I'll admit, I don't read many because a lot are only available via eBook, and I have retention issues with that format. However, since subscribing to Rainbow Crate and getting one every month, I've read more. I typically use the ebooks as work reads because it's easier to access than carrying around a full physical book. Though I guess now that they're including physical copies that'll change. 😅
This edition of The Name-Bearer by Natalia Hernandez is GORGEOUS! I love that the original cover was printed on the naked hardcover. The edges are stunning and I love that the top and bottom aren't plain like a lot of digital edges are. These special editions are top tier!
[I.D.: A photoset containing four screenshots of the Twine text game Child of Light.
Image 1 is of the game’s cover. It presents a scratchy drawing of a feminine figure reaching up to the sky as beams of white light shine from the form. The figure appears to be overlayed on top of a land mass surrounded by water, with clouds surrounding her body.
Image 2 is of white text from the game against a black background. The text reads, “Invaders. Encroachers wanting the land: the cave, the resources, the women. We are too few to fight these distant cousins. We will go to another place.” Blue text of a link within the game then reads, “Come along! hurry, before they come.”
Image 3 shows italicized white text against a black background. The text says, “Nona’s mother’s tribe had crept nearer after hearing the screams of the doomed, finding a young woman who’d not reacted to their approach. One of the warriors had thought to take her as his own until he saw the dead baby she carried.” Two options for the player, both presented as links with blue text, read “Stay in the cave and fantasize” and “Approach the old woman again.”
Image 4 shows white dialogue text against a black background that says, “We’ve been waiting for you. We’ve all been waiting for you. We are all here now, all the Children of Light. Welcome home.”
end I.D.]
Child of Light is a short text-based game about a fantasy world set in the ancient past. Play as a young girl as she survives by making hard choices. But no matter how dark the consequences may be, there is always a ray of light.
For free as a browser game.
Developed by Red Haircrow, a writer; educator; psychologist; and filmmaker who is of Chiricahua Apache, Cherokee, and African American descent. They are based in Berlin, Germany and their research is centered around the intergenerational trauma of marginalized groups. Their consultation company is Flying With Red Haircrow Productions.
The way Franck Biyong composes is unlike any other
musician you will find. This artist has blended roots of
Afrobeat to a jazz and electric sound that has a vantage
point on the contemporary. His latest album is a thematic
entrance into a slice of time which only he can master.
This album is called Moonwatching 2.
When he approaches music, he has to find an incredible
balance between these two different styles. It might not
mean much as listeners, but to find that razor fine line,
that is what Franck Biyong is working with. His music has
a resonating power to it that fuses elements of the West
with the vernacular heartbeat of Cameroon. New Crescent
shows this exact sentiment, and you can hear it in the
electric influences, even in the tones and monologues.
It is like the opening of Maggot Brain by Parliament,
where some delectable guitar notes introduce you to
the rich textures.
In tonal heaven, all the way
Leave it to Franck Biyong to genuinely surprise you.
The next song has the soul of rock, but teases with
tones and compositional parts that you’d never put
together. He is able to manipulate the feelings of a
voice you can never hear, just by how he composes.
Fever might be one of my favourites from this
talented artist, with elements of blues, soul and
rock convening in grace.
Music Better proceeds with a funky effect, and a unique
time signature. Just this can give you a nice peek into his
brain, where you’re also hearing a Hendrix like riff with
percussions that are clearly having African roots. There is
this cinematic edge to his music because of the experience
and civil way he performs the marriage of such different
genres. Moonwatching 2 is thematically perfect, these
are his thoughts and muses without trying to disturb the
sonic membrane of either of these genres.
To explore, and to seek
Franck Biyong retains the key to soft soundscapes with
Soldier Boy. It is a sensitive, soothing single with honey
like melodies. How it all overlaps, is not even worth
discussing, for it is like a door to paradise. Biyong has
detailed the sounds to move from groovy to funky, rock
to stylish and punchy, and the result is incredible. I’d like
to pick this artist’s brain just to know how he comes up
with the concepts he sees through. The guitars are really
the ones shining under the lunar halo, and they differ in
tone with each song. Freedom Day even has that patriotic
element with the percussion building, creating an
excitement.
By the time you hear On This Road and Dreamland,
you’re spellbound. If we were to send extra-terrestrial
life perfect music that showcases more than one part
of the world, Franck Biyong has done the necessary.
Listen to his album here and dwell in fascination.