Superpowers

by David J. Schwartz

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A party in a college flat in May 2001. A case of dodgy home-brewed beer. A violent storm. Next day: the mother of all hangovers. What would you do if you the morning after the night before brought a banging head, a raging thirst... Oh, and your very own superpower? Meet the All-Stars: Harriet, Charlie, Caroline, Mary-Beth and Jack. Harriet can make herself invisible, Charlie can read your mind, Caroline can fly, and Jack, well, Jack can run faster than a speeding bullet. Determined to become costumed crime-fighters, but baffled by the lack of super-villains to tackle, the quintet soon finds that the ramifications of their new powers are more complicated than they anticipated, and that humans (even themselves) are much more fragile than they'd realised.… (more)

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The end of this was difficult to read.

Rosa.Mill | Nov 21, 2015 |

The end of this was difficult to read.

Rosa.Mill | Nov 21, 2015 |

The end of this was difficult to read.

Rosa.Mill | Nov 21, 2015 |

The end of this was difficult to read.

Rosa.Mill | Nov 21, 2015 |

The popularity of vampire stories (cruise the shelves of any bookstore) used to puzzle me until I heard the writer for True Blood , which I have never watched, say in an interview that he believes the fascination with vampires is about a fear of intimacy. That rings true to me. Then there is our fascination with superpowers, usually much less literary than the vampire thing. But there are a few novels, as opposed to novelizations of films, comic books or graphic novels. One is Soon I Will Be Invincible [book: Soon I Will Be Invincible] ; this is another. Schwartz follows a group of college students as they struggle with the sudden gift of superpowers, and so there are some overtones of Spider-Man here. (

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nmele | Apr 6, 2013 |

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thingScore 25

Schwartz is telling us that even with superpowers, life is still filled with problems. While that is a bit depressing, his message is neither bleak, nor even particularly original. They keep the streets of Madison safe, but face no supervillain or any major threat other than lawsuits and keeping up their GPAs. There is also some attempt at political allegory, observations of the media and law, even a tantalizing hint of other superheroes in the world. Alas, none of it really goes anywhere. I cannot recommend this lightweight, bland tale of nice kids with superpowers and personal tragedies. It might make a perfect show for the CW, but I doubt I would ever watch it.

added by PhoenixTerran | editio9, Chris Hsiang (Mar 30, 2009)

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
David J. Schwartz	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Breyfogle, Norm	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (Finalist – 2009)

Nebula Award (Nominee – Novel – 2008)

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Canonical title

Superpowers

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2008-06-10

People/Characters

Charlie Frost

Jack Robinson (superhero)

Important places

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Wisconsin, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

It all started at a party, which is damn convenient if you ask me.

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Link, Kelly

Fowler, Karen Joy

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

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▾Book descriptions

A party in a college flat in May 2001. A case of dodgy home-brewed beer. A violent storm. Next day: the mother of all hangovers. What would you do if you the morning after the night before brought a banging head, a raging thirst... Oh, and your very own superpower? Meet the All-Stars: Harriet, Charlie, Caroline, Mary-Beth and Jack. Harriet can make herself invisible, Charlie can read your mind, Caroline can fly, and Jack, well, Jack can run faster than a speeding bullet. Determined to become costumed crime-fighters, but baffled by the lack of super-villains to tackle, the quintet soon finds that the ramifications of their new powers are more complicated than they anticipated, and that humans (even themselves) are much more fragile than they'd realised.

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