A drug-addled boy pines for his ex; a man deserts his post as a lift operator on his 100th birthday; a girl is exiled by her father and learns more about her ancestors than she bargained for; and a fisherman searches for the god of all gods to demand why his wife is wasting away. In 's Filaria, each of these four characters sets out from the relative comforts of their lives into a "crumbling world".
Filaria is the first novel from a new Canadian genre press, ChiZine Publications. Before I even opened the book, I was impressed by its production. From its gorgeous cover to the typesetting, Filaria looks and feels like a book that should have been published by a major house--no small feat for the first outing of a start-up publisher. But looks aside, the true wonders of the novel lurk within.
The title of the book refers a genus of fluke-like parasites that infest the blood of mammals, a role the inhabitants of Hayward's novel replicate, as they roam the claustrophobic corridors and bowers of the many-leveled structure that is their home, world and prison. Hayward weaves their stories together as they claw their way upward in search of answers.
Filaria is a startlingly original and unsettling vision of humanity's possible future, blending post-apocalyptic SF with the suspense and weirdness of Lovecraftian horror.
See Also:
ChiZine Publications: The New Canadian Source For Horror| Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick, SciFi & Fantasy |
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