Dark Variance: Power does not collapse. It consumes itself.

by R.M. George

465 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2026

About the author

R. M. George writes dystopian science fiction about what systems make of people - and what people do once they understand the system.

In the Variance series, the catastrophe has already happened, and the world works exactly as its architects intended. Survival is not neutral; understanding how you survived is where the story begins.

Bringing an engineering mindset to fiction, George crafts societies where power doesn't simply collapse - it consumes itself, and the people inside it.

Zero Variance and Dark Variance are available now in Kindle and paperback, with Critical Variance in progress. George is based in Australia. Full series lore, canonical short fiction, and world-building are at worldofvariance.com

Reviews

[G.G.]

"The violence of the world
had breached their walls, and his people no longer desired the illusion of safety."

In Dark Variance: Power does not collapse. It consumes itself., R.M. George continues to weave the threads of humanity as bloodthirsty ambitions are fulfilled and insurmountable odds are overcome. Once again, the generated cover simply pales in comparison to the world built by this author; an ever-churning and unforgiving wheel of reality that continues to grind as a great equaliser that crushes and uplifts the characters trapped in its gears.
Speaking of characters - readers will find themselves acquainted with both familiar and new faces, as even greater forces come into play. Morality is disposable when the answers they seek are paved in blood; an inevitable brick and mortar that must be laid down to walk the path to hope, survival, and evolution. As each person travels a different route, it's always a delight (and an ever-gripping suspense) to witness these alternating facets collide and set off a chain reaction of events that ripple/ricochet throughout the fate of their world - for better or for worse.

That being said, this ending has left me on the edge of my seat! One can only wonder what R.M. George has planned next for Book 3...