Weekly “what are you reading” Thread #50

Finished reading "The Perfect Run". In a post apocalyptic alternate present, the destiny of humanity was permanently altered when someone known as "The Alchemist" decided to seemingly at random distribute vials that granted superpowers to those who drank them. The powers are vaguely defined by the colour of the elixir and can range from things like pyromancy to supernatural luck and the ability to have a supernatural understanding of a hyper specific domain of science.

Many years before the story, the main character drank a potion that gave him the power to create "save points" that let him turn back time when he dies. The main character has lived for hundreds of years in the time others have lived less than a decade. Searching for his first love (a filthy commie), the main character travels through post-apocalyptic Europe until he finally arrives at New Rome. New Rome was founded by a pharmaceutical company that is in a ongoing power struggle with mafia family run by some mutant supremacist schizo who has his top henchmen named after the old Roman pantheon. Can the main character achieve "the perfect run"? One where all his favourite people die, and worst enemies suffer? Yeah, obviously.

It was a decent read, it is very heavy on the pop culture references though, mostly capeshit, starshit and vidya gaymes. The main character is an eccentric a bit of a deadpool like type, but it is revealed that he is not as crazy as you might think, as it turns out his eccentric behaviour was deliberately modelled after someone that saved him as a child

My favourite reveal was The Alchemist the Alchemist was exposed to an alien wreck from an alternate reality, it was there where she gained the power to pull alternate reality versions of herself into her own world to help her. And it was also there she gained her "purpose". She learns of a galactic civilization that once mastered the usage of supernatural forces, and is scared shitless at the thought that they might come for earth, she also develops human supremacist ideas, and believe that gifting superpowers to mankind will allow humanity to become the dominant species in the universe. What she does not know though, is that the civilization she fears is already dead.

And the power that lets her bring in alternate universe versions of herself? It does not work the way she thinks. These alternate universes are created by her power, using her as a model. So even when she brings in a version of herself that is an expert on quantum physics, it will always be a version of herself that shares her exact political views, speaks French, and already shares her biases. So her power creates an echo chamber that validates her worst impulses, it takes her and her alternate universe girl pals only a couple of days to convince themselves that they have to kill her lab partners.

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