Book Review: "The Extraordinaires" by Michael Pryor

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Kinglsey just wants to be a magician, but on the night of his debut he gets a letter from his father, beckoning him home. He returns with a beautiful new acquaintance in tow and quickly learns that there is secret underworld that has taken an interest in him and kidnapped his father. It's up to him to rescue his father and save all of mankind from going extinct.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Kingsley is a young man who wants to me a magician who specializes in escapology. But he has a secret, another nature that he has been fighitng his whole life that he calls his “wolfish nature”.

Evadne is a beautiful albino woman and a juggler. She also has a large inventory of weapons, most that she built herself. Not only can she make guns, bombs and knives be she also makes her own eyeglasses. Not to mention she has a vast knowledge of technology that is used in the secretive world known as the Demimonde.

Jabez Soames is a greedy man who deals with beings he knows little about for profit. He doesn't have much motivation besides money.

Demona is a female of another race of people called the Neanderthals. She is a loner and has spent most of her life planning and building things on her own. She has a deep hatred for mankind as well as a hatred for the immortals who attacked a clan long ago and killed them all.

PACING

The pacing is a little slower. It starts with Kingsley's magic show going wrong, then he meets Evadne and gets a letter from home. There is a hint that they are being followed but there really isn't any sense of urgency. This might have to do that when Kingsley gets the letter he doesn't immediately explain what the problem is. He just states that he has to return home.

For the most part, the pacing feels slower. And jumping back and forth between Jabez and Demona doesn't really help.

THE VILLAINS

There are two groups in this story. The Neanderthals and the Immortals. The Neanderthals hate the human race, and call themselves the True People. But they also hate the immortals because of supposed kidnappings.

Damona is one of the oldest among them so she ends up being a leader, even though she has spent most of her life alone building her machines. I don't know why she has forgone marriage and friendship. We don't get told why. You would think the Neanderthals would think the most important thing is to increase in numbers and marriage would be mandatory. But it's never discussed.

The immortals live forever but they cannot do this unless they switch out their bodies which wear our human bodies rather fast. But the younger the body the longer they last in it, which is way they look like children even though they are centuries old.

WOLFISH NATURE

In the beginning of the story, we learn that Kingsley has what he refers to as a “wolfish nature”. It's not quite clear what this entails, but it's a supposed danger to Kingsley and he has to fight to keep it in check. I say “supposed” because there is no mentioning of what trouble this has caused him in the past. If there was, that would result in oppressing it making sense to the story. But the there is never a moment in the story where he loses himself to this nature.

Kingsley never admits that he might be crazy and that he doesn't know what's wrong with him. In reality this should be a major problem for him if he has had this his whole life. But other than the fact that he admits he is a loner...it doesn't seem to have bothered him much. We mostly just get told about him struggling to keep himself in check.

THE TRUTH ABOUT KINGSLEY-SPOILERS

Kingsley never clarifies why he might have his "wolfish nature". And yet when Rudyard Kipling walks into the story for some exposition and reveals that Kingsley was raised by wolves, Kingsley isn't shocked or confused. He says he remembers being taken and not rescued and that he only ever felt love and safety in the wolf pack.

So he knew all along about the wolves raising him? He might have started with that. And if that was the case why did we need Kipling to tell the reader anything?

As for his abilities, he can sense danger sometimes and move stealthily. I think he can jump farther and move faster but it's not clarified. But Evadne never notices his skills nor does the author note how his skills are beyond human.

KINGSLEY & EVADNE

Kingsley's and Evadne's relationship doesn't make sense and it doesn't feel real. Minutes after Kingsley meets Evadne he is allowing her to travel home with him on the train. Though he knows nothing about her and is aware from his letter that he is going to be going through some personal issues. But he tells Evadne that he trusts her so that makes it acceptable.

On another note, later on, after they have been through life and death together Evadne says she has to run some personal errands and he can't come with because she doesn't trust him. Ouch.

Also for the most part, Evadne pushes the story while Kingsley goes along. He chooses to go home but it's Evadne who has all the knowledge, weapons and skills. It's she who has the hideout. It's she who has a grudge against the Immortals.

Kingsley's wolfish nature is rarely on display and instead of it being a superpower that might be useful (even if it may be dangerous as well) it's seen as a negative that must always be repressed. Even though we don't acknowledge it much in the story.

There are random parts in the story where it's obvious that Kingsley finds Evadne attractive. It's clumsily inserted and makes him look stupid and shallow. Once or twice I could have forgiven but it happens over and over again throughout the story.

Also a lot of the conversation between them attempts to be light-hearted banter but it gets annoying. And I kept finding Evadne obnoxious, as she was the one that always started this banter. It would have been fine if they sometimes confided in each other to contrast the banter, but they never did.

KINGSLEY'S ROLE-SPOILERS

As I mentioned previously, it's Evadne who knows everything, has all of the skills and has a hatred against the immortals. So why is Kingsley even involved? Turns out his wolfish nature makes him special to the Immortals and the Neanderthals.

I don't know how they learned about him since he hasn't actually done anything amazing with his nature. I guess they just learned that he was an orphan in India and found living in the forest.

They think his brain is special so they want to kill him and take it. That's it. We never learn if his brain really is special by the way. But since the Immortals take the brains out of all they kidnap and kill I guess they have special knowledge.

JABEZ & DEMONA

Jabez and Demona each get a few of their own chapters. They seem to have formed out of thin air and have no real history.

Demona has no family members or friends (she mentions she is a loner, but not why). Except for a grandmother named Signe who died long ago. She says she wants to restore the spirit of her people but she can't even make friends with one.

Jabez has no family members or friends. I guess he is a loner too. Again, we don't learn why. Just because Jabez is greedy and a liar doesn't mean he wouldn't have a girlfriend or a mother that he cared about it. But he has nothing, not even the vague histories that Kingsley and Evadne get.

Also, neither of these characters really get an arc. Jabez starts as a greedy liar and when it ends he hasn't changed. Demona starts as a loner desperate to erase the human race and she ends the story that way.

Damona says she may know who Kingsley really is, because of his behavior (she is told he seemed to change personalities, from passive to aggressive). But we never learn of how she knew of Kingsley's past.

Also when Jabez lies to Damona, telling her that the Immortals want her machines (he thinks it would be good for his business) instead of hating him I couldn't have cared less. I assumed it was important to the plot to cause trouble and that was all.

KINGLSEY & HIS FATHER

Kingsley admits his father never spoke of how he ended up taking care of him. Dr. Ward never married so his foster-son's upbringing wasn't the norm. I expected there to be some sort of conflict between them but for the most part their relationship was dull and lacking in importance to the plot.

There is only one scene where Dr. Ward shows some sign of regret, saying he was sorry not to make it to his son's first show. But that one line is all he gets. And Kingsley doesn't even react to it. We get the line and the chapter ends. We move on and it's never mentioned again.

And earlier Kingsley says his father never spoke about his origins. I guess this caused some sort of conflict but we don't talk about it nor do we get flashbacks to reveal these conflicts.

To say their relationship is neglected would be an understatement. Which is a detriment to the story because it starts out with the goal of saving his father and it becomes saving the world. His father becomes a footnote.

EVADNE'S SECRET-SPOILERS

About a third way in of the story Evadne admits she has a crusade. She has a list she keeps of people who hurt children. The Immortals are on that list. Kingsley's response is “Oh.”

Near the climax, she reveals that her little sister was kidnapped and never found. I found her story uninteresting to say the least. There is no indication of any relationship with her sister which would have made me sympathetic and invested in it.

Perhaps if Evadne had spent the story mentioning her little sister as her only friend and telling jokes and stories about her would have helped. Maybe letting the reader know what an impact her sister had on her. And then revealing that her sister was actually dead.

EVADNE'S INTENDED

Soon after Evadne meets Kingsley she reveals that the picture in her locket belongs to her “intended”. It's obvious that this man is made up although it's not until near the end of the story that she admits the truth.

When we first met her, she gets defensive, explaining that she is an albino and what names not to call her. So clearly she has been teased and bullied most of her life. And yet when she reveals that he is fake, she says it's to stop men from trying to date her.

So she has been bullied and harrassed but she is so beautiful she has to resort to making up a fake boyfriend? She is a victim because she is bullied and a victim because she is so gorgeous that all men desire her. She feels like a bad fanfiction character.

SMARTER THAN A MAN

More than halfway through the book, Evadne asks if Kingsley is bothered by the fact that she is smarter than him. Besides how arrogant this is (as if Evadne knowing a lot about weapons and technology makes her smarter than Kingsley on everything) it's unrealistic to give Kingsley some sort of twenthieth century feminist view on women. It's a pet peeve of mind that writers cannot put themselves in the place of any other time for fear of offending someone.

Any man would feel intimidated if a woman was constantly saving him and showing his ignorance. But Kingsley doesn't feel anything negative? Their relationship is quite dull and giving them an actual conflict would have done wonders. But Kingsley doesn't even confront her about her fake boyfriend.

IMPORTANT BOOKS

Kingsley finds books that Dr. Ward has written in the Neanderthals' possession because they needed it to make the time travel machine (even though this isn't explained).

I am assuming that these books were unpublished notes kept in a journal. Or else the Neanderthals would have had no reason to break into Dr. Ward's home to get them, they could have just broken into an unoccupied bookshop. This isn't clarified though and initially I was left confused.

You could say they wanted to kidnap Dr. Ward in his home, so they had to grab the books he had written while they were at it. Even so, it would probably be easier just to ransack some bookshops at night so they could take their time. Did most bookshops at the time have their owners reside in them? Maybe. Unfortunately it's all left to the reader to make sense of it.

You could argue that Neanderthals are not too bright but this is obviously not true as they manage to build a working time machine. If anything, they are geniuses.

THE OLYMPICS

Turns out the olympics are going to be held in London and the Immortals want to capture some sort of energy from the populace. Apparently, when large groups of people are together they produce a kind of energy called “animus” that isn't anything spiritual but more like a person's beliefs and morals.

I can't be any more specific than that because the story isn't. In fact, it seems to forget about this narrative altogether only to mention it near the end of the story. It comes across like an atheist attempting to find meaning and significance and failing.

TIME TRAVEL-SPOILERS

When exploring Kingsley and Evadne get surrounded by neanderthal. But they have just found the time machine and Kingsley says the only way to get out is to use it. So they end up traveling back in time to 1666 and witnessing the Great Fire of London.

The fact that they just got send more than two hundred years back in time should make them freak out. After all, the time machine doesn't go with them and they have no way of returning. But they just seem curious and maybe slightly unsettled. But I suppose both of them have no friends or family that they are attached to.

Soon afterwards they talk about living here and how they could do a lot of good. They just don't act like real people. Real people would be thinking about how hard it would be and what they would have to go without. They would think of catching a disease and dying. They would be regretting getting into this mess in the first place.

CLIMAX

Evadne and Kingsley seperate, her to stop the immortals and Kingsley to save his father. After this they meet up with Kipling and have tea. Evadne and Kingsley plan to go into show business together.

CONCLUSION

The problems with the story are multitude. The characters are shallow and don't really have arcs. Not to mention they don't make sense becase they are never fleshed out.

Kingsley has a wolfish nature that apparently has never done anything but make him look weird. Not once in the story does it cause him anything more than a slight inconvenience. Evadne is really smart and so beautiful that she has to make up a fake boyfriend. She has been bullied her whole life because she is an albino. So she is a victim and super gorgeous like a mary sue.

Neither Kingsley nor Evadne have relationships with anyone but each other. Kingsley likes his foster father but no information is given as to why. Also the father is only in a few pages of the story.

Jabez and Damona have even less personality, relationships and history.

The story itself is original but unfortunately that's all I can say about it. Neither the Immortals or the Neanderthals make compelling villains, even though the leader of the Neanderthals is a side character.

I give “The Extraordinaires” one and a half stars. Because the story idea and the world itself were original.

Book Review: "The Supernaturalist" by Eoin Colfer

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Cosmo lives in a dystopian world called Satellite City. There he meets a group of kids who explain it's their mission to save the city, and it turns out that Cosmo has a special ability that can help.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Cosmo is a young orphan who only dreams of being free. He is socially awkward but brave.

Stefan is the leader of a group of kids. He is the oldest and the most passionate about his job, to the point of being obsessive.

Mona is a young Hispanic girl who loves working on cars.

Ditto is a bartoli baby, a being who was experimented on and resembles a small child, even though he is actually much older. He is usually sarcastic and rarely lets down his guard.

PACING

The pacing is decent. The story jumps straight into action with a short introduction to Cosmo and his world. We learn different things about the world as we go along.

MONA & COSMO

Cosmo ends up saving Mona's life early on, so she admits she owes him. This also causes her to defend him to Ditto and say that he's different. Although I felt this was kind of forced, as they had only spent a short time together.

COSMO & STEFAN

Cosmo admires Stefan, realizing he has to make tough decisions. As well as wanting his approval. And yet I never felt that Stefan was any sort of mentor figure, not even a big brother.

Not to mention that Stefan admits he doesn't want to be responsible for Cosmo, so he doesn't quite feel like a leader.

To be fair, it's not as if Cosmo goes along full heartedly with what Stefan wants. He wonders if hunting parasites is really what he wants to do. Stefan does eventually confide in Cosmo, but I feel as though its because we were getting closer to the climax, not because they had grown any closer.

MONA'S HESITATION

There is a scene where Mona asks if they should try to prevent a disaster. The parasites show up only where trouble is. I thought it was strange that Mona was asking this as if they had never hunted before.

THE WORLD

Cosmo's world is one full of overpopulation, pollution and most other catastrophe claims that we have all heard made over and over through the decades. We learn some over time, but most of it is summarized by Faustino when she explains what she is doing in trying to save the world.

POINT OF VIEW

For the most part, Cosmo tells the story and we stay in his head. But there a few scenes completely told by other characters. Ditto, for example, explains his past to the reader. And we also jump inside Stefan's head a few times. Mona gets a short time.

I think the point was to share with the reader about the characters. We learn that Mona hasn't felt pretty for a long time. I just think I would have preferred hints, like Cosmo saying she was pretty and Mona being surprised.

SPELL IT OUT-SPOILERS

It turns out that Stefan used to work for the police but after his mother died in an accident, he quit. He blames himself and the parasites for her death. We don't learn these specific details until later.

But we do get a scene right off the bat, where Stefan goes to his mother's grave and imagines her telling him that whenever he saves someone from a parasite, he's saving her.

I thought this was kind of on the nose, and would rather it had been hinted at, and perhaps Cosmo has to investigate, or earn Stefan's trust. And then the reader would be rewarded.

WELFARE FOR ALL

In the beginning of the story, when we see the orphanage that Cosmo is at, there is a brief mention that it has to run by its own money, not others. It gets no welfare from the government. I thought it was odd to mention, as if getting the government involved would magically make it better. When in reality it would most likely be run by bureaucrats who would just throw money at the problem.

Later on, welfare is mentioned again, and its put center stage when we meet Ella Faustino. It's so strange, because the center of the story is about the parasites, the corrupt cops and the corrupt corporation. And yet the solution to the messed up city is...welfare. It's just so random and illogical.

It's political and feels shoved in. Same with the idea that nuclear power is the greatest evil, has caused the most harm and must be destroyed. Kind of just thrown in near the climax.

THE ADULTS' FAULT

There is one scene where Stefan points out that the adults have screwed things up (so a stranger can trust them). And apparently...it's the fact that they are adult that makes them bad? Not greed. Not narcissism. Just being adult. Luckily children are immune to such things.

It came across as childish and naive.

In another scene, Stefan thinks that a character could not want him killed, because they are a scientist. Not for any any actual reason, like being longtime friends and a mentor. It was just another example of stupidity.

COSMO'S IDEA-SPOILERS

Stefan make a huge decision, telling everyone they have to quit hunting parasites. And then two seconds later changes his mind. I get its because Cosmo has to contribute something important to the plot. He is crucial, but it just makes Stefan look weak willed. And he was anything but, before this.

Later on, Cosmo ends up being important. He realizes that he is the only one who can go on a mission because of the size of a uniform. Not to mention he helps them find a maintenance hatch to get in. In that way, he is important twice. I don't actually think we needed the first part, since we had the second.

OUR CARTOON VILLAIN-SPOILERS

It turns out that Ella has always been working for Myishi, and was simply pretending to work for the Police academy, when she knew Stefan. She ends up making a speech about not caring about anyone and just wanting money (after she has been exposed).

But the thing was, she already made a speech before this. A better one, where her intention was clearly to save the world, even if she had to give herself way too much power to do so.

If Ellen had been shown to believe what she was doing was right and if that had stayed that way, she would have been a convincing villain. Instead she comes off as silly stereotype of the greedy corporation owner.

THE TRUTH ABOUT PARASITES-SPOILERS

Blue beetle looking creatures that only some can see, appear whenever people are injured and close to death. They cling to those and seem to kill them faster.

There is a twist, where Stefan finds out he was wrong about them. And then he finds out both he and Faustino were wrong. I actually would have liked if there hadn't been a second twist, and Stefan had indeed been manipulated to do Faustino's dirty work. And had been helping the parasites grow. To live with that would be tough.

THE TRUTH ABOUT DITTO-SPOILERS

It is eventually revealed that Ditto has the power to heal and knows the truth about the parasites. When Mona finds out, Stefan does too. And he is furious at being lied to. I felt bad for Ditto but never felt any real closeness between him and Stefan. Both never got beyond their masks, Ditto with his sarcasm and Stefan with his obsession.

Also, I thought that Stefan was overreacting. After all, it was not as if Ditto ever put any of them in danger. And I just didn't feel like this added anything to the story. I know the others had to learn the truth about Ditto, I just didn't care for how it was done.

MAIN CHARACTER

Cosmo wonders about his parents and who they were, but for the most part, he has no past. And he has no real goals, other than to be free. Because of this, I found Stefan the most interesting character and also the character that pushed all of the other characters.

Also, I found that events that were the most important, didn't have a strong emotional effect on me. Like when we reveal the truth about Stefan's mom. I would almost have had the story start with him as a cop then flash forward then back to the accident with his mom. Or flash back to a much longer scene about it. Either way, just make him the focus.

And when we meet Faustino, I wanted to be shocked. I wanted to have known Faustino and seen how close she had been with Stefan and his mother. Instead I felt detached because I watched it from Cosmo's view point. Seeing them hug and assuming they had been close. Though I knew nothing about it.

And when Stefan gets a revelation and has his world turned upside down, I felt as though he was supposed to be the most important character.

THE STEEL PLATE

In the beginning, after being rescued, Cosmo gets plate put in his head. This ends up playing into the climax. I like how it became important, like a puzzle piece put in last.

CLIMAX

The group decides to have one last mission, but not to harm the parasites, to strike a blow against the Myishi corporation. Things end up backfiring when they get caught and have to form another plan. Stefan makes a dramatic decision.

AN AFTERLIFE-SPOILERS

Ditto eventually reveals that there is an after \life and that he has seen it. I thought this was strange and just thrown in. Also, it kind of gave Stefan an out so he could get killed and not really care. It wasn't done out of bravery. It was done because he knew he could go see his mom.

PROBLEMS IN THE CITY-SPOILERS

The city moves around like a huge puzzle, and lately its been screwing up. Pieces going in the wrong place. This is important to the plot as its later revealed. Although it's not really solved.

In fact after the finale it feels like things just go back to normal. We get a scene where Ellen Faustino has survived, which doesn't make much sense. If she survived, then wouldn't Stefan have survived too?

She gets a scolding from her corporate overlord and the mayor (who is corrupt, but hopefully we'll still get welfare) and is sent away. But those in power don't seem threatened but what happened. They are still going forward with building another reactor.

CONCLUSION

The story idea was interesting. I liked the idea of the parasites being a confusing subject. And the pacing was good. Also there was some good use of humor throughout.

But I felt like Stefan should have been the main character, not Cosmo. Perhaps he originally was, but when the author decided on the ending he switched it to Cosmo.

Also the relationships seemed lacking. Stefan saved Mona, but he never comes off as a caring person, and I had a hard time understanding why he and his friends ended up together.

Also there were moments where the characters come off as stupid, which I don't think was intentional.

I give “The Supernaturalist” two and half stars.