Stations of the Tide

by Michael Swanwick

First published 2011

A Bureau of Proscribed Technologies investigator arrives on Miranda as catastrophe looms. The planet faces its twice-per-century Jubilee Tides, which will submerge entire continents under crushing ocean waters. The investigator has come to track down Gregorian, a brilliant scientist turned renegade who has fled to this remote world of storytellers and shapeshifters. Gregorian commands both advanced forbidden technology and the dark arts practiced by the planet's bush wizards. He plans to transform Miranda's decaying surface according to his twisted vision before the floods arrive. The investigator must navigate a world where magic and science blur together, where reality shifts like the rising tides. As the waters climb higher, both hunter and quarry race toward a final confrontation that will determine not just survival, but the nature of existence itself on this dying world.

Genres: science-fiction, mystery, fantasy, thriller

Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: cat-and-mouse, fish-out-of-water

Setting: Miranda, Bureau of Proscribed Technologies

Period: Jubilee Tides

256 pages · Paperback · Orb Books

Content warnings: violence

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