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Book Marks: BakkaPhoenix Books
Detail of a photo by Erin Balser/Torontoist.
Twilight. Harry Potter. Lord of the Rings. Lost. Fringe. World of Warcraft. Battlestar Galactica. Over the past decade, the science fiction and fantasy speculative fiction genre has exploded, moving from the fringes of society into mainstream popular culture. It’s not just about geeks and nerds anymore—your daughter reads and watches the stuff, and so does your mom and, heck, your grandfather. BakkaPhoenix Books has been in the middle of this revolution from the beginning, selling readers beloved classics and new surprises, all with a speculative twist.
BakkaPhoenix Books, on Queen Street West just past Bathurst, is Canada’s oldest science fiction and fantasy bookstore. “We are Toronto’s best resource for all things speculative,” manager Chris Szego says. Images of dark, uncomfortable spaces and awkward nerds gaming seriously in the back room may spring to mind with the term “science fiction and fantasy,” but BakkaPhoenix defies stereotype. The store is bright and inviting, the staff is friendly and eager to help you out, and the books in stock are surprising. The front-of-store features Yann Martel’s Beatrice and Virgil and Hope Larson’s Mercury alongside science fiction staples like Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy and Connie Willis’s Blackout.
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