Tesseracts Twelve (Tesseracts Twelve: New Novellas of Canadian Fantastic Fiction) [Paperback]

Claude Lalumière (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Tesseracts Twelve: New Novellas of Canadian Fantastic Fiction | Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Tesseracts Twelve is unlike any other volume in this critically acclaimed series showcasing the best in Canadian speculative fiction. For the first time in its distinguished history, Tesseracts focuses on novellas, the form believed by many to be the best expression of fantastic and speculative storytelling.

In Tesseracts Twelve, the series' most ambitious volume to date, celebrated writer, anthologist, and critic Claude Lalumière has gathered seven brand-new novellas from some of Canada's finest writers of fantastic fiction.

Follow these daring, imaginative, and entertaining writers into new worlds of wonder, with an outlook that is both Canadian and global.

Cavemen and woolly mammoths invade Yukon! Mythological creatures cause havoc in ancient feudal Japan! Women with power over love and death stalk the streets of Montreal! A modern Scheherazade seeks to understand love in a Toronto suffused with magic and fable! A small town in Alberta is rife with pagan rituals! Superheroes tackle Korean politics, maniacal supervillains, and corporate downsizing! As the world faces environmental collapse, reality-TV adventurers battle giant beasts from the ocean depths!

Tesseracts Twelve features all-new exciting and imaginative work by:

• E.L. Chen,
• Randy McCharles,
• Derryl Murphy,
• David Nickle,
• Gord Sellar,
• Grace Seybold, and
• Michael Skeet & Jill Snider Lum;
• and introduction by Brett Alexander Savory.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Claude Lalumière is a Montreal writer whose first collection is Object of Worship (ChiZine Publications 2009). He has edited eight anthologies, including Open Space: New Canadian Fantastic Fiction, Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic, and Tesseracts Twelve: New Novellas of Canadian Fantastic Fiction. He writes the Fantastic Fiction column for The Montreal Gazette.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing; 1st edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1894063155
• ISBN-13: 978-1894063159
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,081,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong bunch of stories from north of the border, August 3, 2009

By 

Paul Lappen (Manchester, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tesseracts Twelve (Tesseracts Twelve: New Novellas of Canadian Fantastic Fiction) (Paperback)

This newest collection of Canadian fantastic fiction looks at the novella (17,500 to 40,000 words), the hardest-to-sell length of fiction.

In a small town in Alberta, an intact baby woolly mammoth is found buried in the snow. When Samuel, the town's "smart person," touches the carcass, the mammoth's life force is transferred to him, and he begins to have weird visions about being chased by beings on two legs. During a town-wide party, with mammoth stew as the main course (over Samuel's strong objections), strange things start happening, and several of the townspeople turn into cavemen, and chase Samuel as if he is the baby mammoth.

A young warrior, in feudal Japan, is sent to a small town to find out why they haven't sent in their annual amount of rice. Taking along his concubine and his brother, the mayor of the town says that it is not their fault; the land is somehow cursed. Solving the mystery, the warrior is shocked to find that his concubine and his brother are not exactly what they seem. They are mythological beings in human form.

Superheroes in present-day Korea deal with maniacal villains, inter-Korean politics, corporate downsizing (and overbearing mothers). As the world faces environmental catastrophe, reality-TV adventurers battle giant squids in the very deep ocean. Another small town in Alberta conducts pagan rituals during the year as if it was totally normal (though not everyone agrees). A pair of average women with the power of life and death travel the streets of present-day Montreal.

Here is another strong bunch of stories from north of the border. They are very easy to read, and very weird. It's recommended.