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Quarks and Qi
“One in a billion.”
Jack kept repeating the mantra in his head.
“One in a billion.”
That was the number the Omni-Corps liked to cite whenever someone stepped onto one trans-mat pad and then simply… never stepped off the other.
“Safer than a car,” he repeated as he slogged through the snow, his mining overalls doing at least a passable job of keeping out the cold as he brushed aside a tree branch. “Safer than a plane. Or a starship. Safest form of transport in the Star League.”
He slammed his fist into a nearby tree, exo-empowered strength shattering it into little more than scattered bark and kindling.
“Yeah, well I never heard of a car ride stranding some prick in another dimension!” He roared, his voice echoing through the seemingly endless forest around him.
Then he kept marching. He’d seen the fire off in the distance. And given all the snow around, he sincerely doubted it was natural. Which left the unnatural.
Which meant people.
He hoped.
Because even if the trans-mat had screwed up, he doubted it had dumped him too far off the central finite curve. The fact that the air was breathable and that he could recognize the trees around him as oak told him that much.
And if the dimension he was in had trees native to Earth, chances are it would have animals too. Of which humans would hopefully be no exception.
“Because I’ll be damned if I spend the rest of my days talking to goddamn squirrels.”
No, if there were humans on this mudball, he was going to find them. One way or another.
The story of a futuristic miner stuck in a world of Chinese fantasy.
Jack kept repeating the mantra in his head.
“One in a billion.”
That was the number the Omni-Corps liked to cite whenever someone stepped onto one trans-mat pad and then simply… never stepped off the other.
“Safer than a car,” he repeated as he slogged through the snow, his mining overalls doing at least a passable job of keeping out the cold as he brushed aside a tree branch. “Safer than a plane. Or a starship. Safest form of transport in the Star League.”
He slammed his fist into a nearby tree, exo-empowered strength shattering it into little more than scattered bark and kindling.
“Yeah, well I never heard of a car ride stranding some prick in another dimension!” He roared, his voice echoing through the seemingly endless forest around him.
Then he kept marching. He’d seen the fire off in the distance. And given all the snow around, he sincerely doubted it was natural. Which left the unnatural.
Which meant people.
He hoped.
Because even if the trans-mat had screwed up, he doubted it had dumped him too far off the central finite curve. The fact that the air was breathable and that he could recognize the trees around him as oak told him that much.
And if the dimension he was in had trees native to Earth, chances are it would have animals too. Of which humans would hopefully be no exception.
“Because I’ll be damned if I spend the rest of my days talking to goddamn squirrels.”
No, if there were humans on this mudball, he was going to find them. One way or another.
The story of a futuristic miner stuck in a world of Chinese fantasy.
403 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 10, 2026
About the author
J.L. Williams
55 books16 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2026
Loved it! very Daniel Black series vibes
Great book solid world building and an mc that that is not completely useless nor does he quibble about doing what needs doing, so no worries about letting the enemy live to mess with you another day. It had solid ending with no cliffhanger! I can't wait for the next book......there is gonna be a next book?!???
Great book solid world building and an mc that that is not completely useless nor does he quibble about doing what needs doing, so no worries about letting the enemy live to mess with you another day. It had solid ending with no cliffhanger! I can't wait for the next book......there is gonna be a next book?!???
April 15, 2026
Отдавна чета фенфикшън, лит-рпг и други писани в интернет книги. Винаги обаче съм избягвал фентъзито в китайския митологичен стил xianxia и всякакво споменаване на свързаната с него "култивация" - техния вид магия, която се постига чрез медитация. Не харесвам китайската култура, история, изкуство и приказките за монашески кунгфу ордени+магия не ме вдъхновиха от няколкото ми опита да ми харесат.
Оригиналното заглавие на тази писана в интернет книга е Sexy Sect Babes, а авторът го промени на Quarks and Qi може би за да изглежда като "сериозен писател" и да я пусне в Амазон.
Защо започнах да чета Sexy Sect Babes тогава? Нямах идея че "секта" е китайският еквивалент на магическа школа, а кой мъж би пренебрегнал Sexy Babes в заглавието? ;) Оказа се обаче доста интересно и още в началото ме зариби.
Все пак смятам, че книгата е по-скоро изключение в жанра - авторът не пише xianxia по принцип, Sexy Sect Babes е по-скоро със западен стил и използва само основните меми на китайското митологични фентъзи, без да се придържа към каноните на жанра им. Cultural appropriation в най-чиста форма, от който се е получило нещо добро.
Оригиналното заглавие на тази писана в интернет книга е Sexy Sect Babes, а авторът го промени на Quarks and Qi може би за да изглежда като "сериозен писател" и да я пусне в Амазон.
Защо започнах да чета Sexy Sect Babes тогава? Нямах идея че "секта" е китайският еквивалент на магическа школа, а кой мъж би пренебрегнал Sexy Babes в заглавието? ;) Оказа се обаче доста интересно и още в началото ме зариби.
Все пак смятам, че книгата е по-скоро изключение в жанра - авторът не пише xianxia по принцип, Sexy Sect Babes е по-скоро със западен стил и използва само основните меми на китайското митологични фентъзи, без да се придържа към каноните на жанра им. Cultural appropriation в най-чиста форма, от който се е получило нещо добро.
July 27, 2026
this was a fun read
Solid book, I’ve always been a fan of normal(ish) people being tossed into cultivation novels. The talk of face and honor is always fun to my western sensibilities because it makes no sense. You can’t eat “face” nor is it good for anything other than what seems to be flimsy excuses to murder others… really makes you think about the value of life in cultures where this type of values are normalized to the point that many works of “fiction” contain them. Pretty much the same as the US with our corporate dystopian novels… ain’t books fun?
Solid book, I’ve always been a fan of normal(ish) people being tossed into cultivation novels. The talk of face and honor is always fun to my western sensibilities because it makes no sense. You can’t eat “face” nor is it good for anything other than what seems to be flimsy excuses to murder others… really makes you think about the value of life in cultures where this type of values are normalized to the point that many works of “fiction” contain them. Pretty much the same as the US with our corporate dystopian novels… ain’t books fun?
February 18, 2026
Interesting
I liked it overall. It's tough because it's a good telling of a story I'm not super interested in. Guns in isekai are always done pretty poorly, where it's not that interesting. Of course, enlightened tech man wows the world with guns. But I always hate like bringing modern weaponry to fantasy worlds. They do a decent job here keeping it interesting, but the sequel will need to keep that for me to keep reading.
I liked it overall. It's tough because it's a good telling of a story I'm not super interested in. Guns in isekai are always done pretty poorly, where it's not that interesting. Of course, enlightened tech man wows the world with guns. But I always hate like bringing modern weaponry to fantasy worlds. They do a decent job here keeping it interesting, but the sequel will need to keep that for me to keep reading.
March 13, 2026
I really liked this story.
While not extremely original, it is very well written and pleasing to read. I only wish it was longer.
I look forward to read the next installments of this series whenever they will be published.
While not extremely original, it is very well written and pleasing to read. I only wish it was longer.
I look forward to read the next installments of this series whenever they will be published.
February 17, 2026
Neat
It's always fun to see old vs new magic vs sci-fi it's done well here worth a read if you like that kinda action
It's always fun to see old vs new magic vs sci-fi it's done well here worth a read if you like that kinda action
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews