Ferrett Steinmetz is a graduate of both the Clarion Writers'
Workshop and Viable Paradise, and has been nominated for the Nebula
Award, for which he remains stoked.
Ferrett has a moderately popular blog, The Watchtower of
Destruction, wherein he talks about bad puns, relationships,
politics, videogames, and more bad puns. He's written four computer
books, including the still-popular-after-two-years Wicked Cool
PHP.
He lives in Cleveland with his wife, who he couldn't imagine living
without.
“Do you like magic? Do you like drugs? Donut-based psychological
theories? Video games? Do you like PAPERWORK!? Read this book!”
—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice and winner of the Hugo,
Nebula and Arthur C. Clarke Awards
“Flex is a real gem—sharp, weird, and wildly innovative. It zigs
when you think it’ll zag, then tricks you into screaming when
you’re ready to laugh out loud. So drop everything and settle in
for the night—because once you open this one, you’re not going
anywhere.”
—Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker, winner of the Locus Award for
Best Novel
“Big ideas, epic thrills, and an unlikely paper-pushing hero you’ll
never forget. Just when you think you know what’s next, the book
levels up spectacularly.”
—John Scott Tynes, author of Delta Green: Strange Authorities
“Amazing. I have literally never read a book like this. Read this
NOW, if only to be forced to turn the page wondering what the hell
Steinmetz is going to come up with next.”
—Mur Lafferty, Campbell award-winning “Best New Writer 2013” and
author of The Shambling Guide to New York
“Featuring one of the most original magic systems ever devised and
a pair of likable, layered protagonists, Flex is a fast-paced,
imaginative, and emotionally engaging adventure. The developing
friendships and rapport among the characters are portrayed with
sensitivity and avoids cliches, and the magical battle sequences
are rigorous and filled with ingenious touches that will make
gamers and tax lawyers alike grin with joy.”
—Ken Liu, winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards
“Flex is hot, inventive, and exciting. A real joyride of a
story . . . a whole new kind of magic and a whole new ballgame.
Totally recommended.”
—Seanan McGuire, winner of the John W. Campbell Award and
Hugo-nominated author
“Flex is a breath of magical, drug-addled, emotionally tortured
fresh air, with one of the most unique and fascinating main
characters I’ve read in ages. In an urban fantasy genre filled with
handsome vampires and sassy witches, Ferrett presents us with Paul
Tsabo—a Greek insurance adjuster with a prosthetic foot, forced
into the half-mad underworld of a reality-bending narcotic to save
his daughter from a devastating house fire. With great characters,
evocative writing, and boundless creativity, Flex is one of the
strongest debut novels I’ve ever seen, and one of my favorite
novels of the year.”
—Dan Wells, author of I Am Not a Serial Killer
“Half part Breaking Bad and half part urban fantasy, Flex is an
enthusiastic romp through a world of ingenious magic accessed
by geeky, obsessive projection. Tremendously entertaining
rule-tinkering and loophole-hunts abound. A terrific
read.”
—Robert Jackson Bennett, author of American Elsewhere
“Not since Philip K Dick started toying with reality for fun and
profit has there been a novel so enjoyably hallucinatory as Flex. A
heady mix of the surreal and the mundane, it will appeal to
fans of video games, donuts, insurance, bureaucracy, and crime
families. Oh, and modern-day mage wars. Yet for all of
its wild plot, this is a story about the tender bond
between parents and children, the loyalty of friends and how
the odd among us find their places in the world. Ferrett
Steinmetz has written a page turner!”
—James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus
Awards
“When we think of magic users in fiction, we tend to think of
magicians like Dumbledore or Gandalf: wise, old graybeards whose
professorial robes invoke their deep education into occult arcana.
They are cool, collected practitioners of their arts. Even less
establishment sorcerers tend to have a sheen of coolness about
them; think of Kate Daniels or Harry Dresden, swathed in
black, working as mercenaries or detectives, out in the thick of
it. Which is why it is so utterly charming to meet Paul Tsabo in
Flex, the debut novel from Ferrett Steinmetz.”
—Barnes & Noble
“A well-paced, sometimes serious, sometimes zany mission to save
the world from a mass murderer, with some moral dilemmas mixed in
for spice, Flex was an enjoyable read that ended up somewhere close
to Breaking Bad by way of Scott Pilgrim versus the World. [4 1/2
stars]”
—Speculative Post
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