No Great Magic is a science fiction novelette by Fritz Leiber, part of his celebrated Change War series. The story follows Greta Forzane, an actress recruited by the Sidies—a mysterious faction waging an eternal war across time against their rivals, the Spiders. Operating from a base outside of history, Greta performs in plays while participating in dangerous temporal operations. When a shape-shifting double of John Wilkes Booth is created to alter the course of history, questions of identity, loyalty, and deception emerge. Blending theater, time travel, and paranoia, the story explores who can be trusted when appearances mean nothing and history itself is a battlefield.
