The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan

The Brothers Jetstream Universe #1

by Zig Zag Claybourne

“Take Buckaroo Banzai, Hellblazer and Barbarella, turn it into the 80s cartoon of your childhood dreams, and fast forward to right here, right now. If that sounds too much like a virgin version of your favourite cocktail, don't despair. This is a grown-up pleasure: Funny, sly, clever, and warm.” ~ Kelly Robson

Two brothers. Their crew. One planet. Way too many evils. Plus the whale that was poured into the oceans when the world first cooled from creation. Epic book is epic.

Get ready for a showdown a billion years in the making.

"Finding a work of literature that is unlike anything you've ever read before, in a good way, is the defining moment from a reviewer's perspective." ~ Amazing Stories

“Folks ain’t ready! The Brothers Jetstream is humorous, irreverent, captivating and sensual. All the things good urban fantasy should be. Sit down and enjoy the adventure!” ~ Milton Davis, author of Changa's Safari

"Genre hops in all the best ways. A little steampunk, a dash of science fiction, and more." ~ Black Girl Nerds

"This is a truly original writer. He sounds like no one else, plays by no rules, and creates wildly entertaining books that create an indelible stamp on the mind." ~ Dave Eggers

“Stunning word-play, amazing events, worlds, and characters.” ~ Minister Faust, author of The Alchemists of Kush

"Effortlessly cool!" ~ Sci Fi Magpie

"Like that night you and your savviest, funniest, wisest friend went on a crazy bender and tore the whole town apart and loved the universe and were surprised to find yourselves alive the next morning without a hangover." ~ Eileen Gunn

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 10, 2015

About the author

Zig Zag Claybourne (also known as C.E. Young) wishes he’d grown up with the powers of either Gary Mitchell or Charlie X but without the Kirk confrontations. (Anybody not getting that Star Trek reference gets their sci fi cred docked 3 points.)

Reviews

[Zig Claybourne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rocks on so many levels I need M C Escher's guide dog. I wrote it. I get to say that. I never lie.

[Kelly Robson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan with every bit of my black, black heart. Milo and Ramses Jetstream are the heroes we deserve: 80s super-cool blended with 21st Century ultra-cool, strapped with lashings of mysticism and unexpected plot twists.

Best of all: the humor. This is one of the funniest and most unpredictable books I've ever read. Just when you think the author is going to take something formula out of his pocket, he takes a 180 degree turn into further coolness, or chilled-out asides, or a break for an orange soda, or a make-out session with angels. To say any more would be spoilery.

Here's what I've got: Take Buckaroo Banzai, Hellblazer and Barbarella, turn it into the 80s cartoon of your childhood dreams, and fast forward to right here, right now. If that sounds too much like a virgin version of your favourite cocktail, don't despair. This is a grown-up pleasure: Funny, sly, clever, and warm -- just like a new best friend.

[Aubri · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 books, at least, in one-- Zig Zag Claybourne's imaginative ability to synthesize pop culture into new ideas while simultaneously providing incisive commentary on the state of our world is staggering.

[Tina Mendenhall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a lot of trouble getting into the book. The beginning drops you in in a way that made me stop several times and check if there was supposed to be a book before it. It jumped around a lot at first and introduced characters so quickly I had a hard time keeping up.

Once it got going however, within a few chapters, I really found myself enjoying it. The style flows very fast, so it is easy to get a little lost sometimes, but there is enough context to catch back up. It slows down enough for you to get a good feel for the characters and get attached.

Over all it was fun to read and worth checking out. I'll defiantly be picking up the next one when it comes out.

[Emmy Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packed beyond bursting with tilt-shifted mysticism, kung fu and schemes within schemes, this book reads like a dance with a partner who's far, far better than you, but relaxed and skilled enough to have fun in spite of your ineptness and make you look good in the process.

[Daniel Berryhill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A message the world needs in a brilliant, sexy, and fun package. Effortlessly cool characters show us what it means to live. To live is to create, and to create is to live. There are those who want it to be otherwise, and we have to fight the only way we know how.
If the X-Men woke up in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy version of a mystical kung-fu movie and it somehow wasn't as terrible as that sounds, you'd have The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan.

The Short: This is one of the most innovative books I've read in a long time. I keep coming back to it, and every time I do, there's something new for me. This is one of the greatest books I've read since I left high school. It's probably one of the greatest I'd read before then too. It's not for everyone, true, but it's probably for you. Get it. Try it. You probably won't regret it, and if you do, your friend who likes books that are a little "out there" will thank you for it.

Audience Note: This book isn’t for kids. Teenagers, probably, adults definitely. People swear, people have sex, people die. These characters are real people and do all of those things. I didn’t find anything to be overly graphic. Nothing was done gratuitously, everything served a purpose and I found it to be handled with finesse and fine taste. That being said, I know some just don’t want that kind of content in their books. I don’t get it, but you deserve a heads up. Or better yet, get the book and let a true wordsmith try and change your mind.

The Long: You'll notice that a log of the negative things below really aren't. I truly don't have anything bad to say about this book, and that's a rare thing. Instead, I've decided that in the spirit of honesty, I'll present some things I noticed that some people might not like as much as I did.

Setting: 25/25
The Good: This book is about the real world. Or at least, a world that runs alongside the one we see. It might have taken place last Wednesday, or maybe next Friday. Real locations pop up with such clarity that it's easy to assume the story is taking place around you as you read it. Maybe it is. Zig Zag begins with the familiar trope of secret societies of heroes and villains with supernatural powers living alongside utterly oblivious people. But then he turns it on its side, showing you how these two worlds are not separate universes that exist together in space, as in Harry Potter, but that the things that happen in one world are simply perceived differently in another. Every action that takes place in this fantasy world serves as a metaphor to explain and give meaning to the bizarre and unsettling aspects of our day to day existence. He draws meaning from the noise, and weaves it together into a magnificent tale.
The Bad: In a world where almost anything is possible, you finish the book wondering how much you haven't seen yet. Maybe you saw it all, maybe you've seen a sliver. This isn't enough to dock points for, because that just means I'll hold out for a sequel.

Characters: 24/25
The Good: The Characters are really what make this. While some authors use the characters to tell a story, it feels more like Claybourne uses the story to explore the characters. The cast is massive, but I had a much easier time keeping track of people despite them breaking off into smaller groups quite often - something I'll admit I had a lot of trouble with in other stories with a similarly large cast like Tolkien's works. This is due, I believe, to two factors: Claybourne gives his characters a rich personality, often expressed through dialogue alone, at a level I have rarely seen. Two sentences from a character and I know who they are and what they're like just from the way they talk. They don't feel like one man putting words in a dozen peoples' mouths, but a dozen different people, letting one man put their words on paper. The other factor is the names - oh, the names! Witty, descriptive, and memorable. You won't need to worry about remembering who is who with names like Bubba Foom and Raffic the Mad Buddha.
The Bad: Some of the characters don't get as much "screen time" as I'd like, because they do seem interesting enough for their own spinoff story. Origins are hinted at but not elaborated as much as I wanted. This isn't so much a negative as a break from what I'm used to, and I just had to adjust to a different set of expectations. Another strike that might be in the negative column for some is the lack of description. For people who are used to being told every detail of a character when they're introduced like you've been handed a dossier on them, this can be a bit jarring. Characters are often described entirely by what they do, not what they look like while they're doing it, and sometimes you'll just get a glimpse of them through a distinguishing trait or article of clothing, but for the most part, your mind forms strong pictures of these people without much prompting from the author. Zig Zag lets you make his characters in your own head in a way few other authors are willing to trust their readers with. I suspect a fun game would be discussing casting options for a film adaptation because very few people are likely to choose the same appearances based on what they're given from the text. As I'm sure you can tell, I don't really believe this to be a negative, but it's something you might want to prepare for going in, as I have seen some people put off by it.

Story: 23/25
The Good: This story is not for the faint of heart. Adventure and exploration, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, and heroic mythology fall in together on every page, creating something that defies categorization regardless of how many times I've tried. It doesn't matter which box I attempt to put it in, it breaks out of it and laughs at me like it knows more than I do - and I'm confident it does. The plot travels at breakneck speed and only slows down to take a single breath when you need one before diving straight back in. If there's one thing that impressed me above the rest, it's Zig Zag's sense of pacing. He always seems to know what each paragraph needs to ensure you're neither bored nor overwhelmed, and I can't say I found a single spot in the entire book that seemed like it took too long to play out. This adventure spans time and space, risks the world with a diabolical scheme, kicks ass, and saves the day - and yet, it feels nothing like the countless other stories that offer the same things. Maybe it's in the details, maybe it's the presentation, but somehow, Leviathan transcends its own elements and becomes something more.
The Bad: This story moves damn fast. For some, it might be too fast. Some scenes feel like you're watching them from the window of a speeding subway train, and it's easy to miss important details. You need to be willing to take your time with this, and flip back a page or two when you realize you missed something. Or maybe I just read it in a rush the first time and didn't give it the attention it deserved, your mileage may vary. The other thing I'd point out is another element that's both positive and negative depending on how you view it. There's a great deal of implied action in this story, that you'll infer from other events, or from things people say to each other. Characters leave or appear quite suddenly - it's not as if they don't have good reasons, but those reasons and methods aren't as explicitly stated as they are in more traditional novels. A detailed setup for a fight, building tension until moments before the combatants engage, followed by a jump to the next chapter, only leaving you to discover the outcome when it's discussed later - if this sort of thing bothers you, it may be a difficult read, but I found it both tastefully used and refreshing. I wouldn't want to suggest that every scene is like that, because they aren't, but some of them stand out as being more memorable because of the reversal of expectation, much like some of Douglas Adams' more famous passages.

Style: 24/25
I've already talked about the good and bad a fair bit above. This author has a way with words that has to be experienced to be believed. He speaks in a way that, cheesy as it sounds, bypasses the mind entirely and works its way directly into the heart and soul. The Brothers Jetstream is not written the way most books are, and it's the unique style that truly sets it apart from its peers. It's not a simple read; you need to put in the effort the story deserves if you're going to get the most out of it. Zig Zag Claybourne does not pull any punches, and he expects you to think. We're so used to authors spoonfeeding us their content, that when they don't, it feels strange to say the least. Reading a book like this isn't for everyone, but for a certain type of mind, it’s utterly rewarding. It doesn't so much bend genres as nod appreciatively at them before sprinting away from them. It subverts tropes faster than it can bring them up, it destroys sorrow with humor and hatred with love. It finds beauty in ugliness and hope in despair. There’s a philosophy here that becomes only more relevant in our increasingly disturbing world, and leads the way to a future full of possibilities.

Total: 96%
Normally I'd make a suggestion to fans of a certain kind of book, but in this case, I can only say you should read this if you're a fan of reading. Period.

[Nils Ödlund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that does its own thing, without giving a damn about what the other books have to say about it. The story goes where it will, and you’d better keep up, or you’ll be helplessly lost somewhere halfway between Detroit and Atlantis.

Conspiracies, telepaths, and underground resistance. The false prophet Buford is headed for the mount, and it’s up to Milo and Ramses to stop him, except just as shit’s about to go down, someone teleports Buford away, and no one knows where he ends up – including Buford himself.

Turns out it’s Thoom in cooperation with the vampires, probably. Better call in the big guns. Maseef and the whales, and a bunch of angels, at least one of which is green (meaning the angels – I don’t know what color the whales are). No one seems to know where Raffic the Mad Buddha is, but everyone trusts he’ll show up.

Adam and Eve stops by as well – they’re immortal bodyguard assassins, and they’re super hot.

…and then someone just has to go and piss off the leviathan, and enemies will have to cooperate, after a fashion, for a little bit. Also, someone cloned Milo twelve times.

Now, that there summary is just a fraction of all that’s going on, and if it doesn’t make sense, it’s because I’m not really trying. This isn’t the kind of story where one explains what the plot is. It’s the kind of story one experiences, and then one sits down and tries catch up with what just happened.

What I’ll whine about
There are, from time to time, a whole lot of people, and I was not always able to keep track of them. At the start, this was a little frustrating and confusing, but eventually I learned to just roll with it.

What I’ll gush about
The attitude, the voice, the expressions. I think this is probably the one book where I’ve made the most highlights since I figured out how to do it (and I must have messed up somehow because I can’t find them now). Either way, this story is brimming with confidence, and it doesn’t mess about with explaining little details of world-building mechanics, or how the ships actually get from the Atlantic, to the blank, to Atlantis. It forges on, shit happens, and you, the reader, will just have to deal.

It’s not always I’m in the mood for a story like that, but this time, I was, and it was awesome.

Final Words
I’m going to need a break and read something normal for a bit, and then I’ll get back and read the second book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever been eating an amazing dessert, one so good that you initially gobble it down, spoon after spoon, but soon realize that it will be done soon, so you start taking smaller and smaller bites in an effort to draw out the wonderful experience? That's why it took me so long to finish The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan.

A few years ago I saw the author do something amazing at a reading. Rather than read a few selected portions of his novel, he asked the audience to call out numbers. He then proceeded to read from those pages. Each selection was an amazingly well written snippet that left the reader wanting more.

If you are a fan of wild, suspense filled stories, humor, social commentary, and amazing casts of characters, I highly suggest you pick up The Brothers Jetstream.

[LordTBR]

SPFBO read #5 of 5.

I don't really know where to start with this review, other than The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan felt like a poor man's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. There is so much absurdity going on that, unless you cling to each and every written word, you will be lost without any hope of finding your way back through the wormhole. Never have I been so confused as I was after reading this novel. As you can see (those of you on GR), I finished 4 days ago and still cannot wrap my brain around what just occurred. It is like being on a roller coaster ride, but instead of being given a second to catch your breath after a long drop, your lungs are constantly trying to take in just the tiniest bit of air in order to be satisfied as you are flung into infinity. The reader is introduced to way too many things in the beginning and it doesn't slow down, so you are always playing catchup.

This book is not for everyone, me included. There is humor to be found throughout the pages, but it is so muddled with ridiculousness that it feels like a chore to hunt it down. There is enough swearing, sex, death and more for everyone and a fun adventure to save the planet, but it wasn't enough for me. I have read and enjoyed other novels with stylistic differences when it comes to the writing, like Brothers Jetstream (see The Vagrant by Peter Newman or The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark), but neither hold a candle to the sentence structure presented. It takes quite a mind to read, let alone write this stuff.

I may give this novel another try in future years, but I need some palate cleansers in the meantime.

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a totally whack book. Imagine a very irregular triangle. At one vertex is Shea and Wilson's _Illuminatus!_; at another is Matt Ruff's _Sewer, Gas, and Electric: the Public Works Trilogy_; and at the third is the neohoodoo fiction of Ishmael Reed. Somewhere near the center of that triangle, you'll find this book.

I am beggared by even trying to describe the story. It involves Milo and Ramses Jetstream, a gang of horney angels calling themselves the Battle-Ready Bastards, Adam and Eve (who are actually aliens), whales, dragoons (dolphins' smarter cousins), Leviathan (who utterly dwarfs whales), the Mount, Atlantis, clones, duelling conspiracies, vampires, Neon and Yvonne, the Mad Buddha Raffic, pissed-off pygmies, the False Profit Buford, THOOM, Maseef Or-Ghazeem, and ever so much more...

Milo and Ramses are brothers who have been trained since youth to be Agents of Change. They have chi and fye and much more talents. Ramses can raise the dead, sometimes. They are both at the pinnacle of fighting skill. As the story opens, they are on their way to Atlantis to capture Buford before he can climb the Mount and gain insight into the future.

And that's actually all I want to tell you about the plot, because it unfolds so wonderfully that any attempt to summarize will do it terrible injustice. There are some sentences so absolutely ridiculous but delightful, that I sometimes suspect the book was written to give them context in which they could make sense.

And, yes, it's well written. The sentences may not all be ridiculous and delightful, but they're generally good sentences.

I have two complaints. One is that the book could have been copyedited a bit better; the other is that the conversion to Kindle was done poorly, so that the text randomly but briefly changes to a smaller size at times that are clearly _not_ the intention of the author. Neither of these keeps it from being quite readable, but, every once in a while, they would stir me briefly from the fictive dream.

There is a sequel: _Afro Puffs Are the Antennae of the Universe_. I shall be reading that in the foreseeable future.

[Helena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really really wanted to love this book, and I somehow made it through the whole thing, but never once was I sure what was actually going on. That probably says more about me than about the book, and is likely my own fault, but even at the end, I still had no idea what had happened at any point or what the main point of the story was. I did find myself laughing out loud about once every 20 pages, and it really is full of very amusing quips and puns, but the story was so clouded for me that in the end I could not enjoy it. I felt like I was reading a book in a language I don't know. Which perhaps I was, let's be honest. Embarrassing as I had thought that was not the case… So I guess you could say I learned something from this book.

[Tim Niederriter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging, Brilliant, Rewarding

This book is beautiful and chaotic. It is a book filled with characters that both add to the fun, and sometimes the confusion.
The voice of this story is fun and gonzo as all hell. Language here reminds me of a cross between Douglas Adams and Neal Stephenson. I consider that a compliment, but it adds to the challenge of reading.
The theme is strong with this one.
I love the portrayal of the eponymous giant whale. All in all a very satisfying, if often difficult, book.
One last note! The illustrations throughout this eBook are great. Well done with these.
Now, go fish.

[Jeremy Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a truly wild ride. It's a wonderful stew with so many disparate and exciting elements thrown in to create a truly unpredictable adventure. It moves left when you think it'll move right, it zigs when you think it'll zag, and it soars when you think it'll walk. I've rarely read a novel in which so much happens, and yet the book never feels overstuffed or too much to handle.

[Jen Haeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like Terry Pratchett, you will love this book. :)

[mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was first described to me as "gonzo" science fiction. So I immediately thought, "what sort of Sci-Fi would Hunter Thompson have written had he been a hip, happenin', black dude instead of a rebellious middle class white guy who discovered drugs, violence, the shallowness of the counter-culture movement in the Summer of Love, and an novelty of applying the Beat-style of literature to journalism?" The answer was surprising, and not quite gonzo as the book is narrated--although with the subtext that the narrator is an actual character in the story (much like in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", but not as overtly as, say, "Winnie the Pooh"), and not just some objective viewpoint with subtitles. The action--and there is all sorts of action, heroic, mundane, and entendric (both single and double)--is non-stop. The characters mostly are not introduced so much as thrown into the deep end; there are angelic exceptions, because angels are exceptional and these angels are no exception.

The twist and turns, things hinted at becoming important, and important things being throw overboard will carry you to the finish as breathlessly as the story makes you at the start. The melding of eastern religion with urban slang makes for a melange of great humorous potential that the author unapologetically exploits. It's a great read, and while I don't expect a sequel, there's an entire library shelf's worth of room for a prequel. In the meantime, I have the compelling urge to adopt the nom de guerre of Le'mon J'ello and spend an inordinate amount of time meditating about the future while being in the moment.

[Wendy Babiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is literally fantastic, but like no fantasy novel I’ve ever read. The pace is jumping, it’s riddled with humor, as well as sly insertions (Talking Heads lyrics? Blood IS a special substance) that make the authorial presence one you’ll enjoy spending time with. You’re clued in that the Brothers Jetstream are no ordinary pair of brothers in the first scene, when one of them, in response to some casual racism, smacks the fye out of the perpetrator, who, rather than responding in kind, wanders off, corrected. No one seems to have seen, except a pair of ladies, who’s ability to see what’s normally not visible intrigues the brothers as much as their attractiveness. They get to talking and before you know it you’re swept away in a narrative that includes Atlantis, vampires, an immortal Adam and Eve who are serious pains in the ass, a troop of badass angels, a family with incredible psychic prowess, an evil corporation out to keep mankind enslaved by consumerism, and an enormous ancient fish unhappy at being awakened and headed to the mainland to wreak havoc in revenge. And Bigfoot. But we don’t talk about him.

It took me a while to finish because I’m the sort of nut that feels bad having so much fun when things are so bad for so many. But I remembered what Tolkien had to say when accused of creating escape entertainment, and indeed I needed the joy this book brought me whenever I dove in again. So please, do yourself a favor and pick up this novel. It’ll do you a world of good.

[Michelle Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ridiculously smooth and elegant, this book goes down like a spiked hot chocolate. The craziest and most hilarious elements and characters are presented straight-faced, and sometimes the story follows the humour in the situation, and sometimes it doesn't, just letting the reader take it all in.

I am a confirmed fan of this author, but I still had pretty high expectations of this, and they weren't disappointed. This was fantastic, and a fast-paced plot with subversion, social commentary, and awesome characters is all I could ask for. In a sense, this is a sequel to Neon Lights, but you don't necessarily need to have read that to enjoy this.

The one criticism I could level at it is that it's a lot to take in, and i was kind of mad when it was over, because the sequel isn't out yet. The length is good, though, and the illustrations and production value are excellent. There were typos, but I understand the manu's been updated since I read it, so that's probably not an issue anymore.

If you want a cool adventure that has retro flair and style but a sharp, intelligent, modern feel--AND explosions, AND warrior angels, AND Atlantis, AND corporate conspiracies, AND gorgeous prose--you have the right book in your hands. This is what Dan Brown would have written if he'd gotten high with Miles Davis and spent some time on the front lines of Black Lives Matter and Occupy protests--then chilled out in a cat cafe afterwards with a pile of comic books. You need it like you don't need Jesus. Buy it now.

[Leah Rachel von Essen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan by Zig Zag Claybourne is strange, wild, and difficult to describe. The style is quick and rapid-humor. It’s hard to get into at first because it jumps right in—the action is relentless—which is also the reason it reads so quickly.

This book has its issues, from the almost-constant objectification of the (still badass) female characters of the novel to the fact that it could almost definitely be several dozen pages shorter by skipping some of the much-less-necessary tangents (many grounded in jokes that went a bit farther than necessary), not to mention a couple dropped characters or plots that are never explained (past the point of just being ambiguous). But overall, Leviathan is extraordinarily original, a macho diverse vintage action flick of a fantasy novel, full of explosions and roundhouse kicks and hot girls. My favorite pieces were probably the final battle themselves, which takes advantage of Claybourne’s rushed, switching style, and his fast-talking cast of characters, and the voices of the creatures he populates the novel with, particularly the dragoon and the Leviathan. It was fun putting many of the pieces together, and the way the ending used the concept of parallel dimensions was unexpected and fun. This is a novel that will take you by surprise no matter what you are expecting, and although some things bothered me about it, and I struggle to define it even enough to get out this review, this fun and diverse fantasy book is definitely difficult to put down. I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[F.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books- Zig Zag earns his name with his quick and punchy writing style reminiscent of Douglas Adams. If you like memorable characters that stand out and one-liners that glow beyond the page, this one is one of the best. It's not a fast read - it starts off running so fast you'll wonder if it's a sequel (it's not) and you'll want to reread every page as you go to make sure you don't miss the action or the subtext or any delicious phrase. For those who can keep up, Leviathan does not disappoint.

[Keith Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hang on to your imagination

The Brothers Jetstream Leviathan is almost certainly without a doubt unlike anything you have ever read at anytime anywhere. There is nothing like it. And either you can hang or you can’t. But if you can, the rewards are bountiful. Some of the best writing anywhere. Some of the most original phrases and descriptions. A rhythm all its own which can be difficult to follow, especially if you try too hard. You need to just fall into the stream and let it take you. That’s the only way.

[Jorgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

It starts full throttle and just speeds up from there. Take the action from the Matrix minus the waiting for the action to start and add in the aesthetic of Buckaroo Banzai with less silliness and you get a hint of what the book is like.

It takes the sci-fi/fantasy tropes and smashes them together like the LHC, and like the LHC creates new things not seen before.

Read it!

[Cat Scully · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met ZigZag at a conference and had the pleasure of getting to hear him read his work aloud and it was my favorite reading of the night. After receiving a copy, I couldn’t put it down. This book was a wild, humorous ride that reminded me of Terry Pratchett meets Hellboy with its legends and monsters and mayhem, and it’s written with so much voice! ZigZag is a gorgeous writer. This checked all the boxes for me and I can’t wait to read more of his work and I’m so excited for the sequel!

[Nightwing Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was, hmmm, interesting. It was similar to Buckaroo Banzai. With maybe a touch too much of Vonnegut perhaps? Definitely, though what I got was a whole lot of the flavor of Cat Valente’s newest book, Space Opera. If you have enjoyed any of those, you will probably find it “right up your alley”. If not, perhaps you should give it a try anyway- broaden your horizons!

[R.W.W. Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Kurt Vonnegut, Black Dynamite, and Bootsy Collins had a baby together, and that baby watched "Supernatural" and read "American Gods" ... and decided it could do a lot better, it might have turned out something like this book. Bad-ass, funky fun all the way down. A great read.

[Miranda Falcon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zig zag Claybourne feeds your soul. With ghost pepper sauce and Rosario Dawson’s smile. This is one of those books that ends up changing your world view if you hang on tight as this book careens through many epic side quests.

[Lori Alden Holuta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever life got to be too routine and boring, I'd pick up The Brothers Jetstream and let it change the angle of my brain for a while. I didn't try to hurry through the book - instead I savored a large bite of it whenever it felt right.

[Marissa]

DNF p. ~55? I just stopped reading it and never picked it back up again. Sooner or later I should admit to myself that I don't find obvious satires in the vein of Vonnegut etc particularly interesting.

[Joe Warden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dude... this book was awesome and I'm going to need some prequel novels while we are at it! And more sequels (Afro Puffs are the Antennae of the Universe is AMAZING)!!! Can't wait for more books in this series!

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastical afro-detroit superhero saga referencing a thousand comics, myths, and philip k dick. Really it's too much, an explosive chromed graphic novel given all the word count of ditching the visuals, and fairly raunchily enjoyable for all that.

[Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique piece of urban fiction that surprises and delights. I was a big fan of the pop culture and music references throughout the book. I plan to write a detailed spoiler free review for my blog.