Seven Wonders

by Adam Christopher, Will Staehle (Illustrator)

Tony Prosdocimi lives in the bustling Metropolis of San Ventura — a city gripped in 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 Seven Wonders aren’t as grateful as he assumed they’d be…

Genres: Science Fiction, Superheroes, Fantasy, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Ebooks, Young Adult

411 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Adam Christopher is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith and Master of Evil,  Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town. He has also written official tie-in novels for the hit CBS television show Elementary and the award-winning Dishonored video game franchise.

Co-creator of the twenty-first-century incarnation of Archie Comics superhero The Shield, Adam has also written for the universes of Doctor Who and World of Warcraft, and is a contributor to the internationally bestselling Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View anniversary anthology series and the all-ages Star Wars Adventures comic.

Adam’s original novels include Made to Kill and The Burning Dark, among many others, and his debut novel Empire State was both a SciFi Now and Financial Times book of the year.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

San Ventura is helpless against super villain The Cowl's reign of terror and even its resident superheroes, the Seven Wonders, are powerless to stop him. However, the Cowl's powers begin to wane as a retail wage slave named Tony Prosdocimi finds himself gaining more powers by the day. Will Tony take down the Cowl and join the Seven Wonders?

For months now, I've been looking for a good superhero novel. Now I've found it!

Seven Wonders is a lot deeper than my quick summary indicates. Nothing is black and white. The familiar Spider-Man quote "With great power comes great responsibility" would have made a great title for it.

The characters are an interesting bunch. Tony Prosdocmi is a slacker that sells electronics at a chain store and wakes up with super powers one day. The Cowl is an analogue of both Batman and Superman and is the villain of the piece but is much more than that. He's by far the most interesting character in the first half of the book. The Cowl's sidekick, The Blackbird, is also his lover and tech expert. The members of The Seven Wonders, Aurora's Light, Sand Cat, the Dragon Star, Linnear, Hephasteus, SMART, and Bluebell, are meant to be analogues of the Justice League or The Avengers. I would have liked to see them more developed. Aurora's Light and Linnear are clearly meant to be Superman and The Flash. The others are a little harder to identify. The linchpin characters, however, are Sam Millar and Joe Milano, members of San Ventura's SuperCrime unit.

The story covers a lot of comic book ground in it's 400-something pages. Tony's story initially reminds me of Spider-Man as he learns to use his powers. The Cowl's is the story of decline and redemption. Millar and Milano's story is a lot like Gotham Central at the beginning. As for the Seven Wonders, I can't help but think of works like Watchmen and Garth Ennis's The Boys. Somewhere around the halfway mark, the stakes raise dramatically and it becomes one of those huge mega-crossovers where the world is at stake.

The writing is as you would expect for fiction of this type but Adam Christopher delivers the goods with the tools he has. He has a lot of balls in the air and boggles them a couple times toward the end but all in all does a spectacular job. My favorite parts of the book are Tony's rise and fall and the Cowl's fall and redemption. Great stuff. I like this a lot more than his previous book, Empire State.

Seven Wonders should be a pleasing read for all super hero fans. Four easy stars. I'd like to see what Adam Christopher could do writing the Justice League or the Avengers.

[sj · Rating 5 out of 5]

[sigh]  Another amazing cover from the folks over at Angry Robot Books.

I'm not going to waste time talking about how awesome I think the cover is, though (even if I do), I want to talk about the book itself.  Or...try to, anyway.

"What?  Try?  What is she talking about?  SJ NEVER HAS A PROBLEM TALKING ABOUT BOOKS!"

This time I do.

There are (sadly) few books that make me feel like this one did.  That feeling you I get where you I want to grab random people on the street by their lapels while shouting "Holy crap, HAVE YOU READ THIS?!" and waving a copy in their faces.  (Note:  I do not actually accost strangers, promise)

So, yeah - Seven Wonders will be for me this year what Ready Player One was last year.  That's not to say it can be compared to RP1, though - they're not really anything alike.  I did brandish it at people for months, so they're similar in that respect.

I'm sure you're all thinking "Yeah, yeah, but are you going to tell us what it's about?"  Um...bare-bones, it's a book about a superhero named Tony.

Don't worry if you're not into superhero fiction, I'm not usually either.   Within the first few pages, I was sucked into the fictional California town of San Ventura, desperate to know what was going to happen next with Tony, The Cowl, Blackbird, Aurora's Light, Dragon Star and Linear.  Yeah, I know that sounds like a lot of names to keep straight, but everyone has a distinct personality and you won't have any problem keeping up.  If I weren't also doing the Tolkien re-read right now, I probably would have finished it in a day then cried because I didn't have it to look forward to anymore.

I feel like kind of a jerk for being so vague about the story, but I'm really frightened of spoiling anything for anyone, especially since the book won't even be out until August (September if you're in the UK - sorry, British readers).

I had so many passages highlighted that made me laugh OR creeped me the hell out OR were JUST SO awesome I wanted to share - but I'm not going to.  I really hope you'll all take the time to discover them on your own.  The only one I'm willing to share sums up the story fairly perfectly:

That was a special case. A game, super cat and mighty mouse. It had gone on too long, too far.

Five enthusiastic stars, and bonus points cos two of my favourite people that live in my computer have their names dropped in the book (one's name is given to a pizza place, the other is a superhero).  I like knowing that an author I enjoy has friends in common with me -as well as a shared favourite band.

You can find pre-order links and information on the author's website, go order yourself a copy now and try not to stare forlornly at your mailbox while you wait for it to arrive.

Thanks to Angry Robot for the eARC and to Adam for writing such a fantastic book.  I'll be re-reading soon (and pre-ordering for my actual bookshelves).

[Chris Bauer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was listening to a podcast last week which pointed out the lack of superhero sci-fi and described it as an unusual minority in the genre. So I made a point to pick up a couple of recent books which had that theme.

I've read Adam Christopher's "Empire State" before and was disappointed by the work but I figured I'd give his newest novel "Seven Wonders" a try.

I think it was the most frustrating book I've read all year. And that really bothered me. I've listened to interviews and read articles by Adam Christopher and really enjoy what he has to say. Angry Robot is bringing in the best new talent in the field and cranking out dozens of books every month. But I could not enjoy "Seven Wonders."

PROS:
- There were several elements of jaw-dropping, eyebrow-raising WTF moments and reveals.
- Lots of action scenes. And I mean, lots and LOTS of action.
- Christopher does an admirable job of addressing the different dynamics at work in 4 color comics.
- The names, powers and backgrounds of the characters were interesting.
- Followed a conventional 3 Act structure which made the plot easy to follow...sort of.

CONS:
- Few of those awesome elements described above were fully harvested for maximum effect.
- Superficial, bland characters with little more depth than the paper they're printed on.
- Numerous plot holes and back story which is NEVER addressed.
- Much of the plot makes no sense. I don't want to spoil anything by making specific citations.
- Way too much TELL, not nearly enough SHOW.
- Some truly head-scratching descriptions and prose -- "...he ascended vertically..." "...she pogoed upward.." [yes, the word is pogoed] and a vast profusion of needless adverbs and dialogue tags.
- Seemed as though the chronology was really choppy at many times.
- Some of the least smooth chapter transitions and POV hopping I've read in a while.
- The last 1/3 of the book is a non-stop series of "Wait. What? Who? Why are they doing that?!"

I have to admit I felt bad for not enjoying "Seven Wonders" more. I guess I was just hoping for A LOT more depth to the work.

It may be a stylistic thing, but I don't think I was the reader Adam Christoper was writing for in this work.

[Tasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The latest in a growing wave of superhero novels starts off with a young man who's suddenly developing superpowers, to his delight, especially when it means he can join the fight against The Cowl, the horrific, murderous supervillain who's terrorized his city for years. But once he gets involved, he finds out the Seven Wonders, the superheroes who supposedly protect his city, aren't what they appear to be, and they've been consciously tolerating the status quo for years.

This sounds like a great plot, but this book doesn't carry it out past the setup. The prose is frustratingly focused on tiny details that are irrelevant to the story and the action that's going on — during a conversation between two people, the author will keep pausing over and over to note when one of them takes a sip of a drink or a bite of food, for instance — at the expense of the important details. All of the significant characters are incredibly inconsistent in their characterizations and motivations, with major plotlines petering out into nothing without explanation — for instance, one major character seeks revenge against another for the murder of her parents and taking life-changing steps for both of them as a result, but then neither of them ever actually addresses it again, and they even work together again without reaching any catharsis, confrontation, or conclusion. All the excess detail makes the book move irritatingly slowly for a novel full of action, and yet most of the action comes from abruptly, with little to no motivation, changing bad guys into good guys and vice versa, sometimes repeatedly. I could almost hear the author thinking "What a twist!" as he flip-flopped the sides yet again, but by that time, I didn't believe in any of these characters. There's a lot of excitement and energy and action going on in this book, but I wish it had stuck with developing the story it started with — or for that matter, any of the many subplots it laid out after abandoning that one.

[Milo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original Post: http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/07/...

“An awesome novel that is one of my favourites so far this year. For those who thought that Christopher’s Empire State would be the best of his novels, then think again - Seven Wonders is much better. Reads like a superhero comic book in novel form. Unmissable.” ~The Founding Fields


Empire State was one of the novels that I read towards the end of 2011, and the only reason why it wasn’t included in my Best of 2011 list was because it was well, an Advanced Review and the actual publication of Adam Christopher’s first novel is due in 2012. So, Empire State was the first novel on my Best of 2012 list, before the year had even started – I was completely blown away by it.

And now, with Seven Wonders, Adam Christopher’s second novel that is not a sequel to Empire State, but a new novel that could potentially be the start of its own series, Christopher has managed to blow me away yet again - Seven Wonders has just become one of my favourite novels of 2012, making it two out of two. Seven Wonders is probably going to be high on my list for best novel of 2012 as well, competing with Empire State and several other novels that have been released. It was that good.

Tony Prosdocimi lives in the bustling Metropolis of San Ventura – a city gripped in 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 Seven Wonders aren’t as grateful as he assumed they’d be…
The blurb tells you the basics of the plot, but in reality, Seven Wonders will take you completely by surprise if you go into it expecting something along the lines of the aforementioned blurb. Sure, that’s included in there as well, but you get a lot more action and awesomeness than you bargained for, and I’m going to say something here – the actual plot is a lot better than what the blurb makes it out to be, and that made me enjoy the novel even more. It’s fast, action-packed and reminds me to epic graphic novels such as Watchmen, only in prose form. The plot’s complicated and with several twists and turns, you never know where you’re going to end up.

If you want to read some superhero fiction that isn’t a graphic novel/comic book, then Seven Wonders will be the perfect place to start. It can be read as a standalone and is not a sequel to Empire State (that’s Christopher’s next book, Age of Atomic), and its ending allows the opportunity for a sequel (which you won’t think is possible until you get there). The prose is fantastic and there isn’t a dull moment, with the author managing to keep you reading throughout. With praise heaped upon it by authors such as Greg Rucka (Alpha, the Punisher), Mike Carey (The Unwritten, X-Men) and Phillip Palmer (Hell Ship, Artemis) and more, Seven Wonders is one that you will not want to miss out on.

The characters are many and varied, and in this book Christopher includes more superheroes than you’ve ever seen in one novel before, using up any names that haven’t already been thought of, which characters such as the Dragon Star, Aurora’s Light and many more being included to ramp up the tension and create some epic scenes that will keep your eyes glued to the page (or the screen, if you’re reading an eBook version of this like I was), with development happening throughout the novel. The main focus is split equally between the Seven Wonders, the superhero group that are the main ‘heroes’ of the novel, as well as Tony Prosdocimi, who starts off as your average Joe living in a city filled with the extraordinary, who allows the reader to get an interesting perspective to superheroes, one that we don’t often see in the comic books. (Or at least, the ones that I’ve read anyway). I should point out that Tony’s transformation and the journey that he takes is an epic, action-packed one full of twists and turns, and by the end of the novel his virtually unrecognisable from the character that he was at the beginning.

As well as the superheroes and Tony, we’re also given the POV of the main super villain, the Cowl – and his accomplice, Blackbird. Both are the main villains for the first half of the novel and Christopher has even allowed for the Cowl to develop as a character over the course of the novel, and he, like Tony – undergoes a massive journey throughout the book. Blackbird is also an interesting character to look at, and she is also a key player (perhaps even more so than the Cowl himself) in Seven Wonders.

The world building of Seven Wonders is fantastically created, and set in the fictional metropolis of San Ventura, Christopher has fully fleshed out the city including various locations such as Wonder Tower (the Seven Wonders HQ) that get visited over the course of the novel, and has managed to do this without bogging down the story.

Verdict: 5/5

[Tarynwanderer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a not-so-secret love of comic books, graphic novels, manga–whatever you want to call it. In high school, going to the local bookstore (a Borders, RIP) was a treat, something saved for my post-birthday cash, and allowed me to amass a pretty solid collection of graphic novels, including Battle Royale, Peach Girl, and Inu-Yasha. Though I’ve been out of high school for eight years now, I still enjoy a good comic now and then: Watchmen, Fables, The Walking Dead.

I give this back story to illustrate that I am not some sort of comics snob. I think they can be fantastic stories, legitimate works of art, and a great way to encourage reluctant readers of all ages to read. Comics have a wonderful history, and many leave behind a wonderful legacy.

So it is not meant (entirely) as an insult when I say that I think Seven Wonders, by Adam Christopher, would have been more successful as a comic book.

Seven Wonders tells the story of Tony, an average guy who wakes up one morning to find he has superpowers. Superpowers–and more importantly, superheroes–already exist in this world, and Tony happens to live in the city of San Ventura, which has its very own superteam called (you guessed it) the Seven Wonders. Tony not only wants to join the team, but also wants to one-up them by capturing the last known operating supervillain, the Cowl, and his sidekick Blackbird. Along the way, we meet Detective Sam Millar, who has her own plans to capture the Cowl.

I’ve actually streamlined the story quite a bit, and the climax/plot resolution ends up having very little to do with what I’ve detailed above. (There are aliens involved.) Part of the problem with Seven Wonders is that it tries to do too many things at once, cramming in multiple twists and reveals that range from obvious to out-there. To use the terms from one of my favorite time-sucks, TV Tropes, there are heel face turns, Clark Kenting, I’m not a hero, I’m…, and Phlebotinum batteries galore.

Now, if it had been a comic book, the multiple cliff-hangers and twists would have been perfect spots for issues to end; an 8-issue mini-series would have been ideal, I think. The shorter format of comic books allows for these sort of fast-paced ebbs and flows of plot, whereas in a book, it’s just sort of tiring and unrealistic. This character is good! Now he’s bad. Now he’s dead! Now he’s even badder. Now he’s good again. I can buy that in the almost soap-operatic pages of a comic, but not in the black-and-white pages of a book. I needed more build-up and more justification, and there is room for that in prose novels.

I did like that we had multiple point-of-view characters, including the Cowl, Tony, Sam, SMART (the robot member of the Seven Wonders), Blackbird, and Dragon Star. The attempts to distinguish their voices were largely successful, though everything tended to be written with a casual, conversational tone. Again, that’s something you often see in comics (though certainly not all comics). Sometimes I felt that the prose veered into “too casual” territory; Christopher, for example, seems preoccupied with detailing how his characters eat and drink as they talk:

‘I wonder why the FBI were interested in that shooting?’ Joe lifted the lid on his drink, apparently admitting defeat as he gently blew across the surface of his coffee.

Sam kept the straw of her milkshake in her mouth. ‘What shooting? She took another delightfully chilled mouthful.

This doesn’t really achieve anything other than avoiding using the word “said,” and bogging down any potential action and exposition.

And while I enjoy comic books, there are admittedly some topics that comic authors struggle to handle sensitively–the treatment of women and people of color being one. While the character of Sam is strong and independent (and often the one person speaking any sense), Seven Wonders members Bluebell and Sand Cat are carictures. Bluebell is called a “bitch” numerous times–the only superhero to be called that, and the only superhero to be called an expletive in the first place. (“Wow, somebody really didn’t like Jean Grey/Sue Storm.” – me) Sand Cat, a woman as well as someone of Middle Eastern descent, is spoken about derisively by someone trying to mimic a Haitian accent, and accused of using voodoo. Again, the origins of the other (white) heroes are not called into question. Sand Cat is also one of only two main characters of color, the other being Sam Millar’s fellow detective, the ambiguously Hispanic Joe Milano.

Overall, while this is a good effort at translating the content and action of a comic book to a novel, Seven Wonders is not as fun as reading an actual graphic novel. For those new to comics, I recommend Fables, Watchmen, or anything by Gail Simone.

I received this book free for review from the publisher, Angry Robot Books, through NetGallery. Seven Wonders will be published on August 28th, 2012.

Bookwanderer Rating: Two and a half out of five stars
Bookwanderer Tagline: “Everybody in the whole world was the center of their own life drama. Everybody was their own superhero, everybody was a good guy.”

This review is also posted on Bookwanderer.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of superhero fiction. I don't actually read that much, mostly because it comes in the form of comics and graphic novels. I don't have anything against those. They're just not my typical jam.

The sudden trend towards writing about superheroes in the novel form is a boon to me, then, because the novel is my jam. (I'm a little pessimistic about the shelf life of the novel as a form in the digital age, but that's another story.) In particular, in this translation of superheroes from pens and ink to the primarily written word, some writers are deconstructing the tropes of the superhero genre. Instead of writing stories that embrace the conventional attributes of the superhero and their role in the plot, these writers question what it means to be a superhero and explore the ramifications of a world in which people with superpowers exist and actually fight crime. In short, many superhero novels take a realist approach to the genre, something I find intriguing.

I wouldn't go so far as to call Seven Wonders realist, but it certainly has echoes of this approach. The superheroes in this novel age (for the most part), and there are physical consequences to their powers (except for those heroes powered by magic). However, Adam Christopher definitely questions the idea that superheroes are always a force for good and supervillains are always a force for evil. He casts doubt on the moral superiority of superheroes and questions whether great power, while conferring great responsibility, should also confer great privilege.

San Ventura is a distorted twin to the Metropolis of DC comics. In fact, it is part of a larger world in which superheroes are (or were) common and super-teams triumphed over almost all the supervillains. It's the Silver Age now, with the Cowl the only supervillain left worth fighting. Instead of every hero coming together to take him down, however, they seem content to retire and let the Seven Wonders team keep him contained in San Ventura. Oddly enough, only a few citizens in San Ventura have much of a problem with this. As the Cowl readies his latest devious machination, the Seven Wonders watch but do not interfere, his sidekick schemes, and some very motivated detectives with chips on their shoulder attempt to intervene.

Christopher carefully portrays most of the superheroes as the Other, as something not fully human. He never refers to them by their real, secret identity names; they are always “Aurora” and “Bluebell”. Only as the Cowl loses the last of his powers does his name revert; in the reverse direction, as Tony gains superpowers and begins crafting his superhero persona, Christopher gradually refers to him less and less by his civilian name and more often as the Justiciar.

Similarly, we get the sense that the superheroes have a slightly different idea of morality than civilians have. Although the Seven Wonders have a rigid “do not kill” rule, they seem content to stand back and let the Cowl run rampant through San Ventura, killing bystanders, provided he doesn’t step too far out of line. As the story unfolds, Christopher shows how the heroes make choices that increasingly isolate and distance them from the ordinary range of human emotion and ethics. This is true of all of them: Aurora, the leader, makes increasingly complicated schemes; Bluebell uses her mental powers to rearrange the memories of officers sworn to serve and protect merely to serve the Seven Wonders’ own ends; SMART’s logic processors go into overdrive and turn it against its own colleagues; Tony slowly loses his grip on reality as his newfound powers make him feel invincible.

Tony’s arc is one of the two emotional poles of this story and what helps to make the novel so compelling. It’s a lot of fun following Tony on his origin-story journey, watching as he discovers each successive power and its limitations and consequences. And it’s not just the powers, it’s the psychological consequences as well. Fearing discovery by the Seven Wonders, he and his girlfriend work on his powers in secret. It’s a similar but not identical situation to that of Superpowers ; in this case, Tony is alone in his acquisition of powers. I could have read an entire novel about Tony’s journey alone.

But that’s not all Christopher gives us. He also explores the same journey in reverse: the dreaded Cowl is losing his powers (hmm, could that be related?—Christopher enjoys leaving clues for the attentive reader to unmask). His story is a race against time to acquire the equipment and information he needs for his final, nefarious plot. Christopher alternatively asks us to sympathize with or disparage the Cowl, once again preferring to paint these people as morally ambiguous rather than comic-book good or evil.

This is all very satisfying, and in these respects, Seven Wonders succeeds as a superhero novel. However, as with Empire State , I still have issues with Christopher’s characterization. It has indubitably improved, but there is still a way to go. This isn’t all down to Christopher, though. I feel like there is something inherently challenging about characterizing superheroes. The sheer profusion of names, aliases, and litany of powers and abilities creates a jargon all on its own.

Still, there are a lot of developments that seem to come out of left field. Christopher does an admirable amount of foreshadowing, but the meandering direction of the plot means our heroes spend a lot of pages going from place to place and talking about how they will deal with the threat rather than actually dealing with it. For a book about superheroes, the number of pages actually portraying superpowered battles is disappointingly small. I had a good handle on the plot for the first half of the book, but as it went on, I felt that handle slipping away.

Seven Wonders, like Christopher’s first venture, is an ambitious book set in an interesting world. It starts off strong but fizzles towards the end. It’s definitely worth reading, for it is both entertaining and thoughtful in its treatment of superhero tropes. Yet it ultimately doesn’t quite achieve the lofty goals it sets for itself.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fear the might of… The Cowl!

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!

Seven Wonders is published by Angry Robot and is available now.

[Johann Thorsson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book starts off with a bang, I can’t remember the last book that really got me like Seven Wonders. (Ok, I can. It was The Reapers are the Angels). We start in a bank being robbed by a supervillain and his henchmen, and we are introduced to the protagonist, Tony, who is wondering whether he should use his newly discovered superpowers to stop the robbery. The villain is dark and evil and the reader really gets a sense of the terror he holds over the residents of San Ventura in general, and the people in the bank in particular. Tony makes a move, slams into the villain and runs with superspeed out of the bank and then flies into the air. The chapter ends in a cliffhanger, where Tony and the villain, The Cowl, lose consciousness in the air over the ocean and fall into the drink from a great height. I could not wait to read more!

Unfortunately, the book is downhill from there.

We go back a few days and get to know Tony. Sort of. I just finished the book, and I have no idea whether Tony even has parents, what he wanted to do with his life or much of anything about him apart from the immediacy of his life in the novel. We are also introduced to a number of superheroes, most notably San Ventura’s Seven Wonders, superheroes that are uniform, superpower and nothing else. Batman is interesting because he has a history and is vulnerable. None of the Seven Wonders are interesting, because they have no history as individuals, and seem to be less-than-busy but still lead no lives.

*SPOILER WARNING* Everything below this point will ruin the book for you.

Plotless Wonder

The main drive behind the events in the book is the fact that the main villain, The Cowl, is losing his powers and Tony is gaining powers. Tony is initially good, then quickly turns bad for no reason whatsoever, apart from getting angry at the store. The Cowl, upon losing his powers, has an epiphany and turns good and is admitted into the Seven Wonders despite no longer having any superpowers. There is fighting, Tony against the Seven Wonders but I really had stopped caring why the superheroes fought. You see, I had invested my emotion in caring about Tony, an everyman gaining superpowers to fight a villain that the other superheroes had been unable to defeat. But he is now bad and I can’t root for him. There are cops investigating The Cowl, about to figure out who he is when he becomes Paragon after his epiphany and the Seven Wonders tell the detectives that he is now under their protection. So no, we can’t root for them either.

But wait! In a new twist, aliens are coming to destroy the earth. But wait! In a new twist of events Tony is dead! But wait! Now Tony is alive again, fighting the aliens because.. I can’t remember. I really didn’t care what was going on in the second half of the book and turned the pages fairly quickly, only so I could review the book honestly.

Verdict

If Mr. Christopher had written a story that was half the size of this one and given the reader something to care about I might give him more than two stars. Alas, he did not. It is not all bad. There are moments where the author shines, and this is during the action sequences. The problem is that I never found myself caring, but they are written well and the pacing is good. However, I can’t even get myself to recommend this book for hard fans of superheroes since it is just too dam long and complicated. Comparisons to Watchmen are unwarranted, to say the least.

On his own website, the author displays a great number of positive reviews, so many, in fact, that I wonder whether I’m wrong. I have enough confidence, however, to know that I am not. After all, he could now blurb his book with my name and the quote: “The author shines during the fight sequences” He could, but he probably won’t.

Two stars.

*I received an advance readers copy from the publisher, Angry Robot Books.

[Mjhancock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tony's had enough: The Cowl's been terrorizing San Ventura for years, and the local hero team, the Seven Wonders, hasn't done anything to stop him. So he's going to take his inexplicable new powers and do it himself. Meanwhile, police detective Sam Millar is hunting down the Cowl for revenge after her husband's death, and The Cowl himself is putting together the pieces for a weapon so powerful the Seven had the knowledge of it removed from their minds. So begins Seven Wonders. This book has gotten some pretty polarizing reviews, and I'm... one of them, I guess. I recognize that Christopher had a lot of hard work to do in this book. It's not easy creating a prose account of superheroes from scratch, when the comic book form has the visuals to move the plot along, decades of continuity and pop culture appeal to assure reader familiarity, and established conventions that aren't considered at all--unless you shift the story to a different form, and suddenly those elements taken for granted appear glaringly bad. So I appreciate what he's doing, but this doesn't work for me. I get that he was trying to play up the element of grey in inherent in super hero escapades, by portraying everyone involved, from the aloof Seven to the conflicted Cowl and the not-especially-heroic Tony, in terms of less than black and white morality. But the result is that everyone comes off as bizarrely schizophrenic, shrugging off hugely violent acts or major changes of heart in a blaze manner. There's no real character to care about because there's no consistency in character. The plot suffers from the same sort of meandering drift. At one point, there's an alien invasion by a race that functions as a collective devoid of individuality. Okay, is it a story about the importance of free will and choice? Not really. There's the ongoing theme of heroes and villains ignoring the effect of their actions on everyone else; is it a story about corruption? Hypocrisy? Not really, because no one is really called to account for their crimes (other than an off camera sort of way) and no one confronts their own action meaningfully. Fine; it's a story that doesn't have an overarching theme that is about the sort of things that superhero stories are often about. That could work, if it's told in an amusing way. But this... isn't. Things just kind of happen, and because the plot seems kind of random and the characters undefined, and the jokes not particularly good, it all just sort of mushes together. I will give Christopher credit for one thing--it's very hard to write a good superhero fight scene in prose form, and many of these are good in that sense, giving the reader a clear sense of how it's going on. But in the end, I'd love a good superhero story that used the longform of prose to really delve into the conceits of the genre, or just told a good story. This isn't really doing either of those things.

[Aneirys · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher wasn't a book that made me want to drop everything else for it. I found myself playing multiples rounds of minesweeper instead of finishing the novel. Halfway thru I started skipping pages and getting straight to the dialog which was almost 20% of the book.

In a way it felted like a parody of the now popular superheroes, for example:

● Hephaestus- was some kind of Thor like superhero with the hammer and everything.
● The Cowl- representing the playboy, millionaire Iron man
● Linear- an older Flash
● Dragon star- someone from Guardians of the Galaxy

Overall I was really disappointed, this was my first superhero book and I was exited about it, but all the plot holes, the character inconsistency, their insignificant actions, the constant switching of POV, the excessive thought and over descriptions, was just kdfhnkJKJKFNdanfknkak

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/review-o...


Are we heading into a new age of comic book popularity, much like the Golden Age of Comics? Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and Marvel’s Cinematic Universe seem to have dissolved the barrier between comic geeks and… well, everyone else. With films like Man of Steel, The Wolverine, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Kick-Ass 2, next year seems poised to continue that trend. Meanwhile, DC has rebooted all of its comics, and Marvel is doing a similar thing with Marvel Now. It’s a time of increasing diversity—with superheroes we know and love being adapted to a new day and age. In popularity and the sheer amount of superheroes, it’s starting to look like the 1940s and ’50s—the Golden Age of Comics—are repeating themselves with a new and modern twist.

An age of comic literature
In this time of heightened popularity of comics, speculative literature seems to be following suit. Some of the most popular fantasy series, like The Wheel of Time, The Dresden Files, and A Song of Ice and Fire, have their own graphic novel adaptations. On top of that, there seems to be a new trend. One might say that 2012 was the year of superhero literature. Books like Paul Tobin’s Prepare to Die, Tom King’s A Once Crowded Sky, and Christopher L. Bennett’s Only Superhuman adapt comics to books. These are superhero novels that read very much like comics.

The new mindset
Unfortunately, as Justin Landon accurately points out here, many of these books also have the same problem comics still have: they over-sexualize women. We’re settling into a place where the general concept of comic book is no longer tied inextricably to teenage boy, and where serious, mature adults can read Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter without getting funny looks. It would seem that this new place should have no room for scantily clad superwomen. Perhaps the true new age of comics will arrive when, like their film adaptions, comics comply with this egalitarian mindset of our generation?

One book that definitely does embrace this mindset of our generation is Adam Christopher’s Seven Wonders. It is his second superhero novel of the year; his debut novel, Empire State (reviewed here), was published in January. Seven Wonders does exactly what it set out to do: this tour de force novel reads like a wonderful superhero comic, with strong characters both male and female. Its fusion of astonishing comic-book-style storytelling and literary fiction creates a new version of our near-future populated with superheroes. It is, in and of itself, an ode to the Golden Age of Comics, and is most comparable to Watchmen.

Good or evil?
Like Watchmen, Seven Wonders is set after a Golden Age of Superheroes. Nearly all supervillains have been defeated, and all the superheroes of old have retired. Except for the Seven Wonders, who continue to protect the fictional Californian shining city of San Ventura from the last living supermenace, The Cowl. When Tony, a normal dude, suddenly wakes up one morning with superpowers and decides to take The Cowl down, he discovers that things aren’t quite as they seem.

Seven Wonders follows the trend of many modern superhero depictions. Its moral ambiguity is evident from the very start. The characters in this novel are neither good nor evil. They have their own ambitions and convictions. The Cowl may be a supervillain, but he truly believes that he is doing the world a favor and that the end justifies the means. The Seven Wonders may be superheroes, yet they let evil exist simply because to defeat evil is to defeat their own purpose in the world. And Tony… well, Tony is simply an angry teenager with super strength, super speed, and super everything. Christopher has an incredible talent for creating these versatile, multidimensional characters.

Themes and setting
While the themes in Christopher’s novel are dark and most of its characters are questionable, Seven Wonders doesn’t quite reach the gritty darkness of modern age comics. Yet its world and background have more depth than many of today’s comics. In fact, I would say that Seven Wonders proves that novels are the new comic books. While reading, I constantly found myself imagining the story of this superhero novel on the pages of a comic book, the art appearing before my mind’s eye. The action scenes, especially, are marvelously well-written.

The city of San Ventura, meanwhile, is exactly what you would expect from a modern comic book setting. It lives and breathes, and has a character of its own. Through the viewpoint of Tony, but also that of two SVPD detectives, this city is incredibly well-fleshed-out. With this setting, Christopher creates something out of a comic, yet gives it more depth than a comic ever could. However, he doesn’t shy away from breaking it all down before your very eyes when the story calls for it.

Exceeding comics
If Adam Christopher meant to write a book that reads exactly like a comic novel, yet exceeds comics on every level, he succeeded. We may well be headed for a new age of comics, and if that age is shaped like Seven Wonders, I can hardly wait. For me, this novel nailed everything I want in a comic. It has amazing action, characters with depth, realistic themes, a lot of superheroes with a lot of innovative super powers, and an impressively devised foe that is perfectly balanced between comic book cliché and ingenious originality. Its only problem is that Seven Wonders—much like comics—is quite predictable. More than anything else, though, this novel is one heck of a lot of fun!

Why should you read this book?
If you are a fan of comic books and superheroes, Seven Wonders may well be your perfect read. Its grand scale and impressive prose will definitely appeal to anyone who enjoys comics. Its flamboyant action and incredible characters will entertain you for hours. I dare say that—if done well—this may make one of the best film adaptations ever. I would love to see Christopher Nolan or Joss Whedon take a swing at this.

[Benito Corral · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Christopher exploded onto the scene with his debut novel Empire State, and he is poised to make even more noise with his sophomore effort, Seven Wonders. Seven Wonders is a big budget summer blockbuster action packed superhero movie, all of it brilliantly captured in novel form and with enough plot twists, secret identities and double crosses to satisfy even the most jaded of comic book aficionados.


Christopher sets his story in the "Shining City" of San Ventura, home to the last superhero team on earth, the Seven Wonders, who protect San Ventura and its citizens from the machinations of the last supervillian, the mysterious Cowl. The Cowl is a criminal mastermind, with multiple powers at his disposal, and along with his sidekick Blackbird, he keeps the Seven Wonders on their toes. We also meet Tony Prosdocimi, an average Joe who wakes up one morning to discover he himself has started to develop super powers. Christopher tells his tale through the POV of all these characters, and it moves the action along at a fast clip while illustrating the growth and changes each character goes through by the story's big climax.

Seven Wonders greatly benefits from Christopher's knowledge of comic books; each chapter is as colorful and action packed as the panels would be if he were a comic book scribe. The writing is concise, the pace is furious, and many of the chapters end with cliffhangers, compelling the reader to plow right along, unable to put the book down. And the scope of the story gets bigger, keeping the reader engaged as the threat to San Ventura escalates to to a world wide call to arms to earth's other heroes, defunct and retired individuals still ready to band together and help the Seven Wonders protect the planet.

Adam Christopher has written a big love letter to the Golden and Silver Ages of comics with Seven Wonders. His affection for the medium is evident, and he's taken that tried and true template and created something new that celebrates all the classic comic book tropes while also being a new and exciting entrant in the superhero genre. It is truly just as exciting and daring as the other superhero blockbusters that preceded it this summer; it has the edge of your seat action of The Avengers, plus the chilling mystery of The Dark Knight Rises.

I firmly believe that Christopher has written the standard against which other superhero novels will be held and is himself now coming into his own super-author powers. Seven Wonders is a big, colorful joy to read and it shows that it was also a joy to write. The author's love for the genre is stamped on each page and he has even left room for a sequel (or better yet, sequels!) as any good superhero adventurer should. YES, believe all the hype, run to your favorite bookstore or click your favorite link and buy this book! (Better yet, let me help! BAM! KA-POW!) It just may be the most fun you're going to have this summer!

[Lee Stoneman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seven Wonders started out with such high potential. As an avid comic reader I was keen to try out some long form fiction set in a superhero universe. The opening chapters started well and then it was downhill from there.

At about the half way point the lead 'hero' suddenly decides to become a villain, removing the one character I had any chance of getting behind. With him off the cards, that left the Wonders, all of whom appeared to be 1 dimensional cardboard cut outs headed up by a morally ambiguous Superman clone with a girl's name. Since this group had a clearly 'hidden' agenda, they were out as well. The two villains were clearly not worth rooting for so that left the two detectives and I really couldn't be bothered to invest any time in them.

Also, Adam gave his characters the worst superhero names I've ever heard. The one time a character adopted a name that might actually work (The Paladin) he was ridiculed by the central character for having a stupid name! I'm not sure it was just some irony going over my head but this was particularly rich coming from a character whose real-life surname was 'Prosdocimi' and whose chosen moniker was 'Justiciar'! Quite the most ridiculous name for a superhero I've ever heard.

Sadly I gave up two thirds of the way through when this idiotic character appeared to be killed as it seemed like the most satisfying way for the book to end.

Disappointing.

[Russell Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

More like 1.5 stars. One of the most disappointing wasted set-ups and concepts I've seen in a while. Describes a comic book universe that has tons of super heroes in it that have basically shut down all the super villains and retired, except for one Team the Seven Wonders (Justice League/Avengers) analog, and one single Super Villain (Batman/Superman) analog. The plot hints at some hidden reveal about why the Seven Wonders have tolerated the last super villain, but ends up ending in a huge battle that feels like my least favorite comic book "CROSSOVER EVENT!!!!" stunts of all time.
Deeply disappointing, with biggest flaws being:
- nutso character development. Villains become heroes and heroes become villains over and over again, with little to no coherent rationale
- hanging plotlines. Its like the author was writing to create twists, not to offer resolution. Total absence of catharsis.
- too much comic book fanboy easter egg effort in describing dozens and dozens of fake super heroes, which is in sharp contrast to failing to make you care too much about the main characters.
Not recommended at all -- am flabbergasted that so many people gave it 4 or 5 stars.

[Russell James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to know an author’s nightmare (or at least one of them)? Picking up a novel so good that you read it to the exclusion of finishing writing one of your own. That makes Seven Wonders my nightmare.

Well-written, well-paced, well-plotted. The story of Tony Prosdocimi and his interactions with Cowl, Blackbird and the Seven Wonders draws you in to a fascinating alternate reality where every city once had its own superheroes and supervillains. Sharp prose places you deep in the action and makes the city of San Ventura come alive. Adam is obviously a fan of the comic book genre, and while this book hasn’t a single drawing, the tone is classic Golden Age comics. I won’t touch on the plot fearing every comment might be a spoiler.

Here’s hoping there are more books from Adam set in this world he’s created, just after my manuscript’s deadline passes, please.

[Andy Bigwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was all over the place, swapping protagonists about a third of the way in… it lost me entirely when the last super villian FOUND GOD and was REDEEMED. I loath religion and resent being ambushed by it. Deleted at 51% Complete

[Josh Meadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

A confused novel.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of superhero novels lately and each book handles this subgenre differently. With Wild Cards you have very political driven stories and with Matt Forbeck's Brave New World series, you get a lot of action-packed entertainment. Now with Seven Wonders you have a story that stays true to its comic book origin and one where you can feel just how passionate the author is to these stories.

With a name like Seven Wonders, you might mistakenly think that the book is about the exploits and adventures of the superheroes in the title like the Fantastic Four or the X-men. In fact this story follows the rise and fall of Tony Prosdocimi as he suddenly develops super-powers. Tony tries to put an end to The Cowl, the last supervillain left on Earth and asks to join the Seven Wonders but realises that the local superhero team may not have the city's best interest at heart.

There is a wide variety of superheroes featured in this book. There's the aforementioned Seven Wonders, each with their own distinctive style and ability that makes for great reading. Towards the end of the book we are shown just how big the superhero family on Earth is when they gather up for the final showdown. I thought all these backstories would be great additions to Angry Robot's WorldBuilder project and was surprised that Seven Wonders hasn't been included in it. I guess that since the world isn't as unique as it is in Empire State maybe that's why Seven Wonders wasn't included into the project.

As we all know superheroes alone do not make a great comic story, we also need villains that we despise but secretly love and The Cowl fits perfectly into this role. There are certain points in the story where we see events through The Cowl's eyes and learn of his failing superpowers and later of his redemption. Christopher has seized these opportunities to expand and add a lot more depth in The Cowl and made him into a fully fleshed out character that you will not forget.

When I was reading the book, I was reminded of Nolan's Batman movies. The reason is that the story just keeps on giving. Just when you think the main villain has been stopped, you realise there are actually more afoot and the story continues on this fantastic yet unexpected journey.

The book was such a joy to read and the scenes were so vivid that I swear it was like reading the comic book version. I'm sure any superhero fan would appreciate and love this story too. This is a brilliant story that would make a great standalone novel but I wouldn't be surprised if we visit this setting again at a later date.

(Originally posted at http://www.paperlessreading.com/2012/...)

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven Wonders by Kiwi author Adam Christopher is a superhero novel set in the fictional city of San Ventura. The city, once plagued by supervillains, is now mostly peaceful thanks to the Seven Wonders, a team of superheroes. However, there is one remaining supervillain causing trouble in San Ventura: The Cowl. When Tony, an ordinary citizen of San Ventura, starts to manifest super powers, he decides to do what the Seven Wonders have been unable to do – defeat the Cowl once and for all.

Seven Wonders is a story about the unexpected paths that personal journeys can take. The reader is kept guessing about the motivations of certain characters right until the end of the book.

I enjoyed Seven Wonders, although not as much as Empire State. I liked how the characters were not black and white, despite how that is often the case in the superhero genre. It relied on cliches, but not so much as to remove the fun from the book.

As much as I enjoyed the story, I wish that it could have been packaged and delivered in a different form. In my opinion, it doesn't quite work as a novel. The story is too episodic. Some people have said they would have preferred this book to be a graphic novel. I don't think it would have been necessary to illustrate it: Christopher's descriptions are detailed enough that the visual cues wouldn't have been necessary. But I do think that the story would have worked better if delivered in an episodic format, e.g. a podcast series or a chapter-by-chapter release on subscription.

Seven Wonders is a fun read for anyone interested in the superhero genre.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about an alternate reality California full of superheros. The plot took twists I didn't expect which is nice, but was still fairly shallow. I loved the attention to detail in super hero naming, which culminated with this quote:
Over two days, the remaining superheroic population of the Earth had heeded the call--by ship, teleport, magical portal, elemental transduction...the H-Man, Pangolin the Protector, Glass Tambourine, Omega-Mur, Hammer and Sickle, Jackdaw, the Infinite Wisdom, Doctor Mandragora, Czar and Tzar and Star, Kalamari Karl, Lightening Dancer, Doctor Chlorophyll, Jack Viking, Monomaniac, the Gin Fairy, the Holy Ghanta, the Bandolier, the Nuclear Atom, the Mysterious Flame, Moonstalker, Cataclysm and Inferno, the Skyguard II, Your Imaginary Pal, Dark Storm, the Hate Witch, Psychofire, Rabid, Riot, Fox and Hound, Hydrolad, Captain Fuji, Captain Cape Town, Captain Australia, Captain...Jeannie lost count, one uniform and one costume blurring into another. Believe me I did not give away all the superhero names from this book. These are just some of the extras.
Which was your favorite?!

[Thor Aegir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm unsure on how to rate this book.

From a certain point of view, this book has nice twists compared to the common super hero novel. You keep getting surprised all along reading it.

There are seeds for a lot of nice characters, from super-vilains to sidekicks to super-heroes, and to PD detectives.

BUT... the seeds never grow. The characters' psychologies are skimmed where it should be examined in details. All twists comes from nowhere. It is a descent to hell... without the descent. In half a page, characters are completly overturned.

This book lacks depth. It is but a aborted start for a world that would have had a real bunch of potential.

So, Mr. Christopher, you've done a nice work on the plot. Please work on characterization, and you will be a great author.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting and somewhat underutilized setting brought low by some of the worst characters I have ever had the misfortune to experience. The main character has a personality change so sudden it is as if the author forgot which character he was writing at the time. The Justice Avengers (Seven Wonders) are unlikable in the extreme. Plot holes, terrible dialogue, and almost random plot developments ruined any satisfaction gained by the setting. I was with this book for around the first third and never wanted to touch it again by the end.

Pro:
Setting

Con:
Everything else

[Kate Sherrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a beta-reader for this book, and while as a rule superhero fiction isn't my thing, if all superhero fiction were like this, it would WAY be my thing. Can't wait to see the "proper" version.

And yes, I do make some exceptionally fine pizza.

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up, I was an absolutely huge fan of comic books. Every Wednesday and every Friday we'd either grab our bikes or hop on the bus downtown to pick up the newest releases. Although I was primarily a Marvel man (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Uncanny X-Men, Excalibur, and The Incredible Hulk were my must-haves), I regularly hopped shelves into DC territory or some of the independents. At some point, however, I began to lose interest. Part of it was frustration with the expensive gimmicks of variant covers, foil covers, bagged editions, etc, but a bigger part of it was sheer boredom. I got the point where I could recognize all the rehashed story lines, and the novelty of massive reboots quickly began to wear thin.

I've tried getting back into comics and graphic novels over the years, particularly with the Dark Tower adaptations and the comic book seasons of Buffy and Angel, but it just wasn't the same. I still like the stories, but the medium just didn't work for me anymore. So, with that in mind, the idea of a comic book novel began to seem very appealing.

Enter Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher - not the first comic book novel I've read, but certainly one of the strongest. The first thing that struck me about it, right from the opening chapters, is that this was a more realistic take on superheroes, and one seemingly tailored for a maturing audience. It's dark, a little gritty, and surprisingly bloody. People actually die, violently and permanently. More than that, it's a bit cynical and jaded, with a city being oppressed by the last remaining super-villain, and supposedly protected by a team of superheroes who aren't in any rush to put their lives on the line to stop each and every act of villainy being perpetrated.

Oddly enough, for a book called Seven Wonders, the heroes are the least interesting part of the novel. Instead, for me, it was the conflict between Tony and The Cowl that kept me reading. Here you have an ordinary guy slowly acquiring superpowers, freeing him from the shroud of terror under which he's lived for years, and the last remaining super-villain, just as slowly losing his superpowers, putting his ultimate end-game for San Ventura (and the Seven Wonders) in jeopardy. The balance between police drama and superhero drama was a nice touch as well, deliberately contrasting themes of heroism, responsibility, and accountability throughout.

I did say it's dark, gritty, cynical, and jaded, but it's also romantic (sometimes in a creepy sort of way), humorous (often in an ironic or sarcastic sort of way), and absolutely action-packed (with very real consequences to those actions). There is also a surprising amount of character development involved, with Tony nearly unrecognizable by the end, and The Cowl and Blackbird . . . well, I'll refrain from saying any more about that pairing, for fear of spoiling one of the most interesting developments in the story. Given that we're dealing with prose, and can't actually see the costumes, I must say Christopher does a solid job of differentiating the Seven Wonders themselves, which I expected to be a major challenge.

In terms of plotting, the book reads very much like a comic book, completely with chapter-ending cliffhangers and twists that seem to come out of nowhere. The same with the narrative, where dialogue 'bubbles' that are regularly broken up with descriptive 'blocks' as we move from imaginary panel to panel. It's awkward at first, and has the potential to annoy some readers, but it also helps preserve that comic book feel.

If you like your superheroes all perfect and shiny, your mortality clear-cut, and the lines between good and evil explicitly defined, this may not be the novel for you. Similarly, if you're just looking for more of the same in terms of Dark Knight grimness and grittiness, this may take you in directions you're not comfortable going. However, if you're a comic book fan with an appreciation for all the different flavours of superheroes, and an avid reader with an appreciation for a novel that does something new (and does it well), then this is definitely worth a read.


Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins

[LAPL Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if you woke up one morning with a super power? Super strength? Super speed? X-ray vision? Invulnerability? The ability to fly? What if, over the course of several weeks, you developed all of these powers and more? Does having these powers change who you are? More importantly, does having super powers automatically make you a superhero? These are just some of the questions explored in Adam Christopher’s novel, Seven Wonders.

Tony Prosdocimi is a regular guy. He works a dead-end job at Big Deal (think Wal-Mart) selling computers and computer equipment, and he lives in a small apartment in the California coastal city of San Ventura—the home of the greatest superhero group in the world: The Seven Wonders. And he tries very, very hard to avoid any trouble, quite a challenge in a city regularly terrorized by the world’s last great supervillain, The Cowl. While Tony does his best to stay under the radar, he also wonders why The Seven Wonders have not captured The Cowl and ended his reign of terror over San Ventura.

Then Tony's luck begins to change. He meets Jeannie, a woman way out of his league, and they begin to date. Then, one night Jeannie wakes Tony up because he is glowing with a golden aura; next comes super speed; and finally invulnerability and flight. One by one, Tony seems to be acquiring all of the most desirable powers of The Seven Wonders. Tony could be a superhero too! So, he decides to use his new powers to do the one thing that The Seven Wonders have never done: take out The Cowl. But when Tony delivers The Cowl to the supergroup, they react far differently than he expected. In fact, nothing about being a superhero is the way Tony imagined. . .

In Seven Wonders, Adam Christopher explores the incredibly fine line that separates superhero from supervillain. He also examines the relationships and responsibilities superheroes have with each other, their foes, non-superpowered law enforcement, and the general public. The result is a sprawling super-epic, told in prose rather than using the more traditional comic/graphic novel format, containing everything one would expect: super-powered spandex-clad titans in capes and masks, dastardly villains with plans to take over the world, secret identities and side-kicks, fortresses and lairs, and perils that threaten the planet. In addition to being a sweeping-city-world-threatening adventure, Seven Wonders is also an interesting study of the standard characters included in most comic book series. In fact, it is the examination of some of these familiar character types that is the most interesting aspect of the novel. The story is action packed, with plenty of surprises and lots of small in-jokes, plus references for comic/graphic and science fiction fans to enjoy.

Reviewed by Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the waning days of Superheroes in the world, there is only 1 superteam left. The Seven Wonders, look over their city of San Ventura, CA and they protect it from the last Super Villian; The Cowl and his sidekick; Blackbird. But then a normal guy starts getting powers and upsets the balance. Its pulpy genre fiction, police procedural, super fights, alien weaponry, good fun stuff. I like his take on the tropes of the superhero and how it affects the world at large. Fun read.

I think one of the most impressive things about Christopher is his virtually full page of all of the world's superheroes that come to join in the climatic fight (cause its a genre story, you know there's a climatic fight). I'll give you just a taste, I want to read stories about all of these heros.
They'd all come. It had taken two days, but all, all, had heeded Aurora's call. They came in groups; the Chicago Nightguard, United International, the Army of One, the Coven, the League of All-Stars, the Computer Council, the Manhattan Manhunters, , the Devils you Know...and solo protectors; Pangolin the Protector, Hammer and Sickle, Czar and Tzar and Star, Kalamari Karl, Senny Dreadful, Your Imaginary Pal (to name but a few)

8/10

S: 6/30/18 - 7/12/18 (13 Days)

[Richard Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

"He pushed past the two women and opened the safe hatch without difficulty, somehow negating the locking mechanism with a residual superpower."
This sentence is typical of what starts out as a promising look at what might happen should an ordinary person develop superpowers but morphs into a gigantic mess of 'anything goes' where no explanation is offered about... well anything really. Powers develop, transfer, fade, extinguish, with no rationale except that the plot requires them to do so. All the characters are just ciphers with no inner life and are difficult to care about. The alien protagonist is just a rip off of the Borg: there is homage but then there's just imitation. This book grabs its ideas from easily identifiable sources but does nothing original with them. Altogether it's very dissatisfying and tedious.

[Jonas Salonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some spoilers.

This was great! Christopher is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

So the book tells a story about super heroes. The story in itself is quite interesting but what really makes the book shine is how it is written. Christopher has a gift of writing scenes that are both very movielike and on the other hand really easy to picture in your mind.

Actually the only problem I had with this was the first kill made by the new super hero. It happened somehow too easily and quickly. I was actually astonished at the sudden change of attitude. And after reading the book and the deleted scenes at the end I understood why the scene that made it to the book felt somehow unapropriate.

But all in all I really enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it!

[Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

very very promising characters and concept that fell so short for me. the first half of the book was good (albeit…different) but turned into a different book around halfway through with not enough setup and foreshadowing to indicate it as a natural turn of events. too long, too many plot points, too many characters, too…much, and definitely not enough satisfying resolutions for everything going on. felt like the book turned to satire of the superhero genre toward the end (Lady Liberty and robot president superheroes? A hero named Captain Captain? you’re kidding me.)

I liked Tony and Jeannie and wish I had gotten more with them, and for that matter, all of the superheroes that had really cool powers yet still felt flat.

in short: so much wasted potential, so many nonsensical plot points.