, devastating, and hope-filled novel. . . . The action never lets up and is inextricably intertwined with the personal and community histories of the diverse characters who band together from various nations. Dimaline paints a nightmarish world that is too easy to imagine; it will haunt readers long after they turn the final page." ―Kirkus Reviews

"Dimaline has created vivid characters who propel a suspenseful and atmospheric story that boldly brings past, and ongoing, darkness to light." ―Booklist

"The brutal realities faced by French in the residential school will leave readers thinking about what Indigenous people endured in the residential schools of the past. The idea of storytelling and the importance of realizing that the past and present are interwoven is beautifully conveyed and will keep readers anxious for what comes next." ―School Library Journal

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 12+

This book is available in French: Chasseurs d'étoiles

This book is part of the Marrow Thieves series.

Mature Content Warning: Hunting by Stars touches on physical and sexual violence. 

Additional Information
408 pages | 5.50" x 8.25" | Paperback

MOONSHOT: The Indigenous Comics Collection brings together dozens of creators from North America to contribute comic book stories showcasing the rich heritage and identity of indigenous storytelling. From traditional stories to exciting new visions of the future, this collection presents some of the finest comic book and graphic novel work on the continent.

Educator & Series Information
Inhabit Education Books is proud to distribute this important collection of Indigenous comic stories, originally published by Alternate History Comics. Moonshot has been published under Avani, an imprint featuring titles that extend beyond the Canadian North, giving readers the opportunity to explore cultures and stories from all over Canada and around the world.

Ages 12+

This is volume 1 in the series.

Additional Information
176 pages | 6.50" x 10.25" | colour illustrations

Drawing upon his Cree and Scandinavian roots, Harold R. Johnson merges myth, fantasy, and history in this epic saga of exploration and adventure.

While sorting through the possessions of his recently deceased neighbour, Harold Johnson discovers an old, handwritten manuscript containing epic stories composed in an obscure Swedish dialect. Together, they form The Björkan Sagas.

The first saga tells of three Björkans, led by Juha the storyteller, who set out from their valley to discover what lies beyond its borders. Their quest brings them into contact with the devious story-trader Anthony de Marchand, a group of gun-toting aliens in search of Heaven, and an ethereal Medicine Woman named Lilly. In the second saga, Juha is called upon to protect his people from invaders bent on stealing the secrets contained within the valley’s sacred trees. The third saga chronicles the journey of Lilly as she travels across the universe to bring aid to Juha and the Björkans, who face their deadliest enemy yet.

The Björkan Sagas is a bold, innovative fusion of narrative traditions set in an enchanted world of heroic storytellers, shrieking Valkyries, and fire-breathing dragons.

Additional Information
176 pages | 5.00" x 7.75" | Hardcover

Acclaimed writer, David A. Robertson, delivers suspense, adventure, and humour in this stunningly illustrated graphic novel continuation of The Reckoner trilogy.

After the events in Wounded Sky, Cole and Eva arrive in Winnipeg, the headquarters of Mihko Laboratories. They are intent on destroying the company once and for all, but their plans are thwarted when a new threat surfaces. When Cole becomes mired in terrifying visions, Eva must harness her newly discovered powers to investigate Mihko without him. Are Cole’s visions just troubled dreams or are they leading him to a horrible truth?

Perfect for fans of superheroes, The Bloodhound Gang returns in this all-new graphic novel series, The Reckoner Rises.

Reviews
“David A. Robertson's powerful Indigenous YA trilogy gets a comic-book continuation, a natural format for the adventures of an anxious teen turned tormented superhero.” - Quill & Quire

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for grades 8 to 12.

This book is part of the graphic novel series, The Reckoner Rises, a continuation of The Reckoner trilogy.  

Additional Information
72 pages | 6.50" x 10.00"

From the author of the YA-crossover hit The Marrow Thieves, a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou--a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities. A messed-up, grown-up, Little Red Riding Hood.

Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year--ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One terrible, hungover morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher named Eugene Wolff. By the time she staggers into the tent, the service is over. But as she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice.

She turns, and there Victor is. The same face, the same eyes, the same hands. But his hair is short and he's wearing a suit and he doesn't recognize her at all. No, he insists, she's the one suffering a delusion: he's the Reverend Wolff and his only mission is to bring his people to Jesus. Except that, as Joan soon discovers, that's not all the enigmatic Wolff is doing.

With only the help of Ajean, a foul-mouthed euchre shark with a knowledge of the old ways, and her odd, Johnny-Cash-loving, 12-year-old nephew Zeus, Joan has to find a way to remind the Reverend Wolff of who he really is. If he really is Victor. Her life, and the life of everyone she loves, depends upon it.

Reviews
“Empire of Wild will not let you go. Mix werewolves unlike you’ve ever read before with the mythos-expanding struggles of American Gods and blend with Cherie Dimaline’s newest heroine, the complex and wonderful Joan of Arcand, and the result is inventive, engrossing, poetic and thrilling. Empire is Dimaline’s most accomplished book yet.” —Eden Robinson, author of Monkey Beach and the Trickster trilogy

“Cherie Dimaline has written a wondrous and deeply felt novel about hypocrisy, power imbalance and the strange, dangerous space between reality and belief. Dimaline is one of the most honest and fearless writers of her generation, and Empire of Wild is an honest and fearless book.” —Omar El Akkad, author of American War

“A magical, electric novel that merges our modern urban world with the mythology of an uncolonized landscape. Dimaline’s descriptions are vivid and sordid and so, so alive. She creates a whole world of hope and hatred in the figure of a hot man in a ’79 Impala, and then takes you into the woods where a wolf dressed in a fine suit threatens to swallow you whole in disturbingly erudite language. The wonders of Indigenous values and their struggle to survive against insidious Western ideology and culture are framed in a wild adventure that cements Dimaline’s talents as a magical realist provocatrice.” —Heather O’Neill, author of The Lonely Hearts Hotel

“Empire of Wild is doing everything I love in a contemporary novel and more. It is tough, funny, beautiful, honest and propulsive—all the while telling a story that needs to be told by a person who needs to be telling it. The book feels like now, and we need more stories from Native communities to feel that way. She knows this community and this community will know she knows it when they read her, but it will resonate with so many more. Cherie Dimaline is a voice that feels both inevitable and necessary.” —Tommy Orange, author of There There

Educator Information
This book is available in French: Rougarou

Additional Information
320 pages | 5.14" x 7.99" | Paperback

In Ojibwe cosmology there are thirteen moons...

And in the pages of Ghost Lake are thirteen stories featuring an interrelated cast of characters and their brushes with the mysterious. Issa lives in fear of having her secret discovered, Aanzheyaawin haunts the roads seeking vengeance, Zaude searches for clues to her brother’s death, Garion wrestles with his sexual inclinations, Fanon struggles against an unexpected winter storm, Kylie fights to make it back to shore, Eadie and Mushkeg share a magical night, Tyner faces brutal violence, and Tyler, Clay, and Dare must make amends to the spirits before it’s too late. On the northern Ontario reserve of Ghost Lake the precolonial past is not so distant, and nothing is ever truly lost or destroyed. Because the land remembers.  

Awards

• 2021 Indigenous Voices Awards winner for Published Prose in English: Fiction 

Reviews
“Adler gifts us with this collection of intense life and death stories that straddle the worlds of the everyday and the fantastic. These stories challenge the notion of default reality and Adler crafts them with a deft hand.”—Michelle Good, author of Five Little Indians

“Ghost Lake is the border to all things known—but not in the way wider society conceives them: there is no lighthouse imposing its dichotomy on the darkness. It invites recovery and connection from its characters beautifully; story, memory, and relationship build the landscape for them to walk on.  The people of Ghost Lake move through experiences with a curiosity and bravery that I hope all readers have—where there are no experts to place rules on a community’s desire to remember. We need more collections like this.”—Tyler Pennock, author of Bones

“A memorable, necessary read, Nathan Adler’s remarkable collection Ghost Lake delves into the life-changing passages of love and loss, revenge and redemption, survival and discovery. His vital, authentic characters journey through a world in which the boundary between the so-called real and the illusory—the realm of mysteries, spirits, and myths—is itself revealed to be the illusion. These imaginative, expertly crafted stories are guaranteed to illuminate and stir, to challenge and entertain.” —Daniel Scott Tysdal, author of The Writing Moment: A Practical Guide to Creating Poems

Educator Information
An interconnected collection of stories set on the fictional Northern Ontario Reserve of Ghost Lake, featuring a cast of interrelated characters and their encounters with the supernatural and other phenomenon, with themes ranging from love, loss, and relationships, to the meaning of monstrosity, violence, tragedy, and justice.

Ghost Lake is the sequel to Nathan Adler's debut horror novel, Wrist.

Pyromaniacs, vigilantes, mysterious phenomena, prehistoric beasts, cryptid species, grave robbers and ghosts… the stories of Ghost Lake feature a cast of interrelated characters and their brushes with the supernatural, creatures of Ojibwe cosmology, the Spirit World, and with monsters, both human and otherwise. Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler shows us that the precolonial past is not so distant, that history informs the present, and nothing is ever truly lost or destroyed, because the land remembers.

Additional Information
320 pages | 5.50" x 8.00"

A bold and breathtaking anthology of queer Indigenous speculative fiction, edited by the author of Jonny Appleseed.

This exciting and groundbreaking fiction collection showcases a number of new and emerging 2SQ (Two-Spirit and queer) Indigenous writers from across Turtle Island. These visionary authors show how queer Indigenous communities can bloom and thrive through utopian narratives that detail the vivacity and strength of 2SQness throughout its plight in the maw of settler colonialism's histories.

Here, readers will discover bioengineered AI rats, transplanted trees in space, the rise of a 2SQ resistance camp, a primer on how to survive Indigiqueerly, virtual reality applications, mother ships at sea, and the very bending of space-time continuums queered through NDN time. Love after the End demonstrates the imaginatively queer Two-Spirit futurisms we have all been dreaming of since 1492.

Contributors include Nathan Adler, Darcie Little Badger, Gabriel Castilloux Calderon, Adam Garnet Jones, Mari Kurisato, Kai Minosh Pyle, David Alexander Robertson, jaye simpson, and Nazbah Tom.

Reviews
"Many of the stories offer portraits of a dead Earth from which new life springs, and all are ultimately uplifting, hinting at a way forward through the darkness of the present. Drawing on deep wells of history and experience, these powerful stories are sure to impress." —Publishers Weekly

"The so-called end times feel so perilously close right now. With such a cacophony of anxiety, despair, and cynicism bearing down on us, it is sometimes easy to forget that Indigenous peoples have been here before, and we still remain to uphold our responsibilities to the world and to one another. Our stories guide us forward into an ever-uncertain future, just as they guide us back home. And as editor Joshua Whitehead affirms in the introduction, Love after the End is a book we need right now - and well beyond the now. The stories here are difficult, they're beautiful, they're hilarious and sad and frightening and hopeful. But more than all of that, they guide us back to ourselves and to our relations on a shimmering trail of song and stardust. The two-spirit visionaries in this collection remind us in so many ways that the world is a wounded relative in need of healing, and that to abandon her in this time of trial is to betray the sacred bonds of kinship that we were meant to carry with courage and compassion. I am grateful beyond words that this book is in the world, and grateful to the writers, artists, and editor for the gift of (re)imagining futures where Indigenous love, liberation, and laughter flourish far beyond the settler imaginary. —Daniel Heath Justice, author of Why Indigenous Literatures Matter

"Each of these smart, stunning, imaginative stories has not only fuelled my imagination but also filled my heart, reminding me how dramatically different it is to experience work written with absolute love. Reading Love after the End is like being handed a glass of fresh water in the middle of the desert." —Alicia Elliott, author of A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

Additional Information
192 pages | 5.80" x 9.00"

MOONSHOT: The Indigenous Comics Collection brings together dozens of creators from North America to contribute comic book stories showcasing the rich heritage and identity of indigenous storytelling. From traditional stories to exciting new visions of the future, this collection presents some of the finest comic book and graphic novel work on the continent.

Educator & Series Information
Inhabit Education Books is proud to distribute this important collection of Indigenous comic stories, originally published by Alternate History Comics. Moonshot has been published under Avani, an imprint featuring titles that extend beyond the Canadian North, giving readers the opportunity to explore cultures and stories from all over Canada and around the world.

Ages 12+

This is volume 2 in the Moonshot series.

Additional Information
165 pages | 6.50" x 10.25" | colour illustrations

MOONSHOT: The Indigenous Comics Collection brings together dozens of creators from North America to contribute comic book stories showcasing the rich heritage and identity of indigenous storytelling. From traditional stories to exciting new visions of the future, this collection presents some of the finest comic book and graphic novel work on the continent.

Educator & Series Information
Inhabit Education Books is proud to distribute this important collection of Indigenous comic stories, originally published by Alternate History Comics. Moonshot has been published under Avani, an imprint featuring titles that extend beyond the Canadian North, giving readers the opportunity to explore cultures and stories from all over Canada and around the world.

Ages 12+

This is volume 3 in the series.

Additional Information
144 pages | 6.50" x 10.25" | colour illustrations

Award-winning author Stephen Graham Jones returns with Night of the Mannequins, a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both?

We thought we'd play a fun prank on her, and now most of us are dead.

One last laugh for the summer as it winds down. One last prank just to scare a friend. Bringing a mannequin into a theater is just some harmless fun, right? Until it wakes up. Until it starts killing.

Luckily, Sawyer has a plan. He’ll be a hero. He'll save everyone to the best of his ability. He'll do whatever he needs to so he can save the day. That's the thing about heroes—sometimes you have to become a monster first.

Reviews
"Suffused with questions about the nature of change and friendship, “Night of the Mannequins” is a fairy tale of impermanence showcasing Graham Jones’s signature style of smart, irreverent horror." —The New York Times

"Stephen Graham Jones’s range and his understanding of horror in fiction and film is staggering. In this novella he juggles—sometimes in very sly ways—slasher stories, coming of age horror, traditions of madness and unreliability, and Kaiju to create an amazingly speedy, voice-driven read that's tons of fun. Each new book of his gives his own take on a different facet of horror, and together they all add up to something really expansive and original." —Brian Evenson, author of Song for the Unraveling of the World

"Readers will delight more than once in the realization that they might be reading a different story from the one they thought was unfolding... trust Jones and enjoy the ride." —Shelf Awareness

Additional Information
144 pages | 5.00" x 8.00"