Book Review: XINO

Because the future is getting weirder everyday, we give you XINO, an intra-ocular lozenge of subversive, surrealist science fiction to cure your awful awareness of it all. Try not to worry; the insertion process will be guided by the megawatt brilliance of comics’ brightest talents as they slowly tune your hopes, dreams, desires, paranoia, alienation, anxiety, and adrenaline to produce the desired results.

Join Melissa Flores and Daniel Irizarri as they surgically activate the hidden dimensions of the human senses; cult phenoms Christopher Condon and Nick Cagnetti debut the world's first intravenous video game system; underground radicals Jordan Thomas and Shaky Kane surveil the suburbs for signs of covert infiltration; plus much, more from a startling cast of megawatt talents, including Phil Hester, David Lapham and Maria Lapham, Alex Segura and Zander Cannon, François Vigneault and Artyom Trakhanov, Dan McDaid, and Connor Willumsen.

All that and much much more in this dazzling deconstruction of our past, present, and future!

Book Review: Loki - Journey Into Mystery

When Earth is plagued by an epidemic of fear, ancient prophecy says only Thor can stop the monstrous threat of the Serpent, but without help from Loki, Thor is certain to fail. Aided by a handmaiden from Hel and a demon puppy, Loki must risk everything to find redemption—or doom himself for eternity. Either way, a Nightmare lies in wait hoping to rule the world, and Loki will have to risk everything on his craziest scheme of all!

Meanwhile, new gods threaten to disrupt the status quo, throwing everything out of balance. Loki must act as a responsible ambassador, but will the Nine Realms end in Surtur’s fire? Young Loki must cross the realms to reclaim his own story, outwit ancient enemies, struggle to do the right thing, and avoid falling in love.

Book Review: The Art of Brevity

With increased compression, every word, every sentence matters more. A writer must learn how to form narratives around caesuras and crevices instead of strings of connections, to move a story through the symbolic weight of images, to master the power of suggestion.

With elegant prose, deep readings of other writers, and scaffolded writing exercises, The Art of Brevity takes the reader on a lyrical exploration of compact storytelling, guiding readers to heighten their awareness of not only what appears on the page but also what doesn't.

The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story by Grant Faulkner was published in February of 2023 by the University of New Mexico Press.

Book Review: New Rock, New Role

With millions watching on live stream, Daxx and his teammates Krystal and Grell win the role-playing Games (RPG) Grand Championship. But winning the game was was a piece of cake compared with what comes next.

Daxx wakes up to find he's turned into his own avatar and is in the middle of a wilderness he doesn't recognize. Armed with a crappy sword and dressed in beginner-level gear he must figure out how to survive quickly because he can already hear the blood-thirsty howls of wild animals from the jungle that surrounds him.

Once the three friends finally find each other they need to puzzle out their new world, gain skills, combat enemies, and make alliances with all kinds of characters and creatures from the different territories in order to survive.

Book Review: Monomyth Vol. 1

What if the secret school of magic you were chosen for...was trying to kill you?

Magic is all but extinct. When the last ailing wizard casts a final desperate spell to summon the descendants of ancient bloodlines to a school for magic now in disrepair...those chosen ones find a horror of the likes they've never experienced. They will have to confront the deepest parts of themselves and defeat each other in order to survive the ordeal.

Monomyth Volume 1 by David Hazan, Cecilia Lo Valvo and Federico Bertoni will be released December 26, 2023. Mad Cave Studios provided an early galley for review.

Book Review: Pixies of the Sixties - We Can Work It Out

Great Britain in the swinging sixties–The Beatles are taking the music charts by storm, the pop-culture revolution has gripped the nation’s youth…and human and fairies live uneasily, side-by-side.

As the only woman working at the Daily Telegraph, Carrie Mallinson is determined to become London’s first prominent female reporter. But after being assigned to a complicated murder investigation, the plucky journalist quickly uncovers hidden truths about her past and evidence of a terrifying force within the fairy world that challenges her certainties and makes her reconsider her priorities at the paper...

Sidelined at Scotland Yard following the racist blunder of a colleague, Sergeant Amar Singh–a young policeman of Indian origins–finds himself reassigned to the department’s underfunded fairy division. There, his investigation into the murder of a young fairy soon sets him on the trail of an odious trafficking ring, revealing a dark conspiracy that threatens to shatter both human and fairy alike...

Book Review: How Broadway Works

What an audience sees is what is presented on stage: the actors, lights, orchestra, musicians, and sometimes stagehands. What they don’t see is backstage, where many theater professionals collaborate to bring the production to an audience. The most visible career in a production is acting, but not everyone can act or even wishes to be in the spotlight, but still yearns to be part of the theater world. There are several jobs in the theater community where their talents may fit.

Theater professional Sharon Grace Powers highlights the positions behind the curtain that work together to put on a show. She focuses on an area of theater production on Broadway, including what the job is, what the job requirements are, what an artist’s process is, and how that specific job is integrated into the fabric of a show’s production.

Book Review: Loaded

Rebellion always starts somewhere, and in the music world of the transgressive teen—whether it be the 1960s or the 2020s—the Velvet Underground represents ground zero.

Crystallizing the idea of the bohemian, urban, narcissistic art school gang around a psychedelic rock and roll band—a stylistic idea that evolved in the rarefied environs of Andy Warhol’s Factory—the Velvets were the first major American rock group with a mixed gender line-up. They never smiled in photographs, wore sunglasses indoors, and invented the archetype that would be copied by everyone from Sid Vicious to Bobby Gillespie. They were avant-garde nihilists, writing about drug abuse, prostitution, paranoia, and sado-masochistic sex at a time when the rest of the world was singing about peace and love. In that sense they invented punk and then some. It could even be argued that they invented modern New York.

Book Review: Past Forward

When an old song makes you want to dance like you did in high school, or you long for the comforting taste of your mom’s cooking, that’s more than just memory—it’s nostalgia. But is nostalgia all about “living in the past” to hide from reality? In Past Forward, psychologist Clay Routledge presents a fascinating investigation into an emotion we all experience yet often misunderstand, revealing nostalgia’s extraordinary potential to enrich our present—and our future.

Dr. Routledge has been at the forefront of a new wave of research that has established a fresh, evidence-based view of nostalgia—not as a psychological weakness, but as a complex and valuable resource for our well-being. Here he presents a treasury of informed insights and science-based practices to help you turn nostalgia into a powerful ally.

Book Review: Iron Man - Tony Stark Declassified

He’s a genius entrepreneur, an inventor, a business mogul, and a super hero—not to mention an Avenger reassembled in his physical form and reunited with his humanity. And now Tony Stark is ready to talk about it all.

Revisit the story of one of Marvel Comics’ most heroic, heralded, and complex characters in his own words, as well as through notes, interviews, and files assembled from the Avengers’ archives. Featuring Tony’s perspective on his most important friends, allies, and enemies including Captain America, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, James Rhodes, Ironheart, Bruce Banner, and Arno Stark, and his thoughts on the Marvel Universe’s most memorable moments, this first-of-its-kind archival collection is a must for fans of all eras.

Book Review: Flashpoint Beyond

The world of Flashpoint returns! After sacrificing everything to help the Flash put the universe back together and save Bruce Wayne's life, Thomas Wayne wakes up in a world he thought was no more. Forced to don the cowl once again, Batman prowls the streets of Gotham searching for answers to how this world still exists, but what he starts to uncover will send him hurtling around the globe. But the answers Thomas is seeking will have drastic effects on the DC Universe and its past, present, and future!

This collection of Flashpoint Beyond #0-6 was released in December 2022 by DC Comics.

Book Review: Cells at Work Omnibus vol. 1

Follow the 37 trillion cells inside a human body, including Red Blood Cell, White Blood Cell, Macrophage, and, of course, the cute, little Platelets, as they face off against threats like cedar pollen, parasites, food poisoning, staph infection, and their ultimate nemesis, cancer. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, these tiny workers are doing their best to keep you moving.

This new omnibus edition brings the series back in a larger page size, with three volumes in one. Collect the entire series in just two books!

Book Review: Christmas Sweets

Gathered in one volume for the very first time, here are three yuletide tales of mystery, murder, and romance, featuring your favorite sleuths . . .

The Twelve Desserts of Chrismas by Joanne Fluke: It's the perfect mix of naughty and nice when two lovestruck boarding school teachers watch six kids over Christmas break. But when someone wants the cozy couple's romance to burn out faster than a scorched fruitcake, it's Hannah Swensen to the rescue, armed with her sleuthing skills--and twelve deliciously festive recipes.

Nightmare on Elf Street by Laura Levine: Aside from the mortifying costume, how bad can a gig as a mall Santa's elf be? Jaine Austen finds out when she's teamed up with the Santa from Hell. But things go from bad to worse when he's found murdered on the job--and Jaine is a suspect. Now all she wants for Christmas is to find the real killer.

The Christmas Thief by Leslie Meier: Elizabeth Stone is ready for a white Christmas in Tinker's Cove, Maine--until a fancy Yule ball at the Florida hotel where she works dumps snow on her plans. The sponsor's jewels have gone missing and the police are asking about her ties to a cute mystery guest. Good thing Elizabeth's mother, Lucy Stone, flew down to surprise her. ʼTis the season for a little investigating.