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Superpowers
Madison, Wisconsin: In the summer of 2001, five college juniors wake up with . . . not just a hangover, but superpowers. . . .
Jack Robinson: Grew up on a farm, works in a chem lab, and brews his own beer. Age: 19. Superpower: SPEED.
Caroline Bloom: Has a flair for fashion design and a mother who’s completely out of touch. Works as a waitress for a lunatic boss.
Age: 20. Superpower: FLIGHT.
Harriet Bishop: Studied violin, guitar, and piano . . . and was terrible at them all. Now writes about music for the campus paper.
Age: 20. Superpower: INVISIBILITY.
Mary Beth Layton: Is managing a 3.8, but feels like she’s working three times as hard as the people around her.
Age: 20. Superpower: STRENGTH.
Charlie Frost: Has an anxious way about him, and always looks like he’s on day 101 of his most recent haircut.
Age: 20. Superpower: TELEPATHY.
But how do you adjust to an extraordinary ability when you’re an ordinary person? What if you’re not ready for the responsibility that comes with great power? And how do you keep your head in a world that’s going mad?
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Jack Robinson: Grew up on a farm, works in a chem lab, and brews his own beer. Age: 19. Superpower: SPEED.
Caroline Bloom: Has a flair for fashion design and a mother who’s completely out of touch. Works as a waitress for a lunatic boss.
Age: 20. Superpower: FLIGHT.
Harriet Bishop: Studied violin, guitar, and piano . . . and was terrible at them all. Now writes about music for the campus paper.
Age: 20. Superpower: INVISIBILITY.
Mary Beth Layton: Is managing a 3.8, but feels like she’s working three times as hard as the people around her.
Age: 20. Superpower: STRENGTH.
Charlie Frost: Has an anxious way about him, and always looks like he’s on day 101 of his most recent haircut.
Age: 20. Superpower: TELEPATHY.
But how do you adjust to an extraordinary ability when you’re an ordinary person? What if you’re not ready for the responsibility that comes with great power? And how do you keep your head in a world that’s going mad?
From the Trade Paperback edition.
377 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
David J. Schwartz
14 books59 followersDavid J. Schwartz carries Minnesota with him in a small camel-colored attaché with a combination lock; it can only be opened by taking the number of hairs on F. Scott Fitzgerald's head, dividing it by the secret formula on the Kensington Runestone, and adding the ghostly cry of a loon (usually a negative number). If found, please return to the nearest person wearing flannel.
Because his luggage is full of lakes, he keeps his stories in his head. Sometimes they make it onto paper. They have appeared in numerous publications, including the anthologies Fantasy: Best of the Year 2007, The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet and the World Fantasy award-nominated Twenty Epics. You can also read several of his stories online: "The Water-Poet and the Four Seasons", "Oma Dortchen and the Pillar of Story", "Iron Ankles, "Screen", "The Colossus Vignettes", "The New Year's Party, "Vagina Music", "The Love Thing" and "The Lethe Man".
David has lived in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin; he now resides in Saint Paul, where he was born and raised. He holds a BA in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Master's in Library Science from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He would like to set them down somewhere, but not before he figures out a way to use them. He likes oversteeped tea, feeling superior for not owning a car, and streets paved with brick.
David is so excited about his first novel that he is constantly nauseated. Help him keep his lunch down by ordering a copy of Superpowers from Amazon or Amazon UK.
Because his luggage is full of lakes, he keeps his stories in his head. Sometimes they make it onto paper. They have appeared in numerous publications, including the anthologies Fantasy: Best of the Year 2007, The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet and the World Fantasy award-nominated Twenty Epics. You can also read several of his stories online: "The Water-Poet and the Four Seasons", "Oma Dortchen and the Pillar of Story", "Iron Ankles, "Screen", "The Colossus Vignettes", "The New Year's Party, "Vagina Music", "The Love Thing" and "The Lethe Man".
David has lived in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin; he now resides in Saint Paul, where he was born and raised. He holds a BA in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Master's in Library Science from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He would like to set them down somewhere, but not before he figures out a way to use them. He likes oversteeped tea, feeling superior for not owning a car, and streets paved with brick.
David is so excited about his first novel that he is constantly nauseated. Help him keep his lunch down by ordering a copy of Superpowers from Amazon or Amazon UK.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
February 10, 2017
I was kind of excited about Superpowers when I first added it to my to-read list, way back in the day. When I borrowed it from the library, that ardour of anticipation had cooled, and I braced myself for apathy or outright dislike. Superhero fiction just seems like a disappointing genre for the novel these days. It’s not that the superhero novels I’ve been reading are bad. No, it’s worse—they are bland.
Soon I Will Be Invincible
had an exciting premise and perspective but fizzled; although
Empire State
had a tighter plot but still struggled with its characterization. And that’s what it comes down to, it seems. So much of this superhero fiction seems to stumble after the superpowered part of the story.
So I’m happy to report that David J. Schwartz avoids this pitfall with Superpowers. Though I have plenty to critique, I really enjoyed the characters in this one. They are complex; they change; and they are more than just their superpowers. As I was reading, I could feel my scepticism melting away and my cynicism slowly lifting. I began to permit myself to enjoy the book for what it was. In addition to these success, Schwartz attempts to probe some of the deeper and more meaningful implications of superheroes within our society. He includes a predictable—and therefore reassuring—narrative structure to achieve this.
Each chapter has a date. The first chapter is “Sunday, May 19, 2001.” The book does not stop at the end of August. From the beginning, Schwartz signals a deliberate choice to set this book around a major, terrible event in recent world history. After every few chapters, we get a short commentary from the book’s “editor”, a conspiracy-theory–prone student who knows the five superpowered main characters (dubbed the “All Stars” by the media) and eventually unearths their secret. He presents Superpowers as a fictionalized recounting, based on interviews with one of the members of the team, of the All Stars’ formation and decline. Though Hatch occasionally reminds us of his agenda, he largely remains an uninvolved narrator/editor.
I understand but don’t share the dissatisfaction that some might feel over Schwartz’s choice of time period. The other significant factor in any is the place: Superpowers takes place in Madison, Wisconsin—not New York. Had Schwartz set it in the latter city, this would have been a very different book; the All Stars would have been more directly involved in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. By setting it farther from the scenes of the destruction, Schwartz is able to distance his superheroes—who remain aggressively local and “small-time” throughout the novel—from the specifics of the event even as he hitches his star to the mood it creates. In so doing, he can examine the paradoxes of society’s attitude towards superheroes as well as the psychological effect of their powers and heroics on the characters themselves.
It’s possible to do all that without reference to September 11, of course. However, that event offers a touchstone that will be familiar to most readers. It will forever be a part of our discourse about superheroes—what does it mean to be a superhero, an American superhero, in the post-9/11 world? How has this changed the American attitude towards superheroes like Superman? And if you were one of five college students who suddenly found themselves with powers, and 9/11 happened, how would that affect your nascent self-image as a superhero?
Through his ensemble cast, Schwartz looks at different aspects of the way superpowers alter his characters’ identities. Harriet, the reporter, the interviewer, can be come invisible. Caroline, after years of supporting herself because of an irresponsible mother, feels the freedom of flight. Mary Beth, whose parents died in an automobile accident, is super-strong and invulnerable. Jason finds his super-speed invigorating. Charlie is cursed with the ability to read minds, but he manages eventually to make the best of it. (I’m just summarizing here. It gets deeper than this, but I don’t want to bog down by digressing and analyzing each character.)
The All Stars confine themselves to fighting crime within Madison, making waves with the local police and media but not really achieving a national profile. At first the police engage in some sabre-rattling, but for the most part they don’t pursue the All Stars’ identity with anything approaching diligence. The only cop remotely interested in unmasking them happens to be Harriet’s father. Later, after 9/11 as well as an unrelated incident in which the All Stars created some collateral human damage, Harriet’s father feels the pressure from his superiors to crack the case. Schwartz both creates a good amount of tension but also allows the plot to develop and advance, so it never gets stale.
Superpowers lacks one of the major defining traits of superhero fiction: a supervillain. The fictitious editor of the book acknowledges this. And it makes sense given what it seems what Schwartz is trying to do. The emphasis on the internal conflicts that result from these superpowers—and, to some extent, conflicts among the group or with family members—would be overshadowed by an external nemesis. However, the lack of a supervillain means that Schwartz has to work harder to provide our heroes with actionable threats—instead of just more angst. In this respect, I’m not as convinced he succeeds.
I was really getting into the book by the time it hit September 11. As I said above, I liked their reactions to it. Unfortunately, the book starts to fizzle from there. The various members of the All Stars start to go their separate ways. Caroline is searching for her mother in New York following the destruction of the Twin Towers. Jack is dealing with the adverse effects of his superspeed. Charlie has another breakdown. I’m extremely disappointed by the handling of Mary Beth’s conflict. Earlier in the book, just prior to the September 11 attacks, Schwartz shoehorns in a Muslim character like some kind of afterthought. It’s clumsy and contrived. All this happens at once, but with no sense of direction and no satisfying conclusion, the climax and denouement are both quite disappointing.
The choice of title is a curious one as well. Superpowers isn’t really about the superpowers these people receive. Schwartz provides no explanation, no origin story beyond “we all got drunk at a ragin’ party and woke up with powers”, and then he throws that lack of an explanation in our faces like a challenge. The origin story is a pivotal moment in every superhero’s life. We get no explanation for why these people are special. This undermines the extensive attempts to use their superpowers to talk about their psychology and their identity (which is a shame, because I quite liked that aspect of the book!).
Schwartz takes the “ordinary people suddenly have abilities” story and dresses it up in fancy new clothes. He sets it during an interesting period of recent history, and he does a good job using this preparation to explore how superpowers change people. Despite its problems, I still enjoyed Superpowers. However, it has plenty of rough edges that I suspect would make those less charitable groan and gripe.
So I’m happy to report that David J. Schwartz avoids this pitfall with Superpowers. Though I have plenty to critique, I really enjoyed the characters in this one. They are complex; they change; and they are more than just their superpowers. As I was reading, I could feel my scepticism melting away and my cynicism slowly lifting. I began to permit myself to enjoy the book for what it was. In addition to these success, Schwartz attempts to probe some of the deeper and more meaningful implications of superheroes within our society. He includes a predictable—and therefore reassuring—narrative structure to achieve this.
Each chapter has a date. The first chapter is “Sunday, May 19, 2001.” The book does not stop at the end of August. From the beginning, Schwartz signals a deliberate choice to set this book around a major, terrible event in recent world history. After every few chapters, we get a short commentary from the book’s “editor”, a conspiracy-theory–prone student who knows the five superpowered main characters (dubbed the “All Stars” by the media) and eventually unearths their secret. He presents Superpowers as a fictionalized recounting, based on interviews with one of the members of the team, of the All Stars’ formation and decline. Though Hatch occasionally reminds us of his agenda, he largely remains an uninvolved narrator/editor.
I understand but don’t share the dissatisfaction that some might feel over Schwartz’s choice of time period. The other significant factor in any is the place: Superpowers takes place in Madison, Wisconsin—not New York. Had Schwartz set it in the latter city, this would have been a very different book; the All Stars would have been more directly involved in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. By setting it farther from the scenes of the destruction, Schwartz is able to distance his superheroes—who remain aggressively local and “small-time” throughout the novel—from the specifics of the event even as he hitches his star to the mood it creates. In so doing, he can examine the paradoxes of society’s attitude towards superheroes as well as the psychological effect of their powers and heroics on the characters themselves.
It’s possible to do all that without reference to September 11, of course. However, that event offers a touchstone that will be familiar to most readers. It will forever be a part of our discourse about superheroes—what does it mean to be a superhero, an American superhero, in the post-9/11 world? How has this changed the American attitude towards superheroes like Superman? And if you were one of five college students who suddenly found themselves with powers, and 9/11 happened, how would that affect your nascent self-image as a superhero?
Through his ensemble cast, Schwartz looks at different aspects of the way superpowers alter his characters’ identities. Harriet, the reporter, the interviewer, can be come invisible. Caroline, after years of supporting herself because of an irresponsible mother, feels the freedom of flight. Mary Beth, whose parents died in an automobile accident, is super-strong and invulnerable. Jason finds his super-speed invigorating. Charlie is cursed with the ability to read minds, but he manages eventually to make the best of it. (I’m just summarizing here. It gets deeper than this, but I don’t want to bog down by digressing and analyzing each character.)
The All Stars confine themselves to fighting crime within Madison, making waves with the local police and media but not really achieving a national profile. At first the police engage in some sabre-rattling, but for the most part they don’t pursue the All Stars’ identity with anything approaching diligence. The only cop remotely interested in unmasking them happens to be Harriet’s father. Later, after 9/11 as well as an unrelated incident in which the All Stars created some collateral human damage, Harriet’s father feels the pressure from his superiors to crack the case. Schwartz both creates a good amount of tension but also allows the plot to develop and advance, so it never gets stale.
Superpowers lacks one of the major defining traits of superhero fiction: a supervillain. The fictitious editor of the book acknowledges this. And it makes sense given what it seems what Schwartz is trying to do. The emphasis on the internal conflicts that result from these superpowers—and, to some extent, conflicts among the group or with family members—would be overshadowed by an external nemesis. However, the lack of a supervillain means that Schwartz has to work harder to provide our heroes with actionable threats—instead of just more angst. In this respect, I’m not as convinced he succeeds.
I was really getting into the book by the time it hit September 11. As I said above, I liked their reactions to it. Unfortunately, the book starts to fizzle from there. The various members of the All Stars start to go their separate ways. Caroline is searching for her mother in New York following the destruction of the Twin Towers. Jack is dealing with the adverse effects of his superspeed. Charlie has another breakdown. I’m extremely disappointed by the handling of Mary Beth’s conflict. Earlier in the book, just prior to the September 11 attacks, Schwartz shoehorns in a Muslim character like some kind of afterthought. It’s clumsy and contrived. All this happens at once, but with no sense of direction and no satisfying conclusion, the climax and denouement are both quite disappointing.
The choice of title is a curious one as well. Superpowers isn’t really about the superpowers these people receive. Schwartz provides no explanation, no origin story beyond “we all got drunk at a ragin’ party and woke up with powers”, and then he throws that lack of an explanation in our faces like a challenge. The origin story is a pivotal moment in every superhero’s life. We get no explanation for why these people are special. This undermines the extensive attempts to use their superpowers to talk about their psychology and their identity (which is a shame, because I quite liked that aspect of the book!).
Schwartz takes the “ordinary people suddenly have abilities” story and dresses it up in fancy new clothes. He sets it during an interesting period of recent history, and he does a good job using this preparation to explore how superpowers change people. Despite its problems, I still enjoyed Superpowers. However, it has plenty of rough edges that I suspect would make those less charitable groan and gripe.
July 12, 2013
What a confused mess of a book.
Superpowers can't decide what it wants to be about, and the book isn't quite long enough to encompass multiple themes, so it ends up feeling ham-fisted and tone-deaf. The 9/11 narrative adds nothing to the superhero narrative, and the superhero narrative adds nothing to the 9/11 narrative, and the whole thing reeks of soap-boxing. The characters, while likable enough, lack distinctive voices, and the framing narrative strains verisimilitude when, if the book had just been written like a regular novel, it wouldn't have been an issue.
I liked a couple of things, like the nod to Black Canary & Green Arrow and the Spiderman jokes, but for a commentary and expansion on superheroes the book felt a little remedial. Very few ethical issues are actually addressed, and the actual superhero story is often cast aside in lieu of family and relationship drama -- which is realistic, but the drama is present enough that I wonder why the author bothered with the superhero narrative at all. When ye olde superhero ethical conundrums are addressed, e.g. making things worse by trying to help &c., we very rarely see anyone actually coping with the fallout -- the chapters skip too much time to flow well. It's almost like Superpowers is meant as a grouping of vignettes involving the same characters rather than a cohesive narrative.
Furthermore (and this is more a personal objection than anything else) Superpowers seems to draw heavily on Marvel's Civil War crossover event. I can't say whether this was an intentional choice or not but man do I hatealmost all of Marvel's crossover events Civil War. Both narratives are guilty of skewing heavily to one side while simultaneously failing to convince me that side is actually in the right. In fact, because Superpowers bites off way more than it can chew, the book fails to arrive at any meaningful conclusions about any of its subjects.
There was also something really uncomfortable to me about the way women and women's sexuality was handled. Like when Caroline talks about how she goes on dates but isn't really a slut because she doesn't have a lot of sex! Or how, in the grand tradition of mainstream comics, . The way the male characters often thought of their female friends and companions also made me really uncomfortable and it made Charlie really difficult to like. I think Schwartz made an admirable attempt at inclusiveness and diversity and a lot of worked well but some of rang really false.
All negativity aside, though, Schwartz is a capable writer and especially good at penning emotional passages. While some of the writing was clunky, there were moments of extreme pathos, and the book was difficult to put down. I didn't exactly enjoy this book, but there's potential here.
Superpowers can't decide what it wants to be about, and the book isn't quite long enough to encompass multiple themes, so it ends up feeling ham-fisted and tone-deaf. The 9/11 narrative adds nothing to the superhero narrative, and the superhero narrative adds nothing to the 9/11 narrative, and the whole thing reeks of soap-boxing. The characters, while likable enough, lack distinctive voices, and the framing narrative strains verisimilitude when, if the book had just been written like a regular novel, it wouldn't have been an issue.
I liked a couple of things, like the nod to Black Canary & Green Arrow and the Spiderman jokes, but for a commentary and expansion on superheroes the book felt a little remedial. Very few ethical issues are actually addressed, and the actual superhero story is often cast aside in lieu of family and relationship drama -- which is realistic, but the drama is present enough that I wonder why the author bothered with the superhero narrative at all. When ye olde superhero ethical conundrums are addressed, e.g. making things worse by trying to help &c., we very rarely see anyone actually coping with the fallout -- the chapters skip too much time to flow well. It's almost like Superpowers is meant as a grouping of vignettes involving the same characters rather than a cohesive narrative.
Furthermore (and this is more a personal objection than anything else) Superpowers seems to draw heavily on Marvel's Civil War crossover event. I can't say whether this was an intentional choice or not but man do I hate
There was also something really uncomfortable to me about the way women and women's sexuality was handled. Like when Caroline talks about how she goes on dates but isn't really a slut because she doesn't have a lot of sex! Or how, in the grand tradition of mainstream comics, . The way the male characters often thought of their female friends and companions also made me really uncomfortable and it made Charlie really difficult to like. I think Schwartz made an admirable attempt at inclusiveness and diversity and a lot of worked well but some of rang really false.
All negativity aside, though, Schwartz is a capable writer and especially good at penning emotional passages. While some of the writing was clunky, there were moments of extreme pathos, and the book was difficult to put down. I didn't exactly enjoy this book, but there's potential here.
November 5, 2008
9/11? Seriously, he had to include 9/11?
Also: the woman whose power is invisibility is black. Shoutout to Ellison or just plain tacky?
Also: extremely obnoxious commentary from the book's "editor" used to paste over plot holes and inconsistency in logic.
Also: rape used to define a character (one of the signature crimes of comic books)
Also: incredibly derivative, and at least comic books are visually interesting
Oh, I'm going to stop now. It's not worth the effort....
Also: the woman whose power is invisibility is black. Shoutout to Ellison or just plain tacky?
Also: extremely obnoxious commentary from the book's "editor" used to paste over plot holes and inconsistency in logic.
Also: rape used to define a character (one of the signature crimes of comic books)
Also: incredibly derivative, and at least comic books are visually interesting
Oh, I'm going to stop now. It's not worth the effort....
October 21, 2008
What a good book! First, he starts with a basic comic book premise, that 5 college kids wake up one morning with assorted superpowers, but approaches it with a more realistic eye in terms of characters and characterization: one feels slighted because everybody else's powers are better; one is ticked off it happened to other people, too; one is unhappy because the others found out about hers. And the housemate who had been essentially living at his girlfriend's when the rest got their powers wonders with some resentment if he missed out because he wasn't there. These concerns are layered over the typical life issues of college kids, complicating everything. It's hard enough to deal with a cancer-stricken parent, or having to work at least 2 jobs in addition to your classes just to be able to afford to be there, or the unwelcome attentions of an admirer, without having an additional secret to keep.
But for me, what elevated the book was the authour's use of the timeline. The book starts innocuously at the end of the school year in 2001, and traces the joys of discovery and experimentation through the summer. But gradually the reader becomes aware of the countdown to Sept. 11, and the increasing tension somehow helps throw the characters and their problems into stark relief, reminding the readers that these are, after all, just kids.
Or maybe it just caught me at the right time. But whatever it was, I really enjoyed this book.
But for me, what elevated the book was the authour's use of the timeline. The book starts innocuously at the end of the school year in 2001, and traces the joys of discovery and experimentation through the summer. But gradually the reader becomes aware of the countdown to Sept. 11, and the increasing tension somehow helps throw the characters and their problems into stark relief, reminding the readers that these are, after all, just kids.
Or maybe it just caught me at the right time. But whatever it was, I really enjoyed this book.
December 15, 2019
Oddly poor character development for a group of college students suddenly, mysteriously given super powers. A great idea, no question.
Far less sex then one would imagine; far more adult-level “meaning of life.” Plus almost no politics (dispute the University involved being Wisconsin at Madison). And almost immediately, given the dates involved, you know when it will end if not (I admit to some surprise) how.
But “Superpowers’s” greatest flaw is its telling through a narrator who is rational enough to admit his bias early on, but looney in every other respect. This leaves the ending as a reader’s choice between a fictional character’s paranoia and fiction.
The author doubtlessly intended this conundrum, but I (and the quasi Y/A audience) are simpler souls. Paranoia plays better in Madison, Wisconsin, and no doubt is encouraged in Iowa writers summer seminars. Yet it left me…deflated.
Far less sex then one would imagine; far more adult-level “meaning of life.” Plus almost no politics (dispute the University involved being Wisconsin at Madison). And almost immediately, given the dates involved, you know when it will end if not (I admit to some surprise) how.
But “Superpowers’s” greatest flaw is its telling through a narrator who is rational enough to admit his bias early on, but looney in every other respect. This leaves the ending as a reader’s choice between a fictional character’s paranoia and fiction.
The author doubtlessly intended this conundrum, but I (and the quasi Y/A audience) are simpler souls. Paranoia plays better in Madison, Wisconsin, and no doubt is encouraged in Iowa writers summer seminars. Yet it left me…deflated.
January 8, 2014
I read this quite some time ago, so my memory of details (characters, specific events) is hazy, but I still recall my impressions.
I read a piece the author wrote on John Scalzi's blog where he described his primary thought behind this book, which was; what if you have superheroes with no supervillian to fight? His primary gripe seemed to be that most of the story of superheroes centered around their conflicts with and attempts to defeat the big bad(s).
The book was good up until about 2/3s of the way in; the discovery of their powers is rather predictable but is still interesting to read for the most part (I found the scene where Mary Beth wakes up and accidentally destroyes her apartment hilarious), and their initial attempts at crime fighting and other "derring 'do", as well as the morality arguments surrounding such activities, are fascinating.
Where I think the author went wrong is that he not only avoided giving the superheroes a supervillian to fight, he avoided giving them any sort of real conflict at all except for their own difficulties in coping. That made the story stall rather badly in the final act, for me.
Arcs that exist in the stories (in many media) of Batman, Captain America, Iron Man, and countless others explore real, human difficulties as presented to superhuman individuals, and most people would argue the stories weren't any worse for the presence of an adversary. There were ways that the heroes' problems in this story could have been explored without removing the conflict, but the author chose not to go that route, unfortunately.
I read a piece the author wrote on John Scalzi's blog where he described his primary thought behind this book, which was; what if you have superheroes with no supervillian to fight? His primary gripe seemed to be that most of the story of superheroes centered around their conflicts with and attempts to defeat the big bad(s).
The book was good up until about 2/3s of the way in; the discovery of their powers is rather predictable but is still interesting to read for the most part (I found the scene where Mary Beth wakes up and accidentally destroyes her apartment hilarious), and their initial attempts at crime fighting and other "derring 'do", as well as the morality arguments surrounding such activities, are fascinating.
Where I think the author went wrong is that he not only avoided giving the superheroes a supervillian to fight, he avoided giving them any sort of real conflict at all except for their own difficulties in coping. That made the story stall rather badly in the final act, for me.
Arcs that exist in the stories (in many media) of Batman, Captain America, Iron Man, and countless others explore real, human difficulties as presented to superhuman individuals, and most people would argue the stories weren't any worse for the presence of an adversary. There were ways that the heroes' problems in this story could have been explored without removing the conflict, but the author chose not to go that route, unfortunately.
September 30, 2009
I totally agree with Publishers Weekly on this adult novel, and I'm not quite sure what the Booklist reviewer was thinking. This book just doesn't work, although the concept is interesting. Five college students suddenly become superpowers--flight, mind reading, invisibility, strength, and speed. Wow--sounds good, right? But I never got close to any of the 5 main characters, mainly because the author kept throwing in tons of secondary characters who weren't necessary. I couldn't keep track of the names. And I wasn't sure why some of them were in there. I initially wanted to see how the superpowers worked with 9/11, but the terrorism didn't really enter the book at all. It seemed like the Trade Center stuff was thrown in at the end of the novel and not really fleshed out. The ending was wrapped up nicely (and badly), leaving me feeling disappointed and sad. I really wanted to like this book. It has a great cover and great one sentence summary, but I can't recommend it to anyone.
November 21, 2008
A realistic look at what might happen if five college students suddenly developed superpowers after a night of heavy drinking. (Clearly, I went to all the wrong parties when I was at school.) This book manages to be very funny and very sad at the same time, which is a combination I love. Schwartz uses his characters—all of whom he managed to make complex and distinct—to explore a number of interesting ideas. I’m not sure he quite gets everywhere he wanted to go with all of them, but the resulting novel is still fascinating and complicated and tragic and fucked up—in other words, it flies higher and moves faster than any of the other superhero fiction I’ve read lately.
July 3, 2019
Wow, this book is badly written.
The characters are barely outlines – brief descriptions, throw away traits, horrible dialogue. The author is in such a rush to get to his idea that anything else is cast aside. But even ignoring those faults, the characters’ reactions to their change is so unrealistic and … stupid.
Even 30 pages of this is too much to take.
The characters are barely outlines – brief descriptions, throw away traits, horrible dialogue. The author is in such a rush to get to his idea that anything else is cast aside. But even ignoring those faults, the characters’ reactions to their change is so unrealistic and … stupid.
Even 30 pages of this is too much to take.
July 4, 2008
I found this book in a bookstore while I was on vacation. I loved it. I devoured it in less than a day. For someone like me who grew up on comic books, this is the perfect blend of reality and fantasy.
September 14, 2008
The new novel by my imaginary internet pal David Schwartz snags the coveted "four stars to be upgraded to five if you buy me drinks" rating. Smart, probing superhero fiction of the sort I wish I'd written.
August 25, 2008
Not great. I mean, not actually bad, but nothing to write home about either. Although I suppose I am in a way. Writing home.
Doesn't really deal well with being a superhero, nor with being a university kid, nor with 9/11 and is certainly no Spider-man comic.
Doesn't really deal well with being a superhero, nor with being a university kid, nor with 9/11 and is certainly no Spider-man comic.
March 28, 2009
Dark and smart and fun.
October 8, 2020
I read this originally about a decade ago, and remember liking it, but not being a huge fan of the inclusion of 9/11. It's been roughly a decade since I read it last, and I thought I'd go back and see how it held up now that I'm older.
Unfortunately, at least to me, it didn't hold up that well. Sexism is pretty rampant from beginning to end, the character voices aren't that distinct, the inclusion of 9/11 feels completely out of place, the narrative framing from Marcus Hatch is almost completely pointless and if removed would barely change the plot, the attempts at portraying superheroes and superpowers in a realistic light falls really flat and in the end feels like what was shown hardly matters, etc.
I have nothing against showing a realistic take on superpowers and superheroes in general - it can be a lot of fun to figure out how things might actually go if someone had incredible powers. But I think there's a fine line between deconstructing the genre and writing something that ends up feeling almost like tragedy porn.
The inclusion of 9/11 feels really out of place, not least of all because none of the superpowered individuals are actually involved with what happened in any way. If you've never watched Lindsay Ellis's Loose Canon take on 9/11, you should give it a shot - the way it altered so much of how we approach media in the US is still felt even today, but is especially apparent in this book. Nothing happens differently in how 9/11 plays out, even though you could have at least had an attempt to try and do something with the superpowered individuals.
I don't know - I like the concept of the book, but I wish it was handled with a bit more nuance and had more distinct and fully realized characters.
Unfortunately, at least to me, it didn't hold up that well. Sexism is pretty rampant from beginning to end, the character voices aren't that distinct, the inclusion of 9/11 feels completely out of place, the narrative framing from Marcus Hatch is almost completely pointless and if removed would barely change the plot, the attempts at portraying superheroes and superpowers in a realistic light falls really flat and in the end feels like what was shown hardly matters, etc.
I have nothing against showing a realistic take on superpowers and superheroes in general - it can be a lot of fun to figure out how things might actually go if someone had incredible powers. But I think there's a fine line between deconstructing the genre and writing something that ends up feeling almost like tragedy porn.
The inclusion of 9/11 feels really out of place, not least of all because none of the superpowered individuals are actually involved with what happened in any way. If you've never watched Lindsay Ellis's Loose Canon take on 9/11, you should give it a shot - the way it altered so much of how we approach media in the US is still felt even today, but is especially apparent in this book. Nothing happens differently in how 9/11 plays out, even though you could have at least had an attempt to try and do something with the superpowered individuals.
I don't know - I like the concept of the book, but I wish it was handled with a bit more nuance and had more distinct and fully realized characters.
December 29, 2017
Interesting book. It’s basically a realistic “what if superpowers existed” story. The five characters are interesting though I am not 100% sure their reaction to suddenly waking up with superpowers is actually realistic. They all seemed to accept it a little too easy. It’s an origin story of sorts, but the author (in my opinion lazily) glosses over the actual “how” part of the acquisition of their powers. The end of the book was a bit more depressing than I anticipated. I don’t quite get why the author chose to shoehorn in the events of 9/11 in this story. I suppose it’s to underline that there are some things even superpowers can fix. However, that bit just felt out of place. Additionally, here is an occasional first person section that really feels clunky. In the end it’s a very quick read and an interesting exercise but I feel it could have been executed better.
July 2, 2021
I'm really torn on this one. I mean, I love some of the ideas here, but the actual execution results in a mess. The characters are all one-dimensional, and with the amount of them, it is hard for any one to really stand out. It also feels as if there is no clear resolution, which I know is part of the point, but it just feels lazy. Then the whole adding 9/11 as a major plot point that really goes nowhere.
I give it a low three stars, just because there was some interesting ideas here, and it flew by at a rather rapid pace.
I give it a low three stars, just because there was some interesting ideas here, and it flew by at a rather rapid pace.
March 22, 2020
3½ stars rounded up to 4. Book started off really well and I thought this was going to be one of the great superhero books, then things started to drift southwards - superfluous characters were introduced and most of the characters were not developed enough so an effort had to be made to remember who they were. Authors interjections only confused matters more. Ending was kinda weird too.
What should have been a really good read was ultimately unsatisfying.
What should have been a really good read was ultimately unsatisfying.
August 12, 2017
Smart, funny and oddly realistic look at what may happen if a small group of humans suddenly developed superpowers. The whole thing is clothed in the issue of power and responsibility, and knowing and accepting our limitations.
July 10, 2022
A heavier story than I anticipated with no clear-cut villain or overarching conflict, discussing the at times destructive consequences when five college students who find themselves with powers take on a vigilante quasi-hero role in their college town, falling on both others and themselves.
June 6, 2017
Dark.Superheros are humans too.
May 1, 2018
Eeehhh...
March 18, 2017
Thumbs way up for the first 275 pages or so.
Thumbs down for the next 100.
Thumbs up for the rest of the book.
Thumbs down for the next 100.
Thumbs up for the rest of the book.
June 10, 2015
Five college kids get superpowers for no reason and decide they should be superheroes. The basic gimmick is that it's real people having a realistic experience with superpowers.
I wanted SO hard to love this, but I didn't. Why does "realistic" have to mean boring and annoying? The second page gives us this fantastic quote: "This isn't some snooty book where people nobody likes do things nobody cares about for reasons nobody can figure out. That's what they call literature." It'd be an even better quote if it didn't exactly describe this book!
I didn't like any of the characters. The ones I liked in the beginning got more and more boring, and the ones I disliked in the beginning got worse and worse. At first I kind of wanted things to turn out well for them, but by about halfway through I just never wanted to see them again. Plus, there are a lot of characters and they're all the same. They're written in the exact same style and their backgrounds are the same, so it's really hard to keep each of their arcs coherent.
There are a lot of POVs and that puts way too much distance between the reader and the action, or lack thereof. MINOR SPOILERS: There's no supervillain. There's no villain at all. At this point every superhero novel is experimental and this is a good choice for what Schwartz was trying to do, but what he does instead doesn't work. The novel starts on May 19, 2001, and you can guess where it's headed... The lasy 75 pages consist of "9/11 was sad," over and over and over. That's true, but when that's all you do for 75 pages it gets old fast, and it doesn't actually constitute a climax. 9/11 WAS sad, and if you're going to use it in a book it should make me feel something besides boredom. END MINOR SPOILERS.
Like so many literary novels, there were a million interesting places this story could have gone, but it didn't go to any of them. It got bogged down in "nobody's perfect," and even more than that, "everyone is terrible." Thanks a lot, literature.
Superheroes are about setting an example, an ideal to reach for. They're about inspiring people to try harder and be better. They aren't supposed to be realistic.
Skip this book and read Hero by Perry Moore instead.
I wanted SO hard to love this, but I didn't. Why does "realistic" have to mean boring and annoying? The second page gives us this fantastic quote: "This isn't some snooty book where people nobody likes do things nobody cares about for reasons nobody can figure out. That's what they call literature." It'd be an even better quote if it didn't exactly describe this book!
I didn't like any of the characters. The ones I liked in the beginning got more and more boring, and the ones I disliked in the beginning got worse and worse. At first I kind of wanted things to turn out well for them, but by about halfway through I just never wanted to see them again. Plus, there are a lot of characters and they're all the same. They're written in the exact same style and their backgrounds are the same, so it's really hard to keep each of their arcs coherent.
There are a lot of POVs and that puts way too much distance between the reader and the action, or lack thereof. MINOR SPOILERS: There's no supervillain. There's no villain at all. At this point every superhero novel is experimental and this is a good choice for what Schwartz was trying to do, but what he does instead doesn't work. The novel starts on May 19, 2001, and you can guess where it's headed... The lasy 75 pages consist of "9/11 was sad," over and over and over. That's true, but when that's all you do for 75 pages it gets old fast, and it doesn't actually constitute a climax. 9/11 WAS sad, and if you're going to use it in a book it should make me feel something besides boredom. END MINOR SPOILERS.
Like so many literary novels, there were a million interesting places this story could have gone, but it didn't go to any of them. It got bogged down in "nobody's perfect," and even more than that, "everyone is terrible." Thanks a lot, literature.
Superheroes are about setting an example, an ideal to reach for. They're about inspiring people to try harder and be better. They aren't supposed to be realistic.
Skip this book and read Hero by Perry Moore instead.
September 12, 2012
A friend passed this book along to me, knowing that I was a fan of comic books and superheroes. This is not the first novel I’ve read about people with superpowers in the “real” world, nor the best, but it’s a pretty enjoyable read. It goes quickly and held my interest throughout. Five college students who live in the same apartment building wake up one day with superpowers, and decide what to do with them. (So far this sounds very similar to a comic book concept I’ve been working on.) The description of their apartments reminds me very much of the college apartments I’ve seen in Madison; I could readily visualize what the author describes. And I really enjoyed the scene where the five of them get together and debate starting their own superhero group or not. Fun stuff, there. The book is set in 2001, starting in May and moving throughout the summer, so I wasn’t surprised by the inclusion of the 9/11 tragedy and its impact on the group. I’ve gotta say I enjoyed most of the characters and their interactions. I was impressed that the author didn’t confine the story to the five college kids, but including the families of each, and even some other friends of theirs. I’ve read some comments that readers were disappointed in not finding out how the kids got their powers, but I see that’s not really the point here. The question is what do you do with these unexpected abilities, and can you really make a difference? The book definitely turns more serious and darker as it approaches the end, but not jarringly; everything makes sense going in that direction. The author is obviously very familiar with the worlds of comic books, and often drops names of various comic book heroes. That being said, one of my gripes with the book is that the character who develops super-strength (each of the kids gets a different superpower) also automatically has invulnerability. There are differences in these two powers, best shown in John Byrne’s Next Men comics. A minor point in an otherwise fun read.
June 18, 2008
The ending of this book left me very torn; I'm not sure whether I'd like to see a sequel (or a series) grow out of it, or if I'm more satisfied by an arguably 'open' ending that stops there. It's hard to find a comic book / movie spinoff / etc. that doesn't leave things open to a sequel, so much so it's becoming very cliche.
I'd love to see more of these characters, though. Whereas I was relatively disappointed in how they spoke and behaved earlier in the novel when discovered their superpowers because it all seemed too shallow and superficial, their reactions very unrealistic to me, by the end I was starting to become wrapped up in the complexities that had developed and I'd like to see more. I especially enjoyed the attention to the idea of vice and fallacy. Where so many superheroes aren't human, the characters in this story are and we see the notion explored that even with the best of intentions, humans make mistake, with or without superpowers. What I enjoyed most was seeing the ways in which each character, whether continually or only once, fell from grace and allowed their human side pull them into doing things they weren't proud of.
This leads into my main complaint, which is a stylistic one: at times the book felt overly contrived. It felt like the author was too wrapped up in the gimmick, the premise of the book. I also had issue with the fact that at least to me, the voice of each character didn't feel quite unique enough, the authentic differences in their personalities wasn't palpable enough of the time.
I'd love to see more of these characters, though. Whereas I was relatively disappointed in how they spoke and behaved earlier in the novel when discovered their superpowers because it all seemed too shallow and superficial, their reactions very unrealistic to me, by the end I was starting to become wrapped up in the complexities that had developed and I'd like to see more. I especially enjoyed the attention to the idea of vice and fallacy. Where so many superheroes aren't human, the characters in this story are and we see the notion explored that even with the best of intentions, humans make mistake, with or without superpowers. What I enjoyed most was seeing the ways in which each character, whether continually or only once, fell from grace and allowed their human side pull them into doing things they weren't proud of.
This leads into my main complaint, which is a stylistic one: at times the book felt overly contrived. It felt like the author was too wrapped up in the gimmick, the premise of the book. I also had issue with the fact that at least to me, the voice of each character didn't feel quite unique enough, the authentic differences in their personalities wasn't palpable enough of the time.
August 6, 2008
This is one of those books that makes me wish I could put in half-star ratings. I am not ready to go 5 stars (it was amazing!) with this book, but it's definitely superior to other books I'd consider four stars.
I recently read and reviewed Soon I Will Be Invincible , another superhero novel. Superpowers is almost the conceptual inverse of that book.
This novel dealt in a sober and realistic way with what would happen to a group of friends who suddenly developed superpowers. There are no supervillains, no secret pacts with the police commissioner, no mighty halls of justice. Just five friends, lost, confused, and trying to deal with something they don't understand. The group decides to do what they can to help their city, but they're just as human as the rest of us, and their actions end up with real consequences.
The author doesn't reject comic book convention so much as he ignores it completely. Despite the fact that the world as described is clearly impacted by comics (Several well known DC and Marvel properties are mentioned in character discussions), I never felt like there was a list of comic book tropes to be trashed or followed. The story seemed like a logical progression of events as they would unfold. Assuming, of course, that they possessors of these powers decided to help people rather than rob banks or get rich on the talk show circuit. :)
The book's climax was gripping, moving, upsetting, and wonderful.
I recently read and reviewed Soon I Will Be Invincible , another superhero novel. Superpowers is almost the conceptual inverse of that book.
This novel dealt in a sober and realistic way with what would happen to a group of friends who suddenly developed superpowers. There are no supervillains, no secret pacts with the police commissioner, no mighty halls of justice. Just five friends, lost, confused, and trying to deal with something they don't understand. The group decides to do what they can to help their city, but they're just as human as the rest of us, and their actions end up with real consequences.
The author doesn't reject comic book convention so much as he ignores it completely. Despite the fact that the world as described is clearly impacted by comics (Several well known DC and Marvel properties are mentioned in character discussions), I never felt like there was a list of comic book tropes to be trashed or followed. The story seemed like a logical progression of events as they would unfold. Assuming, of course, that they possessors of these powers decided to help people rather than rob banks or get rich on the talk show circuit. :)
The book's climax was gripping, moving, upsetting, and wonderful.
February 21, 2011
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked this up in a little independent book store, but, as I like comics and I enjoy literary and genre fiction, this seemed like a good book for me.
I'm still intrigued with the premise ... five students in Madison, WI wake up one morning to discover that they've inherited/developed/been gifted with some extraordinary super powers. What happens next?
I like that Schwartz has attempted to keep it real. Grounded (no pun intended). Unfortunately, it gets so grounded that it becomes tedious and boring in spots. The personal/sexual relationships that are developed don't seem interesting, and frankly, I never fully understand how close these friends really are. Are they all friends? Are some outsiders among their groups? Does it matter? Well, yes it does if you're telling a story about people. And their actions as super-powered individuals isn't played up too much ... mostly second reports about what they've done. Again, this is fine as this is a story about people and not a comic about a superhero, but what is the focus of this story?
There are some really nice moments here ... specifically (without giving anything away), a scene in a nursing home that I really wanted to read more about, and the effects that the powers have on some of the students (physical as well as psychological), but in the long-run, this book lagged a bit.
I give it 3-1/2 stars.
I'm still intrigued with the premise ... five students in Madison, WI wake up one morning to discover that they've inherited/developed/been gifted with some extraordinary super powers. What happens next?
I like that Schwartz has attempted to keep it real. Grounded (no pun intended). Unfortunately, it gets so grounded that it becomes tedious and boring in spots. The personal/sexual relationships that are developed don't seem interesting, and frankly, I never fully understand how close these friends really are. Are they all friends? Are some outsiders among their groups? Does it matter? Well, yes it does if you're telling a story about people. And their actions as super-powered individuals isn't played up too much ... mostly second reports about what they've done. Again, this is fine as this is a story about people and not a comic about a superhero, but what is the focus of this story?
There are some really nice moments here ... specifically (without giving anything away), a scene in a nursing home that I really wanted to read more about, and the effects that the powers have on some of the students (physical as well as psychological), but in the long-run, this book lagged a bit.
I give it 3-1/2 stars.
May 19, 2017
1.5 stars
OK, I'm going to be savage here. I really didn't like this book. The writing style was average and the editorial interludes were mundane. Their only purpose was to constantly reaffirm that 'this story is real', and that the editor isn't going to explain how the main characters got their powers. Which I think is a huge cop-out. If you're going to give characters powers the possibilities are unlimited for how they could get them, but because you can't think of anything original you just decide never to explain it? That just doesn't fly with me.
Another thing that didn't fly was the vaguely sexist and racist comments and tropes that invaded the narrative from time to time. Giving the only black, female protagonist the power of invisibility just smacked of erasure to me. You could argue that it was part of a larger social commentary, but I don't think that's what the author intended.
There was also no villain in this novel, which took away any direction from the plot. None of the characters were particularly interesting, and I didn't feel any empathy towards them - to the point where *spoiler alert*
when one of them died I didn't care. The storyline was a bit of a mess from start to finish, and the 9/11 climax didn't really end up being a climax at all.
Overall, an intriguing premise which turned out to be a very disappointing read from start to finish.
OK, I'm going to be savage here. I really didn't like this book. The writing style was average and the editorial interludes were mundane. Their only purpose was to constantly reaffirm that 'this story is real', and that the editor isn't going to explain how the main characters got their powers. Which I think is a huge cop-out. If you're going to give characters powers the possibilities are unlimited for how they could get them, but because you can't think of anything original you just decide never to explain it? That just doesn't fly with me.
Another thing that didn't fly was the vaguely sexist and racist comments and tropes that invaded the narrative from time to time. Giving the only black, female protagonist the power of invisibility just smacked of erasure to me. You could argue that it was part of a larger social commentary, but I don't think that's what the author intended.
There was also no villain in this novel, which took away any direction from the plot. None of the characters were particularly interesting, and I didn't feel any empathy towards them - to the point where *spoiler alert*
when one of them died I didn't care. The storyline was a bit of a mess from start to finish, and the 9/11 climax didn't really end up being a climax at all.
Overall, an intriguing premise which turned out to be a very disappointing read from start to finish.
October 15, 2009
An interesting if not entirely successful novel that explores that famous line from Spiderman about "how great power brings great responsibility." In the summer of 2001, five friends living in the same apartment building in Madison wake up one morning, hung over from drinking together the night before, to find they have developed superpowers. Jack is now super fast, Caroline can fly, Harriet has the power of invisibility, Mary Beth has super strength, and Charlie has telepathy.
The group decides to use their powers for good, developing code names and even costumes, but being a superhero in the real world is a little more complicated. Superpowers can't save a dad dying from cancer or help a rape victim get over her trauma. As the summer of 2001 moves toward that fateful day in September, the members of the "All-Stars" struggle to figure out their place in the world and with each other.
This was a great premise for a book and I loved the questions it raised; however, it felt a bit rushed and fragmented as it attempted to give us all five superhero perspectives. Though it didn't work completely, it made me think and that's never a bad thing.
The group decides to use their powers for good, developing code names and even costumes, but being a superhero in the real world is a little more complicated. Superpowers can't save a dad dying from cancer or help a rape victim get over her trauma. As the summer of 2001 moves toward that fateful day in September, the members of the "All-Stars" struggle to figure out their place in the world and with each other.
This was a great premise for a book and I loved the questions it raised; however, it felt a bit rushed and fragmented as it attempted to give us all five superhero perspectives. Though it didn't work completely, it made me think and that's never a bad thing.
January 28, 2012
This read a little bit more like the prolong to a superhero book then an actual superhero book because what it mainly does it sets up the motivations and formative experiences of the main characters.
Let me give you the basic outline. College students get powers. After some hesitation they decide to put on spandex and fight crime while wearing masks. This goes pretty well, all things considered, but they can't save everyone and once or twice they do more harm then good. They react to that. The end.
I think my basic disconnect with the book was Schwartz is interested in how being a superhero would effect a person. But superheros aren't real, so I'm more interested in using them as a stand-in for things that are real - like the mundane sort of hero. Thus he's mostly written a story about whether or not it's possible to do good if you're strong enough to lift a bus. I'd rather read about how one would feel having saved a busload of people or seen things no one else could see.
Beyond my rather fuzzy thematic difficulties the book was fairly well written, but it didn't have quite enough plot for it's length.
Let me give you the basic outline. College students get powers. After some hesitation they decide to put on spandex and fight crime while wearing masks. This goes pretty well, all things considered, but they can't save everyone and once or twice they do more harm then good. They react to that. The end.
I think my basic disconnect with the book was Schwartz is interested in how being a superhero would effect a person. But superheros aren't real, so I'm more interested in using them as a stand-in for things that are real - like the mundane sort of hero. Thus he's mostly written a story about whether or not it's possible to do good if you're strong enough to lift a bus. I'd rather read about how one would feel having saved a busload of people or seen things no one else could see.
Beyond my rather fuzzy thematic difficulties the book was fairly well written, but it didn't have quite enough plot for it's length.
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