What do an interplanetary mining colony, Toronto ballet dancers, and the risen Jesus Christ have in common? They’re all part of the newest book by award-winning author Derwin Mak, XY-Girls and More Stories.
This second collection of Mak’s short science fiction features his interconnected “Siren Stone” and “XY-Girls of Southern Comfort” stories, including the Aurora Award-winning story “Transubstantiation”. On an extraterrestrial mining colony, an environment deadly to people with XX chromosomes, a diverse cast of transgender women and non-binary people take centre stage in the XY-Girls stories. The all-new story “Wedding on Southern Comfort” also brings the XY-Girls together with Jessica, the Jewish schoolgirl who is Jesus reborn, from the “Siren Stone” stories.
Five other stories complete the collection, including “The Room Where We Hid”, a futuristic tale of time travel and the January 6th insurrection in the USA, published here for the first time. The book also includes a foreword by Tanya Huff, Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Hall of Fame author of Blood Price.
Mak’s writing has been widely praised, with Amazing Stories saying of his 2024 release Mecha-Jesus and Other Stories: “This superb collection is a pleasure to read and think about.” On the titular “Mecha-Jesus”, Speculating Canada said, “Mak shows an ability to question the boundaries of religion and explore universal human themes like the quest for the ‘truth’.”
XY-Girls and More Stories is now out in trade paperback (324 pages, ISBN 978-1-998795-22-2, $28.99 CAD) and ebook (ISBN 978-1-998795-23-9, $7.99) formats through bookstores everywhere. Retailers can order wholesale copies through Ingram or by contacting the publisher directly.
In addition to his novels and short fiction, Mak co-edited Asian science fiction and fantasy anthologies The Dragon and the Stars (Aurora Award winner, 2011) and Where the Stars Rise (Alberta Book Publishing Award winner, 2018). He has degrees in accounting and military history and was the first person to capture a Pokémon inside the Royal Canadian Military Institute.
XY-Girls and More Stories is Milton, Ontario SFF publisher Brain Lag’s 57th release and third of 2025. It is the publisher’s tenth short fiction collection, alongside works by four other Ontario-based authors.
Media inquiries and requests to contact the author can be directed to publishing@brain-lag.com.
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