The Placebo Effect

**The Placebo Effect** is a franchise of interconnected novels written by Todd Dawson-Cooper. The series, broken into phases (not unlike the *Marvel Cinematic Universe*) consists of multiple trilogies, stand alone stories, and anthology books; spanning across numerous genres and taking place in different timeframes and alternate realities.

Notably, while *Apocalypse* and *Smoking The Filter* are tied to *The Placebo Effect* franchise and it's canon, neither are considered an official a part of the series.

## Phase One

* **The Blank Earth Trilogy**
	+ 1. *Blank Earth*
	+ 2. *Of Cigarettes & Copulation*
	+ 3. *Snow In Summer*
	+ 3.5. *Nihilist Apathy*
* **The Revelations Trilogy**
	+ 4. *The Lost World*

**"Phase One"** is the first part and takes place entirely within one universe: D-242. It consists almost entirely of the *Blank Earth* trilogy, which includes the transgressive drug drama *Blank Earth* and both it's indirect sequel (the noir pulp erotica; *Of Cigarettes & Copulation*) and prequel (the young adult romance novel *Snow In Summer*), as well as the short story collection *Nihilist Apathy*.

While taking place in separate locales, years and genres, the *Blank Earth* trilogy is closely linked through it's recurring and intermingled cast of characters (notably the protagonists of Jacob Delsin and Alex Peterson) as well as each novel's grounded [[ktone and the lack of any supernatural or science-fiction elements.

All three novels of the *Blank Earth* trilogy follow the perspective of the 'street level' characters, and involve a simple narrative structure told through a more philosophical, existential and sociological lens, dealing with abstract concepts/themes of self-identity, nostalgia, absurdism, moral relativism, utilitarianism, social alienation, and the processing of grief, while more concretely the novels address serious real-world issues such as substance addiction, poverty and/or economic insecurity, domestic and child abuse, depression/mental health, disability, suicide, and politics.

Both *Blank Earth* and *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* are tonally bleak, dark, and gritty in both locale and character. However, *Snow In Summer* (while subtly still addressing many of the same thematic concepts) is far more light-hearted, upbeat, comedic, and nostalgic in presentation and style. Likewise, *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* is a far more complex narrative than the others, which subtly works to introduce the reader to several plot threads, themes, characters and concepts of the succeeding *Revelations* trilogy, while simultaneously concluding Jacob Delsin's character arc.

*Nihilist Apathy* is an anthology comprised of several self-contained short stories set at various times and locales in the *Placebo Effect* multiverse, these stories mostly work to "fill in the blanks" established by the main novels, and also help in concluding the character arcs for several characters such as Ryley Summers, Alex Peterson, while further planting the seeds for the succeeding trilogy.

The first novel of the *Revelations* trilogy; *The Lost World*, which is a reimagining of the 1912 Conan Doyle novella of the same name.

## Phase Two

* 5. *Farewell Abodes*
* The Revelations Trilogy
	+ 6. *Uneven Odds*
	+ 7. *Crestfallen*
* 8. *Holmes*