Each year Tesseract Books chooses a team of editors from amongst the best of Canada's writers, publishers and critics to select innovative and futuristic fiction and poetry from the leaders and emerging voices in Canadian speculative fiction. Tesseracts Nine: New Canadian Speculative Fiction expands the dimensions of speculative fiction experientially, with startling visions of the future by new and established Canadian authors. Featuring twenty-three stories and poems by: Timothy J. Anderson, Sylvie Bérard, René Beaulieu, E. L. Chen, Candas Jane Dorsey, Pat Forde, Marg Gilks, Sandra Kasturi, Nancy Kilpatrick, Claude Lalumière, Anthony MacDonald, Jason Mehmel, Yves Meynard, Derryl Murphy, Rhea Rose, Dan Rubin, Daniel Sernine, Steve Stanton, Jerome Stueart, Sarah Totton, Élisabeth Vonarburg, Peter Watts, Allan Weiss, Alette J. Willis and Casey June Wolf. Edited by Sunburst and World Fantasy Award winning authors Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman, Tesseracts... Views: 614
John Corning is conflicted about his feelings for the new work force represented by Kalini, an entry level immigrant contract worker. His world has long since been up ended by their presence, but his reluctance to fully accept them is challenged one evening by chance circumstance.Victorian Melodrama currently being written as a serialisation in weekly parts. Think Sherlock Holmes meet Charles Dickens. This is the second serialisation in our serieshttps://www.5minutefiction.co.uk/penny-dreadful---weekly-serialisations/ Views: 614
When Aimee is thrust into her past, she has to come to terms with who and what she is. While battling feelings with her past and present love. Can she overcome her bloodthirsty power or succumb to who she's destined to be?After witnessing the horrific murder that was committed by her fiancée just days before their wedding, Aimee immediately flees from the life she knows. Lost in Greece, Aimee is inevitably and uncontrollably thrust into a supernatural world where she is terrified to learn what she really is. Crouching at every corner lies a new confusing memory that torments her from her previous life, while her feelings of love cease to die, but awaken more deeply for the mysteriously handsome stranger, who wants to rescue her. Battling the man, who she mistakenly still loves is a bigger conquest than imagined, but can she free her captured thoughts from the man who owns her? Facing the ultimate decision, to lose all humanity by becoming the weapon the Rogues desire most, or to destroy the creation of love. Can Aimee make the sacrifices needed to overcome deceit, love and her power that is irrepressibly blood thirsty? Views: 614
Imagine a world. The Imago Mundi is Natasha's personal favorite masterpiece. It has the ability to port inhabitants on Earth to an entirely new planet in a distant galaxy.However, it is also a dangerous toy that should not be left unsupervised. Her apprentice has taken liberties with the device while the static reality on Earth has been breached by a deranged mage. Monday no longer exists.Richard Ross, joiner, part-time local football referee, ordinary man, is about to get a shock.It’s time to meet the relatives. But guess what? They’re all dead. Even worse, they are his past lives and all share the same soul - his!With help from his Strange Relations, an angel named Joe, and Roberta (Australopithecus Robustus), Richard has to learn the last lesson of life so all will be allowed to journey towards the Light. Richard is the last of a very long line and everyone’s last chance.One small problem though; Richard is in a coma and time is fast running out. Views: 614
With a video camera in his hand and the haunting images in his head of a friend being pulled from an icy river, Eli sets off to film a documentary and, in the process, unearths harrowing truths about life in a small town.Eli wakes every morning and sees stories. He can’t help it.Eli is just an 18-year-old with tree-bark eyes who is trying to make sense of a few things: a sister who cries herself to sleep most every night because of past abuse, a father who drinks until he cannot see straight, and a mother who has a strong spirit but a frail body. But when he witnesses the Millbury police pull the bloated body of a classmate from the Brandywine river, Eli changes. Gets spooked. He takes a video camera and begins to interview the people in his small town that have been close to death.This is how Eli becomes a storyteller. The stories that he films and pens down in a leather-bound journal claw close to his heart. The stories speak to him in the black of night and force Eli to come to grips with harrowing truths about the nature of life in a small town. Views: 614
Harold has lost his job, divorce is on the horizon, a religious cult believes he's a prophet, and he's being stalked by an eerie motorcycle club and its mute, wild-haired mascot named Gator. His skeptical wife Bonnie is fighting to free him from the strange world into which he has fallen while Harold struggles with bizarre and unusual revelations. Is he really a prophet with miraculous powers?Virginia's Chesapeake Bay area is the backdrop for the story of Harold, a troubled young professional, and his smart, determined wife Bonnie. On the verge of divorce, the young couple is caught between growing financial problems, a religious cult that believes Harold is a prophet, and an eerie motorcycle club with a mute, wild-haired mascot named Gator. Skeptical Bonnie fights to free her husband from the strange world into which he as fallen while Harold struggles with bizarre happenings and unusual revelations that just may prove he really is a prophet with miraculous powers. Views: 614
When the disease spread through the world, people had no choice but to go into hiding. The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across. Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow: Rule #1—Never go out after dark. Rule #2—Always carry a weapon. Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bitten. But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply? The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires. No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure. Views: 614
Like Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. combined. Thought-provoking. Exciting. Sentient cyberts co-exist with Bios. Ninety percent of the Bios live in a fantasy world Inside, ten percent live in the dark reality Outside. One percent of the ten percent are fighting a losing war with the artificial intelligent menace running the planet. Is this the end of the world or the beginning of a new one?"In Makr's Shadow" (formerly Harry's Reality), humans now called Bios could only fail. Harry Bolls and his new found friends make a difference. Harry Bolls sees through illusion and dreams of truth. The worlds of reality, fantasy and Cyber will never be the same. Had the human race rebelled or unified in some way there might have been hope. Now, saving the world rests on a pampered and helpless people who can hardly survive Outside the fantasy world created by the artificial intelligence in charge. Outside, society has splintered. One group wants to co-exist, another wants to be left alone, and one group even worships the artificial intelligence as a god. Harry, the Insider, can see through SensaVision illusions, and has nightmares in a world where that is supposed to be impossible. Is he the one to change the world?What will the world become?"In Makr's Shadow" reads like an Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. novel combining, action, suspense and fun. Thought-provoking. Exciting. Shaw's characters are dynamic and real. They are as flawed as humanity with fears, anger, regret and arrogance, yet heroes emerge. All that seems lost, is not lost. Views: 613
Domestic violence is an unfortunate part of many relationships today. Every year more than 1.5 million women are made victims of this relational epidemic. Has domestic violence become so commonplace that it is no longer considered a problem? Have we grown so accustomed to seeing and hearing about it that we not only turn a blind eye but a deaf ear as well? Meet Gina. She is the woman at the top ofDomestic violence is an unfortunate part of many relationships today. Every year more than 1.5 million women are made victims of this relational epidemic. Has domestic violence become so commonplace that it is no longer considered a problem? Have we grown so accustomed to seeing and hearing about it that we not only turn a blind eye but a deaf ear as well? Meet Gina. She is the woman at the top of the stairs who repeatedly hears the cries and screams of the woman who lives below her as she is constantly victimized at the hands of her partner. Bearing witness to Zenobia’s pain reminds Gina of the abusive life she narrowly escaped from. But Gina can’t get away from the nightmares of her past; the tumultuous reminders of how she was battered and nearly broken at the hands of her contemptuous and menacing husband. Will Gina be like the many and turn her back on Zenobia, leaving her to fend for herself, or will she build an alliance with Zenobia to end her suffering once and for all? Find out in this compelling novel, Woman at the Top of the Stairs. Views: 613
A follow-up collection of poems continuing upon themes dealt with in "Before Dark, and After"--but concentrating more on the element of water than fire.Imagine being born in captivity with a crippling disability. Your life is in the hands of alien creatures that provide sustenance and affection. How much does your happiness mean?***WARNING*** Despite the title, this is a very sad story. Do not read if you do not want to cry.Please also note that Happy is a short story, approximately 7 pages in length and just over 2,100 words.This short story was written to bring awareness and inspiration. You can support this work by donating to your local no kill shelter. Views: 613
When the vampire tribes convene for the rare Blood Moon ceremonies, Solange Drake is plunged into a battle with her feral nature. The Drake brothers have been raised knowing that they had to protect their younger sister at all cost. But forbidden magic and a mysterious stranger have put them all in terrible danger.
Nicholas is going to have to make a difficult choice: between his girlfriend, Lucy, and his little sister, Solange- blood, or love?
The POVs are: Solange, Lucy and Nicholas. Views: 613
"The Ballad of the Wayfaring Stranger and the Dead Man's Whore" weaves a story of loss and return from back-country spook stories, backroom blues and best-forgotten secrets.Critically acclaimed, "The Ballad of the Wayfaring Stranger and the Dead Man's Whore" tells a backwoods spook story driven by longing, loss and unescapable doom. “Demory catches the atmosphere of the old murder ballads perfectly here. It’s a world where everyone takes it for granted that terrible things happen to the innocent, and where the only possible reaction to that news is a stoical shrug. The tale’s chilling effect comes not from set-piece shocks, but rather from a sense of quiet, creeping unease that crawls a little deeper beneath your skin with every careful sentence.” - Paul Slade, PlanetSlade.com "'The Ballad of the Wayfaring Stranger and the Dead Man’s Whore' is a darkly lyrical original folk tale. More than an any-day ghost story, 'Ballad' rambles through the tangled woods of Appalachia, quick-strumming a tale of haints, of bleak hope, and of one soul’s shadowy path to empowerment. Eerily evocative imagery snakes like tendrils of kudzu through a songlike narrative, closing on a chilling refrain that will haunt readers for days to come.- Ari MichaelsLocus Recommended Short Story - 2012Honorable Mention - Year's Best Horror, Vol. 5 Views: 613
