The Oathbinder
Published on 28. February 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
268 pages
979-8-233-83387-8 (ISBN)
Description
Quincy Graves is tired of being the smartest person in the room-especially when that room is a cramped South Philly rowhouse he shares with roommates he can't stand.
An overqualified logistics consultant with a mind for spreadsheets and a soul of ice, Quincy sees the world as a series of broken systems. He's bored, broke, and waiting for a leverage point to move the world.
He finds it in the basement.
When a dying, glowing creature stumbles into his reality, Quincy doesn't find wonder. He finds an asset. By "Phase-Shifting" into the Echo-a vibrant, magical twin-Earth vibrating just out of reach-Quincy discovers a realm of ancient beauty and total, unmanaged chaos.
To the "High-Born" Elves, magic is a song. To Quincy, it's unmapped infrastructure.
But Quincy isn't interested in the shining citadels. He goes to the shadows, recruiting the "undesirables"-exiled Orcs, shunned Gorgons, and forgotten Imps. He offers them something the "noble" races never did: A seat at the table. And a contract.
With modern military discipline, industrial efficiency, and a "Debt-Trap" that can topple kingdoms, Quincy begins his ascent. He isn't here to be a hero. He isn't even here to be a king.
He's here to be the Auditor. And in the Echo, everyone is in arrears.
More details
Person
Lorcan Pike writes speculative science fiction that explores how technology reshapes identity, autonomy, and the stories people tell themselves to survive. His work often unfolds in dystopian futures where progress has a price-and someone always pays it.
His recent fiction includes cyberpunk detective noir, blending hard-edged investigations with philosophical questions about selfhood, memory, and moral responsibility in engineered societies. Pike is particularly interested in what justice means when autonomy can be altered, erased, or rewritten, and how systems designed for order quietly drift toward control.
A former child actor, Lorcan has since worked in marketing, computer repair, and medical coding-backgrounds that inform his fascination with systems, optimization, and the human cost hidden beneath efficiency. He lives in the American Southeast with his wife and their three cats, who remain unimpressed by neon-lit futures and overdue case files.