As the pandemic keeps raging across our nation, and help seems remote – at best, it’s kind of nice to know some good has come out of this mess. People are reconnecting with family members, taking some time away from their digital devices and experimenting with books (it’s how I got addicted back in the 60s so I’m hopeful again), and generally trying to not go insane.

So far so good here at Casa del SciFi. I hope you’re doing okay too.

On the subject of reading, and I kind of am, I thought I’d share some preliminary reviews of SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY.

I couldn’t put it down. An incredible read. – BH

Wonderful book! – WD

For a book without names, it has some memorable characters. – TZ

The ending hit so hard, I’m still shaking. – HE

You get the idea. People are digging SPLICE

More below.

I recently did a radio show with, the legendary, Desiree Duffy. For those who missed it, and that may account for three or four of you, she was kind enough to post a video version online. You can CLICK HERE to see me in all my pandemic glory – the goatee’s looking good – and hear us talk, in depth, about The Brittle Riders. 

I got to share one fun story, which I’ll share here, in more depth, as well. Thanks to the pandemic people have had more free time. This has led to some unlikely conversations. One such involves me and a young Chinese lady living in England. We met on Twitter. She decided to bolster her grasp of English by reading The Brittle Riders. Given the bad things I do to words in the series, I bend English into four dimensional pretzels, it would not have been my first choice. But, hey, it has an appendix, and context clues are still context clues.

I wished her the best and figured that was that.

I was wrong.

She would reach out to me with questions, comments, and began sharing parts of her personal life. Two people who wouldn’t have glanced at each other were now becoming friends. Well, we all have some serious down time at the moment so we may as well do something positive.

Anyway, she finished The Brittle Riders and gifted me with this gem; “It’s like Frankenstein’s monsters won.”

That is it in a nutshell, with all the historical and social baggage it implies.

If she could make it through twelve hundred pages of apocalyptic dystopia, you can too.

“This is a story where old meets new, where religion meets science in an epic story of what happened ‘after’ our world changed. It is masterfully written with attention to detail and it sympathetically manages to bridge the gap between faith and technology.“

More below.

Not to worry everyone! I’m still writing comics for Hadithi Sambamba. While it’s true our distributor succumbed to the financial perils of the pandemic, we’re slowly, but surely, working to fill that loss. 

For now, we’re hewing close to the best practices that worked before. That means you can check out titles online for free and order hard copies to be delivered to your sweaty palms. In discussions we’ve had with other comic book companies, we are seeing the landscape change. We will adjust as need be. But, for now, let”s have some fun.

Quick note for the uninitiated, Hybrid Zero is wildly NSFW!

Hybrid Zero: Juggernaut – Almost one hundred pages of awesomeness for you to ogle. The story of a multiverse where consensual sex is lauded, violence is taboo, and a family of genetically modified assassins may be its only hope.

Hybrid Zero: Jungl Grrl – The titular, implication intended, heroine lives on an alien made Earth working in a sex park as she and her best friend parse philosophy, drink beer, and try to stay on the good side of the alien catipuss who’s their boss, Mr. Blome.

Hybrid Zero: Cassandra and the Changeling Sword – A ninety year old, dead, woman is trapped in the body of a young shinobi and preparing to battle her evil twin, who’s not related to her as far as anyone knows, while they ride on an earth located on the back of a turtle. It also has a prostitute who has a degree in engineering. Because …. why not?

Legends Parallel has mature themes and some nudity. It’s up to you how you feel about that.

Legends Parallel – Just in case quantum physics wasn’t violent, or sexy, enough for you. LEGENDS PARALLEL is a, single story, comic book which will span twelve issues. It tells the tale of five Earths, each very different from the others, and the one woman who wants to control them all. A man, his mom, and her lover have to save these worlds. No one said this shit would be easy.

Next, we have the mildly salacious look at the old Scooby Do comics.

Ruh Roh Rangers – Those meddlesome kids are all grown up. A savage satire featuring the work of the 2019 Glyph Nominated artist, Maku Tellez, this is the comic that will ruin your childhood and make your day. Scooby Dooby Don’t!

This next one was written for, and with the help of, teens. LGBTQIA friendly too.

Svarozic – A woman trapped inside a man, a god trapped inside a human. Part of the Independent Creators Connection (ICC) ring anthology. Each character, created by different artists, has an elemental force controlled by a ring. They will try to stay alive as a dark menace hunts them down and tries and steal their powers.

I think that’s enough for now.

Please, stay safe, sane, and inside. See you next week.