Age Atomic by Adam Christopher – Review

Title: The Age Atomic

Author: Adam Christopher

Publisher: Angry Robot

Published: Out Now

RRP: Print £8.99 – Kindle £5.49

The Empire State is dying. The Fissure connecting the pocket universe to New York has vanished, plunging the city into a deep freeze and the populace are demanding a return to Prohibition and rationing as energy supplies dwindle. Meanwhile, in 1954 New York, the political dynamic has changed and Nimrod finds his department subsumed by a new group, Atoms for Peace, led by the mysterious Evelyn McHale. As Rad uncovers a new threat to his city, Atoms for Peace prepare their army for a transdimensional invasion. Their goal: total conquest – or destruction – of the Empire State.

The Age Atomic, what’s that about then I hear you ask? Well it’s a gritty noire detective story, mixed with fantasy and science fiction and the subtly blended with smooth classic 1950s style robots. You take all those ingredients, mix them with alternate universes and a frenetic prose, and you have Adam Christopher’s follow-up to 2012s fantastic Empire State. There, those few brief sentences contain all you need to know about this book, but there’s more to it than that.

Rad Bradley is back as the hard bitten and harder nosed Private Eye from the Pocket universe, known as the Empire State. But things are not going well for Rad or his city. The Fissure – the spatial link that joins the Pocket to the Origin, New York – has vanished, and Rad’s city has been plunged into a hard winter that shows no sign of ending. To make matters worse the city is being rocked by tremors that are collapsing buildings and threatening to rip the city apart. Rad is also into it up to his neck, a new case, a madman building a robot army, his friend – and probably the only man who understands the nature of the Fissure – Captain Carson missing, and a pretty secret agent who has an agenda all of her own.

Things in the Origin are not too well either; Captain Nimrod finds his department under threat from Atoms for Peace and its mysterious director Evelyn McHale. The power he once wielded slowly eroded and his department seemingly under siege in a post McCarthy 1954. Plus for some reason all contact with the Pocket has ceased, and the agents he’s sent to investigate are missing.

As with the previous book the story takes place in both universes, but unlike last time here we get more of the action in New York.  That’s not to say there’s not plenty going on in the Empire State; the fast opening first quarter is a breathless example of tight writing and multiple cliff hangers. If Adam is adept at one thing it’s his skill at keeping the reader hooked, constantly I’m reminded of the old black & white Buster Crabbe starring Flash Gordon or Buck Rodgers adventures, every episode ending with the hero’s in a dire predicament. That’s not to say every chapter is predictable in how it ends and the next starts. The thrills are unexpected and there are some interesting curve balls thrown in that Flash or Buck would have had a challenge sorting out.

All the surviving characters from the first book are back in play (including one who everyone would have thought they’d seen the last of), around them Adam has woven a densely complex web, multiple plots that all rumble along beside eachother, gradually throughout the course of the book these plots jockey for position until the endgame where you find out they are all intricately linked. Likewise Adam’s characters weave in and out of the plots, all have a part to play, and as before not all are as clear cut as it seems. Characters coloured a muddy shade of grey are nothing new, but here the grey is a little deeper. Double-crosses come, unexpected, that make already ambiguous characters, an even darker shade of grey.

The fantasy element is ramped up more this time round (ghosts, that’s all I’m saying), but it doesn’t detract from the science fiction but adds to it in the same way brown sauce makes a bacon sandwich complete. What Adam has done is taken both genre’s and moulded them into a hybrid that gives you something that may not be new, but is different enough to stand out from the rest, it all goes towards making the story dark and moody with some flashes of humour and plenty of action. There is a lot to like about Adam’s style, he is obviously a fan of classic sci-fi and fantasy stories, and here he’s melded them onto a hardboiled Mike Hammer style crime story.

Adam Christopher has grown as a writer and the growth shines through here, his prose has become stronger, his characters more real; his ideas, settings and themes bright and full of depth. There were times during Empire State where for me the pace became bogged down; like we were treading water waiting to be rescued. I suppose it was expected for a first novel, the writer still finding his way around a story, still trying to find his voice and that of his characters. Adam has learned his trade since; he’s grown to a stylish and exciting writer, with ideas that are full of adventure and mystery.

Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher – Book Review

Title: Seven Wonders

Author: Adam Christopher

Publisher: Angry Robot

Published: Out Now

Price: £7.99 (paperback) -  £5.49 (Kindle)

 

 

 

 

Tony Prosdocimi lives in the Shining City that is San Ventura California – a city in fear, a fear of the worlds only remaining supervillain The Cowl. Tony’s a minimum wage drone working for a retail outlet, bored with life and with little to look forward to. Then he awakes one morning with superpowers, and decides to take down The Cowl. However he finds the resident superhero team, the Seven Wonders, are not too happy at his intervention or as grateful as he’d thought they’d be.

Adam Christopher showed his love of all things noir with his debut book Empire State, now he’s turned his attention to comics and the tale of superheroes and villains. Set in the imaginary city of San Ventura on the golden coast of California the story revolves around the resident super team and their attempts – or not – to bring down the worlds only remaining supervillain, The Cowl. In this world all other superheroes are either retired, media celebrities or dead, and one of the questions raised is if there are no more villains, do we really need heroes?

Reading like a comic book without the pictures the book hits the ground running with a blistering opening that doesn’t save on the violence. This is no childrens superhero story, there is death, there is destruction, and from early on you are left wondering who the real heroes are. Adam has used the format that is popular with fantasy fiction at the moment of painting his primary characters a nice shade of grey. There are a lot of agendas, some hidden, some obvious; but you need to read right to the end to get to the bottom of what is really going on in San Ventura.

Where Empire State was a fairly contained story – set as it was in a small bubble of reality – Seven Wonders has a broader scope, world encompassing and beyond scope at that. There are nods to famous heroes, trimmed down phrases, actions, powers, that are overly familiar but have a distinctive bent so as they are new and fresh. Also you are getting more than just the story of Tony Prosdocimi and his quest to rid the city of The Cowl, that is resolved fairly early on, but as one story ends so another starts, building upon the bones of the first. All linked together to make an overall arc with an endgame that rivals the New York smackdown in The Avengers film.

Adam’s writing has improved from Empire State, it seems less hesitant, less repetitive. The characters are colourful and real, with histories that are briefly touched upon. If I was to have any criticism’s it would be the main “threat” was a little too borglike. What did I like the most? The opening, every superhero story should start with a Meanwhile back at…, and the rollcall of superheroes near the end – for me – possibly hints at future stories set in the same world.

As a second book Seven Wonders ticks all the right boxes, it is a thrilling rollercoaster ride where the reader feels the wind in their hair, and their cape flapping behind them.

 

The Wonderful Thing About Twitter, Is Twitter’s A Wonderful Thing

I joined Twitter late last year – October/November time. At that time in my life I was going through a rough patch in my marriage, me and my wife had separated and I was renting a single room. I endured long evenings with little to do except read and write, I had no interaction with anyone else and was in danger of becoming a recluse.

I’d always avoided social networking, I’m a bit of an anti-social sod and have always had trouble interacting socially. But I craved some sort of interaction else I’d go made. On a whim I opened a Twitter account, I had no real idea what I would find, what would happen or what I was supposed to do in order to “meet” people.

I knew a lot of people from the SFX Magazine forum who had accounts, there was a thread there dedicated to it where people posted their account names. I went through the list and added people as friends. Within a few days I found I was following nearly 100 people and had at least that many people following me. It was an eye opener, I expected it to be nothing but trivia and gossip, instead I found like minded people – some in similar situations to me – other writers, and fans of the weird and wonderful.

Fast forward to now  and I’ve found my Twitter legs, I know my way around, I know what its safe to say and not say (damned spambots), and on top of it all I’ve been introduced to a lot of people, mainly authors, I’d probably never have come across without Twitter.

To name a few, Jennifer Williams (author of The Copper Promise: Tales Of The Citadel), Jeremy C. Shipp (horror writer and champion of the Attic Clown), Emma Newman (author of Split Words, From Dark Places, 20 Years Later & Torchwood tie-in), Sarah Pinborough (author of The Dog Faced Gods trilogy), Chuck Wendig (author of Double Dead, Blackbirds & forthcoming  Mockingbird), Adam Christopher (author of Empire State & forthcoming Seven Wonders), Kevin Hearne (author of The Iron Druid series), Colin F. Barnes (author of Vex: A Modern Viking Tale & editor of Demon Day), Tina Smith (aspiring author and history buff), Robin Bell (author, scriptwriter and part of the Twisted Showcase team) and the Fantasy Faction team.

I know a lot of people frown on Twitter, say its full of useless chatter, but for me – at a time I needed contact with the outside world – it was a lifeline. I have found it is full talented people with great ideas and inspiring advice.

Empire State – Book Review

Empire State

By Adam Christopher

Published by Angry Robot

RRP £7.99 in Paperback (£4.49 on Kindle)

Available Now

It was the last great science hero fight, one-time partners the Skyguard against the Science Pirate, but the fight released energies that ripped a hole in reality, giving birth to the Empire State. Linked by the fissure in reality the two worlds co-existed, the smaller Empire State a mirror of prohibition New York but in a perpetual state of war with an unknown and unseen Enemy. But the link between worlds is weak, and forces from both sides of the divide are working toward severing the link risking the existence of both worlds.

A jaded Private Eye takes on a simple missing persons case, and ends up a central figure in the battle to save reality. Robots, airships, shady organisations and high adventure, Rad Bradley must face them all, but worse than that it’s prohibition and he really needs a drink.

I forgot the golden rule of alternative reality stories whilst reading Empire State, everyone has a double. Schoolboy error I know, and boy did I feel stupid once the fact dawned on me roughly halfway into the book.

Empire State is Adam Christopher’s first book for Angry Robot. He is obviously a fan of the prohibition era and has researched well. The character’s are well visualised and obviously products of the time they are set in. Combining noire theme’s with fantasy and weird science, Adam has managed to create a vivid and vibrant tale that twists and turns through the grim fog shrouded streets of the Empire State.

All along you are kept guessing as most of the main characters switch sides, cross and double cross and baffle the central figure, Private Investigator Rad Bradley. But like Same Spade or Mike Hammer before him he doggedly forges ahead, his eye’s always on the case.

The opening chapters get the reader into the world of the Empire State, the place, the characters, Wartime. Sometimes slow going it is addictive and once you get into the second half of the book, you begin to realise why Adam took his time introducing you to everyone. You need to keep your wits about you as the pace quickens and you have to keep track of the what, where and why things are progressing. Refreshingly, for a modern writer, Adam doesn’t need excessive use of F and C bombs. There is some swearing, but it is there for a reason and fits in with the characters and said because – in a similar situation – you’d say it then as well.

As a first novel this is a fresh if twisted look at a classic era that is sure to please any fan of the weird and fantastic.