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After Dark
When he was five, Sebastian Pereira watched the Target beat up a bank robber. Ever since then, he's wanted to be a superhero. Now a teenager, he's chasing the dream. As the water-controlling psychic vigilante called Torrent, he prowls the streets of Pittsburgh, doing his best to right wrongs and keep his double life a secret.
But life in the mask brings more challengers than he anticipated, and even dual superpowers aren't always enough. Besides facing down the street thugs, monsters, and madmen, he's got to master his hormones and keep his conscience. With help from his paranormally gifted crush and his thrill-seeker best friend, he just might make it -- and they just might make the best superhero team in the Burgh.
But life in the mask brings more challengers than he anticipated, and even dual superpowers aren't always enough. Besides facing down the street thugs, monsters, and madmen, he's got to master his hormones and keep his conscience. With help from his paranormally gifted crush and his thrill-seeker best friend, he just might make it -- and they just might make the best superhero team in the Burgh.
196 pages, ebook
First published July 22, 2014
1 person is currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Michael DiBaggio
8 books20 followersMichael is the co-creator (along with wife, Shell) of the Ascension Epoch, an open content, collaborative fiction project. In this setting, the re-emergence of superpowers and the invasion of H.G. Wells' Martians in the 19th century have led to a radically transformed present. Their work draws heavily upon public domain literature and comic books.
His most recent work, The Dismal Tide, follows the adventures, romances, and ethical conflicts of the East End Irregulars, a teenage superhero team from Pittsburgh. Other published Ascension Epoch books include After Dark, the first book in the East End Irregulars series; Salamander Six, a sci-fi short story about airborne firefighters; Population of Loss, a collection of four short stories set during the Martian Invasion; Copper Knights and Granite Men, a superhero/occult adventure story based on the King in Yellow mythos; and House of Refuge, a tale of ocean rescue service Atlantic Littoral, which won second place in the 2014 LFA/SFA Libertarian Short Story Contest.
His most recent work, The Dismal Tide, follows the adventures, romances, and ethical conflicts of the East End Irregulars, a teenage superhero team from Pittsburgh. Other published Ascension Epoch books include After Dark, the first book in the East End Irregulars series; Salamander Six, a sci-fi short story about airborne firefighters; Population of Loss, a collection of four short stories set during the Martian Invasion; Copper Knights and Granite Men, a superhero/occult adventure story based on the King in Yellow mythos; and House of Refuge, a tale of ocean rescue service Atlantic Littoral, which won second place in the 2014 LFA/SFA Libertarian Short Story Contest.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 17, 2025
The main problem is that this is too fragmented and serial to be a novel, lacking overall character arcs and just dropping promising plot threads. Yet it's not really a collection of short stories - the individual stories are not all self contained and lack short story form punch and payoff. Some genuinely interesting world building ideas though. The nightclub built over an ex Martian depleted cavorite hull providing low gravity dancing, for example.
Normally I'd give 3 stars for effort. But, post Watchmen, I think all superhero vigilante stories ought to reckon with the moral problems inherent in being a vigilante. There are better and worse ways of approaching that. This book struggles to articulate why the MCs strong desire to be a vigilante is not just complete teenage stupidity and moral recklessness. So I'm being harsh and rounding down to 2*.
Normally I'd give 3 stars for effort. But, post Watchmen, I think all superhero vigilante stories ought to reckon with the moral problems inherent in being a vigilante. There are better and worse ways of approaching that. This book struggles to articulate why the MCs strong desire to be a vigilante is not just complete teenage stupidity and moral recklessness. So I'm being harsh and rounding down to 2*.
July 16, 2025
This book reads like a collection of interconnected short stories. We meet Sebastian in first person, we meet Evangeline in third person, we see Sebastian's adventures in first person, then in third person, then they meet and have romantic conflicts. Each chapter kind of has a different "freak of the week" super to overcome, and none of them seem to have to do much with each other. I think it's supposed to evoke reading different issues of a comic book. But read as a novel, it's kind of weird and jarring. I like the characters and the world, I just keep waiting for it to come together. Maybe in the next book?
January 6, 2020
Quick read. I’m confused as to the point of the story as it jumps around a lot and there didn’t seem to be a clear story line.
I enjoyed it overall and like some of the themes it drew upon however not sure I would read more.
I enjoyed it overall and like some of the themes it drew upon however not sure I would read more.
June 25, 2021
Teen romance takes a brick to the head
Well written, and not too wordy. The author quickly manages to make me feel for the characters, even when I don't like their choices. Love this whole Ascension Universe idea.
Well written, and not too wordy. The author quickly manages to make me feel for the characters, even when I don't like their choices. Love this whole Ascension Universe idea.
February 4, 2016
I've been curious about superhero prose for a while now and saw references to this series on G+.
The story itself if of Torrent, a young superhero who's got a lot to learn despite acting like he knows everything. He's an unlikeable, apathetic character who spends most of his time judging others for having pro or anti-metahuman attitudes. His stance feels problematic and self-hating, something I expected a reversal or evolution of. Given the length of this story, maybe there will be fleshing out of it but he hasn't won me over yet.
Far better, however, is the world and the action. Torrent is a young superhero and prone to the kind of mistakes in his heroism which one would expect of a normal human being. He's not perfect in a battle and the thought put into this is something which a fan of comics can appreciate. It's evident the author is conversant in comic logic and good at expressing it both in prose and purposefully undermining it when necessary.
The story not only follows Torrent but a new girl at his school, Eva, who feels like she fades into the background a little and probably has a lot more to come. The interaction between her and Torrent's secret identity is awkward, a little cringeworthy but I think a certain amount of that is for effect.
The best part of the book by far is the world-building. This is a fully-realised world which has existed with heroes for many years but dealt with things like Martian invasions in its' history. Casual mentions of heroes or battles show us that there's a lot which is hidden under the surface of the iceberg. Some of the stories sound a little more interesting than this tentative look at the world and some of it is covered in an appendix in the back. The glossary wasn't entirely necessary as a lot of the keywords were ones you could figure out by yourself, but it was a considerate touch. I'm fascinated enough by the world to consider continuing with the series despite my current dislike of the protagonist.
The story itself if of Torrent, a young superhero who's got a lot to learn despite acting like he knows everything. He's an unlikeable, apathetic character who spends most of his time judging others for having pro or anti-metahuman attitudes. His stance feels problematic and self-hating, something I expected a reversal or evolution of. Given the length of this story, maybe there will be fleshing out of it but he hasn't won me over yet.
Far better, however, is the world and the action. Torrent is a young superhero and prone to the kind of mistakes in his heroism which one would expect of a normal human being. He's not perfect in a battle and the thought put into this is something which a fan of comics can appreciate. It's evident the author is conversant in comic logic and good at expressing it both in prose and purposefully undermining it when necessary.
The story not only follows Torrent but a new girl at his school, Eva, who feels like she fades into the background a little and probably has a lot more to come. The interaction between her and Torrent's secret identity is awkward, a little cringeworthy but I think a certain amount of that is for effect.
The best part of the book by far is the world-building. This is a fully-realised world which has existed with heroes for many years but dealt with things like Martian invasions in its' history. Casual mentions of heroes or battles show us that there's a lot which is hidden under the surface of the iceberg. Some of the stories sound a little more interesting than this tentative look at the world and some of it is covered in an appendix in the back. The glossary wasn't entirely necessary as a lot of the keywords were ones you could figure out by yourself, but it was a considerate touch. I'm fascinated enough by the world to consider continuing with the series despite my current dislike of the protagonist.
March 4, 2016
DiBaggio has created an interesting world with a lot of attention to detail, likely because it's set in his public domain Ascension Epoch universe. I like those little touches like the alternate ways that Pittsburgh has developed in the presence of super-powered individuals and Martian invasions. Torrent makes for an interesting character and I like the nods to the difficulties of actually being a vigilante from accumulating injuries to what to do with captured criminals. It's realistic enough without burdening us down with the impossibility of actually getting away with it.
Unfortunately, the episodic nature kind of mars the book's presentation. For the most part, it plays out as a steady progression, but some plotlines, such as the situation with the GRPA, essentially show up and then disappear entirely. It might have helped if I'd approached the book as a series of isolated stories, but I had assumed it was a continuous novel, so it was kind of jarring.
The illustrations are decent, serving the purpose of giving you an idea of what the characters look like, but they're on the amateur side. For those reading on the Kindle, they are presented completely separate from the text, so it can be kind of jarring to have your reading experience interrupted as a paragraph of text is interrupted by a smallish image floating in a sea of white, sometimes relating to events much earlier, then the paragraph resumes when you scroll to the next page.
I like the addition of the Appendix with the book. With this much world-building, some sort of reference is almost necessary.
Unfortunately, the episodic nature kind of mars the book's presentation. For the most part, it plays out as a steady progression, but some plotlines, such as the situation with the GRPA, essentially show up and then disappear entirely. It might have helped if I'd approached the book as a series of isolated stories, but I had assumed it was a continuous novel, so it was kind of jarring.
The illustrations are decent, serving the purpose of giving you an idea of what the characters look like, but they're on the amateur side. For those reading on the Kindle, they are presented completely separate from the text, so it can be kind of jarring to have your reading experience interrupted as a paragraph of text is interrupted by a smallish image floating in a sea of white, sometimes relating to events much earlier, then the paragraph resumes when you scroll to the next page.
I like the addition of the Appendix with the book. With this much world-building, some sort of reference is almost necessary.
March 4, 2017
So far the series has my interest as a reader. I do love the world building, not forgetting the appendix that helps you understand the fluff. With how much world building there was, it was helpful. Which seems to be one of the things the previous reviewers liked as well. Along with hinting towards the difficulties of being a vigilante.
However I had the similar issue with Torrent that was also mentioned. He was hard to attach myself to, I couldn't tell if I liked him or hated him. So to me he feels like an open slate to develop into a interesting character despite his current state of being. There were a few minor things that seemed odd but given this is book one, it could be planned or an "opps I forgot" moment, mainly plot related. So I'm not sure how to factor that into the rating for book number one. Sorry if this sounds kind of awkward, trying not to repeat what others said and put my words into an understandable review, my first actual review.
So will I stick with this thorough start to finish, yes because this does have a lot of potential. Would I suggest to another to try it, yes. Hopefully I will see Michael again at Sci-fi Valley Con, that's where I came across After Dark. So onto Dismal Tide and his other books I got while I was there. Hopefully I tackle them all by next con. xD
However I had the similar issue with Torrent that was also mentioned. He was hard to attach myself to, I couldn't tell if I liked him or hated him. So to me he feels like an open slate to develop into a interesting character despite his current state of being. There were a few minor things that seemed odd but given this is book one, it could be planned or an "opps I forgot" moment, mainly plot related. So I'm not sure how to factor that into the rating for book number one. Sorry if this sounds kind of awkward, trying not to repeat what others said and put my words into an understandable review, my first actual review.
So will I stick with this thorough start to finish, yes because this does have a lot of potential. Would I suggest to another to try it, yes. Hopefully I will see Michael again at Sci-fi Valley Con, that's where I came across After Dark. So onto Dismal Tide and his other books I got while I was there. Hopefully I tackle them all by next con. xD
December 5, 2016
I really enjoyed this book for a couple of reasons.
First, I like fast-moving stories. I won't endure long detailed setups.
Secondly, there is enough subtleties that almost makes you wonder if the author has gone out crime fighting before. Very good.
I'll read more of this series at some point because of the above and I like superhero prose fiction. Can't stop adding books to my reading pile though.
First, I like fast-moving stories. I won't endure long detailed setups.
Secondly, there is enough subtleties that almost makes you wonder if the author has gone out crime fighting before. Very good.
I'll read more of this series at some point because of the above and I like superhero prose fiction. Can't stop adding books to my reading pile though.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews