Empire of Unreason

by Greg Keyes and J. Gregory Keyes

Book Overview

On an eighteenth-century Earth crippled by alchemical disaster, a secret American cabal led by Benjamin Franklin strives to prevent the annihilation of humankindThe dark magic that the great alchemist... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345406109
• ISBN13: 9780345406101
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Mystic war comes to the Americas

J. Gregory Keyes keeps the momentum going in the third book of the Age of Unreason series, Empire of Unreason. The first two books were an excellent mix of historical and original characters all in a fantastic alternate history of alchemy and religion. This one, the third in the series, takes place ten years after A Calculus of Angels and is a bit less complete then the first two books. That's not to say it's missing anything, but it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, which they didn't. Ten years after the battle with Russia's Peter the Great in Venice, a lot has changed in the world. Ben Franklin is back in the Americas, the local alchemist in Charles Town as well as head of a secret group of scientists who are working to defeat the Malekim, sinister figures who might pass as demons or unruly angels to the non-scientific mind. They are trying to get mankind to eradicate itself, or at least stop meddling in scientific pursuits that they feel are their own domain. Meanwhile, Adrienne is in St. Petersburg where she was taken by Tsar Peter, but Peter is now missing and she is under threat from those who would take over for him. She's also searching for her kidnapped son, who it turns out may be the evil that defeats them all. Only a Choctaw Indian named Red Shoes may be able to stop them. With the colonies in America under assault from a Russian backed English king, Franklin must endeavor to convince the disparate governments in North America to join together and fight back, though it may all be for naught. Keyes continues his excellent characterization, with all of his main characters being fully developed and interesting to read about. Adrienne is a mother who is despairing about her son, especially once she learns who he may really be. She's been allied to the Malekim at some point, but she realizes exactly what they are doing and that she must do her part to fight them, with the aid of some factions of the Malekim who aren't necessarily after mankind's destruction. She's very narrow-minded, refusing to offer her lover much more than her bed and scorning most any other offers of friendship except for Crecy, her faithful companion and defender. Franklin is once again Keyes' masterpiece, as he is torn between the woman he loves but has neglected for the last ten years and the task he knows he has to do. He does his utmost to keep Lenka out of any danger, but she bristles under his protection, thinking he's excluding her and putting her aside for his science. Keyes portrays Franklin as somebody who loves women but can't seem to understand them. He's not very knowledgeable about love and he feels trapped by his duty anyway. The reader feels for him after each conversation with his wife, as we see her drift further and further away from him. The only misstep in characterization, and it is minor, is Red Shoes. While he was fairly interesting in A Calculus of Angels, he went downhill in this one. His character is the most mystic o

suffers a bit from "middle book", but sets up the conclusion

"Empire of Unreason" is the third book in the four book "Age of Unreason" series by Greg Keyes. It takes place approximately 10 years after the events of "A Calculus of Angels". Ben Franklin is living back in the American Colonies, in Charleston. He is a founding member of some sort of secret scientific organization called the Junto. The Junto are leaders in the community and they are working to continue to advance science as well as figure out exactly how to stop and kill the malakim, the "demons" that were discovered through Isaac Newton's alchemy and are the ultimate cause of all of the destruction of the past twelve years. The exiled pretender King James has come to the colonies (since London was utterly destroyed twelve years prior) to claim his throne, but Franklin sees the hand of the malakim behind King James. Adrienne, the woman scientist who has been the driving force behind much of the innovation and destruction of the past decade, is in the court of the Tsar of Russia. She knows there are forces of the malakim aligned against humanity, but she owes so much to others of the malakim who claim obedience to her. She continues to search for her lost son, who would be twelve years old by the events of "Empire of Unreason". While she continues to search for her son, and evade her own enemies in Russia, there is a new force in America. A boy called the Sun King, who has come out of the West. He seems to be a prophet, and leads forces from China. But, he may also be Adrienne's son. There is so much going on in "Empire of Unreason" that if one hasn't read the first two volumes of this series ("Newton's Cannon", and "A Calculus of Angels") the reader will be completely lost. This book suffers from the middle book syndrome in that it works to continue a story and set up a conclusion, but it cannot stand alone. The reader is thrust right into the story and has to play catch-up figuring out exactly how much time has passed since the second book in the series. While this is a "middle book", it is also a fast paced, exciting story. Greg Keyes no longer has to engage in world building, but can now give us an adventure story that drives to an ending. "Empire of Unreason" seemed to end in a hurry, and was a little confusing, but the "Age of Unreason" series is proving to be an excellent one in the fantasy genre, as well as being an alternate history. Keyes is a very good writer, and he is working with a very broad canvas here. Read the first two books, and then continue on with the series. It is worthwhile reading for the fantasy reader. -Joe Sherry

An Intricate Tapestry of Events

Empire of Unreason is the third volume (out of four) in J. Gregory Keyes series, "The Age of Unreason." The series depicts an 18th Century world that has discovered the existence of angels who take an active role in the human world. These are not the beneficient creatures that appear on Christmas cards, but spirits that intend the control and destruction of the human race.In the first volume, "Newton's Cannon," we find three key players, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin and Adrienne do Montchevreuil enmeshed in the plots and machinations of the English and French kings. This is a titanic struggle over Newton's discovery of Philosopher's Mercury. It ends in the destruction of both countries when Louis XIV managed to aim a comet at London. In the second volume, "A Calculus of Angels," the world is plunged into a new Dark Age by the cataclysm. Newton and his assistant Franklin flee to Prague, while Adrienne struggles for survival and is drawn to Tsar Peter the Great. Cotton Mather and Blackbeard lead an expedition to the Old World to find out what had happened. Along with them comes a Choctaw shaman, Red Shoes, who will play an increasingly significant part in later volumes.With most of the players introduced book three, "Empire of Unreason," plays them out on a canvas that focuses on events in the New World. Franklin and Red Shoes lead separate efforts that bring them in direct conflict with the machinations of angels manipulating imperial Russia. These manifest as the appearance of James Stuart (the English Pretender) with an army on the Eastern Coast and the invasion of the Western Coast by Oriental and Russian forces lead by the Sun Child, who is actually de Montchevreuil's son. The plot swirls with complexities as the various characters are drawn into what may become a confrontation in the next volume. Here they fight battles and hunt the creatures of the Malakim (angels) and are hunted in turn. The writing is colorful and there is a never-ending supply of cliffhangers and twists to keep up the reader's interest.I am reading another alternate history series at the same time, Mary Gentle's Book of Ash. This follows a young woman military commander in a struggle across the face of 15th century Europe. The two series have much in common. The heroes are facing enemies that would eradicate the human race. The primary characters are touched by magical forces that change them permanently. And their struggles are against overwhelming odds. The series differ in that Ash is true science fiction coupled with superb military history, while the Age of Unreason is a fantasy with the illusion of a scientific basis. Age of Unreason is the more intellectually interesting, since the author takes the time to delve into philosophical and metaphysical ideas. Not in such detail that the narrative is ever the least bit tedious, but there will be times when you put the books down and think over a paragraph.Both series are exceptional works of author's

A steady progression towards the climax of the series

I consider myself a big fan of J. Gregory Keyes, so it probably comes as no surprise that I found this book, like its predecessors, to be delightful. This third book in the "Age of Unreason" series picks up ten years after _A Calculus of Angels_ left off, and the three main characters of the tale (Ben Franklin, Adrienne de Montchevreuil, and Red Shoes of the Choctaw) soon realize a malevolent entity in the western reaches of North America threatens all the Colonials have fought for.Keyes' style is round-robin, and he rotates between characters, chapter by chapter, throughout the book. He is somewhat guilty of blatant cliff-hangerism, but I've learned to enjoy it. His characters are interesting enough that I didn't mind being torn away from one to hear about another. But without a doubt, his strength is his masterful concoction of cultures that could have been ancestors of our own. His knowledge of native American tribes is evident, and he uses it to greater effect in this volume than in the previous two. My biggest complaint was that _Empire of Unreason_ seemed to end like a movie whose film had run out, which is why it gets only four stars. Certainly, there could've been a grander climax, but the book as a whole stands solidly.If you've read the first two books in the series, the third is no reason to stop. My favorite still remains _Newton's Cannon_, but this book sets up a fourth (and final, so I hear) book that I eagerly await.

More character development,please

Ten years have passed since the death of Isaac Newton, ten years since the Russians had access to his scientific journals fromn Prague, the less critical ones than the few he could manage to take with him to Venice. We see now why he did not want to contribute to the 'science' of the Royal Society, nor lend much aid to the monarch in Prague - in reality the 'technology' of the malakim (the realm of spirits between humans and God), or even more correctly - plain old fashioned sorcery - "philosophically useless" as Newton once told Ben Franklin. A guilded cage for the truly scientific spirit. And what use have the Russians made of his discoveries? They produce more and more hideously evil machines of war, even a life-gobbling maelstrom of malakim known as the keres, a "dark engine". One suspected that Leonhard Euler would make an appearance, but so far, maddeningly, he JUST MAKES AN APPEARANCE!. Probably the most gifted mathematician to ever live, he frees himself from service to Tsar Peter, and goes in search of, who else?, Newton's clever young apprentice, Franklin. And the subplot is dropped there! Red Shoes becomes a frightening apotheosis of the Native American shaman, and Adrienne finally learns the error of 'using' the malakim, thoughtlessly, like a witch. But is it too late?, and her son...it is her passions that will destroy the world. And maybe that is the point of Keyes' opera: that what makes us humans distinct from our mere human nature - (read especially her 'dream' in the abandoned wilderness that was once the gardens of Versailles) - is our reason, which we ought not abandon, even in the face of extraordinary temptations to gain everything: power, wealth, revenge, victory ... simply by "asking" for it.