Dennis Lee (2)

An interesting story and a very interesting universe (and I'm _not_ checking out City of Heros/City of Villains - I don't need another time-suck!). The different chapters following different people gives you an ants-eye view of the events - how different portions affected certain individuals, with only quick overviews of the overall effect. One of the between-story pieces mentions that most of the "history" is written in third person, except for Red Djinni's part - I hadn't even noticed (and show more didn't notice it much even when I was looking for it).
That said - it's rather depressing, overall. People are hurt and die and disappear; the invaders don't win, exactly, but neither do the heroes, let alone the ordinary people caught up in the mess. Also, most of the characters have major flaws (yeah, I know, standard to offset the hero bits) - to the point where I don't much care about most of them. I like Ramona and Bella. John and Djinni are too self-hating, Vickie even more so (yes, she has reasons, but she's a pain to read about), Alex is too ineffectual (shown up particularly in the last scene), Red Saviour and, to the extent that we see him, Bulwark are arrogant pains in the ass. Most of the Russian contingent are ciphers, as are many of the Echo heroes. Oh, and Seraphym is just confusing. It's very hard to get connected to the story when only an occasional character is sympathetic. I'm torn over whether I want the next one - I'd like to see what happens, but it's an abstract curiosity, I don't really care about anyone in the story. Well, I'll probably read it, out of the library or something. I do want to see some of these idiots get their comeuppance - unfortunately, most of the ones I feel that way about are supposed to be the heroes! show less

This may be the first book of MMORPG roleplaying guild fiction published by a major house. As such, it's fascinating - I have been in an MMO roleplaying guild, and the overall tone and flow of the book felt totally familiar to me. Don't get me wrong - this is not amateur work. It's polished, cohesive, and solidly edited. The characters tend towards the angsty rather than the overpowered - always the mark of better RP - and the original City of Heroes milieu is perfectly serviceable and show more handles having the serial numbers filed off without showing any seams.

As superhero fiction, it's average at best. None of the heroes have powers that really grabbed me, and the everpresent deus ex machina perching on rooftops definitely dulled any sense of danger by the midpoint of the book. The interstitial framing device was also really irritating - it set up the clear expectation that nothing of any serious consequence would happen in this particular book. But it's a decent setup for further adventures, and a damn good sales pitch for City of Heroes. show less

This still reads exactly like what it is - thinly-veiled collaborative City of Heroes fanfic. It's *good* fanfic, for what it is, but the pacing ends up being a little weird because it's a collection of individual threads stitched together, the framing device still doesn't really work for me, and the villians are still pop-up generic NPCs. I picked up this second volume as a toast to doomed CoH, but it's not something I'm likely to pursue much farther.

A good follow-up- slowly getting to know these new characters and the world they inhabit. I like the Agoraphobic Victoria Victrix and how she creates solutions to her problems instead of letting the phobias win all the time.