Corridor to Nightmare, the last fantasy novel written by the late, great Canadian author Dave Duncan before his death
Corridor to Nightmare, a new, never-before-published fantasy novel by the late Dave Duncan, one of Canada’s most celebrated authors of science fiction and fantasy, will be released by Regina, Saskatchewan-based publisher Shadowpaw Press on August 13, 2024.
A previous posthumous novel, the science fiction novel The Traitor’s Son, came out in May.
“I’m thrilled to be able to bring this fantasy novel to the many readers who have sorely missed Dave since his untimely death in 2018,” says Edward Willett, publisher of Shadowpaw Press. “I met Dave many times over the years and was a huge fan of both the man and his writing.”
Duncan’s long-time editor, Dr. Robert Runté, polished the novel for publication.
“I am excited that Corridor to Nightmare has found a home with Shadowpaw Press,” says Dr. Runté. “Publisher Edward Willett has recognized the importance of Dave Duncan’s unique vision, not just to Duncan’s many fans, but to the canon of Canadian speculative literature. Corridor to Nightmare blurs the line between science fiction and fantasy, combines mystery with romance, and explores themes of vengeance vs pacifism, all within a compelling narrative. Corridor to Nightmare confounds the usual marketing categories and brings a uniquely Canadian perspective to what is possible within the speculative genre.”
About the book
When one life ends, another begins.
After forty years as the village school teacher in the idyllic valley of Greenbottom, Agatha is looking forward to a quiet retirement. Instead, an enigmatic stranger arrives to drag her through a long-closed portal to another world.
Confronted with a completely foreign culture steeped in magic and violence, Agatha finds herself a crucial pawn being played between rival factions. The only way forward through the rigid traditions and convoluted politics of the Archons of Otopia is to remain true to herself and her Greenbottom ideals.
But will it be enough to save, not only herself, but the man to whom she is now magically bound in love?
About the author
Born and raised in Scotland, Dave Duncan moved to Calgary, Alberta, after graduating from university to take up his thirty-year career as a geologist. As the oil boom faltered in the 1980s, he sold his first novel and switched careers to become one of the most prolific and popular Canadian authors of science fiction and fantasy, with more than sixty-five traditionally published novels. Early in his career, he was producing books so fast his publisher could not keep up, so he wrote a fantasy trilogy under the name Ken Hood for a different house and a historical novel about the fall of Troy as Sarah B. Franklin.
Duncan won the Aurora Award for Best Novel in 1990 and again in 2007 and was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in 2015. He died on October 29, 2018.
