Book Review
Soon I Will Be Invincible
by Austin Grossman
ISBN 978-0-375-42486-1
Pantheon Books, 2007
Wow. Just wow. If you've ever been a fan of comics, or if you like a well-crafted science fiction novel (or, ideally, both), you should really enjoy this book. Mr. Grossman has created an entirely new world of super-heroes (which term I use to include all genders, so don't get on my case about it, thankyouverymuch) and given them believable personalities, personal histories, and the kind of throwaway backstory items that appear in any other kind of novel.
If I mentioned 9-11 or "that fateful day at the Dallas Book Repository," I don't need to go into detail about what happened; just about anyone nowadays knows what those terms signify. Similarly, the characters in this book make reference to events ("a relic of the titanic battle with...") which clearly play huge roles in their cultural milieu. They're not explained for the same reason I wouldn't need to stop in the middle of a novel about Washington politics to explain 9-11 to a contemporary reader, and this adds a powerful feeling of verisimilitude. Rather than using exposition to thicken the book and give more detail, he leaves it to our imagination to decide what those events were like. "Good liars give details, but the best liars don't," and the same applies to novelists; as much detail as necessary, but no more.
The point of view switches back and forth from chapter to chapter between Doctor Impossible (villain) and Fatale (neophyte superhero), and we get to see how they see the world and their roles in it. I was impressed by the level of character development, too. In the following quote, Fatale, a cyborg, has received an email from a superheroes organization:
Even when I finally shame myself into looking, I stare for a few seconds before I can make myself read it. But I'm in. It's temporary, probationary, provisional, but I'm in. I have an ID card waiting for me that can walk me into the White House, or Cape Canaveral. You would think I would whoop or dance or something, but instead I just stand there with my eyes closed for almost a minute. I honestly thought they'd taken my tear ducts.
The impact of that last sentence alone would have made the book worth the purchase price if I had bought it instead of borrowing it from the library.
Following on the title, almost every chapter is named for a cliché from comics or movies; "And Now For Those Meddling Children," "Join Me And We Cannot Be Defeated," "Maybe We Are Not So Different, You And I..." In this, it reflects also a certain fatalism that whispers through the story; a feeling that the heroes and villains are not unlike characters in a Greek tragedy, or vegetation-cycle deities. They see their assigned roles, and know they are doomed to follow them, so the best they can do is perform their roles to the fullest. Oh, there are personal interactions; heartbreaks, friendships, personal demons (figuratively), marriages, vendettas etc., but overall there's a feeling of inevitability. The heroes will always thwart the villain's plans (usually at the last minute), and the villain will always have an escape sub or appropriate equivalent nearby.
By the end of the novel, though, you're beginning to wonder: will the heroes finally win once and for all? Or maybe the villain will succeed this time...
I won't tell you, but I will encourage you strongly to read the book. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more from Mr. Grossman. Even if he doesn't do anything else with this world (and I have mixed feelings as to whether reusing it would be a good idea or a bad one), I'm hopeful that he can maintain this level of quality in his writing.
Maybe this will be less controversial than my last post...
by Austin Grossman
ISBN 978-0-375-42486-1
Pantheon Books, 2007
Wow. Just wow. If you've ever been a fan of comics, or if you like a well-crafted science fiction novel (or, ideally, both), you should really enjoy this book. Mr. Grossman has created an entirely new world of super-heroes (which term I use to include all genders, so don't get on my case about it, thankyouverymuch) and given them believable personalities, personal histories, and the kind of throwaway backstory items that appear in any other kind of novel.
If I mentioned 9-11 or "that fateful day at the Dallas Book Repository," I don't need to go into detail about what happened; just about anyone nowadays knows what those terms signify. Similarly, the characters in this book make reference to events ("a relic of the titanic battle with...") which clearly play huge roles in their cultural milieu. They're not explained for the same reason I wouldn't need to stop in the middle of a novel about Washington politics to explain 9-11 to a contemporary reader, and this adds a powerful feeling of verisimilitude. Rather than using exposition to thicken the book and give more detail, he leaves it to our imagination to decide what those events were like. "Good liars give details, but the best liars don't," and the same applies to novelists; as much detail as necessary, but no more.
The point of view switches back and forth from chapter to chapter between Doctor Impossible (villain) and Fatale (neophyte superhero), and we get to see how they see the world and their roles in it. I was impressed by the level of character development, too. In the following quote, Fatale, a cyborg, has received an email from a superheroes organization:
Even when I finally shame myself into looking, I stare for a few seconds before I can make myself read it. But I'm in. It's temporary, probationary, provisional, but I'm in. I have an ID card waiting for me that can walk me into the White House, or Cape Canaveral. You would think I would whoop or dance or something, but instead I just stand there with my eyes closed for almost a minute. I honestly thought they'd taken my tear ducts.
The impact of that last sentence alone would have made the book worth the purchase price if I had bought it instead of borrowing it from the library.
Following on the title, almost every chapter is named for a cliché from comics or movies; "And Now For Those Meddling Children," "Join Me And We Cannot Be Defeated," "Maybe We Are Not So Different, You And I..." In this, it reflects also a certain fatalism that whispers through the story; a feeling that the heroes and villains are not unlike characters in a Greek tragedy, or vegetation-cycle deities. They see their assigned roles, and know they are doomed to follow them, so the best they can do is perform their roles to the fullest. Oh, there are personal interactions; heartbreaks, friendships, personal demons (figuratively), marriages, vendettas etc., but overall there's a feeling of inevitability. The heroes will always thwart the villain's plans (usually at the last minute), and the villain will always have an escape sub or appropriate equivalent nearby.
By the end of the novel, though, you're beginning to wonder: will the heroes finally win once and for all? Or maybe the villain will succeed this time...
I won't tell you, but I will encourage you strongly to read the book. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more from Mr. Grossman. Even if he doesn't do anything else with this world (and I have mixed feelings as to whether reusing it would be a good idea or a bad one), I'm hopeful that he can maintain this level of quality in his writing.
Maybe this will be less controversial than my last post...