The Warrior Within

February 15, 2018

Karsman lives on a backwater planet under control of the Muljaddy, a quiet religious authority that trades prayers and devotions for the means to survive. Somehow, Karsman is the unofficial mayor of this place, most likely because of the different personas, each with a different set of skills, that live in his head. When three off-world mercenaries arrive in town, events spiral out of control. The trio are looking to kill a woman, who may or may not be there. But then their threats become more severe, as they separate men from women and force them into hard labor, and finally work to overthrow the Muljaddy. Karsman must find a way to protect his town and the woman who is in the mercenaries' sights, by using the skills of his personas without losing himself. VERDICT Action filled, provocative, and with an intriguing protagonist, McIntyre's debut will engage and entertain sf readers.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 26, 2018
Short fiction writer McIntyre turns to long-form writing with a strong novella that intricately captures a slice of life on a dusty backwater planet. Karsman is a stoic mechanic and unofficial mayor of a town of shacks along the Road, a planet-girdling ribbon that runs through the desert. He spends his days salvaging metal from the long-abandoned towers erected by the ancient Builders. He is also badgered by numerous personalities vying for attention in his mind: Warrior, Strategist, Diplomat, and Doctor. They were implanted in his head by the autocratic Muljaddy, a family of augmented-human priests who rule the planet atop mobile temples moved by enormous wheeled machines. Each time a persona surfaces, Karsman loses memory and time. When three off-world mercenaries enter his town to find and kill a woman, he believes they want Mera, a gentle woman he met at a festival. The mercenaries also attract the attention of the Muljaddy. As the Muljaddy uncharacteristically defer to the mercenaries, Karsman fears that momentous change is coming to his insignificant world; what he’s not prepared for is the part that he and his additional personas will play in bringing that change about. McIntyre creates a vivid setting, resilient characters, and comprehensive mythology that deserve many more stories.