Seven Wonders [Audiobook] [MP3 CD]

Seven Wonders
Author: Adam Christopher
Publisher: Angry Robot books:
Release date: 6 Sept 2012
Page Count: 416pp
Reviewer: Adrian Middleton

In the wake of his debut novel, Empire State, Adam Christopher steps sideways from the noir city to the shining superhero city of San Ventura to bring us a trip into the four colour world of the Seven Wonders, the last great superhero team, protecting the world and, in particular, the West Coast of America, from the last supervillain team up, The black-clad Cowl and his girl-wonder sidekick, Blackbird.

The pulp style of the novel gets the story off to a cracking start, with a touch that made me believe the book started life as a comic script rather than a novel. Each paragraph feels as if it's describing an individual comic-book panel which, while giving the feel of authenticity to the piece, made me feel bereft of the depth that the prose of a novel, rather than a graphic novel, can bring.

More influenced by the superhero universes of DC and Wildstorm comics - particularly Batman, Superman and The Authority - Christopher's world is filled with shades of grey, enthusiastically raising questions about the morality of its heroes and villains, making the reader question who are the real heroes and villains throughout the story.

The story follows the lives of the Cowl, San Ventura's greatest billionnaire-supervillain, as his powers are mysteriously on the wane, the city's newest hero, Tony Prosdocimi, and Blackbird, whose own motivations drive the story forward at a speed more like that of a cancelled soap opera than a speeding bullet.

Ultimately is the soap element - the relationships between the characters and their interactions with the San Ventura police and the Seven Wonders themselves - which drives the story forward. Unfortunately, the promised depth isn't forthcoming, and the story dwells more on set-pieces like the protagonist's fight to come to terms first with the emergence of his superman-like powers (clearly inspired by Larry Niven's seminal essay 'Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex') and on the TV-style police procedural investigation by Sam Millar and Joe Milano, cops from a SuperCrime department responsible for dealing with the city's super-powered community on zero budget. These are nice vignettes, but they don't make up for weak characters who go through the motions with tenuous motives.

The book has some great moments, but they pass quickly, stopping short of what could have been comic-book gold had they been explored in the four-colour medium. Take an early scene where the Cowl touches upon the question: who is acting in the best interests of the city? Aloof heroes with no connection to the people, or career criminals who know every corner of the neighbourhoods they grew up in, protecting their territory while perpetrating crimes in other parts of the city. Unfortunately, when moments like this appear, they fade quickly and are not returned to, making potentially great thematic story elements into little more than passing thoughts.

Ultimately this brings me to the conclusion that as pulp prose, Seven Wonders should have been a comic book, and not a novel. Yes, it is light, action paced and entertaining, with lots of twists and turns as the story progresses, but ultimately without pictures to add depth to some fairly weak characterisation, the book leaves me just a little too under-whelmed.

Tony Prosdocimi lives in the bustling metropolis of San Ventura - a city utterly gripped by fear, a city under siege by the hooded supervillain, The Cowl.

When Tony develops super-powers and acts to take down The Cowl, however, he finds that the local superhero team, the Seven Wonders, aren't anything like as grateful as he assumed they would be...

I am, and always will be, a comic book geek at heart. Before I developed a passion for reading novels I grew up with 2000AD, Marvel and DC. I still try to read comics whenever I can but now a lot of my time is taken up by books and reviewing. The idea of reading something that captures the best elements of the comic book medium and translates them successfully certainly intrigues.

San Ventura is glorious amalgam of every other comic book city that you've ever read. With liberal doses of Gotham, Metropolis and Star City, it serves as the perfect backdrop for all the action. From a comic book fan's standpoint, there can't be anything better than huge epic battles where heroes and villains duke it out, trashing buildings and destroying scenery in the process. Add in some cosmic shenanigans of an apocalyptic nature and you're on to a winner.

Seven Wonders isn't all about the action though. Christopher also takes time to dissect the building blocks of superhero/supervillain mythology. What does it take to be a hero, or indeed a villain? Can one exist without the other? Given the opportunity what would an average person do if they were suddenly extraordinary? In my experience a lot of comic book stories tend to put the hero, and the villain for that matter, on a bit of a pedestal. They are to be idolized and worshiped. I'm glad that the author doesn't stick with that traditional view, instead the characters and their flaws are revealed, warts and all.

The Cowl is undoubtedly the most complex character in the novel. You get to learn his motivations and the relationship between his sidekick, Blackbird, is a highlight. I don't want to give anything away story-wise, but the eagle eyed amongst you are bound to spot the reverential nods to various other famous heroes as you learn more and more of The Cowl's history. There are some great revelations as the plot unfolds and, in particular, this character's journey is Superhero/Supervillain deconstruction 101.

My only minor gripe, and it is minor, is that it would have been nice if some of the other characters got a bit more time to shine. I particularly like the speedster Linear, and was a little disappointed that I didn't get to learn as much about him as I would have liked. The Cowl and his alter-ego are fully explored but this is at the detriment of some of the other cast. I suppose this may just be wishful thinking on my part. There is a page at one point which lists a whole host of superhero names and, I'll be honest, I'd happily read about each and every one.

It's obvious that this author is a huge comic book fan and the love he has for his subject shines through on every page. Put it this way, if Christopher's first novel, Empire State, is a knowing tip of the hat to all things golden age (it so is - Ed.) then Seven Wonders celebrates the modern comic book with equal aplomb.

Seven Wonders is an utterly absorbing read but there is part of me that would love to see it reborn as a graphic novel, or an animated series. It would be great to see an artist's interpretation of Christopher's characters. The story is so good and the characters so well observed that they scream out for some sort of visual development.

I remember being blown away the first time I read, the now classic comic book, Marshall Law by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill. They took what were well-established conventions at the time and turned them all squarely on their head. Christopher has achieved the same nigh on impossible task here with Seven Wonders, and even manages to make it look easy. He has subtly subverted the superhero genre by removing black and white, the good guys and the bad guys, and leaving us with the far more interesting, morally ambigious, shades of grey. More please!

I was excited when I found this book and *really* enjoyed reading parts of it. The set-piece fight scene (I'm trying to avoid spoilers) really got my heart rate up and I thought some of the twists were utter genius, I just didnt see them coming. But then... I felt it lost it's way and almost changed genres. Ultimately, I enjoyed it and I may even read it again. But I'm mainly a little annoyed because it came so close to being great.