Lisboa Noir

Abstract

Lisboa Noir is a short story collection set in Lisbon in the twentieth century. The narrative takes place in the context of the Great Exhibition of the Iberian Empire, inaugurated in 1928. Lisbon has become the world’s greatest megacity, the capital of the unified realms of Portugal, Spain, and Brazil. Despite being a collection of different stories, they are all linked by several elements, particularly detective Ulisses Garcia, who is the protagonist of three of them, or Dr. Régulo, a criminal. The empire’s special forces, a group called Cascos Negros also serve as connecting point between the stories. Together, they form a mosaic of Lisbon in 1928, showcasing the technological and scientific progress of the time, demonstrated by the Exhibition. The dirigibles called “passarolas” decorate the Lisbon skies, and the tallest docking tower, measuring eighty meters, was designed by engineer Gustave Eiffel. The Real Associação Industrial de Lisboa, which promotes the technological marvels of the age, exports machinery worldwide, demonstrating the importance of the capital and of the empire as a technological hub in the world. The collection also features other scientific marvels such as a drug called Maná, used to enhance strength and cognition; one story includes electricity, or electrum, to make electric charges and transfers (used mainly for occultist practices); the collection also features a humanoid exoskeleton (Homem-Máquina) controlled by a member of the Cascos Negros. The short story "Voos de Vingança e Pesar" is the collection’s most scientific piece, narrated by an aeronautical engineer and colleague of Alberto Santos-Dumont, whose name features heavily throughout Lisboa Noir. In this story, physics and mathematics come together to explore the development of combat airplanes, which will secure the empire’s hegemony through the Unificador, the first aircraft airfield that will be able to hold the heaviest type of fighting aircraft. Lisboa Noir presents, thus, a tapestry of diverse technologies seen across multiple short stories that paint a picture of an alternate retrofuturistic Lisbon.