Going on Tour with The Dream Rider Saga by: Douglas Smith —Guest Post & Giveaway Included!

3 days ago13 min read

Hi everyone. Today I am featuring Douglas Smith on my blog. He is writing a special guest post that is part of his tour for his series: "The Dream Rider Saga."Check out the guest post below along with all the books in the series details. Start the series today if you haven't yet and make sure to check out the giveaway at the bottom of this post.

The Dream Rider Saga by: Douglas Smith, Tour Banner

What is distinctly Canadian about your work? What Canadian themes do you work with?

Well, beyond the Canadian and Toronto settings in many of my stories, one of themes that recurs in my work is the conflict between our civilization and the natural wilderness, as our resource-based industries, which feed our cities’ growing hunger for timber, water, power, minerals, and land, consumes more and more of the natural world and habitats of our wildlife. Our country has always been defined by its vast wilderness areas, and yet most of our population lives in only a few highly urbanized pockets of that vastness. So, there’s this destructive dichotomy between us and the land we live in—we live off the land but we don’t really live in it. But for those who do live there and for the wildlife species that live there, we’re destroying more of that wilderness every year to feed the hunger of the cities. This is the central theme in The Wolf at the End of the World and in most of my other Heroka stories. The Heroka are a race of shape shifters whose vitality as a race is tied directly to the vitality of their totem animal species, species that are dwindling as their natural habitats are destroyed by logging or mining concerns, or flooded for hydro-electric projects.

Other Canadian themes in my work include a suspicion of both corporate and political power, a suspicion that I think is greater here in Canada than, for example, in the US.

What are some recurring themes in your work?

I think there are a few influences or themes that I keep returning to or seem to recur in my work: certainly mythology, both classical and native; animals and environmental issues; shapeshifters; characters with disabilities; suspicion of corporate and governmental power; dystopias where humans are oppressed not by totalitarian governments, but by private corporations; the negative effects of colonialism, both European (my novel, THE WOLF AT THE END OF THE WORLD) and future interstellar colonialism (my stories “Memories of the Dead Man,” “Scream Angel,” and “Enlightenment”)

What can spec fic tell us about ourselves as readers and as a society?

I’d go back to the “distorted mirror” analogy I mentioned above. Fantasy or SF can use other worlds—future or alternate—to focus on aspects of our real world, our shared beliefs, our conflicting beliefs, our humanity, our inhumanity, our potential, our failings, to let us view ourselves through a different lens, at a slightly different angle. Speculative fiction, by the very nature of its unreality, can make us see our reality in ways that mimetic fiction cannot. How we relate to those views, which messages resonate with us as individual readers, can then tell us something about ourselves.

What social issues can Spec Fic explore?

Anything. Literally, anything.

If there is a social issue that a writer wishes to explore and bring attention to, speculative fiction provides the freedom through its “distorted mirror” to let a writer bring whatever focus they desire to that issue. I really see no limits. Rather, I think that SF&F offer more options for doing so than within the restrictions of mainstream mimetic fiction.

What role does diversity play in your work?

Most of the world’s problem would disappear if we each would recognize and celebrate the diversity of humanity. Genders, sexual orientations, races, beliefs, lifestyles, opinions. We are each of us unique, and our differences are a strength not a threat. Each person brings a different perspective, from their unique situation and life experiences, and we can never know which fresh perspective will see the solution to a problem we all are facing.

I’m a character writer, so I explore and include diversity in my stories through my characters. I discover my story through my characters. I use multiple point-of-view characters, as that lets me explore different perspectives, both in a story and on an issue. My characters cover a broad range beyond the standard straight, white male that has dominated SF&F for so long.

I aim at a balance of gender and racial diversity in my characters. About half of my stories have females as the main character or a key point-of-view character.

In my Dream Rider Saga trilogy, an urban fantasy trilogy set in Toronto, the two main protagonists are a mixed-race male (Japanese / Caucasian) and a black female, plus Spanish, French-Canadian, Chinese, Korean, other non-Caucasian characters, and gay characters. My current WIP has an Asian female POV character.

My novel, The Wolf at the End of the World, has three female and three male POV characters. Beyond a gender diversity, half of the main characters in that book are Cree or Ojibwa. One of the characters is even dead, which is a sector of our society that is usually not given a voice, so I’m trying to do my part 😉.

Having a son with a disability, I’ve often included characters with their own challenges in my stories: the blind boy, Zach, in The Wolf; Will’s agoraphobia in The Dream Rider series; a son with autism in “Symphony;” parents dealing with a newborn with spina bifada in “The Balance;” and others.

What is the virtue of creating characters outside the mainstream?

It’s certainly fun from a creative perspective. Aside from that, characters outside the norm, whether they be humans with disabilities, aliens in our universe, humans from our possible futures, or characters from an entirely different reality, alternate or fantasy, aid in bringing the distorted mirror into focus. These characters can look at our world, our societies, our problems with fresh eyes and fresh outlooks, and thereby show readers a different perspective.

Or they can just be freaking cool, giving a reader that sense of wonder that only speculative fiction can deliver.

What inspires you about Springsteen’s work?

I’m a huge fan and have been for years. I’d say the inspiration comes from the simple fact that Springsteen is an astounding storyteller. His strongest songs are ballads, stories told through real characters, everyday people struggling with whatever life has thrown at them. And there is generally such an attitude of defiance and hope despite the odds against them. So many of his songs just speak to me of the bigger stories behind the ones that he just gets to hint at in just a few lines.

I’ve published three such stories so far: “Going Down to Lucky Town,” “Radio Nowhere,” and “If I Should Fall Behind.” I have more stories I want to write based on or inspired by his songs, and someday I’d love to put out a collection of all my Springsteen inspired stories. My dream would be to get his endorsement, include some lyrics of the songs to intro each story, and have all the proceeds go to his favourite charity. It’ll probably never happen, but I’ll keep writing the stories (because I’d do that anyway).

What inspires your dystopian stories of oppressive corporations not governments?

That reality is starting to look frighteningly possible, but I don’t view SF, even when an author is writing about a future scenario, as a predictive literature. It is, however, a critical literature. To me, the power of speculative fiction, both SF and fantasy, comes not from predicting the future (we rarely get it right), but from its ability to hold up a fantasy or future world as a mirror to our own, reflecting back some aspect of our lives that we should be concerned about—the “if this goes on...” kind of tale.

I wouldn’t say that I’m fascinated with a corporate power dystopia or with dystopic stories in general. I have written several linked stories that assume a continued increase in the power of corporations at the expense of geographically-based powers—and at the expense of the individual. To me, that is simply a feasible and believable extrapolation of our current world. Any power shift usually results in an imbalance in power and a future where the haves and have-nots are changing. That means tension and conflict, which is what a story needs to succeed, to be interesting to a reader. My stories are character-driven, so in these stories, I end up telling of characters who are fighting a much more powerful corporate state. Picking the underdog, the have-nots, makes for a more interesting story than picking the suits.

What inspires your focus on oppressive colonialism (incl interstellar)?

I think my stories that fall into that category are the linked stories I mentioned above, all written in the same “universe” and dealing with corporate colonialism, not the traditional version. So I have probably answered the “corporatization” part of the question to a large degree in my above response.

For the colonialization inspiration, I think that the research for my first novel accounted for that. The novel is a present-day urban fantasy, not SF. But it leverages Cree and Ojibwa mythology, and I researched not just their story telling tradition and mythology, but also the destructive impact of European colonization and our conscious attempts to systematically destroy all indigenous culture and spiritual beliefs and practices. Those themes definitely show up in these stories.

The novel also has a theme of environmental and animal habitat destruction, tied to our society’s insatiable hunger for consumer products and power and natural resources, which, in a sense, represents modern “colonialization” in our own country—as we exploit our own wilderness at the expense of the animals who live in it and the peoples who still rely on it for their livelihoods.

What is the role of the urban in your work? What can SF teach us about the cities?

I’d say that I have always enjoyed stories set in our modern cities where something of the other intrudes, unnoticed by most except (of course) by the story’s main character who is brought to a close encounter with the strangeness, either by chance or by intent. It’s one of the reasons that I enjoy the work of Charles de Lint so much. Other works that come to mind are the openings in the first books of Zelazny’s Amber series, Andre Norton’s Witchworld series, and Farmer’s World of Tiers series.

Regarding what spec fic can teach us about urban life, it’s back to the distorted mirror again. We are becoming increasingly dependent on technology to make our complex urban civilizations run. But at what cost? SF contains multitudinous extrapolations of what our cities and city-dwellers might become. We’ve gone from the fanciful city of flying cars in early SF to darker and dystopic views, and I’d include my own “Going Harvey in the Big House” in the latter category.

The Dream Rider Saga by: Douglas Smith, Promo Graphic

Will Dreycott is a superhero. In his dreams...and in yours.

The Hollow Boys

The Dream Rider Saga Book 1

by: Douglas Smith

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Add to your TBR List!

GOODREADS

Check out Reviews and Recommendations!

BOOKBUB

The Hollow Boys by: Douglas Smith, Promo Graphic

WINNER OF THE 2023 AURORA AWARD FOR BEST YA NOVEL

WINNER OF THE 2023 JURIED IAP AWARD FOR BEST YA NOVEL

“Thrilling YA fantasy” —BookLife (Editor’s Pick)

“A must-read story for YA fantasy fans.” —Blueink Review (Starred review)

“Inventive, engaging, and boundless fun.” —The Ottawa Review of Books

PRAISE FOR THE HOLLOW BOYS:

“This arresting series kickoff grips from the start as it introduces its inventive milieu, its flawed but fantastically powered hero, its playful worldbuilding, and a host of tantalizing mysteries. … [A] vigorously imaginative scenario. … Takeaway: Thrilling YA fantasy”

—BookLife (Editor’s Pick)

“An assured, confident novel … A must-read story for YA fantasy fans.”

—Blueink Review (Starred review)

“Inventive, engaging, and boundless fun.” —The Ottawa Review of Books “A fun supernatural tale with well-developed characters and a touch of romance.”

—Kirkus Reviews

PRAISE FOR DOUGLAS SMITH:

"The man is Sturgeon good. Zelazny good. I don't give those up easy."

—Spider Robinson, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner

"A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice."

—Charles de Lint, World Fantasy Award winner

"His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think."

—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner

BLURB:

Vanishing street kids. An ancient evil. The end of the world.

Our only hope? A hero who can't leave home.

At seventeen, Will Dreycott is a superhero…in his dreams. And in yours.

Eight years ago, Will's parents, shady dealers in ancient artifacts, disappeared on a jungle expedition. Will, the sole survivor, returned home with no memory of what happened, bringing a gift…and a curse.

The gift? Will can walk in our dreams. At night in Dream, Will hunts for criminals—and his parents. During the day, his Dream Rider comic, about a superhero no one knows is real, has made Will rich.

The curse? Severe agoraphobia. Will can't go outside. So he makes his home a skyscraper with everything he needs in life—everything but the freedom to walk the streets of his city.

Case, an orphan Will's age, survives on those streets with her younger brother, Fader. Survives because she too has a gift. She hears voices warning her of danger. And Fader? Well, he fades.

When street kids start vanishing, the Dream Rider joins the hunt. Will’s search becomes personal when Case breaks into his tower to escape her own abduction. Fader isn't so lucky.

As Will and Case search for Fader and the missing kids, an unlikely romance grows between the boy with everything and the girl with nothing except the freedom Will longs for.

But as they push deeper into the mystery, they confront an ancient power feeding on these forgotten kids to restore itself. And once restored, no one in the world will be safe.

To defeat this creature, Will must do the impossible.

Go outside.

On Sale Until January 11th!

Purchase your Copy Today!

The Dream Rider Saga by: Douglas Smith, Tour Graphic

The Crystal Key