Title:
Author:
My Rating: 4/5
Part of a series? No, though there might be one day
Genre(s): Sci-fi
Description/Blurb:
Seth Harrington can be invisible or undetectable, but he is not a superhero. The ability only works in morally grey situations; the rest of the time, he can't turn it on and off at will. He can use a movie ticket stub to buy a coffee or a one-dollar bill to pay for a cell phone. He can stop muggings in plain sight, unseen, but only with worse violence. But this only adds to his confusion about his place in the world. Still reeling from the horrors of the September 11 terrorist attacks and ambivalent about his future, Seth is at a crossroads: Can he be one of the good guys by doing bad things, or are his new found powers part of someone else's malevolent agenda? There are no easy answers or expected outcomes in Marshall Moore's exploration of urban life and the ways that people can disappear.
My review:
I was interested by the take on 'super powers' presented by this book. Our main character Seth is not your typical superhero, well he's not a superhero at all, his power of invisibility only work in morally grey situations such as to stop an attack by harming the attacker. Events are further complicated by the influence of Seth's room-mate Sang-hee who encourages Seth to explore his new found powers and the slightly unbalanced tattoo artist (and former one night stand) Elizabeth who seems desperate to remain in Seth's life.
One of the great things about this book is that Moore keeps the reader guessing until the end of the book and the reader learns as Seth learns, we aren't told anything through narrative before the character knows so each twist Seth experiences the reader experiences too.
At times it's almost possible to forget that this is a science fiction novel and not a commentary on modern life as the reader learns more about Seth and his past and through the reactions to Seth's attempts at redemption after using his power.
I'd recommend this book to a science fiction fan or to somebody who finds the usual super hero characters a bit too unbelievable and would rather read about somebody who would react to having super powers the way the average man on the street would. However this isn't a book that provides instant gratification plot wise so you have to be able to handle being left without answers until the end and even then being left with a question or two.
One of the great things about this book is that Moore keeps the reader guessing until the end of the book and the reader learns as Seth learns, we aren't told anything through narrative before the character knows so each twist Seth experiences the reader experiences too.
At times it's almost possible to forget that this is a science fiction novel and not a commentary on modern life as the reader learns more about Seth and his past and through the reactions to Seth's attempts at redemption after using his power.
I'd recommend this book to a science fiction fan or to somebody who finds the usual super hero characters a bit too unbelievable and would rather read about somebody who would react to having super powers the way the average man on the street would. However this isn't a book that provides instant gratification plot wise so you have to be able to handle being left without answers until the end and even then being left with a question or two.
No comments:
Post a Comment