Compact

My story Compact came out today in the Magic and Mischief anthology!

I may have mentioned once or (cough) twice that my story The Wish Doctor won the 2024 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. Well, Compact was a finalist for the 2023 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, but didn’t quite make the cut.

In Compact, for humans to use magic, they must first “join” with a magical creature. This is not a process that is particularly beneficial for the magical creature.

But, at least the new wizards don’t then have to embed a chunk of said magical creature in a wand and pretend that the magic is all really about them. (No, I’m not being snarky at all. What are you talking about?)