Speculative Fiction | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Yin and Yang of an Electrical Conductor by Jose Scaramanga

A wild, mind-bending tale, The Yin and Yang of an Electrical Conductor proposes a fascinating world where one can have a chat with an eminent scholar from the Age of Reason, or a holy man from thousands of years ago. While the title of the novel might sound like it belongs to a daunting textbook, this is actually a wildly imaginative sci-fi novella that eliminates the boundaries of space and time in search of existential truth, and shares a good bit of knowledge about physics along the way.

In this oddly charming adventure, readers are taken from Neolithic times to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-10T09:49:39+02:00December 2nd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Visionary Fiction|

Review: Twilight’s Last Glory by Stephen C. Perkins

If you have ever suspected that professional sports may be slightly more engineered than people understand, Twilight’s Last Glory by Stephen Perkins is a perfect, conspiracy-laden read.

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, the shadowy powers behind American football launch a scheme to capture an even larger portion of the world’s attention. Blending organized crime, corrupt head honchos and even a touch of sci-fi and fantasy, this futuristic thriller will appeal to a wide range of readers.

The Octagonal is a secret society based in London, composed of an elite group of bankers, financiers and mystics with bizarre powers. As is […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-07-16T05:34:47+02:00October 18th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stephen Perkins, Thriller|

Review: Julia’s Memories and The Interflow of Things (Amor Mundi Books 1 & 2) by Dave Dröge

Reading a novel doesn’t always mean one should trust the narrator, and in Julia’s Memories and The Interflow of Things, an omnibus of the Amor Mundi series, this complex challenge comes to the forefront. Set in the somewhat distant future, the world has changed in many ways, but the true depth of that shift doesn’t become apparent until the critical turn of this double-stacked book.

The book begins with a long, detailed account of Julia’s life – in memoir form – from her youngest years until her present-day success as an artist in the year 2050. This section of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T10:33:17+02:00October 17th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Dave Dröge, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|

Review: Profit Wars by Mac Whitesides

Sometimes the near future can be far more terrifying than some far-distant dystopian hellscape, and in Profit Wars, author Mac Whitesides hits close to home with a tale set only a stone’s throw ahead of humanity’s present day.

In the year 2020, war has finally shed its façade and revealed itself as a game of profit. Victory goes to the highest bidder, particularly when you have the Global Force Protection (GFP) fighting in your corner. This massive global corporation can basically shift the tides of world power, selling its elite mercenary services for almost any cause.

Even those who […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:41:26+02:00September 25th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|

Review: Reaper Town (Rented Souls Book 2) by Eirik M. Dahll-Larssøn

When the fabric of reality breaks down, there’s no telling what terrors might begin to creep out from the shadows. With that sinister mood in mind, author Eirik M. Dahll-Larssøn welcomes readers back to the madness of Swayze and Dwarf in this second installment of the Rented Souls series.

In this strange slice of paranormal brilliance, two unlikely heroes rise to meet the tide of evil, and they do it with a tongue firmly set in their cheek. Carrying on from the dark tones of the first book in this series, these two unlikely comrades are once more battling back […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:41:33+02:00August 2nd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Eirik M. Dahll-Larssøn, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|

The Matriarch Matrix by Maxime Trencavel

The Matriarch Matrix by Maxime Trencavel is an epic work of science fiction spanning the distant past to the near future. The book takes place in various time periods and locations, from Siirt to San Francisco, to the ancient wars of the Black Sea, all following the tale of the titular entity known as Matriarch, and the lives she has changed over 12,000 years.

The book is largely a mystery thriller with a slight supernatural twist with the presence of the mythical Matriarch ever-looming in the background. What the Matriarch is, or what precise relevance it has to the overarching […]

James Grimsby2019-01-22T05:41:41+02:00December 18th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|

Review: Sundown by Carl H. Mitchell

★★★★½

When the world stops working and the oil runs out, no one is exactly sure what sort of chaos will unfold, but author Carl H. Mitchell has a pretty good idea. Sundown: Engineering Gives the Devil a Sunburn is an ambitious and entertaining peek into what lies ahead for the world. A corrupt Supreme Leader is pulling the world’s strings in dangerous directions, the fabric of American democracy has crumbled, and survival is becoming more important than maintaining any semblance of society.

The novel begins with a bang – or rather a strangle – of the vice president of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-06-14T04:56:07+02:00December 6th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Carl H. Mitchell, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|

Review: Free Will Odyssey by Larry Kilham

★★★★

In Free Will Odyssey, author Larry Kilham imagines a not-too-distant future where humans are able to have complete control of their lives. By enhancing one’s free will, and preventing one’s body from dictating the choices you make, this new technology could usher in a new generation of human achievement and happiness.

Upon that fascinating premise, this short novel weaves the intricate and thoughtfully crafted tale of Peter Tesla, the brilliant young inventor and engineer that is responsible for creating this revolutionary new technology. The plot is highly dependent on certain elements of VR and AI, extrapolating some of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-12-06T05:48:03+02:00December 6th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|