Tipping World

Alia has come home in search of answers. What she gets in place of information is new obligations. Allies who complicate her difficult situation. Shisum finds himself in a leadership position, raised on high by the society he's trying to rebel against. The Complex disintegrates while Dyafer and Mairid circle each other watchfully.Boden has reached a point where he ought to be able to stop and catch his breath, but life isn't willing to oblige him. Mages still loyal to the Code will hand him a chance to finally take a stand on the only subject that matters to him, but doing so means taking a huge risk. He'll have to place his life in another's hands by asking him: do you love me enough to admit it?Plots that have been three books in the making are taking shape. Lines drawn in the sand, ultimatums handed. On every side, bridges burn as mages take a stand and choose their side, even if the only person on that side is them.The concept of a scapegoat is meaningless without a sacrifice, so the question is how many are coming out of this alive?

They failed the people they swore to serve, but it's themselves who were most changed. The Sight itself won't let them pass the blame.Almost no one is where they were supposed to be; the people standing at their shoulders aren't the allies they expected or planned for. It seems, though, that everyone has found the people they can trust and the mission they were meant to see through. Dyafer and the Vriomeh are ready to face down the villain on his border. Sparud is doing what he can to undermine the traitors from within. Mairid is fighting the right war, if not in the place the Lahar commanded. Everyone has a task laid out for them. To fight in defense of someone. To stand for a belief, to build something instead of just knocking down broken institutions and killing villains. To be the mages they hoped to be, back when they were neophytes and still believed that heroes could wear vylles. To prove the traitor wrong that what was always most wrong with the world was them.It's great to finally be able to take a stand, even if no one's hands are clean by then. Born to a couple of bon vivants with a Renaissance approach to intellectual curiosity, M.C. learned to taste wine, build a campfire, and think in terms of geologic time before quitting the nest. Early fascinations with anthropology and fantasy translated into a degree in English lit, but that's the last rational decision the author made aside getting married. In pursuit of a J.D., M.C. moved to the city of Chicago from (no joke) every other region in the country. Returned triumphant from the bar exam, the obvious next step was to put these tools to use writing adventures in imagined worlds. Biggest childhood influences, Pratchett and Pern, which come through in humor, vibes of science fantasy, and an unapologetic love for cities. There will be slang, cursing, magic, moments of great warmth. And cities. If that wasn't coming through: lots of cities.

The stunning conclusion to the epic. When all the world's heroes assemble in Anyimar, the goal is simple. It won't be easy, but it feels straightforward. Defeat the last villain, go home, rebuild. Get back to debating whether they can forgive one another for all the wrongs they did.For an Arbiter to defy another Arbiter, though, is to tear holes in causality. Inviting the same cataclysm that forced their ancestors to flee their homelands for these foreign shores. This the future they chose: to go their own ways, to pursue their own dreams, to refuse to go on being cogs in a monolithic ideological machine. The boundless power of magial is imagination given agency, and if they can't just obey one leader with one vision, they're going to have to compromise and work together as a team. They come up with a solid plan, but it has unintended consequences... Born to a couple of bon vivants with a Renaissance approach to intellectual curiosity, M.C. learned to taste wine, build a campfire, and think in terms of geologic time before quitting the nest. Early fascinations with anthropology and fantasy translated into a degree in English lit, but that's the last rational decision the author made aside getting married. In pursuit of a J.D., M.C. moved to the city of Chicago from (no joke) every other region in the country. Returned triumphant from the bar exam, the obvious next step was to put these tools to use writing adventures in imagined worlds. Biggest childhood influences, Pratchett and Pern, which come through in humor, vibes of science fantasy, and an unapologetic love for cities. There will be slang, cursing, magic, moments of great warmth. And cities. If that wasn't coming through: lots of cities.