What do you think?
Rate this book
Union Station
Exiled from the capital of the multiverse, Thomas Jackson, a gifted bibliomancer and former librarian of the Great Library, uses his magic abilities in the mundane world to make a living locating and selling rare books.
When powerful people hire him to acquire a legendary book that may not actually exist, his hopes for a quiet life are shattered. There’s another faction, just as powerful, that wants the The Book of All to remain lost. Realizing the job is too big for one person, he assembles a team of expert wielders of magic, each with their own unique talent.
The group travels through time and realities to track down the impossible book, only to find themselves drawn into a conspiracy that threatens the fabric of reality. When Thomas lands in the dimension from which he’s been exiled, the team must come up with a solution before reality and the multiverse itself pulls apart.
When powerful people hire him to acquire a legendary book that may not actually exist, his hopes for a quiet life are shattered. There’s another faction, just as powerful, that wants the The Book of All to remain lost. Realizing the job is too big for one person, he assembles a team of expert wielders of magic, each with their own unique talent.
The group travels through time and realities to track down the impossible book, only to find themselves drawn into a conspiracy that threatens the fabric of reality. When Thomas lands in the dimension from which he’s been exiled, the team must come up with a solution before reality and the multiverse itself pulls apart.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2022
3 people want to read
About the author
Ian Welke
27 books82 followersIan Welke writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His short stories have appeared in KZine, spacewesterns.com, Arcane II, Zombie Jesus and Other True Stories, and the American Nightmare anthology among others. His first novel, The Whisperer in Dissonance, was published by Omnium Gatherum in 2014. End Times at Ridgemont High is his second novel and has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.
Before writing full time, Ian worked in the computer games industry. He was lucky enough to work at Blizzard Entertainment and at Runic Games. These days, when he’s not at his desk writing, Ian enjoys a variety of games. His favorites tend to be elaborate board games with many pieces and rules to confuse, though he’s happiest going mad with his characters in the Call of Cthulhu RPG.
Ian lived in Seattle for six years, enjoying the rain, but has returned home to Long Beach, California, where he schemes to find shelving to house all of the books he reads.
Before writing full time, Ian worked in the computer games industry. He was lucky enough to work at Blizzard Entertainment and at Runic Games. These days, when he’s not at his desk writing, Ian enjoys a variety of games. His favorites tend to be elaborate board games with many pieces and rules to confuse, though he’s happiest going mad with his characters in the Call of Cthulhu RPG.
Ian lived in Seattle for six years, enjoying the rain, but has returned home to Long Beach, California, where he schemes to find shelving to house all of the books he reads.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 4, 2022
UNION STATION by Ian Welke is a fun, sleek ride into magic realism and mystery thrills. It’s a quick-paced read for a complex plot; a time/universe-travelling tale filled with eccentric magic-wielding characters searching for the greatest mystical book of all existence, and of which other parties wish to keep hidden. All in a day’s work for bibliomancer (and former “Great-Librarian”) Thomas Jackson. I’ve enjoyed Welke’s writing for some time now, and it just keeps getting better and better!
May 13, 2022
UNION STATION by Ian Welke is a modern fantasy novel set in Los Angeles and published by a cool, boutique publisher, Omnium Gatherum.
The story focuses on books. Its protagonist is a magician and ex-librarian with a complicated backstory, Tom Jackson, whose magical talent is to locate rare, valuable books (including a first edition Hemingway!). Tom’s made a discrete business out of this until he’s challenged to find ‘The Book of All’, a mystical tome containing text that can literally alter reality. Naturally enough, other players want this book too for nefarious purposes. To use a Hitchcockian notion, The Book of All is the MacGuffin driving the action.
At this point, UNION STATION adopts many of the attributes of a noir detective story as Tom recruits a group of talented fellow magicians to aid his search and contend with the numerous malign forces competing for it. His companions have a range skills and part of Tom’s challenge is to mobilize this heterogeneous team to find the book. What follows is a free-wheeling, inter-dimensional adventure as Tom & Co take on all manner of entities magical and otherwise in pursuit of The Book of All. Besides the chase, subplots include class struggle in the alternate realities Tom visits. This deepens the novel.
There are numerous references to settings in and around Los Angeles including the eponymous Union Station, and the characters spend significant time moving about the greater urban area. Sometimes, readers not resident to Los Angeles could feel they need a primer on the city’s neighborhoods and highway system to fully appreciate the drama. Nonetheless, UNION STATION is a fast-paced story that should amuse many readers of modern fantasy.
Finally, let me add that fantasy readers/reviewers should be open to checking out small-press and/or independently published works in this genre. There is a wealth of creativity among authors not published by the big four, traditional book imprints.
The story focuses on books. Its protagonist is a magician and ex-librarian with a complicated backstory, Tom Jackson, whose magical talent is to locate rare, valuable books (including a first edition Hemingway!). Tom’s made a discrete business out of this until he’s challenged to find ‘The Book of All’, a mystical tome containing text that can literally alter reality. Naturally enough, other players want this book too for nefarious purposes. To use a Hitchcockian notion, The Book of All is the MacGuffin driving the action.
At this point, UNION STATION adopts many of the attributes of a noir detective story as Tom recruits a group of talented fellow magicians to aid his search and contend with the numerous malign forces competing for it. His companions have a range skills and part of Tom’s challenge is to mobilize this heterogeneous team to find the book. What follows is a free-wheeling, inter-dimensional adventure as Tom & Co take on all manner of entities magical and otherwise in pursuit of The Book of All. Besides the chase, subplots include class struggle in the alternate realities Tom visits. This deepens the novel.
There are numerous references to settings in and around Los Angeles including the eponymous Union Station, and the characters spend significant time moving about the greater urban area. Sometimes, readers not resident to Los Angeles could feel they need a primer on the city’s neighborhoods and highway system to fully appreciate the drama. Nonetheless, UNION STATION is a fast-paced story that should amuse many readers of modern fantasy.
Finally, let me add that fantasy readers/reviewers should be open to checking out small-press and/or independently published works in this genre. There is a wealth of creativity among authors not published by the big four, traditional book imprints.
March 30, 2022
A one-way ticket to a magic-filled adventure.
Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from the author.
Union Station is a fast-paced narrative about bibliomancer Thomas Jackson and his quest to keep a powerful tome, the Book of All, out of the wrong hands. There’s a thin layer separating our world from others, and one way of traveling to those places is via Union Station, the hub of this story. An exile of those worlds, Jackson is also somewhat of a magician, and not in the stage sense. He’s aided by a group of friends and associates who bring their own specific brands of magic to the table: for example, there’s Gabriela, a sort of hacker mage whose spells affect computer networks, and Ellis, an alcoholic whose sorcery is dependent on how much he drinks. What I like about the magic in this book is that it isn’t overdone or all lightning bolts and fireballs; rather, the characters’ spells mostly focus on obfuscation and problem-solving. Jackson himself is a fallible protagonist who experiences guilt and self-doubt as the story progresses—and the dangers to his friends and their world(s) become greater and greater. Yet he presses on, unwilling to let pyromancers, secret police, ghouls, sorcerous aristocrats, or his own desires to endanger reality via The Book of All. Like Jackson and his friends, I suggest you book a ticket through Union Station and see for yourself. The fate of all you know is one page turn away.
Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from the author.
Union Station is a fast-paced narrative about bibliomancer Thomas Jackson and his quest to keep a powerful tome, the Book of All, out of the wrong hands. There’s a thin layer separating our world from others, and one way of traveling to those places is via Union Station, the hub of this story. An exile of those worlds, Jackson is also somewhat of a magician, and not in the stage sense. He’s aided by a group of friends and associates who bring their own specific brands of magic to the table: for example, there’s Gabriela, a sort of hacker mage whose spells affect computer networks, and Ellis, an alcoholic whose sorcery is dependent on how much he drinks. What I like about the magic in this book is that it isn’t overdone or all lightning bolts and fireballs; rather, the characters’ spells mostly focus on obfuscation and problem-solving. Jackson himself is a fallible protagonist who experiences guilt and self-doubt as the story progresses—and the dangers to his friends and their world(s) become greater and greater. Yet he presses on, unwilling to let pyromancers, secret police, ghouls, sorcerous aristocrats, or his own desires to endanger reality via The Book of All. Like Jackson and his friends, I suggest you book a ticket through Union Station and see for yourself. The fate of all you know is one page turn away.
September 11, 2022
Outstanding
April 21, 2022
Ian Welke is genuinely one of my favourite authors. This book reminded me why. It showcases his grasp of English language and nuance, his passion for dark fantasy and cosmic horror, and his knack for well-realised characters.
Brimming with sardonic humor, clever twists of magic tropes and well-imagined action, UNION STATION makes L.A. come to life and kept me engaged to the final page.
For the win: the souse-mage who needs to be plastered to do his thing. Gold!
Brimming with sardonic humor, clever twists of magic tropes and well-imagined action, UNION STATION makes L.A. come to life and kept me engaged to the final page.
For the win: the souse-mage who needs to be plastered to do his thing. Gold!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews