The End of the Ice Age

It has taken far too long for this collection to get its first review. Disappointing, because it is such a strong collection. Mark Anthony Jarman has said, of Young's first collection, that Young "assembles the silhouettes of a loopy suburb nation. He is our seeing-eye dog." He could just as easily have said the same of this one. Yet, for my money -- and I suppose it was that -- this is a far stronger collection than Rhymes with Useless. Taut, mature, merciless -- yes, Terence, merciless -- memorable. You should pick up a copy today.

So at least the first review of the book is bordering on a rave. From the Victoria Times Colonist:

The End of the Ice Age is a collection for adults, by which I mean that these characters have usually lived long enough to know -- though not to behave -- better. ... Call the stories summer reading for those who haven't forgotten the winter. ... In this world, speech is a dangerous substance, both vulnerable and volatile. Dialogue usually signals conflict... Flirting is sparring. ... The best stores in Ice Age maintain Young's mordant gaze, but their humour becomes something more profound than self-laceration. It is a way to point to, if not always to reach, the possibility of intimacy. ... In any case, the short stories in The End of the Ice Age are the perfect length. In 10 to 15 pages, there is space for everything a story needs to do, if you know how to do it as Terence Young does.