It feels fitting to listen to Les Miserables while writing this. Two stories of an unjust, relentless pursuit. Underground Airlines is set in an alternate United States where slavery was never truly abolished. While most states have made slavery illegal, the Hard Four have not. It should come as little surprise to the reader who the Hard Four are: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and a unified Carolina. The story follows Victor, a professional tracker set to find the location of the runaway slave Jackdaw. In doing so, Victor infiltrates an Underground Airline operation, and finds much more than he bargained for.
The Poppy War
The Poppy War follows the story of war-orphan Rin as she wins entry to the most prestigious military academy in the Nikara Empire. At first, Rin’s priorities are purely on getting away from her old life. A life of drug trafficking and abuse. When war breaks out, Rin finds herself wrapped in a world of opium haze, shamanistic magical powers, gods, and incomprehensible human terrors.