One Level Down

by Mary Thompson

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Pub Date Apr 01 2025 | Archive Date Mar 25 2025

Tachyon Publications

General Fiction (Adult) | Sci Fi & Fantasy

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Description

Trapped in a child’s body, a resourceful woman risks death by deletion from a simulated world. With her debut novella for adults, Mary G. Thompson (Wuftoom) has crafted a taut, ultimately hopeful story that deftly explores identity and autonomy.

"ONE LEVEL DOWN is a perfectly executed gem of a book. Deeply satisfying and completely mesmerizing, it's full of depth, heart, and thought." —Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of THE SPELLSHOP

Ella is the oldest five-year-old in the universe. For fifty-eight years, the founder of a simulated colony-planet has forced her to pretend to be his daughter. Her “Daddy” has absolute power over all elements of reality, which keeps the colonists in line even when their needs are not met. But his failing experiments and despotic need for absolute control are increasingly dangerous.

Ella’s very life depends on her performance as a child. She has watched Daddy delete her stepmother and the loved ones of anyone who helps her.

But every sixty years, a Technician comes from the world above. Ella has been watching and working and biding her time. Because if she cannot make the technician help her, the only solution is a desperate measure that could lead to consequences for the entire universe.

A Note From the Publisher

Mary G. Thompson is the acclaimed author of Flicker and Mist, Wuftoom, and Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee, which was the winner of the Westchester Fiction Award and a finalist for the Missouri Gateway Award. Thompson’s short fiction has appeared in Dark Matter Magazine, Apex Magazine, and others. She attended the University of Oregon School of Law, practiced law for seven years, and now works as a law librarian. She also holds an MFA in Writing from The New School, and completed the UCLA professional program in screenwriting. Thompson currently lives in Washington, DC. Find her on the web at http://marygthompson.com.

Mary G. Thompson is the acclaimed author of Flicker and Mist, Wuftoom, and Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee, which was the winner of the Westchester Fiction Award and a finalist for the Missouri Gateway Award...

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A Note From the Publisher

Mary G. Thompson is the acclaimed author of Flicker and Mist, Wuftoom, and Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee, which was the winner of the Westchester Fiction Award and a finalist for the Missouri Gateway Award. Thompson’s short fiction has appeared in Dark Matter Magazine, Apex Magazine, and others. She attended the University of Oregon School of Law, practiced law for seven years, and now works as a law librarian. She also holds an MFA in Writing from The New School, and completed the UCLA professional program in screenwriting. Thompson currently lives in Washington, DC. Find her on the web at http://marygthompson.com.

Advance Praise

“Mary Thompson shows us what kind of perfect jail software and servers can make, and how even there an inmate can dream of, and attempt, escape.”
—Jack Campbell, author of The Lost Fleet and In Our Stars

“When flawed humans attempt to create a pocket paradise, they create gut-wrenching moral choices instead. Once you start reading, it is impossible to look away from Mary Thompson’s provocative story of simulations, power imbalance, and whether kindness can overcome cruelty in the end.”
—Carolyn Ives Gilman, author of Dark Orbit

"One Level Down is a perfectly executed gem of a book. Deeply satisfying and completely mesmerizing, it's full of depth, heart, and thought."
—Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

“Death by deletion is the ultimate horror in this riveting novella about life in a simulation. One Level Down deftly captures both the anguish of fifty-eight-year-old Ella who is trapped in a five-year-old’s body and the megalomania of the Daddy who keeps her there.”
—James Patrick Kelly, author of Burn

“A thought-provoking book that will stay with you well beyond its final page.”
—David Ebenbach, author of How to Mars

“A simulation scenario that digs deeper than the Matrix movies ever did; a stark portrayal of the unmitigated evil that is the parental impulse; a rapture-of-the-nerds drive-by.”
—Peter Watts, author of The Freeze Frame Revolution

“A riveting existential and emotional rollercoaster, descending into the monstrous depths of patriarchy and rising into the dauntingly infinite possibilities of liberation.”
—Elly Bangs, author of Unity

“Like the best episodes of Black Mirror, One Level Down will have you pondering the questions it raises long after you’ve turned the last page.”
—Diana Peterfreund, author of the Clue Mysteries and For Darkness Shows the Stars

“A fascinating mix of mystery, thriller, and alternate futures. I had trouble putting it down.”
—Stina Leicht, author of Persephone Station

Marketing Plan

Promotion targeting reviews and interviews in leading media venues
Author tour to include national appearances and radio features
Print and digital ARC distribution via Goodreads, NetGalley, and Edelweiss+
Planned book giveaways to include Goodreads and Storygraph
Outreach to librarians and independent booksellers via regional and national trade shows and mailings
Online promotion to include Instagram/book blog tour, cover reveal, launch event, Reddit AMA, and social media campaigns via X, Instagram, BlueSky, Facebook, and other outlets