The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (The War of Dreams) - Angela Carter Book Review

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"The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (The War of Dreams)"
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Review Summaries

"Desiderio is a native Indian in an unnamed Latin American country. The city, in which he works for a government minister, comes under siege by the warped physicist and genius, Dr Hoffman who is destroying the very face of reality with his machines. The Minister sends Desiderio to investigate Dr Hoffman. This starts him on a strange, surrealistic quest because the Doctor is bombarding the world with dreams from his infernal machines of desire, the opposite of logic and reason. He meets a curious peep-show owner to work for, the beautiful daughter of the doctor (Albertina) who he falls in love with. He also meets a tribe of unknown Indians who entangle him in a sinister marriage plot, a sadistic Eastern European Count and his enemy the Black Pimp, a tribe of rapacious centaurs, and at long last he infiltrates the Castle of the Doctor himself. There he must decide whether to destroy Albertina, who is his polar opposite, despite his love for her. This is because the Doctor is using their perfect desire for each other to disturb reality with his machines."
Scott D., Resident Angela Carter Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%

Tone of book - cynical or dry-wit
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Horror story? Yes
Horror plotlets - bad dreams

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - government investigator
Age: - 20's-30's
Has magical/special powers? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Eccentric: Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Genius (really!)
Physique - physically sick

Setting
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a significant amount of technical jargon
Sex in book? Yes
How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog

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Deep is the Night: Dark Fire by Denise A. Agnew

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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