Black Brane

<p><b>Weird fiction icon and award-winning author Michael Cisco's <i>Black Brane</i> begins with the physical pain of a bad foot and later voyages into absurdity mad science occultism and existential dread.</b></p><p>A man lying in a bed of pain flees from physical torment into his own memories and into speculations about life and reality. He was once employed by the Temporary Institute for the Study of Holes a think tank pursuing research that ranges from occult studies to advanced physics including black holes-or as they are known in string theory black branes.</p><p>He meets and interacts with the various other members of the institute. Its founder Dr. Marilyn Shitansky a formerly homeless woman who claims to have a thinking hole in her brain; its resident occultist the chain-smoking Daladara with his magic abacus; Ernie Allegre the engineer who designed and built a decoherence reactor to power the institute; Dr. Liu the string theorist; the linguist Dr. Corngholm who can't sit still; and Dr. Shitansky's secretary Renbrui who seems to carry a mystery with her wherever she goes.</p><p>In memory the speaker finds them again in a story of physical and emotional pain of social and quantum entanglement that turns comic speculative and nightmarish. Echoing the work of Blake Crouch and Thomas Ligotti Michael Cisco shows in<i> Black Brane</i> why he's beloved by weird fiction and horror readers.</p>