Shifting

by Miracle Jones

Ljubo Snap has problems. His father, a famous necronaut, is addicted to a terrible drug called ink, delivered in the form of smashed lightbulbs. His brother Aleks, formerly a master of the psychic art known as Folding, has been surgically stripped of his powers by the all-powerful School and has collapsed into vice. And the whole Snap family faces imminent financial disaster unless Ljubo—himself an accomplished Folder and “thoughtsnatch,” someone who traffics in secrets plucked from unsuspecting minds—can uncover information valuable enough to earn them all enough jack to survive in the cruel Fevers of Pip’s Cross, the psychic city that Travels the universe on the back of a gigantic psychic octopus known as The General.

Radically expanding the canvas first sketched out in 2014’s Sharing, Miracle Jones’s Shifting tells the story of a city—part Victorian, part hypermodern, riven with sex, dreams, and intrigue—and of the people within it who fight to find dignity in surviving.

342 pages, ebook

First published September 13, 2011

About the author

Miracle Jones is from Texas. He is a very private person.

Reviews

[Michael Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A staggering feat of imagination. Relentlessly paced and mercilessly dark. A twisted action-movie for the mind, like a debauched Star Wars; filled with aliens, psychics, and god-like entities and set in a wretched city built into the brains of a dimension-hopping octopus. This book expands upon every foundation the first book, Sharing, laid, and sets the scene for a multifaceted follow-up that I just can’t wait to read.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most imaginative, surreal, hilarious writing. I will shove this at you forever. Read Sharing first, of course, the whole Fold is one character's life, the "you" of Shifting, which is sort of supposed to be a psychic love letter. So it's narrated by an intimate resident of Pip's Cross, the sort of trans-dimensional (or like... imaginary world recursion) imperial seat city. I'm already impatient for Burning even though Ljubo is a close voice to the author's and Shifting has a unique urban feel to it.

[Malcom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like everything Miracle Jones writes it’s weird, fun, and smart. It’s a great set in a very chaotic universe(s) but still grounded enough through the characters to be compelling. Lots of cool ideas.

[Anthony Preader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic continuation of the story.

Someone once described this series as "Narnia written by William S Burroughs" and I think that description is apt.

[Ashlea (plotdriven.com) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is likely the most creative thing you will read this year. I'd have likely rated it higher if it were more tightly edited. I can't really adequately describe it, but if you like your fantasy with all the insanity of a dream, you should give it a try.

[Nephelus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Jones has created a world teeming with imaginative fantastical life but made more believable by it's unrelenting savagery.

I really hope he continues this series. The first book, The Sharing is one of my favorite stories.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

An pretty good book, but I found it a bit too much of an explosion of detail compared to the relatively simple yet awesome narrative of the first book.

[Kalie Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

just read it