Book Review: Worst Hero Ever by Archer Thorn
Disclaimer: I received a download of this book through the Booksirens program for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
Jim Riven used to be a minor superhero along with his sister Summer. She was Lock, with computer powers, while he was Lode, with electrical control. They cleaned up some gangs in their home town of Highguard. Then Lock was recruited by the world’s greatest hero team, the Spectrum, through the Dare program to become one of their support team, the Prism. It didn’t last very long before Summer died in a supervillain battle. That was ten years ago.
Jim tried to carry on as Lode for a short time, but he’d already struggled to stay motivated without his partner, and now that his sister was dead, it seemed pointless. He bought a dive bar to be the bartender of, and sank into a comfortable cynicism. He wanted nothing more to do with heroism.
But now the Spectrum has decided to restart the Dare to recruit new members for the Prism. And a mysterious contact reveals Summer might in fact be alive, somewhere on the Spectrum’s orbital headquarters. The contact gives Jim a false identity to allow him to infiltrate the Dare, but is maddeningly short on straight answers.
The local pickup point is in the nearby city of Cloudguard, and by chance Jim is assembled with three other hero prospects. Kelvin, who turns out to be a elementary school friend of Jim’s but is also here under an assumed name, so is willing not to let on to Jim’s real identity, and has invisibility-related powers. Natalie, an energetic and optimistic young woman who can summon rocks and stone. And Zoe, a standoffish but hot woman who supplements overall competency with something called “Aethyr.” We’ll soon learn they’re all hiding secrets.
The Dare turns out to be a deceptively simple-sounding challenge. Get from the top of the satellite headquarters to the bottom, first seven there get to join the Prism. The standard catch is that the Spectrum and current Prism members will be trying to stop you. The new, unexpected twist is that they will be using lethal force. Deliberately to kill you. Jim doesn’t think that’s something the world’s greatest superheroes should be doing.
Can Jim and his newfound allies win, or even survive the Dare, or will their hidden motivations sabotage their efforts? Is Summer really alive and in what condition? And why have the Spectrum turned murderous?
Good: While the Spectrum is very obviously based on the Justice League with its “big seven” of whom several are one-for-one expies, and its satellite headquarters, there’s enough variation not to just “be” the Justice League, and the Prism supers are more varied.
Jim and his initial three teammates get a decent amount of backstory and characterization, with Jim having the most character development. He’s forced to confront his cynicism and rediscover his heroic instincts, as well as learn that he’s far more powerful than he ever thought he could be.
We also get a little bit of characterization for other potential recruits–one of them is only too willing to resort to killing to curry favor with the Spectrum’s new direction.
There’s a handy glossary at the end.
Less good: You’ll notice from the cover reproduced above that this is “Book One of the Black Cape Saga.” This turns out to mean that the book ends not with the resolution of the first plotline, but in the middle of it, just stopping as our protagonists enter a new area of the satellite, with a stinger suggesting that Summer is indeed still alive. If this sort of thing frustrates you, this book might not be your first choice.
This also means that the three new teammates introduced late in this book get a minimum of characterization, making it a bit hard to care about them.
Content notice: Lethal violence. Some rough language. Bullying. Teens up should be able to handle this.
This is decent enough superhero action, but the not-ending is annoying, and you may want to wait until the sequel is out to see if it can stick the landing.
