Book Review: Take Us to Your Chief and Other Stories by Drew Hayden Taylor

This review was first published by Booklist on March 3, 2017.

Taylor is on a mission to create science fiction written by indigenous First Nations authors. That alone makes his collection of short stories important. These nine stories are highly entertaining, the quality is high, and his range of tone is impressive. The First Nations perspective gives an interesting take on the “first contact” theme, paralleling the arrival of Europeans to the Americas. Most of these stories are humorous, but there are a couple serious ones thrown in. Many have a 1950s, Silver Era, silly pop-movie feel, which lends them a nostalgic patina. Unfortunately, the retro feel of these stories is at odds with the progressive goal of the author, coming across a tad dated and frivolous. The collection is a fun and quick read, but as entertaining as these stories are, such a slim volume isn’t quite enough to satisfy. Still, readers will be looking for more to come from Taylor.