Endless Sky Books

12/04/2025

SaskBooks Reviews praises THE DARK UNICORN by Edward Willett: "The Dark Unicorn is the kind of story whose magic lingers long after you turn the final page. Even among Willett’s impressive line up, this fantastical tale stands out!"

The Dark Unicornby Edward WillettPublished by Endless Sky BooksReview by Toby A. Welch $19.99 ISBN 9781989398951 I wasn’t surprised to learn that The Dark Unicorn was a finalist in the C…

11/27/2025

Just got news that I, Brax: A Battle Divine by Arthur Slade, published in print by Shadowpaw Press, has been named to The Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids & Teens list for Fall 2025. Not only that, it's a starred selection. Congratulations to Art!

Brax, hero of several Dragon Assassin tales, finally gets to tell his own story . . .On a diplomatic mission, Brax and his rider, Carmen, encounter a ghostly vision of The Nameless Goddess. She's a part leopard, part crocodile deity, who warns them she is coming to conquer their world. Brax, in his....

11/26/2025

Out now from Endless Sky Books, the first trade paperback edition of the stand-alone fantasy novel MAGEBAN by Lee Arthur Chane, originally published in mass market paperback by DAW Books. More:

Shortlisted for Regina Book Award, 2012 Saskatchewan Book Awards

“Chane makes a splash with this spectacular epic-feeling stand-alone fantasy . . . Double and triple crosses, fast-paced action, and powerful moral conviction will have readers hanging on every word.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Eight centuries ago, the MageLords fled a foe they could not defeat, hiding themselves behind an impenetrable magical Barrier. For eight centuries, they have reigned there unchallenged, wielding their power to crush any rebellion by the oppressed Commoners. But the ancient spell that forged their fortress is fraying, and there are those seeking to hasten its demise.

Prince Karl, Heir to the Keys that maintain the Great Barrier, survives a sorcerous attack—and sees his assassin incinerated by rebounding magic. Desperate Commoners, or deeper treachery among the Palace elite? Minister of Public Safety Lord Falk hunts the truth, but his ambitions run far deeper and darker: he plans to execute a forbidden ritual to shatter the Barrier, seize the throne, and unleash the Mageborn on an unsuspecting world.

Yet what lies Outside is no empty wilderness. An airship crashes through the veil from a realm of steam and iron, its young pilot, Anton Carteri, bearing wonders—and warnings of empires that forgot the old wars, rebuilding without magic. Lord Falk seeks to magically enslave Anton to his cause, but Anton and Falk’s ward, Brenna, escape him and flee across frozen lakes and savage wilds, pursued by ruthless Rangers and ancient clans nursing grudges older than the Barriers.

Unknown to all, a vengeful Healer weaves a darker spell from atrocity's ashes: a weapon to unmake the MageLords forever. As pacts unravel and loyalties fracture, one boy's survival ignites a spark that could burn two worlds to the ground.

11/23/2025

The latest episode of The Worldshapers podcast features Shadowpaw Press author Betty Jane Hegerat talking about her new short-story collection ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM.
Website: https://theworldshapers.com/2025/11/23/episode-205-betty-jane-hegerat-elephants-in-the-room/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/H_VikJOp2mA

A conversation with award-winning Calgary author Betty Jane Hegerat about her latest collection of literary short stories, Elephants in the Room.Websitebetty...

11/18/2025

Happy Book Birthday to the latest release from Shadowpaw Press, the literary short-story collection ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM by Calgary author Betty Jane Hegerat. https://shadowpawpress.com/product/elephants-in-the-room/

More:

Fourteen jewel-like stories unveil the tender chaos of lives unlived and loves unspoken

In Elephants in the Room, Betty Jane Hegerat masterfully uncovers the quiet fractures of ordinary lives—the unspoken regrets, the buried griefs, and the fragile threads of connection that bind families across generations.

From a devoted son’s frantic dash to help his mother glimpse the Queen to a reluctant father's stunned reunion with the daughter he never knew, from a woman dressing her mother-in-law for an eternal rest to a boy's guilty reckoning with a bully's untimely death, these unforgettable stories illuminate the elephants in our lives we ignore at our peril.

With tender wit and unflinching insight, Hegerat explores the weight of what we leave unsaid: the ache of lost chances, the solace of small mercies, and the stubborn grit that carries us through. As poignant as a stolen glance, as resonant as a half-forgotten lullaby, the stories in Elephants in the Room whisper the unvarnished secrets of family ties—where regrets loom large, and small acts of grace light the way home.

Praise for Elephants in the Room

"Betty Jane Hegerat is a meticulous observer of the human condition, and the family in particular. The stories in Elephants in the Room are written with succinct, unadorned prose and a gentleness that belies the strength of their messages. With warmth, humour, empathy, and intimacy, her characters search for the connection and remembrance we seek in those moments of heartbreak that punctuate all of our lives. A most moving collection of short fiction." – Lori Hahnel, author of Flicker and Vermin: Stories

"Elephants in the Room is a gorgeously beguiling collection. Individual stories are beautifully paced, with a skilful interplay between past and present. Delightful." – Peter Midgely, writer, editor, and translator

“Betty Jane Hegerat tells her stories with intense care and in a soft-voiced, clear way that is lean on descriptions, explanationa, and emotional fireworks. Even the passages of dialogue are kept short. The stories range from family members struggling to deal with everyday problems familiar to most of us that are nevertheless inescapable and painful, to the heart-shattering issues in the aftermath of broken marriages, to what to do with the willfully (or not) unfailingly incompetent family members of whom most families have at least one, to the deep love for friends whose suffering one is helpless to alleviate. In this collection, Hegerat examines with admirable restraint the serious and mostly unanswerable questions about living the ordinary life with dignity and kindness. This is a book to be loved.” – Sharon Butala, award-winning author of Leaving Wisdom

11/14/2025

Great review of Glen Sorestad's First Light, Last Light, published by Shadowpaw Press, on SaskBooks Reviews: https://reviews.skbooks.com/first-light-last-light/ "Reading First Light, Last Light is a breath of fresh air...Like melodious birdsong, First Light, Last Light sings clearly and unabashedly."

First Light, Last Lightby Glen SorestadPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Brandon Fick$19.99 ISBN 9781998273461First Light, Last Light is a fitting title for a poetry collection that concerns it…

11/12/2025

A new edition of Edward Willett, Author's first DAW Books novel, LOST IN TRANSLATION, is now available through Endless Sky Books. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/199827358X

More details:

A thrilling far-future science fiction adventure of communication and learned trust between human and alien

As a young child, the human empath Kathryn’s world was ripped apart when the alien, bat-like S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Only the Translators, the elite guild of empaths who maintain the fragile peace of the seven-race Commonwealth, were able to free her from the trauma and give her a new life.

As a young S’sinn, Jarrikk saw his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who sought to colonize his world. Crippled so that he could never fly again, he sought death, as honour demanded, but when the Guild of Translators recognized his empathic ability, that choice was forbidden him. Instead, he, too, was trained to be a Translator.

When humans and S’sinn find themselves poised on the brink of a war that could devour not only their own species but all the races of the Commonwealth, these two shattered survivors from opposite sides of the last war, in a desperate attempt to salvage peace, forge an unbreakable bond—and unlock a power that could save or doom them all.

As shadowy traitors create chos, Jarrikk and Kathryn unleash their newfound abilities in a desperate attempt to avert apocalypse—and come face to face with the deadly consequences of the power they now wield.

"This book has it all: great aliens, brilliant world-building, a breakneck plot, and a message that resonates with our times.” - Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Downloaded

11/11/2025

THE GOOD SOLDIER by Nir Yaniv, published by Shadowpaw Press, makes Aurealis Magazine's list of the best speculative fiction books of 2025 (it was published last year but reviewed this year). They call it, "A scathing satire of militarism and fascism."

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11/08/2025

Sneak cover peek! Coming soon from Edward Willett, a new edition of LOST IN TRANSLATION (originally published by Five Star and then picked up by DAW in mass-market paperback). This will come out in POD and ebook in the not-too-distant future. Here's the draft cover!

11/07/2025

As Remembrance Day nears, let us draw your attention again to ONE LUCKY DEVIL: THE FIRST WORLD WAR MEMOIRS OF SAMPSON J. GOODFELLOW, my grandfather-in-law, which came out from Shadowpaw Pressin 2018 in time for the Armistice centennial.

Born in Scotland, Sampson J. Goodfellow emigrated to Toronto as a child. Like many young Canadian men, he returned to Europe to serve his new country in the First World War, first as a truck driver, then as a night navigator on Handley Page bombers. Over a span of just six years, Sam witnessed C...

11/03/2025

Do you review books on NetGalley? You can now download an advance copy of Dwayne Brenna's The Laundryman, a gripping murder mystery set in Prince Albert in 1883/84! There's a new cover, too!

NetGalley helps publishers and authors promote digital review copies to book advocates and industry professionals. Publishers make digital review copies and audiobooks available for the NetGalley community to discover, request, read, and review.

10/28/2025

Thrilled to be able to announce that THE HEADMASTERS by Mark Morton, published by Shadowpaw Press, received the Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy at tonight's Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards in Toronto. Congratulations to Mark, who receives $5,000!

The jury members say:

“A new science fiction novel that feels like it’s already a classic… Morton's The Headmasters invites the reader into a dystopian future that is rife with traditional science fiction world building. His work brings to light the challenges of control and the puzzles that come with trying to navigate a future when the past is lost to memory… This well-paced young adult novel captures the readers’ attention right from the beginning… A page-turner that brings the reader into this speculative reality in ways that are sure to leave them with a level of discomfort and hope that will not easily be forgotten.”

JURY MEMBERS: Fatma F***j, Junior School Teacher-Librarian, Branksome Hall; Dr. Dave Jenkinson, Professor Emeritus, Children’s & YA Literature, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba, and former Editor, CM: Canadian Review of Materials; Ashley Pamenter, Manager, Programs, Girl Guides of Canada and Co-Chair, Red Maple and White Pine Steering Committees.

Complete awards results at the link!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Toronto (October 27, 2025)—The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) is excited to announce the winners for seven of its children’s book awards. Earlier tonight in a ceremony held at DoubleTree by Hilton’s downtown Toronto location, these books and their creators were...