Monday, November 19, 2012

Only Superhuman by Christopher L. Bennett

Only Superhuman by Christopher L. Bennett

What if superheroes were real?  In this version of our future they are.  These Troubleshooters are genetically and robotically modified humans that use their powers to patrol the non-Earth entities – foremost the asteroid belt.  Emerald Blaze is a Troubleshooter who has just lost her mentor while battling against terrorists.  Depressed and a little self-destructive, she begins to re-examine her life and the role of the Troubleshooters just in time for a new leader to change the rules and make her question everything and everyone around her.

I wanted to like this book.  I really did.  The author mentions in the afterword that he originally conceived it as a graphic novel.  It may have worked better that way.  I usually can’t tell if an author of one gender has a main character of the other, but in this book it was definitely a man trying to write as a strong woman.  She was just off.  And the writing was too in your face.  You know her moral motivations for certain actions above and beyond what you needed to know because the author kept coming back to it.  And yet other things she did, I have no clue why she did them.   

The line from Spiderman kept ringing in my ears – with great power comes great responsibility – and it was quoted a number of times in the book as well.  I just wish it came together better.