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The Heroka Stories #0.1
Spirit Dance
AURORA AWARD WINNER
Multi-award winning author.
"Doug Smith is, quite simply, the finest short-story writer Canada has ever produced in the science fiction and fantasy genres... His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think."
—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids and FlashForward
"A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice."
— Charles de Lint
"One of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction."
— Library Journal
BOOK
The Heroka are an ancient race of shape shifters, drawing their powers and vitality from their animal totems.
Gwyn Blaidd, a Heroka of the wolf totem, has been a recluse ever since a deadly battle years ago with the Tainchel, the covert government agency that hunts the Heroka—a battle that cost him the only woman he ever loved.
But when Gwyn is asked by the head of the Heroka to stop an old friend from killing a powerful logging baron, it begins a chain of events that will force Gwyn to again confront the Tainchel—and his own dark past.
“A vivid and wonderfully written tale about Native Canadian spirits, in the vein of Thomas King.”
—Challenging Destiny
"The characters are intriguing and the story beguiling. I would like to read more about these characters."
—SF Crowsnest Book Reviews
"Works on both intimate and epic levels (including a great, high adrenaline battle between armed humans, shape-shifters and forest animals). ... Smith's Heroka are expertly realized and an interesting take on the shape-shifter mythos, and each individual character within the story is just as carefully and finely crafted. Relationships are complex and many-layered, as Smith weaves a rich back-story into the lives of his characters... Love, sex, action, intrigue, humor, the complexities of life, tragedy of death, and wonder of rebirth are all packed into 'Spirit Dance'."
— Rainbow Dragon Recommends
"An adventurous tale that's propelled by character drama ... If this was a Hollywood movie, this would be your blockbuster film, complete with adrenaline-pumping action, expensive special effects, and even a sex scene or two to lure in a mainstream audience."
—Bibilophile Stalker, Speculative Fiction Reviews
"Smith once more creates a credible and sympathetic protagonist."
—The Fix
ABOUT THE
Doug is an award-winning author of speculative fiction, with over a million words of fiction sold and over a hundred short story sales to professional markets in thirty countries and two dozen languages.
He has published three short story Chimerascope (ChiZine Publications, Canada, 2010), Impossibilia, (PS Publishing, UK, 2008), and just recently, La Danse des Esprits (Dreampress, France, 2011).
Doug has twice won Canada's Aurora Award for speculative fiction, and have been a finalist for the international John W. Campbell Award, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation's Bookies Award, and the juried Sunburst Award.
Multi-award winning author.
"Doug Smith is, quite simply, the finest short-story writer Canada has ever produced in the science fiction and fantasy genres... His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think."
—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids and FlashForward
"A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice."
— Charles de Lint
"One of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction."
— Library Journal
BOOK
The Heroka are an ancient race of shape shifters, drawing their powers and vitality from their animal totems.
Gwyn Blaidd, a Heroka of the wolf totem, has been a recluse ever since a deadly battle years ago with the Tainchel, the covert government agency that hunts the Heroka—a battle that cost him the only woman he ever loved.
But when Gwyn is asked by the head of the Heroka to stop an old friend from killing a powerful logging baron, it begins a chain of events that will force Gwyn to again confront the Tainchel—and his own dark past.
“A vivid and wonderfully written tale about Native Canadian spirits, in the vein of Thomas King.”
—Challenging Destiny
"The characters are intriguing and the story beguiling. I would like to read more about these characters."
—SF Crowsnest Book Reviews
"Works on both intimate and epic levels (including a great, high adrenaline battle between armed humans, shape-shifters and forest animals). ... Smith's Heroka are expertly realized and an interesting take on the shape-shifter mythos, and each individual character within the story is just as carefully and finely crafted. Relationships are complex and many-layered, as Smith weaves a rich back-story into the lives of his characters... Love, sex, action, intrigue, humor, the complexities of life, tragedy of death, and wonder of rebirth are all packed into 'Spirit Dance'."
— Rainbow Dragon Recommends
"An adventurous tale that's propelled by character drama ... If this was a Hollywood movie, this would be your blockbuster film, complete with adrenaline-pumping action, expensive special effects, and even a sex scene or two to lure in a mainstream audience."
—Bibilophile Stalker, Speculative Fiction Reviews
"Smith once more creates a credible and sympathetic protagonist."
—The Fix
ABOUT THE
Doug is an award-winning author of speculative fiction, with over a million words of fiction sold and over a hundred short story sales to professional markets in thirty countries and two dozen languages.
He has published three short story Chimerascope (ChiZine Publications, Canada, 2010), Impossibilia, (PS Publishing, UK, 2008), and just recently, La Danse des Esprits (Dreampress, France, 2011).
Doug has twice won Canada's Aurora Award for speculative fiction, and have been a finalist for the international John W. Campbell Award, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation's Bookies Award, and the juried Sunburst Award.
41 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 2, 2011
19 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Smith
51 books206 followersDouglas Smith is a multi-award-winning author described by Library Journal as “one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction.”
His latest work is the multi-award-winning YA urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga (The Hollow Boys, The Crystal Key, and The Lost Expedition). Other books include the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World; the collections, Chimerascope, Impossibilia, and La Danse des Esprits (translated); and the writer's guide Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction.
His short fiction has appeared in the top markets in the field, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, InterZone, Weird Tales, Baen’s Universe, Escape Pod, On Spec, and Cicada.
Published in 27 languages, Doug is a 4-time winner of Canada's Aurora Award, most recently in 2023 for The Hollow Boys, as well as the juried IAP Award for the same book. He's been a finalist for the Astounding Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, the juried Alberta Magazine Award for Fiction, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane.
Buy Doug's books
Follow Doug on Amazon
His latest work is the multi-award-winning YA urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream Rider Saga (The Hollow Boys, The Crystal Key, and The Lost Expedition). Other books include the urban fantasy novel, The Wolf at the End of the World; the collections, Chimerascope, Impossibilia, and La Danse des Esprits (translated); and the writer's guide Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction.
His short fiction has appeared in the top markets in the field, including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, InterZone, Weird Tales, Baen’s Universe, Escape Pod, On Spec, and Cicada.
Published in 27 languages, Doug is a 4-time winner of Canada's Aurora Award, most recently in 2023 for The Hollow Boys, as well as the juried IAP Award for the same book. He's been a finalist for the Astounding Award, CBC's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, the juried Alberta Magazine Award for Fiction, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane.
Buy Doug's books
Follow Doug on Amazon
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 23, 2022
4.5 stars
May 2, 2023
I very much enjoyed this short but extremely well-written story.
The author was new to me, I found the recommendation somewhere online, but I am now a fast fan.
I appreciated the different perspective on shape-shifters, something I don't read much of. I rather enjoyed the Canadian content, the tight writing, and the flow of events.
As this story was a prequel to a larger work, The Wolf At The End of The World, of course I had to go and look that up. So far, it is every bit as engrossing as this tale was.
If you like shape-shifter tales, mixed with a serving of First Nations lore, danger and justice...this is the story you want to read next!
The author was new to me, I found the recommendation somewhere online, but I am now a fast fan.
I appreciated the different perspective on shape-shifters, something I don't read much of. I rather enjoyed the Canadian content, the tight writing, and the flow of events.
As this story was a prequel to a larger work, The Wolf At The End of The World, of course I had to go and look that up. So far, it is every bit as engrossing as this tale was.
If you like shape-shifter tales, mixed with a serving of First Nations lore, danger and justice...this is the story you want to read next!
July 12, 2020
Spirit Dance opens a fascinating new world in Douglas Smith’s writing! I was thrilled to step through this door.
Gwyn Blaidd is part of the Heroka, Man but also animal. He has been living in his isolated home in the wilds far from others. But when a friend is about to commit a vengeful act, he leaves his home in hopes of deterring and saving the man. But there are those who seek to eliminate his kind. What will he truly be facing?
I was gifted a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Gwyn Blaidd is part of the Heroka, Man but also animal. He has been living in his isolated home in the wilds far from others. But when a friend is about to commit a vengeful act, he leaves his home in hopes of deterring and saving the man. But there are those who seek to eliminate his kind. What will he truly be facing?
I was gifted a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
December 27, 2018
Fantastique ! Que puis-je dire de plus ? Avec La Danse des Esprits, j'ai lu 13 nouvelles de fantastique en français, écrits par l'auteur primé Douglas Smith; des belles histoires que m'ont captivées dans les ténèbres; des histories que je ne les oublierai jamais.
J'ai acheté le livre directement à l'éditeur en ligne (https://dreampress.com/produit/la-dan...) et il est arrivé chez moi au Nicaragua dans quelques jours, sans aucun problème.
J'ai acheté le livre directement à l'éditeur en ligne (https://dreampress.com/produit/la-dan...) et il est arrivé chez moi au Nicaragua dans quelques jours, sans aucun problème.
August 18, 2019
Spirit Dance (The Heroka Stories Book 0.1) is my first introduction to award winning Canadian author Douglas Smith's writing. I loved its lyrical quality and expect to read more in this series. I enjoyed the Canadian Indian lore and legend of this five star story, a peek into the Heroka, an ancient tribe of shape shifters of the canadian wilderness.
July 17, 2017
Short story with meaning
Do you think that most can hold attention in a short story? Most would not, Douglas Smith does it! KUDO'S
Do you think that most can hold attention in a short story? Most would not, Douglas Smith does it! KUDO'S
September 24, 2018
I really liked this Story
I feel this author is a excellent story teller and through a short story it was well thought out and written. I will go on to read more by this author.
I feel this author is a excellent story teller and through a short story it was well thought out and written. I will go on to read more by this author.
July 30, 2015
A student protest against clear cutting of old growth forests in Northern Ontario ends in tragedy and leads to an escalating series of events involving family secrets, a covert government agency and a powerful and ancient race of shape shifters in Douglas Smith's Spirit Dance.
Gwyn Blaidd is a man who has fought and won, loved and lost, and generally had enough of civilization and all of the complications it brings. So he's retreated to a hidden dwelling in Ontario's far north to live alone with the land. When a new trouble threatens his friends, however, Gwyn is forced to come out of seclusion to battle an old enemy he thought he had cowed into submission long ago. Gwyn's quest takes him back to familiar territory where he must face ghosts from his past as he fights in the present to save the future of his people.
Spirit Dance is a story which works on both intimate and epic levels. Gwyn is called in to do battle for his people -- and Spirit Dance includes a great, high adrenaline battle between armed humans, shape-shifters and forest animals -- but Gwyn is also very much fighting for his own soul. Douglas Smith's Herok'a are expertly realized and an interesting take on the shape-shifter mythos, and each individual character within the story is just as carefully and finely crafted. Relationships are complex and many-layered, as Doug is able to weave a rich back-story into the lives of his characters within the tight space of the short story, providing rich details which bring his characters and their interactions to life.
Love, sex, action, intrigue, humour, the complexities of life, tragedy of death, and wonder of rebirth are all packed into Spirit Dance.
Gwyn Blaidd is a man who has fought and won, loved and lost, and generally had enough of civilization and all of the complications it brings. So he's retreated to a hidden dwelling in Ontario's far north to live alone with the land. When a new trouble threatens his friends, however, Gwyn is forced to come out of seclusion to battle an old enemy he thought he had cowed into submission long ago. Gwyn's quest takes him back to familiar territory where he must face ghosts from his past as he fights in the present to save the future of his people.
Spirit Dance is a story which works on both intimate and epic levels. Gwyn is called in to do battle for his people -- and Spirit Dance includes a great, high adrenaline battle between armed humans, shape-shifters and forest animals -- but Gwyn is also very much fighting for his own soul. Douglas Smith's Herok'a are expertly realized and an interesting take on the shape-shifter mythos, and each individual character within the story is just as carefully and finely crafted. Relationships are complex and many-layered, as Doug is able to weave a rich back-story into the lives of his characters within the tight space of the short story, providing rich details which bring his characters and their interactions to life.
Love, sex, action, intrigue, humour, the complexities of life, tragedy of death, and wonder of rebirth are all packed into Spirit Dance.
December 19, 2019
This wonderful ‘novelette’, as I’ve heard it called, has all the hallmarks of Douglas Smiths excellent writing. He creates entire worlds that feel so much larger than the story they come from. Characters that have real life to them that you empathise with their struggles. There’s always an intelligent thought behind each story that gives it strength. I absolutely love Douglas Smiths writing and savour each first reading. This story hooked me like so many of his others and stayed with longer after reading it. I wanted to know more about where the characters came from and where they’ll go. Thankfully, we can get some of that with the full length book ‘The Wolf At The End Of The World’ which is a sequel. This is a great story about Shape-Shifters, or people that can change into animals, and it’s a surprise to note it’s one of the author's earlier works. The authors writing style brings life to the story with simplicity and seeming ease. Overall, it’s a short that feels much grander than regular short stories and feels so alive it’s impossible not to be drawn in by it. Highly recommended.
October 24, 2017
I was unfamiliar with Douglas Smith, but I love shifter stories and stories that incorporate mythology, so I signed up for the author's mailing list and accepted a free copy of this story to sample his work. I was impressed and delighted. It's been a little while since I read this, and it has stuck with me. The writing is both spare and lyrical and I loved the rhythm of it. The story is sad and surprising but also has moments of humor. I can't wait to revisit the world of the Heroka and read more about these characters!
Highly recommended both for fans of literary short stories and paranormal fantasy.
Highly recommended both for fans of literary short stories and paranormal fantasy.
May 17, 2011
This book hooked me in on the world of shape shifters created by Douglas Smith. There is something eerie about the setting, the woods, the town, and yet something enticing, too. Not going to give anything away about the story here. Just sayin: it's a great read.
December 20, 2022
This is a tale based on the legends that hold that some Ojibwa Men are able to shape-shift into their animal totems. It is a story of friends torn apart by love of the same woman and authorities who fear anything they perceive as different.
August 23, 2017
Amazing
I got this based on the blurb written by Charles de Lint. The story was dark and haunting. His writing calls up amazing images. I will read more of his works.
I got this based on the blurb written by Charles de Lint. The story was dark and haunting. His writing calls up amazing images. I will read more of his works.
December 23, 2017
One word ... fantastic. Worth every second of your time!
February 12, 2018
Anne Kinslow.
A lovely tale of Native Canadian Spirits. I enjoyed this book immensely.
A lovely tale of Native Canadian Spirits. I enjoyed this book immensely.
January 2, 2021
Short and beautiful.
April 30, 2023
Spirit Dance - a review by Rosemary Kenny.
A brief (37 pages), but fascinating multicultural novelette, Doug Smith's Spirit Dance is a must for fans of Mark Reps' Zeb Hanks series and Stephenie Mayer's Twilight novels and movies.
MC wolf shifter Gwyn Blaidd, (aka Grey Legs) follows his friend Robert Arcas to the Muskokas resort, the site of a logging operation protest - and now a murder scene.
Still brooding over his ex-girlfriend Estelle, he meets and falls for neophyte shifter Liddia, whose abusive stepdad is harrassing her, and beating her Mom.
As Gwyn and Robert meet and face-off, their mutual nemeses the Tainchel attack and many deaths follow on both sides.
A poignant ceremony changes much and though the next stage in the adventure is unrevealed, Spirit Dance still makes a compelling introduction to the writing of Douglas Smith, which you're sure to want more of. Get a copy today and tell all your friends!
A brief (37 pages), but fascinating multicultural novelette, Doug Smith's Spirit Dance is a must for fans of Mark Reps' Zeb Hanks series and Stephenie Mayer's Twilight novels and movies.
MC wolf shifter Gwyn Blaidd, (aka Grey Legs) follows his friend Robert Arcas to the Muskokas resort, the site of a logging operation protest - and now a murder scene.
Still brooding over his ex-girlfriend Estelle, he meets and falls for neophyte shifter Liddia, whose abusive stepdad is harrassing her, and beating her Mom.
As Gwyn and Robert meet and face-off, their mutual nemeses the Tainchel attack and many deaths follow on both sides.
A poignant ceremony changes much and though the next stage in the adventure is unrevealed, Spirit Dance still makes a compelling introduction to the writing of Douglas Smith, which you're sure to want more of. Get a copy today and tell all your friends!
May 4, 2019
You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com
Actual rating of 3.5
Gwyn is one of the Heroka, an ancient race of shapeshifters. He is a Heroka of the Wolf totem. After living life as a recluse due to a deadly battle with a government agency known as the Tainchel, he is contacted by the head of Heroka, who asks for his help in stopping another friend from killing a logging baron, he can't refuse. In accepting the offer, Gwyn will be forced to face the monsters of his past as well as the Taichel themselves.
I really loved the inclusion of the Native Canadian spirits in this story. If I see a book that has anything to do with the Native spirits of any country, I'm generally sold, regardless of what the story is actually about. Something about the Natives around the world just absolutely fascinates me, their legends, their history, their culture and people, everything. So I was instantly sold when I saw that this story centred around native spirits.
I enjoyed the characters we met in this story, I found that Gwyn was incredibly interesting , and Smith was able to add a layer of depth to the character, even though this is only a short story. The supporting characters were just as well written, and I would be incredibly interested in learning more about them.
The story itself was fast paced, and even though short, packed in a lot of different aspects. This story is a brilliant peek into the world of the Heroka, and even though, at times, I couldn't tell if the story was being told in the past or re-lived in the present, it was still very strong. It has peaked my interest into the world and characters that Smith has created, and I'm definitely going to be checking out the other books in this world.
Actual rating of 3.5
Gwyn is one of the Heroka, an ancient race of shapeshifters. He is a Heroka of the Wolf totem. After living life as a recluse due to a deadly battle with a government agency known as the Tainchel, he is contacted by the head of Heroka, who asks for his help in stopping another friend from killing a logging baron, he can't refuse. In accepting the offer, Gwyn will be forced to face the monsters of his past as well as the Taichel themselves.
I really loved the inclusion of the Native Canadian spirits in this story. If I see a book that has anything to do with the Native spirits of any country, I'm generally sold, regardless of what the story is actually about. Something about the Natives around the world just absolutely fascinates me, their legends, their history, their culture and people, everything. So I was instantly sold when I saw that this story centred around native spirits.
I enjoyed the characters we met in this story, I found that Gwyn was incredibly interesting , and Smith was able to add a layer of depth to the character, even though this is only a short story. The supporting characters were just as well written, and I would be incredibly interested in learning more about them.
The story itself was fast paced, and even though short, packed in a lot of different aspects. This story is a brilliant peek into the world of the Heroka, and even though, at times, I couldn't tell if the story was being told in the past or re-lived in the present, it was still very strong. It has peaked my interest into the world and characters that Smith has created, and I'm definitely going to be checking out the other books in this world.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews