Quill and Quire

Fiction: Novels

Soucouyant

By David Chariandy

Vancouverite David Chariandy’s debut novel works in spite of itself. None of the characters are particularly striking, the narrative is a bit choppy, and the ending feels tied up with a bow. And yet, Soucouyant ... Read More »

September 17, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

★ The Gum Thief

By Douglas Coupland

Right from the get-go we’re deep in Coupland country with The Gum Thief: the über-now pop culture references, the casual, deliciously snide vernacular, the loopy, neurotic characters you can’t help but love, and of course, ... Read More »

August 30, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

What Happened Later

By Ray Robertson

“He honored life” – so reads Jack Kerouac’s tombstone. Ray Robertson does his best to honour Kerouac’s life in his fifth novel. What Happened Later depicts Kerouac’s latter stages of existence while also detailing the ... Read More »

August 13, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Spook Country

By William Gibson

Centred around Hollis Henry, a journalist and former rock star, William Gibson’s latest novel is a taut, fast-paced journey into the world of infinite wealth and espionage. Hired originally to write about “locative art,” a ... Read More »

July 30, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

No Humans Involved

By Kelley Armstrong

If you read only one “pre-menopausal necromancer dates werewolf and battles fake reality-TV psychics and real-life teen-runaway-abducting cultists” horror novel this year, No Humans Involved might not be the best choice.The seventh of 10 planned ... Read More »

July 27, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Harmony

By Joanna Goodman

Anybody who has sat beside a child in pain, unable to do anything to help, will find the opening of Joanna Goodman’s novel Harmony compelling reading. Six-month-old Evan was born with club feet, we learn, ... Read More »

July 27, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Delible

By Anne Stone

With Delible, Vancouver writer and editor Anne Stone takes readers into the inner lives of two teenage girls, Melissa and Melora, coming of age in the Toronto suburbs in the early 1980s. The two sisters ... Read More »

July 27, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels