SummaryA battle over the “correct” way to cast spells is brewing in the magic practitioner community. Theoretical mathematician Marcus Forscher has created an equation, a formula to bring the science of casting into the twenty-first century. Botanist Gloriana Morgan, however, maintains spell casting is an art, as individual as each caster, and warns against throwing out old casting methods and forcing use of the new—especially on young practitioners. The two—reluctantly—face off in a series of debates across the country, where, thanks to each side’s advocates, reasonable and calm discussion disintegrates as tempers heat and casting methods are ridiculed. Enter the soulmate phenomenon, an ancient compulsion that brings practitioners together and has persuasive techniques and powers—the soulmate imperative—to convince the selected couple they belong together. Marcus and Gloriana, the prospective soulmates, however, want nothing to do with each other. Gloriana can’t accept that someone so different from her as Marcus could possibly be her mate, who, by definition, always has the same interests, preferences, tastes and affections. Marcus, for reasons of his own, doesn’t want a soulmate, period. Ever. The two decide to oppose the imperative, but it has resources to use against them. This second battle is joined, but the outcome may be devastating. Soulmates who reject each other will never, ever be happy and will never, ever find another. Something or someone’s got to give here.
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