Mosaic (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798986018515)

A college student is given the keys to unlimited power. A lonely soul returns to society after centuries in isolation. A pair of thieves on a job awaken an unstoppable, eldritch force. In this anthology of twelve dark tales, author Varan Merten utilizes speculative fiction across multiple genres, from hard sci-fi to horror to experimental quasi-fiction, to explore the more dangerous corners of the human psyche.

MOSAIC is divided into loose sections with each focusing on its own haunting pastiche. In AMBEDO, characters are confronted with an overwhelming choice, fueled by disgust, temptation, or equally sharp-toothed sensations thrown into their lives. In KENOPSIA, we find the isolated and forgotten returning to familiar places from happier eras, only to find that Time has worked its changes. ALTSCHERZ deals with the baggage we all carry, and how it sculpts the human animal from within, while ELLIPSISM attacks Time and Experience head-on.

These stories call up themes as intimate as the mystery of identity to the darkest sacrifices of the will to survive. Taken together, they form a mosaic of that inexplicable struggle called life.

Fans of Merten's earlier work, The Hydra, will find the author in a more somber mood here. This is fiction aimed at a mature audience, replete with Merten's signature style, equal parts sardonic humor and nihilistic flirtation.