my fourth novel
Union Station is the story of Thomas Jackson, a rare books dealer with a secret. He is actually a gifted bibliomancer, the former librarian of the Great Library in the capital of the multiverse, from where he has since been exiled. Living out his exile in the dimension of his birth, Thomas uses his book-magic abilities to seek out and sell rare books in order to make a living so that he can spend his time doing what he wants most: to read and live a quiet life.
His hopes for that quiet life are shattered when he finds himself drawn into a conspiracy to acquire a book that does not exist except in the most extreme rumors and legends, a sort of universal codebook, a key to manipulating reality to bend it to one’s will.
Realizing he can’t find the book alone, he assembles a team to help him:
Franka is Tom’s oldest friend. She is a chronomancer and uses magic to control time. She is also well liked in the magic community, and tends to instantly bond with newer members of the group like a friendly aunt.
The broken down and grumpy Ellis is also an old friend. He is a dipsomancer, utilizing the power of booze for his rituals. What Ellis lacks in hygiene he makes up for in bloody mindedness.
Gabriela is the youngest member of the team. She’s reluctant to risk her plan: going to community college to work on her computer science degree with the hopes of building a career to take herself out of the path chosen by her traditionalist mother. Gabriela’s powers derive from her knowledge and affinity with technology.
Ashley has a dark past and is seeking redemption. They call him a “Gandhi,” he uses magic that relies on pacifism and redirecting the aggressor’s attacks against them.
Paula is the last to join the group. She’s a mathematician and a “numbers cruncher,” a practitioner of magic that uses the weirdness of advanced mathematics to power her spells.
Together they cross time and realities to track down the impossible book, only to be betrayed by their employer who they find has been working for a faction of the extra-dimensional aristocracy all along. The team do what they can to shore up reality’s firewall from the book, but realize they are fighting a losing battle. Meanwhile, Jackson falls into a trap that takes him to the other side, violating the terms of his exile.
As reality starts to come apart with increased uses of The Book, the team must steal The Book back, undo the damage it has done, and put The Book beyond the reach of people who would risk using it, before it’s too late.
