[How it Works](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/how-it-works/) [Bookshop](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/books/bindery/) [Publishing](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/publishing/) [Team](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/team/) [Contact](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/contact/) Log in or Sign up World Running Down Al Hess Save to Your Books [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/3647/9781915202239) [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/191520223X?tag=pucksandpaperbacks-20) 100% of affiliate revenue supports Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks) A transgender salvager on the outskirts of a dystopian Utah gets the chance to earn the ultimate score and maybe even a dash of romance. But there's no such thing as a free lunch… Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City—a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition is free, the food is plentiful, and folk are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream, until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric. Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer—an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city, and a chance at the life Valentine’s always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the “merchandise”, they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware, and have no interest in returning to their old lives. The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for, and would threaten the fragile found family that’s kept him alive so far. He’ll need to decide whether to risk his own dream in order to give the AI a chance to live theirs. File Under: Science Fiction \[ Finding Your Way \| Everybody Hurts \| Body Bound \| City Dreams \] Show more Get the Bindery app * * * Posts about this title from Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks) [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jul 5](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [(Weekly Newsletter) The Paperback Post \| WEEK OF 07/5/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/VBwviffseUrigOcSkxdn/) * * * 5 books [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jul 5](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [The Paperback Post + \| Week of 7/5/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/flZUfHMSoVXyOQrnGyBB/) * * * 5 books [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 28](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [(Weekly Newsletter) The Paperback Post \| WEEK OF 06/28/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/M4sE03VaT0WAjWi8zRkW/) * * * 4 books 2 [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 28](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [The Paperback Post + \| Week of 6/28/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/U1VqSHtUztdx7xtBVSNr/) Weekly newsletter for this week! * * * 4 books [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 21](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [(Weekly Newsletter) The Paperback Post \| WEEK OF 06/21/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/GOvw7S20GWaeXDkXvOl4/) * * * 4 books [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 21](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [The Paperback Post + \| WEEK OF 06/21/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/WuyfGCRCq7VmGCikqbqu/) * * * 4 books [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 14](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [(Weekly Newsletter) The Paperback Post \| WEEK OF 06/14/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/HukMz8tjprrZHuILWGjn/) * * * 3 books 2 [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 14](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [The Paperback Post + \| WEEK OF 06/14/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/rpJ1D6rQ8lIyIDs7YaPO/) * * * 3 books [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 8](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [(Weekly Newsletter) The Paperback Post \| Week of 6/7/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/nuFj0pzsOZpr8jj9nbpM/) * * * 3 books 1 [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 8](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [The Paperback Post+ \| Week of 6/7/2026](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/item/BZDb05NQEXlgohNWxTO4/) * * * 3 books [Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\\ \\ Alex (he/him/his)\\ \\ • Jun 6](https://pucksandpaperbacks.binderybooks.com/) [Book club sprints today! 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