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SLIPSHOT AiBO

Illus. by Ryan Sunada-Wong & Gabriel Juarez

(320 pp.)

$16.99 paper | $9.99 e-book | March 1, 2023 9798987084502

A young man may be the only shot at stopping high-tech machines from destroying Earth in this debut SF novel.

San Francisco college student Fredrick Munchen has been seeing things—unexplained shadows visible even in dim light. He’s sure no one else can see these until he runs into a strange woman sporting a half-metal arm in an alleyway. It’s clear that she’s fully aware of the two “blurry smudges” flanking her. This encounter unnerves Fredrick, and he confides in fellow student and romantic interest Jillian Crenshaw. They’re equally determined to figure out what exactly is going on. Meanwhile, Opal Fremmitty, the woman from the alley, is a Mechanic who hails from the Griddish Realm. This faraway domed place is where many people oversee countless worlds, including Var 8, what Fredrick calls Earth. None of the “Varlings” on the individual worlds should be able to see the “shadowy” Négatrae, machines of both metal and flesh, with certain models used to deconstruct worlds. A Griddish manager, assuming Opal has done something wrong, sends someone to Var 8 to check out the man continually spotting these Négatrae. Fredrick and Jillian’s impromptu investigation surprisingly leads them to defectors from the Griddish Realm who are against a planned “dismantlement project.” The authoritative Commission has evidently decided that Var 8 could very well spread its chaos throughout the universe. As a dismantling could mean the end of Earth, Fredrick and Jillian undertake a perilous task—to somehow make their way to Griddish and sever the connection between that realm and their home planet.

In this engrossing series opener, AiBO painstakingly describes seemingly mundane acts. For example, Fredrick’s delivering a pizza includes everything from turning on the ignition and accelerating a motorcycle to cruising the streets. But these specifics are concise and never dull, and they allow for the narrative to linger on the environment. In one instance, Fredrick drives through the cold, dark night: “Police cars, their bright red and blue lights flashing, their buzzy sirens announcing their arrival, whooshed by, rushing towards unseen skirmishes and brawls.” Fredrick makes a superb reluctant hero who, though understandably shaken by inexplicable sights, stays levelheaded. His numerous scenes with Jillian are wonderful; despite his obvious attraction to her, the couple bond as friends, and it’s fun to watch her playfully interact with Fredrick (for example, she gives him an affectionate smack on the head). The two become immersed in a plot that’s initially confusing; even Opal’s narrative perspective doesn’t immediately clarify such things as “Slipshot Silos.” But readers learn a great deal before this story ends and catch more than a glimpse of Earth-like Griddish, its working locals, and what it entails to travel there. Sunada-Wong and Juarez’s crisp, comic book–style illustrations outfit characters with plentiful details, from nuanced facial expressions to suave attire. While much of the artwork involves the cast merely posing, two-page spreads with moments of action and serene backdrops are breathtaking. The final act reveals a major character’s possible death and introduces a new player, both providing crucial turns that open avenues for the sequel to explore.

An impressive cast headlines this remarkable futuristic tale.

THE DEATH OF DEMOGRAPHICS Valuegraphic Marketing for a ValuesDriven World

Allison, David

Lioncrest Publishing (376 pp.)

$29.99 | $16.99 paper | $8.99 e-book

Nov. 29, 2022

9781544534619

9781544534626 paper

A business book makes a case for values-based marketing. Marketers have long relied on demographics, such as age, gender, and marital status, to define specific audiences. Applying psychographics that include attitudes and aspirations helps refine audience segments. But according to researcher and international speaker Allison, how people actually behave comes from understanding human values—something he has built a research company around, using more than 750,000 global surveys to develop a “Valuegraphics Database” of 56 values that funnel into 15 “Valuegraphics archetypes.” This is more than merely marketing mumbo jumbo; Allison offers a solid, compelling argument for why his approach is sensibly relevant. Not surprisingly, the first part of the book is designed to wean marketers off their devotion to demographics. Characterizing demographics as “the Dewey Decimal System of humanity,” Allison notes they are useful for classification, but “there’s no link between what people are and what they’ll do next.” With that as the basis for fundamental change, in Part 2 of the volume the author uses examples and cites scientific research to show how and why values hold the key to human behavior. Allison explains the rationale behind the Valuegraphics Database and identifies the 56 human values he says can be applied globally. Part 3 is particularly intriguing; here, Allison takes readers on an informative tour, demonstrating how Valuegraphics are similar and different across the world’s various regions. Part 4, characterized by the author as a “DIY Valuegraphics Toolkit,” provides a detailed, four-step process that includes the raw materials a marketer needs to construct a “Valuegraphics Profile.” Part 5 eloquently defines and describes the 15 “data-driven archetypes,” such as “The Seekers,” “The Creatives,” and “The Savers,” that Allison believes represent broad categories encompassing the values identified for specific audiences. Finally, Part 6 is a valuable compendium of “case stories” illustrating how the Valuegraphics methodology can be applied in various real-world situations. The author writes with clarity, passion, and unbridled enthusiasm for “the power and potential of a values-driven view of humanity.” He generously shares information about Valuegraphics with the fervent hope that marketers will embrace his thinking.

Convincing, insightful, and possibly revolutionary marketing advice.

PEOPLE MAKING MUSIC Stories

Bachmann, David Self (114 pp.)

July 8, 2018

9781717701671

A collection of short stories about the many roles that music plays in people’s lives.

Bachmann’s slim book collects 11 of his tales, all revolving in some way around musicians and music. The stories range in length from a couple of pages to a dozen, and in them, the author experiments with a variety of narrative techniques and points of view. The opening work, “Employee Preoccupation,” takes the form of an interoffice memo penned by an irked team manager named Jim about an employee named Phil Lanyard, who moonlights as a musician in a number of bands with monikers such as Perpetual Motion, Bloodmusk, and The Junqueyard: “names so bad they are impossible to un-know, so tasteless they sting you with embarrassment for whomever came up with them,” Jim complains, adding petulantly, “Obviously, let’s keep my petty judgments out of the official report.” This brief story is full of droll humor, as Jim details his efforts to stop Phil from playing his music at work (“First, I send him an instant message that simply reads, ‘Stop.’ If he fails to do so within thirty seconds, I throw a wadded napkin at the back of his head”). Far more solemn is the story “An Exquisite Pair of Hands,” a historical work revolving around the decision of some of composer Frederic Chopin’s acolytes to get a plaster cast of the dying composer’s face—despite the resistance of his loved ones. “Of course we must preserve the face,” comments one character sarcastically. “Or what? His legacy cease to flourish? Our memories of him flutter away? As if his likeness is sufficient in describing him to those born too late and too far away to have ever known him.”

A varied and affecting collection of brief, tuneful works.

INDIE | David Rapp