Empire State by Adam Christopher

This is the first published novel by Adam Christopher. I’ve met Adam once and he is one of those genuine people, so it is no surprise that he got the chance to pitch for this novel due to impressing The Robot Overlords as a person as well as with his short stories (see the link to his site to read some). Being a twitter follower for a year I pre-ordered this book as soon as it was available. Luckily for me the pixies at my local Waterstone’s managed to get my copy in before the release date. Happy days.

The first thing that I could not help but notice is that this book has one of the most stunning covers I have ever seen. If I ever have an art deco room I am going to work this book cover in as a centre piece. It even has textures. I should stop now, I’m getting myself over-excited again. Back to the book.

This book is full of surprises. For me the seemingly simple writing style makes this a very easy book to read. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ve figured out the plot after the first fifty pages. You’re wrong. Go on, I challenge you to try. You’ll be wrong. There will be at least one more twist than you are expecting.

This book is basically a science fiction crime noir but with elements of superheroes and steampunk thrown in. I could start talking about alternate realities and pocket dimensions but I don’t want to give too much away.

The more I read of this book, the more I wanted to read. I really enjoyed the setting, and feel that it has a lot to offer. Which brings be rather neatly to yet another innovative idea from Angry Robot. How about a fan fiction site where your work could be published? I haven’t heard of anything like this since the old cyberpunk bulletin board days. If you want to find out more go to worldbuilderonline.com for more information. The usual Angry Robot extras in this book include an interview with Chuck Wendig and a music playlist that relates to this novel.

This is a really enjoyable read that will also look good on your shelf. I’ll just be off to look for the release date of Adam’s next novel.

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