Hero - Perry Moore

Title : Hero

 

Author : Perry Moore (from Narnia!)

Summary : Hero is about a group of ultra-modern, teen, superheros-in-training. They are all exepted into a justice-league like organization. However Thom and his team of misfits have problems of their own. Thom will be the world's first gay superhero, he also has to deal with his dad's reputation as the world's most disgraced superhero, as well as the sudden reapperance of his mother who had left the family years ago. As for the rest some just want to be heros and others struggle with their love lives. On top of it all there is something sinister going on in the league while the brutal murders of some of the world's top heros take place.

Thoughts : As much as I love the concept, I found the book didn't hold my intrest as well as it should have. First I love how the league is very reminicent of the Justice League. For example Warrior Woman (very Wonder Woman) and Uberman (Superman). Quite a few seem to be spoofs of really popular heros. The superpowers mostly seem to be based off popular heros (no Wolverine though). Thom's powers of healing are also logistically really well planned outl The leader Justice (think Martian Manhunter meets Superman) is a great character. His father's past was cleverly revealed and well though out.  However; I found the book hard to focus as many little spurts of detail overwhelm the picture. There are so many characters crammed into little bits of writing. The story also tends to veer off into minutia.  It felt very disjointed and sureal. I also found Thom slightly hard to relate to. I like aspects of him like keeping his name rather than going for an alter-ego. Other aspects are not so likable. I found his treatment of his dad horrible. In other words Thom is melodramatic and can be a bit of a brat. I also would have liked to see more explanation on his mothers part in the story as the focus is diverted to too many minor characters and we can't get close to the main ones. The story ended on a high note however. This was OK for a debut novel, it's not fantastic; I think that the sequel will be more promising.

Cover : I do really want to mention the cover here, however; it's amazing. I like the content, the way the title has been treated and the colours.

Rating : 2/5 stars