Parnassus Unbound (Tesseracts Sixteen)

Book excerpt: Experience a different side of Canadian fiction... Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound features works by 26 modern day Muses gifted with the ability to take the reader on fantastical journeys They are: Neil Peart & Kevin J. Anderson, Robert J. Sawyer, Ryan Oakley, Steve Vernon, Hugh A. D. Spencer, Sandra Kasturi, Michael Kelly, Rebecca Senese, Randy McCharles, Chadwick Ginther, Stephen Kotowych, Carolyn Clink, J. J. Steinfeld, David Clink, Robert H. Beer, L. T. Getty, Scott Overton, Sean Costello, Virginia O'Dine, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Derwin Mak, Kimberly Foottit, Matthew Jordan Schmidt, Adria Laycraft, and Jeff Hughes. The theme for "Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound" is speculative fiction inspired by literature, music, art and culture. According to Greek Mythology, Mount Parnassus was sacred to Apollo (god of prophecy, music, intellectual pursuits and the arts) and home of the Muses. At the base of the mountain was a fountain named Castalia (a transformed nymph) that could inspire the genius of poetry for anyone who drank her waters or listened to her quiet soothing sounds. In selecting stories, editor Mark Leslie's goal was to capture not only the spirit of what might be found on Mount Parnassus, but to allow it to be released, freed from the mythological Greek mountain and expanded upon in a way that only speculative literature can "unbind" such a theme. Come sip from the mythical fountain, gaze into the infinite reaches of the universe and explore the endless depths of the mind in Tesseracts Sixteen's "unbound" tales of wonder and imagination!