Threader Origins

October 19, 2020
A reserved physics student struggles to save the world in Brandt’s first Quantum Empirica novel (after The Rebel), an exciting blend of science fiction, portal fantasy, and dystopian adventure. During his final year of college, Darwin Lloyd interns on his father’s Quantum Power Source project in New Jersey while having strange hallucinatory episodes. When his father finally powers up the QPS machine, Darwin’s perception of reality splinters and he stumbles into an alternate dimension. In evocative prose, Brandt convincingly relays Darwin’s confusion as he comes to grips with the dystopian nature of this alternate Earth. Darwin discovers that his episodes are a symptom of his ability to see and manipulate Threads, floating filaments that represent all probabilities in any given situation. Darwin’s fragile emotional state and social anxiety make him a protagonist readers will sympathize with—but they also make him easy prey for the machinations of Rebecca Henslow, a cult leader who wants to exploit Darwin’s abilities to cross dimensions herself. An unexpected rescue from a separate faction places Darwin in the midst of long-standing conflict between Threader communities. The unlikely hero and innovative use of physics as a basis for magiclike abilities results in a memorable adventure. Readers will look forward to the next installment. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary.