Visionary Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Mystery of the Scroll by Ann Beltran

Two intellectual lovers with very different minds become tangled with the unexplained wonders of the universe in The Mystery of the Scroll by Ann Beltran, a heady ride through science, spirituality, and the unknowable past.

On his way to start working as a lab technician at the Smithsonian, Jeremiah stops by his old Joshua Tree stomping grounds during a cross-country trip with his anthropology PhD partner, Sunny. Returning to the site of an unforgettable discovery from his childhood, the pair uncover an inexplicable artifact: a rawhide pouch containing an impossible treasure from the past.

As they settle into their new […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-09-19T08:21:05+02:00September 3rd, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Tristis Angelus by J.M. Unrue

Following the epic journey of a world-shaping immortal cursed to inhabit the body of a mere mortal, Tristis Angelus by J.M. Unrue unfolds with a hefty bolt of timely wisdom.

Spanning more than 1.5 million years of sporadic rebirths, Tristis Angelus – the Job-like protagonist and fallen angel – slowly evolves into heightened awareness during his long stretches of “death,” awakening with an increasingly clear view not only of humanity’s progress, but of his own divine banishment. At times an anthropological imagining of life as an early human, and at others an existential drama set in more familiar places and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-08-04T13:10:49+02:00August 4th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Monarchs by Mark Sabbas

Stunning in its messaging and epic in scale, The Monarchs by Mark Sabbas is a remarkable work of visionary science fiction.

A powerful young child with uncontrolled psychic abilities, Samuel Helen is unlike the other cognitively evolved children in the military research facility he begrudgingly calls home. Some people view these gifted “new youth,” born in increasing numbers each year, as the next stage in human evolution, while others see them as potential weapons. Isolated from the other research subjects in the facility, for fear of a rebellion, Samuel is experimented on like an animal, in an attempt to free […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-02T19:06:25+02:00November 4th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Great Being by Bill Harvey

An eon-spanning epically creative work of visionary alternate history, The Great Being by Bill Harvey is a sprawling parable about the powerful forces behind our interconnected existence.

After the Nothingness came into awareness of itself 14 billion years ago, it began to create energetic bodies and fantastical creatures, which spread out across the vast cosmos, but that didn’t mean they were easy to control. That’s where the Agents of Cosmic Intelligence come into play, helping to influence the course of time and the fate of entire worlds created by the great deity.

Melchizedek and Layla are sent to Prehistoric Earth […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-04-19T17:36:44+02:00April 18th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Day of the Space Voyager by James Parker Walker

A reluctant hero’s journey of self-discovery like no other, The Day of the Space Voyager by James Parker Walker is a gripping tale of aliens, angels, and ancient protectors of the stars.

When a solitary thinker, William Henry, encounters an interstellar traveler named Axzum one cold Colorado night, he is launched on an incredible journey into the unknown, even as he continues to explore the depths of his own consciousness and identity. Learning more about his connection to Axzum and his mysterious home planet, Will must come to terms with the truth of his eons-long mission.

Sent as a refugee […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-05-07T19:31:57+02:00April 8th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Searching For Zen by Albert T. Franklin

A long-form allegory set in a magical version of our world, Searching For Zen: A Tale Of Divine Destiny by Albert T. Franklin is an original and passionate piece of spiritual fiction.

When a young boy in Britain is gifted with incredible powers from above, Earth receives its new Zendaria – a divine guide to lead humanity into an era of prosperity. Capable of secretly absorbing the life experiences of anyone he touches, manipulating physical matter and even controlling time, Zen is inconceivably powerful and impossibly wise, which is a lot to handle for anyone, let alone a child. Faced […]

SPR2024-01-04T16:30:42+02:00January 4th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: In B’tween: The Wisp by Nandita Banerjee

Otherworldly, thought-provoking, and innovative, In B’tween: The Wisp by Nandita Banerjee is a novel that poetically plunges into the mysterious potential of the afterlife. Picking up after No. 7: They’re Calling leaves off, this sequel finds a dark legacy of magic and morbidity affecting a new generation of the family.

Ravi and Priya have tragically passed on after a fatal fire, leaving their children Sonya and Sunny behind, but death is not the end of life so many of us expect. As young Sonya embarks on a weekend trip with new friends, hoping for some space from her brother and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-02-06T12:25:54+02:00December 11th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: International Fiction Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

The Lost Souls of Guayaquil by Brian Gibb

Spectacularly creative and emotionally gripping, The Lost Souls of Guayaquil by Brian Gibb is an original and thought-provoking novel about life, death, and what defines us in between.

In a clash of beliefs, destinies, and capitalist ambitions, a young woman is torn between fighting beside her oppressed people and staying loyal to her supernatural calling as a healer. An intrepid journalist pushes back against the Ecuadorian government’s sinister manipulation of the press, even if that means landing a target on his back. The reluctant souls of the dead, frustrated at the fate of their still-living loved ones, and unwilling to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-10-30T13:14:12+02:00October 30th, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: International Fiction Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|