Reality Gradient Reading Order

Have you wondered what order to read the Reality Gradient stories in? There are a lot more than just novels in this list, but here I present a reasonable order to read these in if you want to be surprised as you go. Of course, any order works - I enjoyed writing and even going back to read over all of these, so I think you’ll like them in any order.

Reality Gradient

Equilibrium - This short story is about Aayushi, one of the secondary characters in Models and Citizens. This story starts before the beginning of Models and Citizens, and introduces Aayushi and Ordell’s relationship before tragedy strikes at the beginning of the novel. A short, fun bit of writing that reads a bit like a love story and will fill in some character depth for Aayushi, who plays a side role in every other novel in the series.

Models and Citizens - Harper Rawls arrives home after college to discover that her parents are fighting again. This time, something is different. Her father has become more and more immersed into extremist beliefs that models, or genetically-altered clones, are abominations and should be destroyed. Learning about Aayushi’s infidelity with Ordell, a model, pushes him over the edge and starts the novel with the destruction of her family. She spends the rest of the novel picking up the pieces while trying to keep Ordell, her only living link to her mother, alive long enough to possibly escape to Canada. Oscillating between unintentional activist and “normal” proves to be almost impossible for her, and dire consequences result.

Ordell - At the beginning of Bodhi Rising, Ordell is an officer in the Siblings of the Natural Order. This group is a quasi-religious organization of models who are essentially terrorists. In this short novella, which is $7.99 on Amazon (but free if you sign up for my newsletter), Ordell is recruited and meets Monica Caldwell for the first time. We also get to see a bit more into how the Siblings work and learn about Lancaster’s rise in the Order. Ordell’s rise, we witness firsthand. You don’t have to pay $7.99 though! If you’re

Bodhi Rising - After Models and Citizens, Harper has a child who has a disease that is going to kill him before he reaches adulthood. When Emergent Biotechnology offers a solution to his disease in the form of an experimental treatment, she swallows her pride and goes back. The treatment comes with side-effects that tie his fate to that of corporate heiress Christine Hamilton. The two circle each other like dragons as the story unfolds to a dramatic conclusion that leaves Bodhi in the state we find him in at the beginning of Bodhi Rising (intentionally vague here as I don’t want to ruin the ending).

Ms. Barnett’s Favorite - This short story is a first-person account from one of the “offscreen” characters in Libera, Goddess of Worlds. Amanda Briggs is a fighter, as all Briggs are by design. After she can’t fight anymore, she’s relegated to work in Emergent Biotechnology home office. She also happens to be Aida Lothian’s mother (you might recall that she’s a protagonist in Libera, Goddess of Worlds).

The Gemini Book - This is a collection of short stories that highlight the technology present in the Reality Gradient universe. The story that fits into this series is The Little Rebellion, which details what ultimately happens to the Madison Rule, and reveals a bit more about what life is like as a model.

The Fighter - There’s a 60k word novel that follows Amanda’s life at Emergent Biotechnology. It’s not published. I’m considering making it available as a download for members of my newsletter group or folks who want to be in my ARC team (not formed yet - stay tuned). This follows Amanda’s exit from Emergent Biotechnology into a model community in New York known as the Village, the birth of Aida, who opens Libera, Goddess of Worlds.

Libera, Goddess of Worlds - This novel picks up with Bodhi in Bodhi Rising, as he attempts to handle the intricacies of managing a rapidly growing virtual world. That’s been reduced to a side plot, though. In this story, Lincoln Montague is investigating the death of her mother from two years prior. Nobody in her town wants to talk about it any longer, not even her best friend. Aida Lothian, a brilliant engineer with a completely awkward personality tries to fit into her new job with mixed success. As anything else in the Reality Gradient universe, the impact of these two will be felt worldwide.

The Virtual Wars (0% done - just an idea at this point) - Not yet written at all. So after the end of Libera (which you will see in November at least in ARC form), a lot of really strange tangles have to be picked apart. The original stories finish and most of the secondary arcs too, but Qadesh is basically a force to be reckoned with at the end as they flex their abilities (or she, it just depends on how you look at it - you’ll see). Existing in all worlds, she’s become almost unstoppable, especially with the confluence of technologies of the time. This leads to the virtual wars, a period of turmoil in which the entire world is cast into chaos as a simultaneous conflict erupts in virtual reality at the same time as real-reality (a term which has a lot less meaning by the end of Libera anyway).

Birthers (about 10% done) - After the Virtual Wars, civilization has turned a corner toward a more dystopian path that leaves women with almost no rights at all. Phoenix Dozie’s relationship with her husband has deteriorated as he, in an effort to keep her safe, strips more and more of her agency away. Finally, forced to carry a child she doesn’t want, Phoenix leaves him. Rather, Phoenix’s “installation” - Vera Reverte - leaves Bruner, taking Phoenix in tow. Tracked by the Barter Boys, the armed wing of the Custodi Liberti, Phoenix doesn’t know why. But Vera does. And so does Phoenix’s milquetoast former friend Betty Ackerman, who aids in Vera’s escape. For Vera, the virtual wars aren’t over. Phoenix must decide whether to do the safe thing, and return to her lover, or follow Vera’s path as a revolutionary.

Southern Highlands (working title - about 50% done) - Apryl Sallow’s relationship with her ex-lover should have ended five years ago. But somehow he’s worked himself into the position of leading Mars on a path to independence from Earth. This makes him the person who can sink her job at the Southern Highlands Company, working with a commission from the Induna of United Africa to do trade with Mars. A manipulative abuser, she loses patience and sets off to Mars to correct his behavior, only to discover that Liu Jian has transitioned from male to female, and the new Liu Anoki has plans for her. Once again sucked into his manipulations, this time, the future of Martian civilization hangs in the balance as Apryl struggles to break the patterns that have kept her in Liu’s orbit for so long.