King of Almost Edition
AWAKEN plus The Veiled Staves, both anthologies, The Hidden Hand playtest edition, and eligibility for a Memorial Wall spot.
$24.99
Choose the complete bundle →
A mythic fantasy universe by Michael Steilling
A father. A son. A failing Ring.
Magnus S'tyrling works the night shift in Grants Pass, trying to rebuild his relationship with his son. Behind the ordinary sky, the Veil Court can erase people—and the machine holding the hidden world back is beginning to fail.
BOOK ONE
53 chapters
Start with no prior lore.
53 chapters
Start with no prior lore.
Start freeThe Three-Pound Debt · 001
Then read AWAKENThe central novel · Book One
Go deeper your wayStories, codex, game, atlas
Choose your door
The reading order, finally made simple.
New here? Take the first-time route. Already building the full timeline? Switch to chronological. The companion-story numbers are publication labels—not the order a new reader needs to follow.
- 01Free vignette · 001
The Three-Pound Debt
Your shortest, zero-cost entry into the world and the moment the old order closes.
Read free → - 02Book One
AWAKEN
The main road: fatherhood, responsibility, the Veil Court, and the Ring beginning to fail.
See editions → - 03Companion · #3
Unweighed
A compact story that rewards the context of the novel.
- 04Companion · #1
The Silent Tragedy
A nine-chapter pre-Ring novella that deepens the origin and emotional cost.
- 05Companion · #2
G.O.A.T.
The Armored and The Fallen face a transformed sky and must reinvent survival.
- 06Go wider
Anthologies
Frequencies of Loss and Bands of Despair & Desolation open more doors across the world.
Explore → - 07Optional extras
Veiled Staves + Hidden Hand
A standalone hidden-language codex and a 76-card playtest game. Extras, not homework.
See extras →
- 01Companion · #1
The Silent Tragedy
Begin with the quieter origin story behind the Ring.
- 02Companion · #2
G.O.A.T.
Continue with The Armored and The Fallen under a closing sky.
- 03Companion · #3
Unweighed
Enter a compact story of duty and the line held.
- 04Book One
AWAKEN
Bring the earlier stories into the present-day collision.
See editions → - 05Go wider
Anthologies
Continue through two thousand years of resistance under the Ring.
Explore → - 06Optional extras
Veiled Staves + Hidden Hand
Decode the language or play the world after the core reading.
See extras →
The Three-Pound Debt is free 001 and can be read before either route. The Veiled Staves is standalone—not a numbered series entry.
GODstatic · Book One
AWAKEN
THE RING WAS A DAMThe central novel
The ordinary world was only the surface.
AWAKEN begins during a night shift in Grants Pass, Oregon. Magnus is trying to show up for his son. Then the hidden architecture behind the world starts breaking through: the Veil Court, a Ring built to suppress reality, and an older world pressing against the sky.
This is high fantasy with a contemporary heartbeat—fatherhood, recovery, responsibility, and ordinary care first; gods, machinery, memory, and a restored world opening behind them.
Ebook + Paperback — Available Everywhere.
Published via Draft2Digital and available through Apple Books, Amazon, Gardners, and other booksellers. The Standard ebook is on sale now for $4.99 on Gumroad and ebook retailers (suggested/list price $9.99). The paperback is $22.99 through Draft2Digital.
New-reader friendlyNo codex or companion story required.
53 chaptersPlus interludes, epilogue, Cairn page, and codex sample.
Human stakes firstA father learning how to stay present.
A world getting largerThe familiar map is not the whole map.
Stories & editions
Enter at the level you want.
Read only the novel, take the entire digital shelf, or begin with the free vignette. The extras stay optional.
The Three-Pound Debt
The shortest entry into GODstatic and a no-risk first step before AWAKEN.
Free
Read free →
AWAKEN · Standard
The complete 53-chapter central novel. On sale now; suggested/list price $9.99.
$4.99 ebook
Get the Standard Edition →
AWAKEN · Unmade
The novel together with both anthologies.
$12.99
Get the Unmade Edition →
The Veiled Staves
The hidden-language codex for the Dylja-Stafir cipher. Not a numbered series entry.
$2.99
Open the codex →
The Hidden Hand
A 76-card game of hidden information, memory, and risk.
$4.99
Get the playtest →
GODstatic Anthologies
Frequencies of Loss and Bands of Despair & Desolation.
$6.99
Read the anthologies →
The Twisted and the Unbroken
A 33-chapter warrior's journey from vice to virtue, shaped by the Nine Noble Virtues and the work of passing the shield.
$12.99
Read the memoir →Covers
The books, as they look.
Real covers from the GODstatic shelf.
When the Ring breaks
Reality gets un-canceled.
The restored world is not a separate fantasy realm. It is the larger Earth the Ring kept hidden: lost lands, impossible cities, elder peoples, and ancient sites returning to the map.
Va'rglassMilitary elite divided between the Wingward above and the Ground-Bound below.
EtlanteansStone-skinned travelers whose living city moves beneath them.
EmberwroughtForge-masters who know that metal remembers.
Ur'kaddinWardens who ask once—and hold the line.
Terra Duplicata · Interactive atlas
Explore Year 0 After Prima Dawn.
Survey the Old World, the restored lands, and five confirmed sites from the Prima Cartography Guild's in-world record.
About the author
Michael Steilling
Michael Steilling is a Certified Recovery Mentor, self-published author, and founder of TWO RAVENS UNITED, an Oregon public-benefit nonprofit helping people in crisis build new lives through skilled trades and zero-cost vocational support.
After more than a decade incarcerated across three states, he made writing a lifeline. Over eight years, his poetry on Memoirs of a Lonely Wandering Soul grew into a community of more than 20,000 readers. His fiction, memoir, poetry, and practical writing now share one purpose: turning hard-won experience into tools for change.
TWO RAVENS UNITED is built around zero-cost vocational training, ethical leadership, and long-term reinvestment in housing and civic assets. He writes GODstatic fiction as Michael Steilling and memoir and nonfiction as Michael Z. Steilling, CRM.
Follow Michael's updates★★★★★
“It was great. Some deep poems, shows growth over the years. Look forward to more of this work from the author.”Verified Amazon review for Tyr's Hand: Fractured Heart: 142 poems, 8 years (Ground Zero) · March 2, 2026. Review shown without the reviewer's name.
Feeding the WolfThe Daily ForgeThe Northern PathTRU CodexTyr's HandCollected poetry
Be Someone
“Just be someone you can look at in the mirror, without turning away.”— Michael Steilling
From the Houston overpass to here. I'm just someone trying to do better than what I did before. That's all that can be expected. — Read the full story in The Twisted and the Unbroken by Michael Z. Steilling, CRM.
Carry a name forward
The Memorial Wall
Every public name is a stone added to the cairn. King of Almost Edition readers can submit one name and five words for someone they have lost.
- Buy the King of Almost Edition.
- Use the form linked on the Gumroad receipt.
- Submit the name and five words from the purchase email.
- After the purchase is checked, the name is added publicly.
Before you enter
Quick answers.
No lore exam. No required extras. Pick the door that matches how much of the world you want right now.
Where should a brand-new reader start?
Start free with The Three-Pound Debt, then read AWAKEN. After the novel, continue with Unweighed, The Silent Tragedy, and G.O.A.T.
Do I need The Veiled Staves to understand AWAKEN?
No. It is a standalone hidden-language codex for readers who want to go deeper. It is not a numbered installment.
What is the King of Almost Edition?
A website-to-Gumroad digital bundle containing AWAKEN, The Veiled Staves, both anthologies, The Hidden Hand playtest edition, and eligibility for a public Memorial Wall spot.
Is a hardcover coming?
A collector's hardcover is being developed for Kickstarter. No launch date or funding details are promised here yet.
Your first step costs nothing
Start with the debt. Then face the Ring.
Read the free vignette tonight. If the world catches hold of you, AWAKEN is the next door.
