... is in the latest issue of Canadian Notes & Queries (CNQ), #108, which just landed in my mailbox today. I really loved Nawaz's novel, which tells the story of a fictional coronavirus that rages across the world in 2020. Considering the fact that this long, lovely novel was written well before our actual coronavirus, COVID-19, became a pandemic early last year, it's an impressive feat of prescient imagination to say the least. Here's a snippet from my review, in which I call Songs for the End of the World:
"an expansive and richly imagined fictional world full of characters whose lives converge and interlock in startling and compelling ways ... The message [here] is clear: it's better to find connection where can than face catastrophe alone."
I think this is something we can all relate to as the pandemic continues to grip the world.
Beyond my review, there's lots of other great stuff in this latest issue of CNQ, including poetry by Phoebe Wang, fiction by Shaena Lambert, and reviews by regulars Alex Good, Brett Josef Grubisic, and Steven W. Beattie. However you get a hold of print magazines these days, check this one out.
