CICERO JAMES, MIRACLE WORKER

A San Franciscan professional Miracle Worker finds himself at the center of a complicated conspiracy.

Between freelancing and his day job in tech, Cicero James has made a decent life for himself. He freelances as a Miracle Worker—one of select few who can “see cracks in reality and play with them. Widen them, shrink them, blow them right open or close them off for good.” However, after one of his Miracle Worker jobs goes worse than he ever could have imagined, he finds himself on the run, and at the center of a battle for the very future of the planet. The lives of all the magical and mundane people inhabiting Earth may be on the line, so Cicero must also put his own fragile peace aside and rethink everything he thinks he knows about the world of Miracle Workers. Along the way, he encounters new foes, old friends, and a plan that goes back centuries. Emerson’s novel is an inventive take on the urban fantasy genre that blends myth, magic, and religion to create a unique world that manages to feel fresh and familiar at the same time. Emerson’s prose is sharp, funny, and very human; the title of the very first chapter is the welcoming phase, “OK, Here’s the Deal.” Although Cicero’s narration could’ve come across as the product of a familiar fantasy-character type, he comes across as vibrant and complex, and his sense of empathy and snappy but realistic voice effectively drive the story forward. Additionally, the novel’s worldbuilding, while offbeat, feels grounded enough in fantasy tradition that readers won’t feel at sea. Emerson’s use of his real-world setting is also a treat; his version of San Francisco is neither idealized nor catastrophized, instead embracing the complicated realities of a complicated city. Readers who grew up with the likes of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson novels will enjoy diving into this new magical world.

A thrilling and inventive urban fantasy adventure.