Search Worlds Without End

This short story originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 12, September-October 2016.

Read the full story for free at Uncanny Magazine.

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It was originally published by Giganotosaurus, November 1, 2011. The story is also included in Nebula Awards Showcase 2013, edited by Catherine Asaro.

Read the full story for free at Giganotosaurus.

Kenna, an aspirational teen guru, wanders destitute across the stars as he tries to achieve his parents' ambition to advise the celestial elite.

Everything changes when Kenna wins a free dinner at The Sol Majestic, the galaxy's most renowned restaurant, giving him access to the cosmos's one-percent. His dream is jeopardized, however, when he learns his highly-publicized "free meal" risks putting The Sol Majestic into financial ruin. Kenna and a motley gang of newfound friends--including a teleporting celebrity chef, a trust-fund adrenaline junkie, an inept apprentice, and a brilliant mistress of disguise--must concoct an extravagant scheme to save everything they cherish. In doing so, Kenna may sacrifice his ideals--or learn even greater lessons about wisdom, friendship, and love.

Utterly charming and out of this world, Ferrett Steinmetz's The Sol Majestic will satisfy the appetites of sci-fi aficionados and newcomers alike.

In the near future, the elderly have moved online and now live within the computer network. But that doesn't stop them interfering in the lives of the living, whose sole real purpose now is to maintain the vast servers which support digital Heaven. For one orphan that just isn't enough -- he wants more for himself and his sister than a life slaving away for the dead. It turns out that he's not the only one who wants to reset the world...

A desperate father will do anything to heal his daughter in a novel where Breaking Bad meets Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files.

FLEX: Distilled magic in crystal form. The most dangerous drug in the world. Snort it, and you can create incredible coincidences to live the life of your dreams.

FLUX: The backlash from snorting Flex. The universe hates magic and tries to rebalance the odds; maybe you survive the horrendous accidents the Flex inflicts, maybe you don't.

PAUL TSABO: The obsessed bureaucromancer who's turned paperwork into a magical Beast that can rewrite rental agreements, conjure rented cars from nowhere, track down anyone who's ever filled out a form.

But when all of his formulaic magic can't save his burned daughter, Paul must enter the dangerous world of Flex dealers to heal her. Except he's never done this before - and the punishment for brewing Flex is army conscription and a total brain-wipe.

Love something enough, and your obsession will punch holes through the laws of physics. That devotion creates unique magics: videogamemancers. Origamimancers. Culinomancers.

But when 'mancers battle, cities tremble...

ALIYAH TSABO-DAWSON: The world's most dangerous eight-year-old girl. Burned by a terrorist's magic, gifted strange powers beyond measure. She's furious that she has to hide her abilities from her friends, her teachers, even her mother - and her temper tantrums can kill.

PAUL TSABO: Bureaucromancer. Magical drug-dealer. Desperate father. He's gone toe-to-toe with the government's conscription squads of brain-burned Unimancers, and he'll lie to anyone to keep Aliyah out of their hands - whether Aliyah likes it or not.

THE KING OF NEW YORK: The mysterious power player hell-bent on capturing the two of them. A man packing a private army of illegal 'mancers.

Paul's family is the key to keep the King's crumbling empire afloat. But offering them paradise is the catalyst that inflames Aliyah's deadly rebellious streak...

America has long sent its best SMASH agents overseas to deal with the European crisis. As of today, they decided dismantling your operation was more important than containing the Bastogne Broach. Now you're dealing with the real professionals.

Paul Tsabo: Bureaucromancer. Political activist. Loving father. His efforts to decriminalize magic have made him the government's #1 enemy - and his fugitive existence has robbed his daughter of a normal life.

Aliyah Tsabo-Dawson: Videogamemancer. Gifted unearthly powers by a terrorist's magic. Raised by a family of magicians, she's the world's loneliest teenager - because her powers might kill anyone she befriends.

The Unimancers: Brain-burned zombies. Former 'mancers, tortured into becoming agents of the government's anti-'mancer squad. An unstoppable hive-mind.

When Paul accidentally opens up the first unsealed dimensional broach on American soil, the Unimancers lead his family in a cat-and-mouse pursuit all the way to the demon-haunted ruins of Europe - where Aliyah is slowly corrupted by the siren call of the Unimancers...