Book excerpt: There is nothing new in the world except the history we do not know. Alchemy and Artifacts (Tesseracts Twenty-Two) is a collection of twenty-three amazing stories based on historical artifacts combined with fantastic historical fiction. The stories meld culture, concept and incident into a rich collection of 'what if' speculations that provide warnings yet revel in the cultural celebrations we continue to observe today. They are the touchstones that resonate with all who listen to and learn from the past. For, once the instigators are dead, the wars ended, and the political machines decayed, only artifacts remain. And it's through these cultural artifacts that we glimpse the possibility of what may have occurred in the past and may yet occur in the future. You are invited to delve into the motivations behind the events of the past, the quests for power, the fights against repression, and the sacrifices to a greater cause -- human dramas that reflect the worst and best of who we are -- to see what satisfaction comes from sudden insight and awe. Featuring works by these Canadian writers: Colleen Anderson, Lara Apps, Leslie Brown, Katherine Cameron, Chris Patrick Carolan, Geoff Gander & Fiona Plunkett, Bev Geddes, Mary-Jean Harris, Geoffrey Hart, Kate Heartfield, R. W. Hodgson, Kurt Kirchmeier, Jason Lane, Halli Lilburn, Cat McDonald, Tony Pi, Mike Rimar, Bianca Sayan, Holly Schofield, Michael Skeet, Erik Jon Spigel, Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, Michal Wojcik The stories in Alchemy and Artifacts (Tesseracts Twenty-Two) nourish those who wander in today's wilderness, and who, without the benefit of the past, are destined to plunge blindly along a path of ignorance, destroying all that has been, everything that is true and beautiful and that which nourishes our global community.