Helpful Score: 2
A funny and entertaining book about the folks behind the masks. The story alternates chapters between the POVs of a supervillain and the newest recruit on the team of heroes dedicated to stopping him. The characters are well thought out and there are some surprisingly poignant moments -- it's clear that Grossman put a lot of effort into imagining the hardships of life as a caped crusader. On the other hand, the ending was very drawn out and felt anti-climactic...there were also some parts in the body of the book (mainly in the heroine Fatale's chapters)that could have been made more concise, or cut altogether. I still enjoyed reading it -- any fan of old-school comic books will find a lot to laugh at here. I just wish the ending had a little more oomph.
Helpful Score: 1
An interesting look at the psychology of superheroes. Very much a character piece and thankfully the characters /are/ interesting, as there is very little plot to speak of.
I actually checked this book out at the library, read it, and utterly forgot about it, which subsequently led to purchasing a copy later. It is not, to say the least, a memorable book. That said, I really enjoyed Dr. Impossible as a character and I'd be curious to see the world established in the book expanded. Had this been an actual comic book, I think it might have been much stronger, as it is there's too much going on and the plot itself relies too much on comic book tropes without subverting or examining them the way it does with the characters.
I actually checked this book out at the library, read it, and utterly forgot about it, which subsequently led to purchasing a copy later. It is not, to say the least, a memorable book. That said, I really enjoyed Dr. Impossible as a character and I'd be curious to see the world established in the book expanded. Had this been an actual comic book, I think it might have been much stronger, as it is there's too much going on and the plot itself relies too much on comic book tropes without subverting or examining them the way it does with the characters.
This book just didn't grab me as much as I thought it would. I did enjoy the story from the villain's point of view, at least to some degree. But, I think the author should have used a different hero to tell the story. When I was done, I was very disappointed with Fatale's story and just didn't care for her or her thoughts. I would have enjoyed the story much more from Lily's or Damsel's point of view. I don't know. It just wasn't what I was expecting and I was a bit disappointed. I can see that the author spent a lot of time thinking about characters and what they would be like. But, I think he missed the mark on execution and motivations, just a bit. I believe this was the author's first novel, however, and I would like to revisit him in the future when he's had a little more time to hone his craft. I see a lot of potential in his work and would like to see him develop.
A fun superhero (and supervillain!) story, told with great intelligence and style.
This is a story told from two perspectives: a super-villain, presumably the smartest man in the world (who never seems to get what he wants), and a newly-minted superhero filled with insecurity. Doctor Impossible has escaped from a high-security prison, and threatens, yet again, to take over the world with a new Doomsday Device he dreamt up while in prison. His foes are the recently rejoined New Champions, a collection of superheroes filled with personal problems of their own.
Its fun in a kind of strange throwback-to-old-comics way, and its also kind of thought-provoking and sad when we get inside the heads of these people. Their lives, despite the force fields, lasers, and mystical hammers are kind of unsatisfying. It really feels like despite the power everyone demonstrates, there are no winners here.
The start of the book is fantastic, and drew me in quickly. But the excitement kind of wears thin before too long, and the book doesnt end with a bang at all. So the emotional journey the reader takes is not really what youd expect in a superhero book.
Interesting and enjoyable, but left me wanting something different.
4 of 5 stars.
Its fun in a kind of strange throwback-to-old-comics way, and its also kind of thought-provoking and sad when we get inside the heads of these people. Their lives, despite the force fields, lasers, and mystical hammers are kind of unsatisfying. It really feels like despite the power everyone demonstrates, there are no winners here.
The start of the book is fantastic, and drew me in quickly. But the excitement kind of wears thin before too long, and the book doesnt end with a bang at all. So the emotional journey the reader takes is not really what youd expect in a superhero book.
Interesting and enjoyable, but left me wanting something different.
4 of 5 stars.
The book was good until the end. I felt it was somewhat anti-climactic.
I think this is one that I would have enjoyed more if I had read instead of listened to it. The world was compelling and it was a little more soap opera style than I anticipated. It's fun to think about what superheroes do in their downtime. It took me a little while to adjust when the narrative voice changed; I think that would have been easier to manage via print.
I read this book a few years ago, but completely forgot before reading it again this week. Most of the story did not stay in my head and I never really cared about the characters.
!! SPOILER ALERT !!
The main thing I like about this book is that it tries to approach super heroes and super villains as humans. If these types of characters existed, what would they really be like? Even supers are unlikely to have perfect lives that revolve around their masked lives. So Grossman has their supposedly invincible leader die, the teams new leader is bulimic, and the happy couple is divorced. Thats kinda different, right?
But wait! The invincible leader isnt really dead, the new leader isnt really bulimic, and the (un)happy couple seemingly get back together.
So that kinda ruins everything. At the very end of the story, Grossman yanks away some of the most serious flaws/problems with this superhero team. I mean, I was starting to like the book almost really like it and then in the climax, all of that happens. Granted, there are some minor issues still around. For example, the female narrator - a new member of the team - decides to resign; she wasnt that interesting of a character though, so who cares? Its like Grossman couldnt decide if he wanted a happy ending or and this wouldve fit better a bittersweet ending, so it ended up with something that was neither, and thus didnt work.
Then there were some parts of the book that were just random. There was an encounter between Mister Mystic and Impossible that lead you to think thered be more about Mystic in the book, but there never was. It was like a loose thread. Then Fatale starts accusing Elphin of not being a real fairy. Shes on a team with a cat-man, a glass woman, a shadowy magician, a near-invincible flying woman, and she herself is a cyborg, but she cant believe Elphin is a fairy?
Speaking of Fatale, she never really seems to do anything. She misses the first big fight, then is quickly disabled in the main fight. She talks about her past and all the cool things she did, but its the past; the reader never gets to read it. Since the reader never actually gets to read about her doing anything good, shed pretty much useless in the book. Her only role is to serve as an outside perspective on the super team.
Also, Corefire is a rip-off of Superman, which I guess is the point, but Damsels weakness is ripped off Superman too, which makes me question Grossmans creativity.
Ultimately a decent book at least, I dont regret reading it but it has issues and falls short of what it couldve been.(less)
The main thing I like about this book is that it tries to approach super heroes and super villains as humans. If these types of characters existed, what would they really be like? Even supers are unlikely to have perfect lives that revolve around their masked lives. So Grossman has their supposedly invincible leader die, the teams new leader is bulimic, and the happy couple is divorced. Thats kinda different, right?
But wait! The invincible leader isnt really dead, the new leader isnt really bulimic, and the (un)happy couple seemingly get back together.
So that kinda ruins everything. At the very end of the story, Grossman yanks away some of the most serious flaws/problems with this superhero team. I mean, I was starting to like the book almost really like it and then in the climax, all of that happens. Granted, there are some minor issues still around. For example, the female narrator - a new member of the team - decides to resign; she wasnt that interesting of a character though, so who cares? Its like Grossman couldnt decide if he wanted a happy ending or and this wouldve fit better a bittersweet ending, so it ended up with something that was neither, and thus didnt work.
Then there were some parts of the book that were just random. There was an encounter between Mister Mystic and Impossible that lead you to think thered be more about Mystic in the book, but there never was. It was like a loose thread. Then Fatale starts accusing Elphin of not being a real fairy. Shes on a team with a cat-man, a glass woman, a shadowy magician, a near-invincible flying woman, and she herself is a cyborg, but she cant believe Elphin is a fairy?
Speaking of Fatale, she never really seems to do anything. She misses the first big fight, then is quickly disabled in the main fight. She talks about her past and all the cool things she did, but its the past; the reader never gets to read it. Since the reader never actually gets to read about her doing anything good, shed pretty much useless in the book. Her only role is to serve as an outside perspective on the super team.
Also, Corefire is a rip-off of Superman, which I guess is the point, but Damsels weakness is ripped off Superman too, which makes me question Grossmans creativity.
Ultimately a decent book at least, I dont regret reading it but it has issues and falls short of what it couldve been.(less)
Interesting concept, and the first time Ive personally read something like it, though I doubt its unique. It seems like something I shouldve really like, and while I did like the idea, the book itself wasnt a page-turner. In fact, I think the reason I even liked it as much as I did is because it falls into one of my favorite plot/story-telling niches. While not bad, this book is lacking something that couldve made it really good.
Awsome book
