The Timerman

THIS TITLE IS A PRE-ORDER AND WILL RELEASE AUGUST 11, 2026

An all-new novel set in the world of sci-fi cult classic Fitzpatrick’s War. A moral spy must navigate a world of political manipulation and war in a postapocalyptic future with no electricity or computers, and a pseudo-Victorian hierarchy of unchanging stasis he is dutybound to uphold—no matter what the personal cost.

Timerman’s Dilemma

In the year 2444, what remains of a United States that was nearly annihilated centuries ago now dominates the globe. The Yukon Confederacy’s power comes not through technological progress, but by deliberately suppressing most forms of it. Orbiting Storm Machines flood the ionosphere with positrons, instantly neutralizing industrial electrical activity and electronics. Above them, Blinking Stars satellites relay code that grants flawless communications and near-omniscient surveillance to the Yukon military. These systems—guarded by the secretive order of Timermen—have frozen civilization in a controlled steam-and-gas era powered by brute manpower and constant labor.

The result? Stasis. The alternative? A new age of barbarism and death.

John Randel, brilliant botanist and decorated soldier, was born a bastard orphan on the streets of Grand Harbor—once San Francisco. Through genius and hard work, he’s made a fortune from his scientific discoveries and forged a place in society. Randel is recruited by the Timermen to infiltrate the court at Cumberland, the capital city. His task: penetrate the orbit of Lady Chelsea, the de facto ruler of the Yukon Confederacy.

Chelsea is the dazzling and dangerous “Chrysanthemum Woman,” who seeks to reforge the old technologies, centralize power, and build a new empire of pleasure, spectacle, and dominance. She’s rumored to be hoarding a cache of ancient energy weapons, and Randel suspects she intends to burn the Old Lords’ aristocracy—and the Timermen’s stable order—to a literal crisp.

In the capital, Randel must navigate decadent salons, political conspiracies, and philosophical struggles while maintaining loyalty to the Timermen. But they are just as harsh and pitiless in their way as Lady Chelsea. Nevertheless, Randel believes the Timermen’s ultimate aim is true, and the fight becomes a good man’s heroic battle to come to grips with the brutal, implacable currents of history. From firefights in Mexico to a final showdown in Cumberland, Randel’s choice will determine whether the old order endures—or humanity burns again on the stake of technological excess and descends into a new Dark Age.

Praise for  Theodore Judson and The Timerman

“Judson blends tradition and radicalism, faith and science, grand strategy and human emotion, into a brilliant history of our own future. Like all readers of Fitzpatrick's War, I've long awaited the announcement of a follow-up, and The Timerman is a more than worthy successor to Judson’s earlier masterpiece.”—Darryl Cooper, host of the Matryr Made podcast

“In an era of bland, sanitized cookie-cutter sci-fi with shallow roots, Judson's energetic plotting and believable, sympathetic characters draw us quickly into a complex but artificially maintained steampunk-like Victorian age. With touches of Vernor Vinge's The Peace War, Keith Robert's Pavane, and sprinkled with A Canticle for Leibowitz, Judson’s Timerman is anchored in science fiction bedrock.”—Travis J.I. Corcoran, author of Red State Mars

“Judson takes elements of history, steampunk, and religion and mixes them together to make a compelling story that presses through the imagination the need to contemplate issues of ethics, religion, and warfare.”—J.W. Wartick, Reconstructing Faith

“Although [he] deals with the grand sweep of history and the place of humanity in the universe, the author never loses sight of his characters.”—Berthold Gambrel, A Ruined Chapel by Moonlight

“Like Heinlein, Asimov and other great writers in the genre, Judson never lets his message get in the way of the story.”—Publishers Weekly

“The author's ability to suggest an entire culture from a few telling details makes this an engrossing read.”—Library Journal