Review
Patently Absurd marks a joyful return to the city of Retropolis and the future that never was, the location of Bradley Schenck's previous novel Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom. Specifically, the six linked stories collected here deal with the adventures of a couple of employees of the Retropolis Registry of Patents, an office that has the unenviable task of trying to keep a lid on some of the more dangerous ideas coming out of the city's Experimental Research District.
This means it's up to Ben Bowman and his robot assistant Violet to deal with breakaway floating labs, an eruption of mole people, outbreaks of blue slime, time machines, doorways to other dimensions, and that curse of all bureaucracy, corrupt and incompetent management, as they attempt to save Retropolis from a spirit of innovation gone mad. Throw in a generous helping of Schenck's own delightful illustrations and what you have is a high-spirited genre romp that fans won't want to miss. -- The Toronto Star
Unlike his previous book, Schenck focuses on the work of the Registry of Patents and how it keeps scientists from inventing a way to evaporate the oceans or cause other catastrophes.
Ben Bowman once had a chance to become a scientist but purposefully flunked out of that academy. This makes him particularly good at his job. Violet is a robot secretary to the Registrar's Office but wishes she could be an investigator. In a series of short stories, they solve problems that involve giant, venomous worms; floating laboratories; and the Vault of Terror.
It's all lighthearted fun and wild invention, but Schenck takes a serious turn in the final story, which brings touching depth to his main characters. A great follow-up to Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom (2017). -- Booklist
... it's up to Ben Bowman and his robot assistant, Violet, to deal with breakaway floating labs, an eruption of mole people, outbreaks of blue slime, time machines and doorways to other dimensions as they attempt to save Retropolis from a spirit of innovation gone mad. Throw in a generous helping of Schenck's own delightful illustrations and what you have is a high-spirited genre romp that fans won't want to miss. -- The Toronto Star
About the Author
Although I wrote some short fiction in the late 1970s and non-fiction in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I'm much better known these days for my online work at web sites like 'Retropolis' and 'Thrilling Tales of the Downright Unusual', where I peddle my art and stories; and probably best known for my Pulp-O-Mizer pulp magazine cover generator.
In a two-man team with Michal Todorovic I designed the 1993 game 'The Labyrinth of Time' (Electronic Arts) and created all its art myself. I spent many years as an artist and art director in the computer games business, including a couple of titles you might even have heard of ('I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream'; 'Dinotopia'; and several Star Trek titles for Interplay and Activision). Since then I've done a bit of freelance illustration work alongside my work in web development.
My illustrated book 'Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom' was published by Tor Books in 2017.
