Schwartz, David J.: Superpowers
Superpowers
Writer: David J. Schwartz
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 376
I'll be honest: this isn't the kind of book that would EVER catch my eye, let alone one I would read. So why'd I read it? The answer's rather simple, as David Schwartz is a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writer's workshop. I can't catch EVERY publication my Odyssey alums, but when it comes to novels, I do try and give them a shot.
That said, Odyssey or not, this is one novel I should've left alone. The premise: five college students wake up the day after a party with superpowers, and they decide to do use their powers to fight crime in the town of Madison, Wisconsin.
That's it. But I should point out that this story? It starts in the summer of 2001. Think about that. Do the math. And I'll go ahead and say the conclusion isn't as interesting as you might think.
Here's the thing: I'm not a comic-book girl. My fiance, however, is THE FAN when it comes to comics, and over the past ten years, has made me read various titles and seen various movies that I probably would've ignored if left to my own devices. Thanks to those ten years that also include nearly weekly trips to the comic book shop, I like to think I know SOMETHING about comic books, superheroes, superpowers, and what's DIFFERENT in the superhero genre, so to speak. I'm no expert, not by a LONG SHOT, but I know what I like, and I like what I love.
This book didn't work for me. Sadly. Spoilers ahead.
The book starts off with a promising voice. Sharp, cynical, and funny, it's easy to get swept up in the narrative and to really SEE these characters as college kids. But after that first chapter, the voice lost me. Rather, not so much the voice, but the use of POV. Not only do we get the third person POV of each of the five superheros (Jack, Charlie, Mary Beth, Harriet, and Caroline), we also get the third person POV (and one first-person POV) of several minor, and I do mean MINOR, characters. It's easy to get lost in this, and it's REALLY easy to start getting characters and names confused.
Part of it was the lack of grounding. First, the setting was seriously lacking. I was reminded over and over that this story took place in Madison, Wisconsin, but never did I feel that I was truly living in the place, that the essence of the town was captured in the pages of the book. Place names mean nothing to me, as I've never been there, and for all I cared, this could've been a fictional town in the United States.
The second reason I was never grounded was the style. This book reads like we watch a movie. It lacks true narrative much in the same way a skeleton lacks flesh. It's rather ironic. Comics and superhero movies (and television shows) are all about the VISUAL, and so it makes sense that the author is creating that on the page. And I think I just contradicted myself: in comics and movies/television, we SEE what's happening. We never get in anyone's head, or if we do, we don't get too deep, and that's what we get in this book as well. It's all dialogue and some action, but not only is the POV more or less fly-on-the-wall, but it's almost like it's happening in a vacuum.
I also never felt a good sense of tension or conflict. Granted, writing a book about your characters waking up one day with superpowers is BOUND to be hard. Suspension of disbelief is paramount, and how do you take such an unrealistic situation and make it as realistic as possible, especially in novel format? I don't know, so I give Schwartz kudos for trying. However, everything was a little TOO easy. They wake up with superpowers and really don't react in a realistic way (or realistic to me). The book makes a point of NOT explaining how it happened, but to me, I would've imagined that each of the characters would've been so shaken by their new talents (no matter how cool they were) that they would've immediately started trying to figure it out, especially once they figure out that everyone at the party had SOMETHING happen. Me, I blame the home-made beer.
No doubt, the book tries to make points about what it means to have power and what it means to have such power in the real world, away from comic book stereotypes. Admirable, but ultimately, I don't feel Schwartz was doing anything different (and I don't know if that was the point. He may have written this as a fan of the genre, making it a kind of homage). Of the comics I do read, I've seen some cool twists on the superhero stereotype (Garth Ennis's The Boys and Mark Millar's Kick-Ass -- the latter being a fantastic example of superheroes in the real world, but without the superpowers), so this really didn't work for me.
And the lack of supervillain didn't bother me much. Let's be real: the characters were their own worst enemies in the end. The world is bigger than any of their superpowers combined, and in the end, while great powers means great responsibility and all that jazz, great responsibility has a way of crushing the fucking life out of you. This book has no happy ending, and I found myself wanting more, wishing the book had been different somehow, structured different somehow, but I don't know how.
It had potential, no doubt. It could've been a character book had the POVs been a little more grounded and had there been a little more real tension and conflict, but instead, the book was all over the place, but like Charlie Frost's abilities. Which is a shame, because as I said, the book had potential. But for this jaded and cynical superhero reader, it didn't click.
Then again, superhero fiction (or comics) REALLY isn't my thing unless it's DARK and TWISTED. And no, I don't watch Heroes and no, I don't watch Smallville (any more). But I do love me some Batman, and I've read some wonderful comics and graphic novels in the past. It's just that none of them remotely resemble the kind of superhero fiction found in this book, and when they do, I get bored, and I get bored fast.
Sorry snurri! I still want to give your next book a shot, though! :)
My Rating
Wish I'd Borrowed It: Like I said, this book just isn't for the reader like me, and had I not had a rather tenuous tie to the author, I would've never given this book a second glance. That said, if you like superhero fiction/comics, it's worth giving this one a shot. You're bound to get more out of it than I did. And I'll give Schwartz kudos for making three of the five heroes women, and one of them's even a minority (too bad HER power is invisibility, but that actually figures into the story in an interesting way).
Next up: MultiReal by David Louis Edelman