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Description
Fantastic universes and personal dramas collide as a group of friends blur the line between real life and fiction with delightfully disastrous results from the acclaimed author of the “timeless and original” (The New York Times) The Body Scout.
Perennially single, socially awkward, and drowning in debt, Michael Lincoln finds his life has turned out nothing like the intergalactic lives of the pulp heroes of his youth. But these are pedestrian concerns—he has a higher calling, and that is to preserve for all posterity the greatest series in the history of the written word: The Star Rot Chronicles.
Written collectively by Michael’s best (and perhaps only) friend Taras K. Castle and his misfit science fiction writing group, the Orb 4, the stories follow Captain Baldwin and his fearless crew on their mind-bending adventures across the Metallic Realms, from solar whales swallowing suns at the edge of spacetime to extraterrestrial romances and interstellar wars. These masterpieces have gone tragically unpublished—until now.
But the most urgent story Michael must tell takes place in the more intimate (if no less dramatic) confines of literary Brooklyn. Behind the greatest universe ever created, there are the all-too-mortal people who wrote it. As Michael chronicles the personal melodramas of the Orb 4 as well as the fun house reflections in their fiction, the line between real and unreal becomes dangerously thin, and the true reasons for the group’s fallout begin to emerge. As he labors away in hiding, Michael has just one mission: to bring the Metallic Realms to the world. No matter the cost.
Perennially single, socially awkward, and drowning in debt, Michael Lincoln finds his life has turned out nothing like the intergalactic lives of the pulp heroes of his youth. But these are pedestrian concerns—he has a higher calling, and that is to preserve for all posterity the greatest series in the history of the written word: The Star Rot Chronicles.
Written collectively by Michael’s best (and perhaps only) friend Taras K. Castle and his misfit science fiction writing group, the Orb 4, the stories follow Captain Baldwin and his fearless crew on their mind-bending adventures across the Metallic Realms, from solar whales swallowing suns at the edge of spacetime to extraterrestrial romances and interstellar wars. These masterpieces have gone tragically unpublished—until now.
But the most urgent story Michael must tell takes place in the more intimate (if no less dramatic) confines of literary Brooklyn. Behind the greatest universe ever created, there are the all-too-mortal people who wrote it. As Michael chronicles the personal melodramas of the Orb 4 as well as the fun house reflections in their fiction, the line between real and unreal becomes dangerously thin, and the true reasons for the group’s fallout begin to emerge. As he labors away in hiding, Michael has just one mission: to bring the Metallic Realms to the world. No matter the cost.
Product Details
| Publisher | Atria Books |
| Publish Date | May 13, 2025 |
| Pages | 320 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781668058671 |
| Dimensions | 228.6 X 152.4 X 25.4 mm | 460.4 g |
About the Author
Lincoln Michel’s previous books are the story collection Upright Beasts and the novel The Body Scout, which was named one of the 10 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2021 by The New York Times and one of the 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time by Esquire. His writing has appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Lightspeed, Granta, The New York Times, The Guardian, and other publications. He runs the popular literary newsletter Counter Craft and coedited the anthologies Tiny Crimes and Tiny Nightmares. He was born in Virginia and lives in Brooklyn. He can be found online at LincolnMichel.com.
Reviews
Advance Praise for Metallic Realms
“A brilliant, funny, and pulpy homage to the golden age of science fiction.” —Esquire, The 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2025
“Like any good book-within-a-book, Lincoln Michel’s latest is a complex tale that also finds intimacy and depth in its characters at every turn. The brilliance of Metallic Realms will burn your senses.” —The Chicago Review of Books
“Exciting and tragic and funny and bewildering and just plain wonderful.” —Booklist
“A riveting tale of a sci-fi writing group…This captivates.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Compulsively inventive and in love with language...a total blast!” —Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams, Pulitzer Prize finalist for fiction
“This is the great novel of stan culture.” —Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life and The Late Americans
“A marvelous romp of a book, a tragicomic interweaving of tales, a kaleidoscopic journey that takes place simultaneously in a city apartment and in the vast reaches of space. With his characteristic wit and intellect, Lincoln Michel unearths all sorts of truths about loneliness, community, creativity, and fan culture. I couldn’t put this book down, and it delighted me at every turn.” —Helen Phillips, author of The Need and Hum
“A brilliant, inventive satire of writers and super fans, even better for its obvious affection towards both. Lincoln Michel is one of the most surprising speculative writers working today, and this witty planet-hopping love letter to pulp science fiction is the most fun I’ve had reading all year.” —Matt Bell, author of Appleseed
“Metallic Realms accomplishes in prose what the classic silent comedians accomplished on film, turning the trips and missteps of a born fumbler into acrobatics: Nothing goes well, but perfectly. Delightful to behold.” —Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Ghost Variations
“A sci-fi masterpiece. The story soars across galaxies but finds its emotional heft in a deft portrait of literary lives in New York and the many dramas of their mingled ambitions and disappointments.” —LitHub
“A brilliant, funny, and pulpy homage to the golden age of science fiction.” —Esquire, The 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2025
“Like any good book-within-a-book, Lincoln Michel’s latest is a complex tale that also finds intimacy and depth in its characters at every turn. The brilliance of Metallic Realms will burn your senses.” —The Chicago Review of Books
“Exciting and tragic and funny and bewildering and just plain wonderful.” —Booklist
“A riveting tale of a sci-fi writing group…This captivates.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Compulsively inventive and in love with language...a total blast!” —Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams, Pulitzer Prize finalist for fiction
“This is the great novel of stan culture.” —Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life and The Late Americans
“A marvelous romp of a book, a tragicomic interweaving of tales, a kaleidoscopic journey that takes place simultaneously in a city apartment and in the vast reaches of space. With his characteristic wit and intellect, Lincoln Michel unearths all sorts of truths about loneliness, community, creativity, and fan culture. I couldn’t put this book down, and it delighted me at every turn.” —Helen Phillips, author of The Need and Hum
“A brilliant, inventive satire of writers and super fans, even better for its obvious affection towards both. Lincoln Michel is one of the most surprising speculative writers working today, and this witty planet-hopping love letter to pulp science fiction is the most fun I’ve had reading all year.” —Matt Bell, author of Appleseed
“Metallic Realms accomplishes in prose what the classic silent comedians accomplished on film, turning the trips and missteps of a born fumbler into acrobatics: Nothing goes well, but perfectly. Delightful to behold.” —Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Ghost Variations
“A sci-fi masterpiece. The story soars across galaxies but finds its emotional heft in a deft portrait of literary lives in New York and the many dramas of their mingled ambitions and disappointments.” —LitHub
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