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A review by trike
The Awakening by Michael Carroll
4.0
Quantum Prophecy #1: The Awakening by Michael Carroll is a YA book, which I didn't know when I ordered it from the library. Once I got it, I was a bit trepidatious that it might be a little too emo or overly "teenage" in a bad way... you now, a Twilight sort of way. My relief was great when I found that's not the case. Yes, the two main characters are teenage boys, both about 13, but they're smart and capable and not at all annoying.
The book opens with a humdinger of an action scene: the world's biggest bad guy, Ragnarok, has built a gigantic battle tank that's headed for New York City. He's gathered a small army of supervillains to assist him, drawing in most of the world's superheroes for a titanic fight. You pretty much don't get more widescreen epic than that, and the book moves right along. That's just the opener, however, because the climax of the fight results in a gigantic explosion... and all the superpowered people in the world disappear, except for three siblings, who have no idea why they were spared.
Cut to 10 years later and our two heroes, Irish schoolboys, are given an assignment to write about their favorite hero on the anniversary of "Mystery Day." Except the mystery is even bigger than they imagine, because suddenly one of them exhibits uncontrollable superspeed and the other is being hunted by black helicopters. Carroll ties it all together so it doesn't sound as random as that.
I give it a solid 4 stars for being engaging, fun and full of characters who do smart things rather than being dumb for the plot's sake. I've already ordered the 2nd in the trilogy from the library. Apparently Carroll has written a number of other books in this same universe (according to his website it's 5 novels and short story collection). [b:The New Heroes: Superhuman|6978323|The New Heroes Superhuman|Michael Carroll|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1277374810s/6978323.jpg|21962984] looks like it's a flashback tale to when the adult heroes of this book's opener were just starting out, so I figured I'd wait to finish the first trilogy before going on.
The book opens with a humdinger of an action scene: the world's biggest bad guy, Ragnarok, has built a gigantic battle tank that's headed for New York City. He's gathered a small army of supervillains to assist him, drawing in most of the world's superheroes for a titanic fight. You pretty much don't get more widescreen epic than that, and the book moves right along. That's just the opener, however, because the climax of the fight results in a gigantic explosion... and all the superpowered people in the world disappear, except for three siblings, who have no idea why they were spared.
Cut to 10 years later and our two heroes, Irish schoolboys, are given an assignment to write about their favorite hero on the anniversary of "Mystery Day." Except the mystery is even bigger than they imagine, because suddenly one of them exhibits uncontrollable superspeed and the other is being hunted by black helicopters. Carroll ties it all together so it doesn't sound as random as that.
I give it a solid 4 stars for being engaging, fun and full of characters who do smart things rather than being dumb for the plot's sake. I've already ordered the 2nd in the trilogy from the library. Apparently Carroll has written a number of other books in this same universe (according to his website it's 5 novels and short story collection). [b:The New Heroes: Superhuman|6978323|The New Heroes Superhuman|Michael Carroll|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1277374810s/6978323.jpg|21962984] looks like it's a flashback tale to when the adult heroes of this book's opener were just starting out, so I figured I'd wait to finish the first trilogy before going on.