Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom
A Novel of Retropolis
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
ROCKETS. ROBOTS. DEATH RAYS. MAD SCIENCE. THE FUTURE THAT NEVER WAS IS BACK.
If Fritz Lang’s Metropolis somehow mated with Futurama, their mutant offspring might well be Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom. Inspired by the future imagined in the 1939 World Fair, this hilarious, beautifully illustrated adventure by writer and artist Bradley W. Schenck is utterly unlike anything else in science fiction: a gonzo, totally bonkers, gut-busting look at the World of Tomorrow, populated with dashing, bubble-helmeted heroes, faithful robot sidekicks, mad scientists, plucky rocket engineers, sassy switchboard operators, space pirates, and much, much more—enhanced throughout by two dozen astonishing illustrations.
After a surprise efficiency review, the switchboard operators of Retropolis are replaced by a mysterious system beyond their comprehension. Dash Kent, freelance adventurer and apartment manager, is hired to get to the bottom of it, and discovers that the replacement switchboard is only one element of a plan concocted by an insane civil engineer: a plan so vast that it reaches from Retropolis to the Moon. And no one—not the Space Patrol, nor the Fraternal League of Robotic Persons, nor the mad scientists of Experimental Research District, nor even the priests of the Temple of the Spider God, will know what hit them.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this madcap homage to the pulp adventures and fanciful inventions of the early to mid-20th century, debut author and artist Schenck takes readers on a tour of Retropolis, an art deco city whose hallmarks include flying cars, pneumatic tube transports, and indentured robots serving numerous functions. When the Info-Slate switchboard operators are unexpectedly fired en masse, one of them, Nola Gardner, hires freelance adventurer Kelvin "Dash" Kent to find out why they've been replaced. Their quest takes them deep into the heart of Retropolis, where they stumble across an ambitious plan that could affect the entire population of the city. They also encounter spider cultists on the moon and the world's smallest giant robot. The adventure grows ever stranger as the mystery deepens, invoking mad science and action at every turn. The story is brought to life by Schenck's own retrofuturistic artwork; it's suitably evocative where technology is concerned, but the depictions of humans are awkward. A genuine love for the material makes this a strong and entertaining debut.
