Status
Checked out
Call number
Call number
FIC VAN
Collection
Description
In Richard Van Camp's fictionalized north anything can happen and yet each story is rooted in a vivid contemporary reality. The stories offer a potent mix of tropes from science fiction, horror, Western and Aboriginal traditions. The title story pits Torchy against Smith Squad, fighting for love and family in a bloody, cathartic, and ultimately hopeful narrative. Van Camp's characters repeatedly confront the bleakness of sexual assault, substance addiction and violence with the joy and humour of inspired storytelling.
Publication
Great Plains Publications (2013), Edition: Reprint, 200 pages
Original language
English
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member b.masonjudy
This is an entertaining collection of short stories set in the Northwest Territories. I particularly liked Van Camp's take on the windigo/wheetago tales in "On the Wings of This Prayer" and "The Fleshing." The world of Godless but Loyal to Heaven's stories are intertextual and the author makes use
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of this fact by using a range of perspectives and giving energy to each of his narrator's their the authenticity of their voice. The best tales were ones that condensed the action, the narratives seems to suffer a bit of overwriting, particularly in the title story, which could be a novella. The story is compelling, Torchy, the local undefeated town tough guy has to take on a whole gang of men, but loses momentum because of a combination of distended dialogue, flashbacks, and unnecessary repetition of plot points. Show Less
ISBN
1926531736 / 9781926531731