A review by trike
Turbulence by Samit Basu

4.0

This book is a lot of fun. Basu manages to have his cake and eat it, too, by both honoring traditional superhero stories and subverting them. By throwing the occasional monkey wrench into the story, he avoids it all feeling formulaic, and by mixing up the introspection with action he keeps the tale moving right along.

Superhero stories run the risk of being an author's power fantasy, but I didn't detect much of a Marty Stu here. The protagonists mess up colossally and their screw-ups don't get rectified with neat solutions. Usually the writer's avatar is the voice of reason, but here everyone makes mistakes as they learn about their powers and attempt to put them to use.

I'm in for the next one.