They have to learn what they are. They have to learn what that means. They have so much left to do, and so little of it is certain, or clear, or simple. But as the firelight filters through the corn, the world is the color of mercury, and the embers from the all-consuming flame are like an improbable road leading upward, ever upward, into the infinite and ever-forgiving sky.
“Where will we go?”
“Anywhere you want.”
“Will you stay with me?”
Avery reached for Zib’s hand. She let him take it, and they tangled their fingers together like the roots of a tree, so tight that they might never come untangled.
“Always,” he said.
They started to walk. The improbable road was there to meet them.
—From Over the Woodward Wall, by A. Deborah Baker
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Every book is a journey. Some are undertaken with the greatest of consideration and planning; others begin on a whim. This book, contradictory to the end, has been both. The story at its core is something I’ve been considering for years: for a very long time, it was the book I didn’t yet have the necessary skill to write. But the actual writing began in a fit of pique after my agent (the incomparable Diana Fox) said she didn’t understand the four-page pitch document I had written to try to sell the novel on spec. If she couldn’t understand the pitch, I reasoned, it made sense to write the 150,000+ word book to clarify things.
I never said I was good at calculated decisions.
Diana did understand what I was trying to do once she saw the finished manuscript, and brought me to Lee Harris, who has been an incredibly thoughtful and persistent editor, making what could have been a very thorny project smooth and utterly enjoyable. His hand has reshaped scenes and clarified action, and I am so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together. The entire team at Tor.com is amazing. I am so privileged to have the opportunity to work with them.
Shawn Connolly, my self-proclaimed stupid brother, my partner in crime in all things X-Men … this book would not exist if not for him. His unflagging support and belief in me have informed every page. Without him, I would have given up a long time ago. The book is dedicated to him, which means technically my obligations are discharged, but I also want to take this space to say that he is the best accidental not-a-sibling a girl like me could have, and he makes me want to be better. He made me want to make this book better. I am so grateful.
Kate Secor is one of my best friends, and we were living in the same geographical area while this book was being written. Thanks for hashing so many things out over Indian food and bad television, and for being a rock I could cling to when the waters got too high.
Thanks to Chris Mangum, Tara O’Shea, and Michelle “Vixy” Dockrey for being the best pit crew and general support system I could ever have wanted. Thanks to Jennifer Brozek, for being a shoulder to lean on, and to Ursula Vernon for identifying weird birds when asked. Thanks to Jude Feldman, for emergency kitten retrieval runs and more Indian food (I am a simple soul). Thanks to Whitney Johnson, for being a delight. And thanks to my entire karaoke crew. You make the world better.
Amy … I love you. Thanks for putting up with my tendency to forget that there’s something outside the written word.
Finally, thank you all, for reading. I couldn’t tell these stories without someone who wanted to listen. The Impossible City isn’t far from here, and I can take you, if you’d like to go. Just take my hand, close your eyes, and trust me.
I know the way.
ALSO BY SEANAN McGUIRE
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day
Deadlands: Boneyard
THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SERIES
Every Heart a Doorway
Down Among the Sticks and Bones
Beneath the Sugar Sky
In an Absent Dream
THE OCTOBER DAYE SERIES
Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
One Salt Sea
Ashes of Honor
Chimes at Midnight
The Winter Long
A Red-Rose Chain
Once Broken Faith
The Brightest Fell
Night and Silence
The Unkindest Tide (forthcoming)
THE INCRYPTID SERIES
Discount Armageddon
Midnight Blue-Light Special
Half-Off Ragnarok
Pocket Apocalypse
Magic for Nothing
Tricks for Free
That Ain’t Witchcraft
THE GHOST ROADS SERIES
Sparrow Hill Road
The Girl in the Green Silk Gown
THE INDEXING SERIES
Indexing
Indexing: Reflections
AS MIRA GRANT
THE NEWSFLESH SERIES
Feed
Deadline
Blackout
Feedback
Rise: The Complete Newsflesh Collection (short stories)
THE PARASITOLOGY SERIES
Parasite
Symbiont
Chimera
Rolling in the Deep
Into the Drowning Deep
Final Girls
Kingdom of Needle and Bone
Alien: Echo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SEANAN McGUIRE is the author of the Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award–winning Wayward Children series, the October Daye series, the InCryptid series, and other works. She also writes darker fiction as Mira Grant. Seanan lives in Seattle with her cats, a vast collection of creepy dolls, horror movies, and sufficient books to qualify her as a fire hazard. She won the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2013 became the first person to appear five times on the same Hugo ballot. You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
Tom Doherty Associates ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Book VII. The End
Failure
Book 0. The Beginning
Genesis
Book I. The Second Stage
The Improbable Road
The Impossible City
The Astrolabe
Book II. The Doctrine Matures
Introduction
Addition
Purple Stars
Isolation
Telephone Wire
Refuse Me
Checkmate
Book VII. The End of
Deed
Book II. Reset
Checkmate
Calibration
Breakdown
Perfection
Rescue
Book III. Graduate
Familial Visitation
Enrollment
Reunion
Experimentation
Report
Bucolic
Home Again
Book IV. Complicate
Phlegmatic
Variation
Biology
Consequences
Blame
Report
Book VII. The End of All
Cost
Book V. Aftershocks
We Are
Flight Risk
Galileo
Long Distance
Orbits
Glory
War
Book VI. Up-and-Under
Coal Dust
Up All Night
Ham and Eggs
Water
Fire
Concrete
&n
bsp; Showdown
Book VII. The End of All Things
Outcome
Spindrift
Book VII. After the End
Cost and Consequence
Ghosts
Birthright
Pants
Acknowledgments
Also by Seanan McGuire
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
MIDDLEGAME
Copyright © 2019 by Seanan McGuire
All rights reserved.
Lyrics to “Erased” by Michelle Dockrey and “The Doctrine of Ethos” by Dr. Mary Crowell used with the permission of the original copyright holders.
Cover design by Will Staehle
A Tor.com Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-19552-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-19551-7 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250195517
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: May 2019