Indifference Engine, The: A Holographic Novel

The Indifference Engine #1

by Cy Dethan

Responding to a strangely specific job advertisement, a distinctly ordinary twenty-something suburban slacker named Alan Blake finds himself in the middle of an inter-dimensional task force staffed entirely by superhuman alternate versions of himself. Struggling to find his place in this vast continuum of near-immortal doppelgangers, he uncovers a conspiracy that strikes at the very heart of the organization – a conspiracy that only he can stop.

97 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 2011

Reviews

[Claire (the_reading_apprentice) · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, this book was everything I expected - but on the other, I had no idea what I was getting into.

I enjoyed seeing a very normal guy as the protagonist of a very strange sci-fi graphic novel. What I didn't enjoy was how annoying this very normal guy was.

The worldbuilding, while complex, felt very shallow as it was badly explained and required the reader to just accept it without actually explaining how things worked.

I don't think I'm going to go on and read the sequel, as this story felt sufficient on it's own.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a cool idea, these variations of the same man fighting other versions of himself across realities. It got way too confusing though. I couldn't keep any of it straight. The art didn't help either and I was constantly confused.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always loved parallel world stories and I jumped at the chance to read this book. I was hoping for something like Gail Simone's recent "Variants" but, sadly, this book turned out to be a major disappointment. Although the book starts out with a great premise there is really very little to hold the reader's attention. The main character, in all his myriad forms, is vacuous and uninteresting. Additionally, the plot alternates between being overly predictable and almost completely elusive.