Welcome, friend.
My name is Tor Bryce-Mitchell, and I’m excited to share my project, Ghosts & Machines, with you.
Ghosts & Machines is an art project that encompasses narrative storytelling, music, and artwork. At its heart, it is (or will be) a series of novels. These novels are the main focus of the project; everything else revolves around them. You can start reading them here.
The story they tell is set in a parallel world. Geographically, this world is identical to our own, although its history, culture, and inhabitants are very different. Most notably, a small percentage of the population are kraelic – they possess a form of telekinetic ability that allows them to move objects, manipulate matter, and ‘cast spells’ by triggering chemical reactions.
The first novel in the series, The Kindling Sorrow, is set in the fictional city of New London. The first part of the story (Chapter 0) depicts the events leading up to a major incident – one that has grave ramifications for the characters, and the world as a whole. The remainder of the novel takes place in the aftermath of this event, and follows a group of youths as they attempt to deal with its repercussions.
I’m also making music to complement the narrative. These songs are interspersed within the story pages on this website; you’ll encounter them as you read along. If you want to listen to them directly, you can click here or go to my Youtube channel. They’re also available to download on my Patreon store, and are free for all subscribers.
Hopefully, you’ll also enjoy the bits of artwork I’ve used to decorate the website and go with the songs/story. I’m not a professional artist by any stretch, but it’s been fun making them, and I’m fairly pleased with how they look. In the future, I’d like to collaborate with some professional artists to improve their quality.
Beyond that, I’ll also be writing various blog posts here. These will centre on a variety of topics including current events, politics, philosophy, ethics, language, and literature/media. Some of these posts will relate to certain themes/ideas from the books, although plenty of them won’t. But I will post any relevant news, updates, or information about the project here.
On occasion, I might also be uploading some other (short) stories. These might be set in the world of Ghosts & Machines, or they might not. The first of these should be up fairly soon. Others may materialize at some point in the future. Once they’re up, you can read them here.
Finally, if you like what you’ve seen so far, then please consider subscribing to my Patreon. I’ll be talking a bit more about my plans for the Patreon and possible incentives in a future blog post. For now, I’m offering free mp3 downloads of my songs for all subscribers, as well as a written credit in the pages of the book and on this website.
Ghosts & Machines is a labour of love for me. It’s a product of thousands of hours of studying, research, editing, imagining, pondering, panicking, self-flagellating, and – of course – writing. It is everything I think, feel, and theorise about the world, packaged into something that I hope to be as entertaining, as moving, as rich, as resonant, and as thought-provoking as possible.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey.
Until next time – take care, and happy reading.
– Tor Bryce Mitchell