This is an amazing indie book...at least in terms of world building (but really, really superb world building).

The characterization is flat, for the first half of the book. The main character, Alex (insofar as there is a main character), and one of the other mains, Mitzi, are both flat, broken characters by design. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that. They don't have much of a past, they don't have much in the way of goals and agency, and they aren't fully fledged enough to have much in the way of human interactions. This makes them quite hard for the reader to relate to or care about. Though they act as windows into other characters that are much more sympathetic and relatable.

Further, while the writing is pretty good, the editing and proof reading is truly horrible. The number of sentences per chapter that simply had a missing subject, object, or verb (not in the sense that the sentence was poorly written, but in the sense that it's quite obvious a word was accidentally left out) is truly stupendous. Usually it's possible to tell what the author intended, at least to some extent, but it's quite jarring. Mr. Rawlins should hire an editors for the second book. Or at least a proof reader.

That said, the world building is truly stupendous. The world that's created a mix of the horrible unknown (in an almost Lovecraftian sense), urban street magic (along the lines of Jim Butcher), and futuristic combat and tech (along the lines of Neal Asher).

The pacing is pretty good, keeping the reader interested in trying to figure out how the world works and what's going on with it, without ever revealing too much at a time.

In short (spoilers), there is a world were magic is possible. Or at least, manipulations of energy and matter with the aid of advanced nanotech that is for all intents and purposes: magic. But human society isn't any more advanced than modern society in the real world. The nanotech was discovered in a small pocket universe that certain people with particularly powerful native talents were able to access.

This pocket universe hangs in the aether, which may be (the characters in the book are uncertain) a superfluid that acts a buffer between parallel universes in the multivierse. People with sufficient potential (which may be most of humanity) are able to tap into this aether and channel it to bend physical laws and reality in this universe, allowing for teleportation, telepathy, and all variety of violent or destructive magics.

This pocket universe, called Central, contained a fully built but completely empty city when it was discovered. It looks like it was built by/for humanoid creatures, albeit with slightly different dimensions than human beings. Humans have now colonized, though most humans don't know this.

Humanity as a whole is unaware of the aether, Central, or those with magical abilities. Many humans can be "activated," gaining the ability to tap the aether, through the use of the nanotech that was discovered. However, the nanotech also kills about 1/3 of those exposed to it (turning a small percentage of those killed into 'vampires' which are somewhat different than vampires of common myth).

A small number of humans, originating with those with strong innate talents that may not have required activation to use initially, are aware and are involved in all sorts of plotting and wheeling and dealing, taking advantage of (and often violently disagreeing with) each other and normal humans alike. They are divided up into a number of cartels. The cartels became so violent that they eventually created, through a treaty, Central and the Academy.

All powerful magic users must be allowed to attend the Academy, and must be permitted free choice to join a cartel (or Central) afterwards. Though recruitment by cartels is a very powerful and ongoing force at the Academy.

Both Central and the Academy are located in Central, the pocket universe. Central is essentially a peace-keeping operation to enforce the treaty, and to maintain sole access to the nanotech. The cartels are allowed to go after each other, and mess with humanity, but there are limits to the risks they are allowed to take and the exposure they are permitted to risk. When they go over those limits (especially by involving non-human monsters such as witches, faeries, horrors, and werewolves), Central can and does 'audit' them. Auditors are well trained, very powerful, and heavily armed. Audits are almost always fatal.

Against this complex, interesting backdrop (where the reader is still uncertain how this whole cycle got started, how the monsters came about, where Central truly is, who built it, etc.) we have the spector of control and lack of free will. Plenty of magical talents involve mind control or one sort or another, and the cartels employ massive numbers of precognitives in an attempt to figure out what they need to do to close off all future avenues except those in which the cartel succeeds in its goals.

Further, Central is a very strange place. Many of the occupants fall asleep at odds times, for odd reasons, and wake thinking that someone was just there, or that they have just forgotten something. The reader is aware of some humans who are engaging in mind control and memory manipulation in Central, but it is strongly hinted that others, perhaps even the race that built Central, is involved as well and may be trying to manipulate all of humanity (though to what end is uncertain).

This, then, is the backdrop. The main character, Alex, finds himself attacked by werewolves and saved by a Central operative, who realizes he has potential and takes him back to the Academy. Once there, the cartels begin to court him, Central begins to manipulate him, faeries and vampires take an interest, and it rapidly becomes clear that his entire past is fictional, created by someone or something and then embedded in his mind.

The world building sets up an amazing amount of potential. The second book (hopefully also for 99 cents) comes out in January 2012. It will either be amazing, or the complex world will start to collapse under its own rhetorical weight. I'll certainly give it a try. ( )

Very nice take on urban fantasy. Quite well built world with some nice new ideas. First book does have its places where it shows its the first book by the author, that said still really well written book, and its further improved in the sequel.That said this is Book 1 of 5, so be aware you wont see the end of this before 2015 where the last book is scheduled for release.. ( )