SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Spoon Knife 2: Test Chamber – Edited by Dani Alexis Ryskamp and Sam Harvey
The Spoon Knife anthologies are an annual open collection run by NeuroQueer Books to give exposure to upcoming writers of neurodivergent, queer, and Mad literature. Spoon Knife 2: Test Chamber is, as the title suggests, the second such collection, and intends to stand as as a defiant monument to the experiences and efforts of marginalized communities who are bound to suffer in the midst of recent and current geopolitical climates.
The collection comprises 35 stories, all with a general technological, dystopic, or post-human theme in addition to the overall NeuroQueer Books niche of neurodivergent/queer subject matter. These include an eye-opening […]
The Hook by Kathleen Doler is a compelling novel about a number of seemingly disparate subjects – surfing, addiction, news reporting, drug wars, and more. Dana, a business reporter, has a love of surfing, and her brother, a former professional surfer, has fallen on hard times due to drug addiction. While Dana tries to protect her brother from his addiction and a dangerous drug war, she finds solace in surfing, and ultimately comes to terms with herself and her difficult family history.
Meet the Unimaginables by Paul Slutsky is a science fiction novel about the most fascinating of topics: interacting with life on other planets. A scientist named Alan Norton gets the chance of a lifetime to explore the universe as part of the Search for Life program, with each new life form and environment more unimaginable than the last, and he’s soon thrust into a role that could change the fate of the entire universe.
The Way Gargoyles Play by Andrea Britt Cadelli is a moving and comprehensive work of self-help about overcoming personal suffering and achieving happiness. After her younger brother died, Cadelli found herself in a spiral of suffering, and here she tells tale of how she lifted herself out of the cycle. The book also includes Cadelli’s evocative poetry covering many of these same themes.
The human race has changed – a shell of its former self, yet something more as well. Their war against the invaders is now fought with a new weapon: children. These children are inheritors of the ability to rip through time and space itself, and are able to relay their glimpses beyond in the moments before they are lost. That is, until one child returns, alive, and brings back something that will change the course of humanity’s survivors forever…
The God Virus by Indigo Voyager is a hugely-enjoyable sci-fi novel following Derek Evans who finds he has strange new powers, and a lot of new enemies. After taking an experimental drug for his depression, he finds that he can travel out of body and read people’s minds. Trying to re-enter his life, he gets involved with a co-worker named Allie, who inherits the same powers, and who also has connections to the mob. As they are both sought by criminals and government agencies, Derek and Allie explore the incredible limits of these powers while trying to evade capture.
Nostalgia or Sunset: A journey towards memories… by Aurin Shaila Nusrat Sheikh is an evocative work of prose and poetry that’s both wistful and melancholy. A passionate and expressive writer, Sheikh writes about love, nature, and everyday observations using language that is in turns abstract and direct.