Homicide detective Sean Nault, a cop on a parallel Earth whose technology is powered exclusively by magic. Sean investigates a baffling series of murders committed by a means he's never seen before: science. With the aid of Lenoir, a member of the ridiculed subculture of "pragmatists" who believe science is more than the stuff of myths & children's stories, and the 130-year-old sorcerer Winston Churchill, Sean uncovers an ominous plot that will lead him to another dimension and the realization that, unless he prevents it, both earths could well be destroyed.

Adult Chinese-American siblings Alexander, Liz, Victoria and Meimei reluctantly converge on their hometown of Seattle after their mother, Linda Xiao, passes away from her bout with cancer, about which they didn't even know until after her passing. "Reluctant" as they all disliked their mother - who they called the "Dragon Lady" as she showed them little love while she was alive and who pitted each against the others as they grew up - and have been estranged from each other because of it. Despite each having successful professional lives - Alexander being a cosmetic surgeon, Liz a magazine columnist, Victoria a real estate agent, and Meimei an actress in Chinese ninja movies - each sibling carries personal baggage, much associated with their mother's ways. Married Alexander, much like his now deceased father before him, has a mistress on the side, about which his ex-beauty pageant queen wife Cindy knows...