A Hundred Thousand Worlds
A Novel
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“A Kavalier & Clay for the Comic-Con Age, this is a bighearted, inventive, exuberant debut.” —Eleanor Henderson, author of Ten Thousand Saints
"Proehl creates worlds within worlds within worlds, all of them full of surprise and wonder."
—Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Valerie Torrey took her son, Alex, and fled Los Angeles six years ago—leaving both her role on a cult sci-fi TV show and her costar husband after a tragedy blew their small family apart. Now Val must reunite nine-year-old Alex with his estranged father, so they set out on a road trip from New York, Val making appearances at comic book conventions along the way.
As they travel west, encountering superheroes, monsters, time travelers, and robots, Val and Alex are drawn into the orbit of the comic-con regulars, from a hapless twentysomething illustrator to a brilliant corporate comics writer stuggling with her industry's old-school ways to a group of cosplay women who provide a chorus of knowing commentary. For Alex, this world is a magical place where fiction becomes reality, but as they get closer to their destination, he begins to realize that the story his mother is telling him about their journey might have a very different ending than he imagined.
A knowing and affectionate portrait of the geeky pleasures of fandom, A Hundred Thousand Worlds is also a tribute to the fierce and complicated love between a mother and son—and to the way the stories we create come to shape us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Proehl lovingly illustrates the world of fan culture in this debut novel, presenting an accessible story with plenty of insider shout-outs for the true nerds. Years prior, on the heels of a terrible tragedy, Valerie Torrey ran away from a successful career on television. On "Anomaly," an X-Files type show that inspired a rabid fan base, she and Andrew Rhodes played a time-traveling duo; off the set, they conceived a son. The story unfolds as Val drives their son, Alex, cross-country from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to reunite with Andrew. Alex hasn't seen his father in six years. At nine, he is small for his age and full of wonder, and right at the border of a more adult understanding of the world. Val hasn't told Alex that she'll return to New York without him. Instead she plans the road trip to coincide with her appearances at a number of comics conventions dotted across the country, and, as they draw closer to Los Angeles, doles out stories to Alex from the show that brought his parents together and tore them apart. Along the way, Val and Alex meet Brett, an illustrator who is touring to support his indie comic "Lady Stardust," and Gail Pope, a woman writing a series owned by one of the two major comic book distributors. Gail provides insight into the insular world of professional comic books. The prose can feel a bit heavy-handed in its earnestness, but this is an ambitious debut effort, and Proehl conveys his deep affection for comics and the people who build their life around them.
