Empire of Unreason (The Age of Unreason, Book 3)

When Sir Isaac Newton uncovered the secrets of alchemy, he could never have imagined the incredible and tragic results. Dark sorcery rules: Europe is lost and the American colonists have been driven south by advancing ice. In an age of unreason, Benjamin Franklin and his secret society, the Junto, manage a precarious existence founded on the mutual trust and cooperation of Native Americans, whites, and freed blacks. But the demonic creatures known as the Malekim won't tolerate even a flicker of hope. For any who oppose them--Franklin, Voltaire, even the mysterious daughters of Lilith--will be swept away...Though Tsar Peter the Great of Russia has mysteriously vanished, his vast armies and dark magics remain. They strike where they are least expected, unleashing cyclopean forces unseen on Earth since before the fall of mighty Babylon. And even this is but a prelude to he who follows the living storm. As armies and alchemy clash in the southern colonies, the Choctaw shaman Red Shoes is drawn west by a vision of an ancient, implacable evil, and of a young boy who shines as brightly as an angel... the fallen, avaricious kind.From the Trade Paperback edition.

There has never been an epic quite like The Age of Unreason. By interweaving reality with arcane fantasy, J. Gregory Keyes proves himself a literary alchemist who vividly recreates the eighteenth century–and brings it brilliantly to new life.

When Sir Isaac Newton uncovered the secrets of alchemy, he could never have imagined the tragic results. Dark sorcery rules. Europe is lost and the American colonists have been driven south. The demonic creatures known as the Malekim won’t tolerate even a flicker of hope. Any who oppose them– Franklin, Voltaire, even the mysterious daughters of Lilith–will be swept away. However Benjamin Franklin and his secret society, the Junto, manage a precarious existence founded on the mutual trust of Native Americans, whites, and freed blacks. And as armies and alchemy clash, the Choctaw shaman Red Shoes witnesses a vision of an ancient, implacable evil–and of a young boy who shines as brightly as an angel . . . the fallen, avaricious kind.

Publishers Weekly

Keyes's latest addition to his distinguished Age of Unreason series is a disappointment. Set, like its predecessors, in the 18th century, the book explores a world that's been knocked out of whack by Isaac Newton's alchemical discoveries. European leaders, thirsting for power, have devastated the European continent and plunged the northern colonies into a new Ice Age. Meanwhile, malevolent spirits called the malakim are plotting to destroy all of humanity by pitting one faction of mankind against another. Keyes (A Calculus of Angels) guides readers through this world via three separate stories of alchemy and intrigue. One concerns the secret, anti-malakim American Junto, a considerably outnumbered society made up of American Indian tribesmen, liberated black slaves and European intellectual refugees (like Voltaire), spearheaded by Newton's former apprentice, young Benjamin Franklin. Then there's Red Shoes, a Choctaw war prophet who's heading west to slay the malakim-sent dreams that are threatening humanity. Finally, in St. Petersburg, there's a beautiful scientist named Adrienne de Mornay de Montchevreuil who's playing a dangerous political game of Russian roulette with the factions clamoring to replace the missing czar, Peter the Great. She manipulates individual malakim and leaves Russia to search for her son, Nicolas, the prophetic Sun Boy rumored to be leading the malakim in a crusade against civilization. Although embellished by clever sidelong portraits of European and American thinkers of the real Enlightenment--including Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus and Russian Prince Menshikov--this intermediate stage of Keyes's fantasy saga lacks the driving brilliance of its two predecessors. Even Keyes's attempts to compensate for the absence of suspense (via thrilling set-piece nightmares and battle scenes) don't save the book from its hazy, diffuse plot. (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

There has never been an epic quite like The Age of Unreason . By interweaving reality with arcane fantasy, J. Gregory Keyes proves himself a literary alchemist who vividly recreates the eighteenth centuryand brings it brilliantly to new life. When Sir Isaac Newton uncovered the secrets of alchemy, he could never have imagined the tragic results. Dark sorcery rules. Europe is lost and the American colonists have been driven south. The demonic creatures known as the Malekim wont tolerate even a flicker of hope. Any who oppose them Franklin, Voltaire, even the mysterious daughters of Lilithwill be swept away. However Benjamin Franklin and his secret society, the Junto, manage a precarious existence founded on the mutual trust of Native Americans, whites, and freed blacks. And as armies and alchemy clash, the Choctaw shaman Red Shoes witnesses a vision of an ancient, implacable eviland of a young boy who shines as brightly as an angel . . . the fallen, avaricious kind .