New releases of fiction, non-fiction, and comics have caught our attention.
Putnam Pub Group
Henry, an agoraphobic engineer, holed up in his super smart home, building strange little robots, including one that looks like a magician and rides around on a tiny bicycle. The only person Henry has physical contact with is his wife, Lily, but their relationship is starting to become strained, a situation made even worse by the fact that Henry usually stays holed up in the attic working on secret projects. One day, Lily invites a former colleague over to socialize with Henry, and Henry takes the opportunity to finally unveil his masterpiece: William, an advanced AI system housed in a crude robot body. And then terror ensues.
William by Mason Coyle (in the style of W1LL1AM) takes the well-worn trope of a naive creator facing an out-of-control creation and adds a spooky, haunted smart house twist to the story with a twist ending. Not surprisingly, comparisons have been made to Frankenstein and The Shining, but I’d venture to say there are some Demon Seed vibes in there, too. Another short read at under 250 pages, this is just the right book to get you in the mood for the spooky season. Set during Halloween.
$15 on Amazon
Penguin Press
Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and its subsequent transformation into the company we know today, X, has been making headlines for months, so it’s natural to feel like you’ve heard everything there is to know about the whole affair. But for those who want a deeper look into how it all happened, journalists Kate Conger and Ryan Mack have dug up a ton of previously unreported information in their book Character Limit, which unravels the Twitter acquisition in its entirety through interviews with insiders and internal recordings from the room where it all happened. And it’s a nasty story.
$26 on Amazon
Image Comics
I can’t think of a new series in recent memory that has me as eagerly awaiting the next issue as The Tin Can Society #1. But before I dive in, I should point out that this first issue begins with a content warning about violence and a discussion of ableism and racism. There’s tension right from the start. The Tin Can Society begins at a crime scene: tech mogul turned superhero Johnny Moore has been murdered.
Born with spina bifida, Moore rose to fame as a brilliant inventor of advanced exoskeleton mobility aids, and wore a full-body armored version of these suits while acting as the vigilante hero Caliburn. When he was found dead, the suit was missing. Tin Can Society follows Moore’s childhood friends as they reunite after years of separation to uncover the truth behind a murder. The first issue is heartwarming, moving between their present and past settings, providing a backstory of Moore’s childhood and the close-knit group of friends he once had. It’s exciting to see what happens next. Tin Can Society is a nine-part miniseries, with the next issue due to hit shelves in late October.
$5 on Amazon
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