Magic, Mystery, Madness

These are ekphrastic short stories. Each story deals in some way with a specific visual graphic, and the graphic helps clarify or comments on the story. The stories and the visual art vary from realistic to magical to mystery to science fiction, and some are magical realism. The book contains 33 short stories, one novella, and 77 color graphics. Much of the graphic art incorporates altered images from the Hubble and James Web telescopes. Some few of the stories are presented as poems. Editor Tom Mack explains the interplay of image and story in this book. This is a place, both visual and verbal, Tom writes, where both Jules Verne and Isaac Asimov might feel at home, a place informed by the evolution of modern science fiction and the technological advances that have made possible Jerry Craven’s stunning computer-manipulated images.