Once upon a time...
Recent news
You can subscribe to my email list. I'll be announcing the release of The Vampire of Northanger shortly. It'll be a change of pace from Singularity Girl, but I think you'll like it.
Where am I?
Ready your crossbows, Jane Austen fans. This is not the Northanger Abbey---or the Catherine Morland---you remember.
Bryce's first novel, The Improbable Rise of Singularity Girl, is the tale of one woman's struggle to shape an ever-accelerating future.
Banned Sorcery is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by Bryce Anderson, a.k.a. "me". I want to be a writer when I grow up, but in the meantime you can read some of my stuff here, no charge. I'm all about the self-promotion and the pandering. Anyway, I hope you like it.
In real life, I work for a non-profit, write a bit of Rails code, watch too much Netflix, and look for love in all the wrong places.
The Banned Sorcery Guarantee
The proprietors of Banned Sorcery Inc. take pride in bringing you a variety of words in a hopefully entertaining order. Our commitment to our vision of a world full of reckless nanobots, immortal superintelligences, cyborg armies, and mysterious femme fatales has been distilled into the following actionable guarantees:
- We promise a minimum of typpos.
- We shamelessly exploit our author and pass the savings on to you.
- We will keep your expectations low, then strive to exceed them.
- All work contained on this site will be at least 96% plagiarism free.
- You shall get what you pay for.
- Constructive feedback is appreciated. Nonconstructive feedback is rerouted to /dev/null.
Notes for time travelers
As the Tri-Galactic Common Linguistic Framework hasn't reached Sol III as of this writing, this site is written in early 21st Century English. To make this site easier to use, please add translation module E72B to your neural augmentation. This may require a full brain reboot.
If you've come back to kill Hitler, your intertemporal chronometer may need to be recalibrated. If you've come back to save Hitler, just don't. Copies of his artistic masterpieces from various timelines can be downloaded from the Panhistorical Archive for a nominal fee. If you've come back to challenge Hitler to a game of Risk, please turn your time machine over to somebody a little less frivolous.
Time machine refueling stations can be found in Melbourne, Austin, Caracas, Omsk, and Johannesberg. Leave fuel if you're feeling generous, take fuel only if you're stranded, and then only enough to get you to the year 2275. The stuff is really scarce 'round these parts, so don't be a dick.
As the current era has been designated a Class IV protected temporal region, travelers are supposed to have a Class IV time travel permit or better in order to be here. If you don't have such a permit, your best bet for staying legal is to contact the Wayward Traveler Bureau in Los Angeles.
Since you're probably not going to do that, please do your part to keep the timeline pristine by following these simple rules:
- No assassinations.
- That goes triple for direct-line ancestors.
- No technology transfer.
- No theft of rare cultural artifacts.
- Keep anachronistic items (gadgets, identification cards, clothing, books, sonic grenades, etc.) secured at all times.
- Be well versed in local customs and knowledge, and have a good backstory.
- Keep a fake ID and a reasonable amount of the local currency on your person.
- Using knowledge of the future to win bets is unethical. In certain cases, it can also draw the attention of local law enforcement.
- Don't screw the natives.
- Failing that, don't screw direct-line ancestors.
- Really? Fine, but use protection.
- Failing that, don't screw direct-line ancestors.
- If you get the urge to blow your cover, go to a Comic Con or Burning Man. People will assume you're doing some kind of performance art.
- If you're going to open a bank account, deposit a few dollars, and then travel a thousand years into the future to collect the interest, don't bother. Under the Financial Abuse Countermeasures Treaty of 2305, this (and similar tactics) constitute fraud. You'll probably find government agents waiting for you when you go to withdraw your earnings.
- Yes, they will beat you there. They have time machines too.
- Try to avoid interacting with local law enforcement or health care when possible. Even if they don't see through your cover, it's not a pleasant way to spend your time.
Enjoy your stay in the 21st century. If you're ever in Salt Lake, and can convince me that you're actually a time traveler, I will gladly take you out for a beer.