After twenty years of wandering desolate as a writer, Ferrett Steinmetz attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop in 2008 and was rejuvenated. Since then, he's sold stories to numerous publications and in March of 2014, Ferrett saw his first novel, Flex, released by Angry Robot Books. He lives in Cleveland with his wife, and a friendly ghost.
First a bit of background. Flex is distilled magic in crystallized form, gifted to ordinary people by 'mancers. Along with Flex, and the powers it bestows, comes The Flux. Think Newton's Third Law, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
In this worthy sequel, Paul Tsabo is now the chief of the New York Task Force For 'Mancer Control. No one on the team knows Paul is a 'mancer himself, a bureaucromancer, which means he's adept at manipulating paperwork to perform his unique brand of magic. Both his daughter, Aliyah, and best friend, Valentine, are videogamemancer's.
The world Ferrett Steinmetz has created is wildly imaginative and his writing style is somewhat reminiscent of Richard Kadrey's Butcher Bird and Sandman Slim novels. Needless to say, both Flex and The Flux are wild rides which take the reader to places they've never been before, and beyond.
All of the characters are fully developed, the banter is clever, and the writing is filled with pop-culture references. If you've already read Flex, (and I do recommend that, even though The Flux reads well as a stand alone novel), The Flux is somewhat darker overall.
If you're a gamer, you're going to love the ending to this book and good news, there are plans for a third and final book in the series.
Both Flex and The Flux are available in a wide array of formats from Angry Robot Books.
If you like your reads to be "out there", this series may be just what you're looking for. Recommended.
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