Dark Factory

Koja (Velocities) crafts the future that the ravers of the 1990s dreamed of in this immersive and propulsive cyberpunk outing. Experience designer Ari Regon built Dark Factory, a legendary club specializing in “Y reality,” or interactive VR-boosted experiences that are individual and responsive to each patron. Never satisfied even at the top of his game, Ari brings in his rival, Max Caspar to provide a different perspective. This move causes Dark Factory’s paranoid owner, Jonas, to worry that Ari plans to take over, so he fires Ari. But a party can happen anywhere; in Ari’s search for the next big thing, he falls for Felix Perez, a DJ with hallucinatory beats, and they work to build a new empire. Meanwhile, Max gets drawn deeper into the faltering Dark Factory, the infinite branching possibilities of Y reality, and the vicious world of corporate espionage. In breathless, careening prose, Koja captures minds that see a thousand worlds at once, lives lived at 150 beats per minute, and the complicated, messy reality that lies beneath the endless search for the perfect night out. This is sure to delight fans of Jeff Noon and mind-bending speculative fiction. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists. (May)