Empire State
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
THE EMPIRE STATE IS THE OTHER NEW YORK. A parallel-universe, Prohibition-era world of mooks and shamuses that is the twisted magic mirror to our bustling Big Apple, a place where sinister characters lurk around every corner while the great superheroes that once kept the streets safe have fallen into dysfunctional rivalries and feuds. Not that its colourful residents know anything about the real New York… until detective Rad Bradley makes a discovery that will change the lives of all its inhabitants. Playing on the classic Gotham conventions of the Batman comics and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, debut author Adam Christopher has spun this smart and fast-paced superhero-noir adventure, the sort of souped-up thrill ride that will excite genre fans and general readers alike.
File Under: Science Fiction [ Pocket Universe | Heroes or Villains | Speak Easy | Loyalties Divided ]
e-book ISBN: 978-0-85766-194-4
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Angry Robot launches its WorldBuilder project, which invites sanctioned fan fiction for certain works, with Christopher's bleak steampunk noir. The Empire State is an alternate 1950s New York surrounded by endless mysterious fog and embroiled in endless mysterious war. In a pocket universe split off by a fight between estranged superheroes, a version of Empire State is inhabited by doppelg ngers and powered by the rift between worlds; some want to close that rift, others to destroy it. The plot is both driven and occluded by anomalies and questions how can protagonist Rad Braybury be 44 in a 19-year-old universe? where does food come from? Motivations are often unexplained and relationships tenuous. Readers may not care about the murky characters enough to make it through the novel, let alone create fan fiction, though the enigmas, missing backstories, and open-ended conclusion offer a wealth of jumping-off points.
