Cascade (the Kindle edition) is now available for pre-order. You can get it here:

Other formats are coming soon. There’s also still time to back the Kickstarter for limited edition offers and multiple formats.

Advance praise for Cascade

• “Finally, an urban fantasy that kills the cop—and the rest of the  government—in your head. Relentlessly radical and often hilarious, Cascade will change the way you look at magic, and the state,  forever.” — Nick Mamatas, author of The Second Shooter.
• “Cascade is an excellent introduction to the imaginative prose of Rachel A. Rosen. Her debut novel takes us to a futuristic North America filled with vividly realized characters surrounded by magic and the possible end of the world. One of the few novels I’ve read recently in a single weekend. Sharp and thought-provoking, with thrilling moments and crackling with compelling ideas, I wouldn’t miss this one. I’m looking forward to her next instalment!”— Bryan Thao Worra, author of BEFORE WE REMEMBER WE DREAM.
• “Rachel A. Rosen’s Cascade is one of the best books I’ve read this year. She brings a unique blend of magic environmentalism, Canadian politicking, and indigenous and queer rights to the table. I never thought I would be so interested in the near-futuristic Canadian political process!” — Marsha Altman, author of The Darcys and the Bingleys
• “Full of magic and social commentary, Cascade is never so witty that it hides its anger or so angry that it sacrifices wit. This is a brilliant exciting debut by an author that will have a long and fruitful career if there’s any justice in the world.” — Tim Lieder, author of Sugarplum Zombie Motherfuckers

What does magic want?

When Vasai Singh resurrected drowned Mumbai and raised it into the clouds, the world reacted with awe and wonder – and no small amount of fear. As with the climate crisis believed to have caused the Cascade, resurgent magic proved lucky for some, a disaster for many others, and a source of hope and dread for everyone else.

A generation has passed since the Cascade transformed the world, smashing the tectonic plates of the political landscape and infesting the wilderness with demons and shriekgrass.

In Ottawa, a scandal-plagued government clings to power, kept afloat by the manipulations of its precognitive political rainman, Ian Mallory. But when his predictions signal only catastrophe ahead, the magic-loathing photojournalist Tobias Fletcher, land rights activist Jonah Augustine, his ex-wife, climate scientist Blythe Augustine, and emoji-spell wielding intern Sujay Krishnamurthy must overcome ideology and bureaucracy to save a future from a present whose agenda spells only doom.

Rachel A. Rosen’s debut novel, Cascade, has been variously described as magic realism, climate fantasy and, as its publisher prefers, fantasy that feels like science fiction.

Set in a terrifying but all-too believable near future and leavened with a dry wit, Cascade features a cast of fully-realized characters drawn into conflict with each other as they each strive to do the right thing.

But who can know what the right thing is, when every choice leads to catastrophe?

The Cascade Kickstarter is now fully funded, but you can still back it, receive a copy in the format of your choice, and get rewards, including postcards, limited edition chapbooks, and resin koi. Cascade has been named as a Project We Love by Kickstarter. Get in while supplies last!

We’ve gone truly cross-media, with two TTRPG games inspired by Night Beats lore and works. We can’t wait to play them.

Check out Headcanon and Disaster Wizards, both by the amazing Julian Gunn, available for download at itch.io, along with his many other delightful, humorous, and startlingly poignant games.

Headcanon:

All the apocalypses have begun to blur together, but this one could be something special.

In Headcanon, the two of you – friends, enemies, allies, all of the above – play out the final episode of the Eternal Show, a nearly infinite low-budget horror-speculative-fiction-suspense-medical-drama-police-procedural-apocalyptic TV series.

In this low-prep ttrpg, players create collaborative poker hands to determine their characters’ actions and the success or failure of the scene.

Disaster Wizards

You, a wizard, are competing in the most prestigious magical tournament in the multiverse.

Two things.

One: this is an elite contest of skill, wits, and laser-like focus.

Two: you are a f*cking disaster.

This game is a Honey Heist hack.

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From Delia Derbyshire’s iconic Doctor Who synth line to the mournful, sardonic brass that opens M.A.S.H. to The Who rock anthems at the beginning of each CSI, there is nothing like those opening notes to set the tone and prime us for the excitement when a new episode drops. What is a TV show—fictional or otherwise—without a theme song? 

Night Beats now has an official theme song! Composed by the brilliant Rick Innis, it’s a dark, jazzy delight. It’s absolutely perfect and you can listen to it here or on its permanent home on our About page.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Sign up to our newsletter! Submit stuff for us to beta! Run away to the forest and never come back!

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Join Night Beats Betas!

Night Beats Betas is a perk for our newsletter subscribers.

The beta readers:
Rachel Rosen worked as a professional editor in a former life, before she succumbed to the lure of teaching high school students.
Zilla Novikov is entirely fictional, but friends tell her that she is, and I quote, “A great beta”.

The deal:
Subscribers can submit a WIP. We’ll pick a few submissions each month and beta read them. We’ll reach out to the author to see if they like our reading. With the authors’ consent, we’ll put it in the next newsletter.

Submit up to 500 words.

We won’t be able to beta everything. If your words don’t get picked one month, feel free to submit it again next month. We wish we had infinite time to beta read but the laws of thermodynamics dictate that infinite time is impossible.
Don’t submit anything which you want to keep secret. Obviously we will not deliberately use your words or ideas, but the whole point is that one of us will read it, and maybe all our subscribers will. Remember, the internet is forever.

Welcome to Night Beats

Night Beats is the best/worst TV show that was never made.

Vampires! Werewolves! Mirror Universes! Terrible CGI! We’ve got it all. Except, you know, a budget or good acting.

Follow us to join in on the adventures of Jane, Lilith, Brad, Brent, Ona, Gwen, and ugggh, Jordan.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.