"It would have been sometime after breakfast on a Tuesday, if Tuesdays existed. Theodil walks into the room as the committee stares with a myriad of stares and glares - each pondering their own level of disbelief at what they are about to witness. There, he gives his presentation in that room before rooms, within a space before space, at a time before time: a dimensional playground - a realm of realms where realms are born and realms come to die."

What was before the universe? What are the pragmatic and philosophic questions that are raised by the creation of such an ambitious anomaly?

Theodil stands before a committee with nothing but zero parameter "Zots". By skewing, aggregating, and agitation, parameters are developed including time, light, and gravity. All the while, the congregation grows increasingly agitated, double guessing, criticizing, and debating Theodil's every step.

This is an exploratory thought experiment into various dynamics that may have taken part in the rendering of the universe. The book dives into the philosophical necessity for multiple time frames, empirical and dark materials, constants in gravity and light, and proposes a dual big bang for the origin of the universe: one to start the process, and the second to slow down the interaction so experience and matter can materialize.

"Of Zots and Xoodles" attempts to take these and other complex hypothetical factors and move them into a simplified abstract domain where the concepts can be explored in an amusing and deductive framework, with a banter that is stylistically blend of Lewis Carrol meets Dr. Seuss meets Douglas Adams
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Review: what started it all? This book is a light-hearted but very scientific look at how certain elements of the universe we know could have gotten started. The author's note is nearly as entertaining as the book itself, as well as being relevant to the story. This book will have you reading and re-reading, while pondering all the piles of information given to understand its content. Much of the story is questions/answers of the skeptical scientific mind which helps break up the science data with explanations. The ending of the story is superb.

The book has a great cover and wonderful artwork throughout. The writing is articulate and thoughtful. I can't say enough about how much I loved the wonderful prose. Each sentence seems to be so carefully crafted to pull you in, entertain you, inspire you, educate you. I especially loved the witty and clever spellings; this really reminded me of Phantom Tollbooth. The author crafts new sayings with cleverly changed spellings to inject new meanings into old sayings. It's brilliant and makes it so enjoyable to read.

The illustrator's artwork is beautiful and thought-provoking, it really opens your mind while you consider all of the scientific possibilities of the author's information. I found his story at the beginning of the book very inspiring.

The science itself reminded me of reading a Stephen Hawking book. It sometimes went over my head but I would love to read this book with a few science friends and ponder all of the ideas presented. That's the kind of book this is - one the skeptical mind will enjoy reading over and over and then discussing.

I especially appreciate the author's question about preconceived notions, "why is it expected to be done that way?" He provides many questions and insightful answers into many things not asked before which makes this book different from most I've read. This type of book is very sought after in the skeptic community. I hope this author writes a lot more books, including an autobiography. I would love to hear more life ponderings like this.

Because there wasn't anything I didn't like about this book, and because the prose was so wonderful, I recommend this to science lovers and skeptic minds.
About the Author: JW McLaughlin is an abstract musician with a background in IT, heavy metal (bass player), degrees in Educational Research, Business, and Information Systems, and a former coffee shop owner. He is an inquisitor of chemistry, biology, physics, music, philosophy, religion, sci-fi and a plethora of other subjects.

He is on the autistic spectrum, but did not know until around 40. Prior to this, he spent most of his life trying to understand his eccentric behaviors and fondness for the peculiar without any "assistance" or "therapy". He described his thought process as "matrix thinking", because everything he had ever learned, observed, and experienced existentially sat on that matrix and was accessible all the time, regardless of context or subject matter - there was no "breaking down of appropriate information due to specific topics".

The reason he is using Zarqnon as the nomenclature for authorship of this book is simply because it amuses him. He like things that are unique and that break the typical - why do it the expected way? If he is violating some preconceived notion of "how it is supposed to be done", then it begs the question "why is it expected to be done that way?" Stretching outside preconceived paradigms gives us the flexibility to experience divergent concepts within paradoxical work frames. He challenges the norm consistently (mostly because he does not understand the norm, and even when he does, he finds it "unconvincing" and personally unconventional).