Flex ('Mancer), by Ferrett Steinmetz
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Flex ('Mancer), by Ferrett Steinmetz
Ebook PDF Online Flex ('Mancer), by Ferrett Steinmetz
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.File Under: Urban Fantasy [ Magic Pill | Firestarter | Bureaucramancy | The Flex & the Flux ]
Flex ('Mancer), by Ferrett Steinmetz- Amazon Sales Rank: #140393 in Books
- Published on: 2015-03-03
- Released on: 2015-03-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.86" h x 1.13" w x 4.17" l, .37 pounds
- Binding: Mass Market Paperback
- 432 pages
Review
“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“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 City of Stairs“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"Like the best magical systems, the magic of Flex is no simple allegory, and the central power too complex to reduce to an easy interpretation."-Ceridwen Christensen, B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog“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“Ferrett takes the “people learn how to do magic, will they use it for good or ill?” question and blows it right open, exposing the soft underbelly of a society that first resorts to fear and violence when faced with something they don’t understand. And I fricken’ loved every word of it. The magic is weird and soul-crushingly expensive, the characters are fantastic, the stakes are high, and the story is intimate. That my friends, is what I’m always looking for. Ferrett Steinmetz? the guy is a Wordmancer.”– Little Red Reviewer“This book made me miss almost my tube-stop several times… You all should read this book when it comes out!”– Reading the Thing“This world is amazing – just the idea that an obsession can bend reality enough to create magic is a brilliant one…The idea on its own brings something fresh to urban fantasy, and was enough on its own to draw me into the book. Steinmetz brings something new and fresh to the genre.”– Stephanie Gunn, writer for ASIF and judge of the Australian Shadows Awards“Flex was an absolute delight to read, and my only real lament is that I can’t cast some bureaucromancy of my own to conjure up the sequel right friggin’ now”.– Michael Patrick Hicks, author of Convergence and Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award quarterfinalist“The writing is tight, the plot intense, and the story wonderfully creative. Definitely a book for those who enjoy strong visuals and who want a book that inspires creative questioning, introspection, and who like a little wondering about the relation between reality and ourselves. Highly recommended for obsessive folks like myself!”– Bibliotropic“This is one of those books that just hit me perfectly.”– Bookaneer“I loved Flex. All the thumbs up and all the stars checked.”– I, Fat Robot“While there’s a lot of urban fantasy out there, I think Flex might be the one I’ve read that best captures the spirit of the real world. It’s part Breaking Bad, part social commentary and part magical tale with all of the confusion and ambiguity of our times.”– The Royal Library, Hall of the Mountain King“Just don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a shallow, just for thrills book. There is more there than just a surface level action story. The very nature of how abilities manifest, the fact that ‘mancers tend to be lonely people with some sort of problems in their life, the cost of the magic, the balance of flex and flux, and the stigma of being ‘mancer in a society where magic is feared and loathed, all of these things speak at a deeper level if the reader chooses to go there.Flex is raw magic with a deep soul. Highly recommend.”– Tenacious Reader“While the main plot of the story is worth picking up a copy on its own, the underlying concepts that give it a smart and rich conceptual playground for the characters make this book stand above the pack.“Pick this book up, people. Highly recommended.”– Ideatrash“I have no hesitation in recommending this book. I don’t have any criticisms. In fact I can’t conceive of anybody not liking it. I want more”.– Lynn’s Book Blog“I don’t like using exclamation points, but this book deserves all the exclamation points. Look, here’s a whole bag! They are to be placed after the words Flex and awesome whenever they appear! Flex! Awesome! Flex! Awesome! Flex! You get the idea.“The book’s pacing was just right, the information drip satisfyingly steady but with enough mystery to keep me reading. I wanted to find out who would do what and how. I wanted to know who was going to win. I wanted to know about motivations. I wanted to see some more video game magic. I wanted to read it whenever I had time. If I end up writing a list of my ten favorite books from my last five year’s reading, this book is probably going to be on it”.– Book Punks“All and all, it’s one of the more original urban fantasty titles I’ve read in ages and it actually seems to be a stand-alone novel which is always a plus. If you’re looking for a new read, and want something different, give this a look”.– Fantasy Findings“Such a cool concept. The magic and rules at play make sense and the author doesn’t cheat just to get the characters out of a difficult situation. The idea of there being consequences to the magic – a balance that must be maintained—that’s very, very cool stuff”.– Eviscerating Pen
About the Author 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.
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Most helpful customer reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful. Interesting new take on magic. By Elena Linville Another wonderful book. Frankly, I have been spoiled with good books so far this year.Flex has a very interesting concept of magic that I hadn't encountered before. The 'mancers in Flex are not officially (or unofficially) trained magicians we grew so accustomed to in other fantasy books. No, each one of them has their own particular flavor of magic or 'mancy. There are illustromancers and musicomancers, videogamemancers and bureaucracymancers. This is a fascinating concept that a person's believes and obsessions define his or her magic and the set of rules within which it works.I also loved the fact that the use of magic is not free in this world. Every time there is a Flex, or the active use of magic, there will be a Flux later, or pushback when the laws of nature reascertain themselves and make the practitioner pay for breaking them. The bigger the Flex, the bigger the subsequent Flux, and it usually hits the things or people the 'mancer cares about the most. So no wonder why 'mancers in this world are mostly solitary and rather unhappy people - everything they love turns to ash between their fingers the more they use their magic.Why don't they stop? You could ask. Well, 'mancy is like a drug, an addiction. And for a lot of these people, the Flex is the only time they are truly happy, they truly feel alive. So they are willing to risk the Flux just to experience this euphoria even for a little while.I loved the fact that all the 'mancers in this book are neither really good or really evil. They are all broken people who found refuge from the ugliness of this world in their magic. They can do horrible things, but even the worst of them can create 'mancy that's absolutely beautiful.Our protagonist, Paul Tsabo, had spent his life hunting down rogue 'mancers and handing them over to the Government to be "refactored" - a horrible procedure where their mind is erased and they become no more than puppets linked to a human controller… and then he became a 'mancer himself. When his daughter is horribly burned in an explosion orchestrated by a 'mancer bound on destroying human civilization, he must take it upon himself to hunt him or her down and make them pay.I liked Paul. He is not the typical action hero. He doesn't rush into danger with guns blazing. He is not good in a fight - too scrawny, not a very good fighter. But he is extremely good with the paperwork. He is the king of forms, the god of bureaucracy. I loved the fact that he stayed true to himself throughout this book. The author didn't make him discover sudden mad fighting skills or extreme marksmanship. Paul remains a paper-pusher, but his papers can rewrite the world.My only gripe with Flex is that the author doesn't give us hardly any background on the origins of this magic. One of the characters attributes the surge of 'mancers to the birth of the Internet and the ever growing list of obsessions people have. Yet the author also hits that 'mancers existed even in the previous centuries, way before the invention of the Internet. In fact, a full on magical battle during World War II opened a huge broach over Europe and transformed the whole continent in to a smoldering landscape full of demons.It's implied that 'mancers started being hunted down and "refactored" after that incident, but the author doesn't explain how it was before that. How did 'mancers deal with their Flux? How did society deal with them? I would have loved to have a bit more details. I would also have loved to see more of that strange world than just New York. Hopefully, the author will expand his universe in the next book.But even as it stands, Flex is a definite must read. It's well written and fast paced, and the story is really interesting.PS. I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. This book ought to become a phenonemon By R Kanakia This is a special one. Blew through it in a day and enjoyed it immensely the entire way through. The book's greatest achievement is the congruency between its worldbuilding and its character arcs. The magic system, in which a person's obsessions allow them to twist the laws of probability (which eventually builds up a reservoir of bad luck that blows back upon them in disastrous ways), is amazing, and it accomplishes the rare feat of making it actually fun to see people cast spells, because: a) you wonder how they're going to adapt their particular obsession (i.e. w/ video games or w/ bureaucracy) to the given situation; and b) you know that even if their magic is successful, something terrible will eventually happen to them.The nature of the magic system makes it very easy to dramatize the main character's primary conflict, which is that if he does nothing, then he'll experience no bad luck, but he'll also be at the mercy of the universe, whereas if he acts, then he can get his way, but he also risks disaster. It's a very human story: the same story that we all face every single day. But in real life it plays out in subtle and far-reaching way that are maybe hard to understand, whereas in this book, the story plays out with explosions. Still, at its core, this story is very personal and relatable and human. It's about a guy who maybe wants to do good, but who mostly wants to patch his family together and live peacefully and ensure a happy & safe life for his daughter. And that's something I've seen rarely enough in fantasy novels that I thought it was really refreshing.Also, the book is dense and complex. Ferrett is a good student of humanity, and many of the characters, institutions, and situations in the book are startlingly complex. For instance, the main character's employer, Samaritan Mutual, is an evil corporation, but, unlike most evil corporations in fiction, it's a startlingly amorphous and petty evil. There's no evil CEO who forces it to be evil: instead, selfishness and thoughtlessness is bred right down into its bones. The corporation is evil not because of any one person, but because at every level people are rewarded for ignoring people who need help. Anyway, I could go on, but I won't. This one is one of the better fantasy novels I've read in the last five years, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it blew up and became a best-seller or an award-winner.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Amazing Debut! By Michael Hicks [Note: I received an advanced reader’s copy of this title from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.]Flex is a novel that grabbed me right off the bat, from its evocative cover art to the intense magic-as-a-drug fueled prologue, and sucked me in with Paul’s struggles to cope with and help his tragically burned daughter.Ferrett Steinmetz is able to quickly construct a familiar world, one where not only is magic real and rightfully dangerous, but which can also be synthesized into a drug called Flex. Needless to say, magic is illegal, with its wielders forced into military service. In the book’s opening pages, Paul learns that he is gifted with ‘mancy, but that it’s use has very real, very serious repercussions. Magic flexes the universe, but that’s not something to simply toy around with because the universe flexes back. And while magic may break the physics that shape our world, it remains true that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And karma, well, she’s a bitch.After learning that a terrorist named Anathema, who uses the Flex blowback to target her victims, is responsible for nearly killing his daughter, and that the insurance company, who Paul works for, is refusing to cover her treatments, Paul goes into the Flex making business. This is where Steinmetz earns his Breaking Bad comparison, and it’s well-earned. If you’re going to put a magical spin on recent pop culture phenomena, you could do a lot worse than look to that drug dealing drama for inspiration.One thing that I really appreciated in this title, though, is just how mundane it can be, and that really helps to ground the story. For instance, although magic is dangerous, it’s not exactly sexy. Paul’s powers stem from his love of bureaucracy and filing paperwork, and he’s able to tap into top-secret CIA documents and police reports by magically filing requisition forms. His partner-in-crime, Valentine, is a gamemancer – she’s a video game addict, and her love of Wii and 3DS fuels her magical abilities, along with some healthy inspiration from the Metal Gear Solid series.It helps, too, that Steinmetz casts his characters are real people, first and foremost. These aren’t part-time models who strut around on the catwalk and then fight crime at night. Paul’s a paper-pusher for an insurance company. An ex-cop, he lost a foot in the line of duty and has a robotic prosthetic that can be a bit ungainly. Valentine is a wonderfully natural heroine, a bit chubby, a bit geeky, a bit sarcastic, and she adopts Paul’s mission as her own out of sincere compassion. They make for a dynamic team, and their relationship shows wonderful growth.I have to give Steinmetz a lot of credit for inserting as much realism and humanity into the story as he does, and this is a large part of the reason for why the book works as well as it does. It’s clear that a lot of effort went into making the fantastic as relatable as possible, and there’s a terrific amount of world building constructed around the disruption that magic, and its rules, brings to the table. Flex was an absolute delight to read, and my only real lament is that I can’t cast some bureaucromancy of my own to conjure up the sequel right friggin’ now.
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