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A review by sam_vimes_75
امپایر استیت by Adam Christopher
4.0
Imagine Fringe meets Dark City and you get a really good idea of the book. I applaud it just for the sheer creativity of it. Prohibition-era noir, parallel universes, superheroes, and robots -- all in a richly detailed and well-crafted plot. Christopher does a great job of throwing out a lot of hooks without immediate answers. This keeps the interest level high. Thankfully he also does a great job of pulling things together and providing answers before the questions become too frustrating.
I have two issues that keep this from being 5 stars. One: the prose. I'd heard the book compared to great noir/hard-boiled authors like Hammett, Spillane, and Ellroy. It's nothing like them. Christopher's prose lacks the sharp edges of their works and is actually soft and easy-going by comparison. Two: I feel awful saying it but the world felt unrealistic because of social structure. I liked Rad Bradley, but a black PI running around in Prohibition-era New York without any race issues? Born in New Zealand and living in England, I appreciate his ease in creating a kind of colorblind universe, but it's also naive. It felt as unrealistic as a black hero running around society through the American South in the 1850s. Wonderfully ideal, but naive to the point of distracting.
Beyond those two things, I found it a thoroughly engrossing (and somewhat headache inducing with its twists and turns) read. Reserve a quiet spot for the last 150 pages because they should not be interrupted.
I have two issues that keep this from being 5 stars. One: the prose. I'd heard the book compared to great noir/hard-boiled authors like Hammett, Spillane, and Ellroy. It's nothing like them. Christopher's prose lacks the sharp edges of their works and is actually soft and easy-going by comparison. Two: I feel awful saying it but the world felt unrealistic because of social structure. I liked Rad Bradley, but a black PI running around in Prohibition-era New York without any race issues? Born in New Zealand and living in England, I appreciate his ease in creating a kind of colorblind universe, but it's also naive. It felt as unrealistic as a black hero running around society through the American South in the 1850s. Wonderfully ideal, but naive to the point of distracting.
Beyond those two things, I found it a thoroughly engrossing (and somewhat headache inducing with its twists and turns) read. Reserve a quiet spot for the last 150 pages because they should not be interrupted.