Review The Flux is the best kind of sequel: bigger, deeper, scarier, funner. The emotional journey it takes the reader on is just as thrilling as the jaw-dropping wonders of videogamemancy and bureaucramancy. With the 'Mancer series, Ferrett Steinmetz has achieved something rare in contemporary fantasy: a world that feels both truer and more magical than our own. -- Ken Liu, winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards and author of the The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. “I really, really liked the uniqueness of the world of magic Steinmetz has created with his novels.  It’s very well thought out, and structured. It was exciting to see how someone obsessed with video games would see the world, and its rules, through the use of ‘mancy. I also enjoyed the addition of such human dynamics between all of the characters. Steinmetz has done a wonderful job of blending superb battles between the ‘mancers and mundanes, with heart wrenching moments with Paul and his eight-year-old daughter Aliyah, while still walking the tightrope of creating a story about family, good vs evil, and trust.”– Books, Cats and Caffeine“I cannot express this enough, THIS BOOK MUST BE READ! 5 HOOTS.”– Purple Owl Reviews“This is going to be an easy review. I loved it. I AM A NEW FANBOY.”– Brad K Horner“I give The Flux a score of 9.5/10. This is a great novel that like with Flex I would strongly recommend to anyone who has any interest at all in Urban Fantasy as a genre, and even to people who’ve never read the genre before and might be interested in giving it a go; the Mancer series would be a fantastic introduction for you. This book makes Ferrett Steinmetz a name to watch.”– Talk Wargaming“If you’re looking for some truly original urban fantasy, particularly if you’re a gamer, you needto try this series. The Flux was good I read it twice.”– Bookaneer“Explosively good fun.”– The Speculative Herald“The Flux is a sequel that is superior to its original… and the original was a must-read. So go read this book, now.”– ideatrash“Ferrett Steinmetz has created something crazy wonderful here.  The magic is geektacularly awesome (Videogamemancy! Fight Clubmancy! You name it, it’s a ‘mancy.)…The Flux is one of those rare books that’s part of a series (book two), but is written to be a stand alone.”– Geeky Library“A fun read with plenty of heart.”– Relentless Reading“Roses are red, violets are blue, Valentine is kick-ass, and Paul Tsabo is too.”– Fat Robot“Steinmetz has done some great work here, and I look forward to seeing more from this still fairly new author.”– Strange Currencies“The world Ferrett Steinmetz has created is wildly imaginative and his writing style is somewhat reminiscent of Richard Kadrey’s Butcher Bird and Sandman Slim novels. Needless to say, bothFlex and The Flux are wild rides which take the reader to places they’ve never been before, and beyond.”– Frank Michael Errington“The momentum it keeps up throughout it had me on my toes. I was actually crying during some scenes- a rarity if you know me, and a rather high award. I absolutely loved how this book finished off. Last but not least, I need to mention the cover. It’s just gorgeous isn’t it? I love that Valentine is on the cover! She looks totally badass.”– Tsundoku Books“Some of the more unique and enjoyable urban fantasy I’ve read as of late.”– The Artolater“I think the ‘Mancer series can easily be considered the best urban fantasy series that I’m currently reading. It has everything that I love about this genre. A city whose importance can be felt within the plot and the character’s love for it. A magic system that shines and fascinates. And characters that are crazy but loveable.”– Challenging Reads“This one-of-a-kind series (which saw two installments released this year) is what might result if you put Breaking Bad and Reddit in a blender and hit “frappe.””– Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi Blog“I REALLY liked The Flux.”– Mythology of Technology“Just as with Flex, I can only say good things about The Flux. Storywise it is definitely one of the coolest things that I read in a long time. Ferrett Steinmetz shows a lot of creativity with the whole Mancer magic system that he has divised. Delving deeper into what is takes to be a Mancer, he doesn’t shy away from showing the bad and the ugly as well.”– The Book Plank“This series features some of the most intricate and unique concepts I’ve ever seen.”– Bibliotropic"Like its predecessor, The Flux was pure geek escapism."– The Bibliosanctum Read more 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.Find Ferrett online at theferrett.livejournal.com or follow him@ferretthimself on Twitter. Read more
K**G
I loved Paul Tsabo in Flex
Ok so here's the thing: I have the kind of anxiety that made me, as a child, hide behind the living room chair when I watched Scooby Doo. I was the avid reader who drank down any book she was handed, but who kept Stephen King's It locked in the living room closet with a chair in front of it between readings. I don't do drama well.I especially don't do "people make choices that I wouldn't have made and it ends badly for them" well. I have nightmares about the characters. I worry about them.I loved Paul Tsabo in Flex, and I adored Valentine, and everything that happened to Aliyah made my heart ache. It was an action-oriented romp with characters I could easily fall in with who won the day. (If you haven't read it yet, go fix that.)And the first part of The Flux had my action adventure and my characters, older, different, but definitely themselves....But because they were older and changed, they weren't getting along so well and while every one of them was making decisions that seemed right to *them* at the time, they seemed *wrong* to me, so by the time I finished Part 1 I had to put the book away for a few days. I'm still not sure if it was so I could spin down or whether I was punishing them -- sending the book to its room so to speak -- before I picked it back up.Parts two and three were much more like Flex, but couldn't have happened if Part 1 hadn't set it up. And they still led to me tweeting the author with page numbers and "GODDAMMIT [character]" as they continued to make bad choices.If Flex was about learning the universe, The Flux was about learning the characters, and as much as that is *totally* not my thing, between pages 167 and the end I couldn't put it down.And the characters *did* learn their lessons and they *did* get their s*** straight and I'm *still* going to worry about them when I go to bed tonight, but that's why we read -- well, one of a thousand important reasons, but a good one.Thank you Mr. Steinmetz and I look forward to the next one.
S**E
A rare sequel, perhaps better than the first book
So often the middle book in a trilogy feels like... I don't know, a slow train to the next stop.That is certainly not the case with the 'Mancer series. Not only is Flux just as eventful and entertaining as the first and last books, it is also entirely necessary. Characters grow in so-very-human ways. Events happen which don't only move along the story, but build a more solid world overall.This is the only series I've ever given my friends a money-back promise on--if they read it, and didn't like it... I'd buy it from them and pass it along/donate it. I know at least six people read it, and I didn't have to pay any of them.(Read Flux first. Read Fix after--I promise you'll want to.)
P**O
The Flux is a fantastic sequel, better written with an even more solid ...
The first book in this series, Flex, was the first book I read after recovering from brain surgery. It was the first book that grabbed my attention well enough to actually keep my attention so that I could continue to read. It will always hold a special place in my heart.The Flux is a fantastic sequel, better written with an even more solid story, and the characters become even more fleshed out. I read this book quickly, devouring each page one after the other and then went back and read it again, a second time, more slowly, taking my time and enjoying the descriptions, the underplay, any foreshadowing I had missed my first time through.If you've read and enjoyed Flex, you'll love The Flux. If you haven't read Flex yet and you love great characters, unique magic systems, and stories that will pull on your heartstrings (and make you laugh, cry, wince with the characters), then pick up Flex and read it. Then get The Flux and read this because it's even better.
P**O
Absolutely Fantastic
This book is a fantastic sequel to the first book in the series, The Flex. I suggest reading The Flex first for a good background on what's going on (though some folks tell me you can read it as a stand-alone) this is a great continuance and a wonderful look at a family caught up in magical drama.I read this book after some major brain surgery - I wasn't able to read for a while and this was the first book that gripped me enough to work through things. So that should say something.
C**K
... it because I knew that if it was anything like Steinmetz's last book I would end up devouring it ...
I didn't open this book the instant I got it because I knew that if it was anything like Steinmetz's last book I would end up devouring it in a single sitting. I was correct to wait. It wasn't merely as good as Flex. It was better. It was everything I like in a sequel and more. You can read it as a stand-alone novel if you haven't read Flex. The characters continue their development and the story is extremely compelling. The scenarios the people find themselves in have you on the edge of your seat because the writing is so good that you find yourself genuinely caring for these people and cheering (and despairing) along with them as the story progresses. I had to run a couple of errands during the day that I read this book and, atypically for me, I found I could not leave it at home; instead opting to take it with me so I could continue reading a page here or there in any little downtime I had while I was away from home.I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I've even already bought a second copy to give as a gift.
M**R
Good sequel, story and setting remain strong
I enjoyed the book, but did not think it was quite as good as Flex. I really thought the scenes in the Institute dragged on too long and then were wrapped up too abruptly in the end. The ending almost felt like it was written differently than the middle section of the book, felt like the book maybe was a little too short or something and was padded or edited differently in the middle.The story itself did move along OK, with several set piece fights and confrontations. We learn more about the world the stories are set in and some more information on what happened to Europe and why it happened. Really not much change in the main characters compared to what was happening at the end of Flex. I did not note any real growth or change in them which was a little disappointing.
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