Seven Wonders

Oct 03, 2012 Dan Schwent rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: angry-robot, 2012

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 bla...more 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. (view spoiler) 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.(less)

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Jul 08, 2012 Bane of Kings rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favourites, angry-robot, 2012-releases-read, superheroes, notable-2012-releases, 25-best-2012-releases

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...more 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
(less)

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Mar 26, 2013 Pat rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another Angry Robot book, the same guys who put out the Mike Shevdon series I enjoyed so much... this time dealing with super-heroes. One of the things I've noticed about the books I've picked up from this particular publishing house is their attention to realism-- there may be flights (literally, in this one) of fancy but the fiction coming out of Angry Robot is well-grounded on a solid bedrock of realist details. That being said, I had a few issues with Seven Wonders, mostly stemming from my o...more Another Angry Robot book, the same guys who put out the Mike Shevdon series I enjoyed so much... this time dealing with super-heroes. One of the things I've noticed about the books I've picked up from this particular publishing house is their attention to realism-- there may be flights (literally, in this one) of fancy but the fiction coming out of Angry Robot is well-grounded on a solid bedrock of realist details. That being said, I had a few issues with Seven Wonders, mostly stemming from my own many many years as a comic book reader/collector. His city is well-drawn, well set-up; in this world superheroes are real but mostly retired. All the villains have been caught, except for one, the Cowl, who terrorizes the only city with active superheroes (the titular Seven Wonders). The story drags in an everyman character, and in quite thematically correct fashion Seven Wonders becomes the origin story of a new hero, even as the book largely concerns itself with the symbiotic (oft-remarked) relationship between superheroes and super-villains, the way the one invariably creates the other. I won't spoil the details of the plot twist but midway through the book becomes less about a single city and its heroes and more about the world as a whole. To me it felt like reading the first three or four issues of a comic and then having it be taken over by one of those gigantic expensive-to-keep-up-with multi-part crossovers. Which is fine, they're a part of the way comics work and they happen all the time, but generally the massive crossover is not all that great a story (with a few exceptions: Marvel's Civil War was good, DC's Identity Crisis was excellent, etc.). And that's where Adam Christopher lost me-- the story came back down to earth for a satisfying ending but I couldn't "loooooove" this book, only "like" it, and I love superheroes. It made me want to start work on a superhero novel of my own, to see if I could do it without immediately getting sued by one of the big comic book companies for copyright infringement-- which is a tricky thing if you're writing a superhero novel, I mean, you can't have a character who's too much like Superman, or Batman, or Spider-Man without having to worry about some monster lawyers coming after you or worrying that you're producing a novel no publisher will touch.... (less)

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Mar 21, 2013 Mjhancock rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: super-hero, sci-fi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 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 gott...more 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.(less)

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Dec 28, 2012 Ranting Dragon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: stephan

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 simil...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Adam Christopher turns his hand to a tale about honest to goodness superheroes; spandex, primary colours, the lot, and it works.

Seven Wonders is a book that deals sensitively with the tropes of superhero comic books, while maintaining its own distinct style. Christopher's San Ventura, like Metropolis or Gotham, is a city that feels as real as any other. Its heroes are fully formed creations, distinct from any DC or Marvel superheroes I'm aware of, but the flavour is more DC, as I would expect. T...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Russell Allison rated it 1 of 5 stars

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 battl...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Tasha Robinson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more 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.(less)

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Aug 09, 2012 Taryn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: what-i-read-in-2012, arc

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 illust...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Chris Bauer rated it 2 of 5 stars

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...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Luke rated it 3 of 5 stars

Adam Christopher throws the kitchen sink at this fun but frustrating ode to super hero comics. Super Hero's, Super Villains, Robots, Alien Invasions, Meteor Showers, all thrown into the melting pot and generally pulled off with just the right mix of child like fun and more grown up action. What's not so successful is the ridiculously meandering plot. It becomes pretty clear by the time your 2/3 of the way through the book that AC is just making the whole thing up on the fly. Towards the end ther...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 2000A...more 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.(less)

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Oct 04, 2012 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

Seven Wonders is a fun, and in spite of its length, rapid read that demonstrates a seemingly-boundless enthusiasm for the world of the superhero.

From a fairly direct premise - average Joe, or Tony in this case, wakes up with superpowers and disturbs the balance of the world's last remaining super-stalemate - the story winds itself tighter and tighter, drawing more and more characters into the conflict and putting pressure on the cracks between those caught right in the centre. With the final tur...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Russell James rated it 5 of 5 stars

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...more

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Jul 10, 2012 sj rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: egalley, end-of-the-world-challenge

[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 "Ho...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Cat rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 Wond...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Johann Thorsson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more 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.(less)

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Nov 25, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

In general I thought that this book was a pretty good read. As you can read by the other reviewers, this book falls in the super-hero genera of scifi and fantasy. Compared to "A Once Crowded Sky" by Tom King, I felt that this was a much better read. I didn't struggle to just get through the story and for the most part was able to get into the various characters.

Unlike other reviewers, I did really appreciate the twists and turns. There were two or three really excellent reveals that I thought we...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Geoffrey Stokker rated it 2 of 5 stars

Maybe this book and my feelings toward it are clouded by Adam's first novel, Empire State, which I absolutely loved. Is there a chance that I went into this novel expecting the same level of originality and awesome that was Empire State? Maybe.

I think the important thing to remember is that Seven Wonders was actually written before Empire State and maybe that has something to do with the perceived drop in quality between books. Empire State was tight and controlled where Seven Wonders, while not...more Maybe this book and my feelings toward it are clouded by Adam's first novel, Empire State, which I absolutely loved. Is there a chance that I went into this novel expecting the same level of originality and awesome that was Empire State? Maybe.

I think the important thing to remember is that Seven Wonders was actually written before Empire State and maybe that has something to do with the perceived drop in quality between books. Empire State was tight and controlled where Seven Wonders, while not meandering around, seemed to take longer to get to the point.

What I liked?

The world where superheroes exist and are always locked in a battle with the super villains. By the time the novel starts, there is only one group of superheroes left, the Seven Wonders, and one super villain, Cowl. There are still other superheroes out in the world but they have for the most part retired as they have defeated their villains.

What I disliked?

The first quarter to a third of a novel jumped around in time between present day and the past and it was difficult to keep track of the timing of the chapters and most of the beginnings of chapters was spent trying to figure out where it all fits in than enjoying what is actually happening.

It felt as though every character was a POV character without actually settling on any character to be a consistent POV. It isn't a massive epic novel and yet it felt as though everyone was chipping into the story and you never spent long enough with anyone to get to know them or like them before the chapter ended and your flipped into someone else's head.

The ultimate villain in the novel isn't even presented until about two thirds of the novel and then suddenly you're supposed to care about the struggle against them. The conflict stated off on a very small scale on being in San Ventura and then suddenly the whole world was involved and everyone had to pitch in. Like I said the ultimate villain was only introduced at about 67% and the whole novel was set up to be an intimate struggle before that was almost pushed to one side and an even bigger conflict was brought in.

Will I read Adam Christopher's future novels?

Absolutely. I'm looking forward to The Age Atomic next year.(less)

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Sep 12, 2012 Adam rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I thought this sounded like an interesting take on the superhero genre. Here we have an everyman, gaining powers and dealing with a world that is -almost- out of villains. Great potential! And at times, the story really does get there. The villains are interesting, the heroes obviously have something shady going on, and the story subverts standard templates fairly well.

But then points of view will shift. Again and again. And time too. Keeping track is not so bad, heck, I loved Malazan! But each...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Haralambi Markov rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: dnf

I actually didn't finish this one, but got well into it to spot why this didn't work for me. For starters, I didn't quite find the voice all that consistent as there is a lot of switching between down-to-earth prose in the scenes with the detectives and then some over-the-top language to get as much grandeur out of the concept of having super heroes. It dates the book the bad way.

Also, I didn't quite find the concept behind the randomized gaining and losing of a whole package of powers appealin...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Chuk rated it 4 of 5 stars

I liked it but there is always something that seems lacking to me in super-hero worlds made up entirely by one person. They just aren't as detailed as something with dozens of authors over decades of stories.
That is mostly a personal nit-pick, I think -- this world does feel quite developed, and it allows for reveals about the characters' secret backstories that you couldn't get away with if you were writing Batman or Spider-Man. A few viewpoint characters but not a crazy amount and they all see...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Steph! rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was a fun read, although it could've been a lot more streamlined with focus on fewer characters, which i think actually would've made it more enjoyable. it's the kind of book that has several climaxes before you get anywhere, so that was a bit frustrating and it got a bit repetitive at the end. The idea was really good, and it has a fun atmosphere where superheroes are the norm, throwback to the 1950s or so (but it's placed in modern time). i do think the author lost his way around the midd...more

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Jun 06, 2013 Steven Morton is currently reading it · review of another edition

I am tearing thru this book as fast as I was with his other book Empire State. I knew he had a thing for superheroes in Empire State but in 7 Wonders he is able to really tear loose on the superhero genre. You can tell how much he loves these type of characters by the way the he writes; some people have commented that they thought the chapters were too short or episodic I disagree for me it has heightened the excitment and has made me quickly turning the pages. Lastly, Christopher is still able...more

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May 15, 2013 Kevin Mantle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: super-heroes

After reading this you understand why superheroes is a visual medium. The novel contains all the elements of a classic golden age set up - a mixed superhero team, an industrial magnate cum super villain and aliens. And if this was written during the golden age it would be an enjoyable novel; but it wasn't written during the golden age. Comics have grown and matured over the past 40 years, if this was put into visual form it would be slated for lacking depth of characterisation and linear plottin...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Ori rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really wanted to like this book. This is the first superhero novel I've ever read, and I was excited about it -- I love superhero comics, so seeing capes and spandex in another medium was exciting to me.

I shouldn't have wasted my time.

This book wanted to go places. I could see that. It was plotted to a grand scale, but fell short in the execution. I think it primarily failed in attaching the reader to its many characters. We're introduced to so many characters, you'd think one of them at least...more I really wanted to like this book. This is the first superhero novel I've ever read, and I was excited about it -- I love superhero comics, so seeing capes and spandex in another medium was exciting to me.

I shouldn't have wasted my time.

This book wanted to go places. I could see that. It was plotted to a grand scale, but fell short in the execution. I think it primarily failed in attaching the reader to its many characters. We're introduced to so many characters, you'd think one of them at least would wriggle their way into our hearts and have us rooting for them. I didn't care about a single character. Every single one of the Seven Wonders seemed like empty superhero templates who were merely going through the motions of humanity. The detectives Sam was a cookie cutter revenge cop with no real depth to her motivations (and also why did the superheroes bring them along for the ride? They couldn't have known how things would turn out, so stringing two non-powered humans along was basically putting them in the direct line of fire. Idiots).

And lastly, Tony, who the readers ought to feel the most connected to, was shallow, stupid, and hateful. His character development was all over the place. One might argue that the sudden influx of all his powers screwed up his perception of the world, but he was a self-righteous ass with no real direction. He hated the Cowl, he hated San Ventura, he hated the Wonders -- and then all of a sudden he loved all of those things (well except maybe for the Cowl). It pissed me off that he saved the day, because if there ever was a character who deserved to die ignominiously it was him.

The only two characters who stirred up any sort of interest for me were Blackbird and the Cowl, but I never felt really invested in them. Cowl always seemed like a bit of a milksop to me, and became even more so when he became Paragon. Blackbird was unrepentantly bad, which I liked, but her motivations were never really clear, and she irritated as much as amused me with her attitude.

I get what Adam Christopher was trying to do. He was trying to turn the hero-worship people have of superheroes on its head by portraying them as everything other than the spotless paragons they're meant to be. He wanted to show what was wrong with overpowered men and women being above the law, and the consequences of having power and losing it. In the end, he tried to create an awe-inspiring force of earth's mightiest heroes, but in this he ran up against the problem of the reader's lack of familiarity with all the heroes he invented for the end. He just rattled off a roster of superhero-themed names, and no one cared when they died by the hundreds.

There's just so much wrong with this book. He may have successfully rehabilitated the supposedly villainous Cowl, but redeeming Seven Wonders from its tangled mess of stereotypes and character development hells looks like a job for Superman.(less)

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Mar 22, 2013 Armand rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: comic book fans

Shelves: genre-sci-fi-fantasy, read-2013, source-indy-bookstore

The bottom line: Fun and punchy writing gets together with superheroes and a dynamic (if not somewhat stretchy) plot to produce some spectacular (and I don't use the word loosely) scenarios, but unfortunately lacking depth in certain key areas.

If this story were a drink it was be a glowing, lime green liquid handed to you in a glass test tube that- after being quaffed- would give you the power to fly faster than a speeding bullet.

If this book were an animal, it would be a chimera with ADD, one t...more The bottom line: Fun and punchy writing gets together with superheroes and a dynamic (if not somewhat stretchy) plot to produce some spectacular (and I don't use the word loosely) scenarios, but unfortunately lacking depth in certain key areas.

If this story were a drink it was be a glowing, lime green liquid handed to you in a glass test tube that- after being quaffed- would give you the power to fly faster than a speeding bullet.

If this book were an animal, it would be a chimera with ADD, one that turns and twists and morphs like mad as it bursts across the landscape.

How to dress for this book: Oh, you know: glossy spandex, shiny boots, mask, cape.

I will give it 4 stars, but I really feel like it's more of 3.666 star book, somewhere on the line between good and very good.

Seven Wonders has a lot going for it. It harnesses a take-no-prisoners plot (involving superheroes, cosmic power tools, tough-guy cops, and psychic alien threats) to a narrative a voice that both (1) pokes fun at the conventions of genre (ala Edlund's Tick comics but maybe with a shade more irony), and (2) that maintains a detached postmodern perspective while (3) never entirely losing the innocent wide-eyed wonder of simply being a fanboy. A great example of this blended style occurs near the end of the book when a small army of superheroes awaits contact with an alien force. Christopher delivers the goods, describing (with a sense of awe and hushed voice) the assorted heroes floating like an array of multicolored stars against the background of the cosmos, but also keeps on sneaker-shod foot rooted in satire by mentioning that one of the superheroes is named "The Man with a Gun in His Hand" (By the time you say that guy's name, he will have shot and killed you.)

As mentioned far above, the plot itself dodges and weaves with nice energy. Unfortunately however the energy is not complimented with enough focus. Which is not to say that the story of The Seven Wonders is completely free of focus, but it never quite finds its way to a deeper groove, you know, the kind of groove that grounds us with the character and the moment.

Is it the story of Tony Prosdocimi (one minor quibble- I have no idea how to pronounce this name. I would guess like: Pro-do-chimi -???) who mysteriously gains superpowers? It's kind of his story. Or is it the story of the mysterious supervision the Cowl and his sudden transformation. Yes, well sort of. Or is it the story of the Seven Wonders themselves? Not really, but almost! Is it the story of a robot gone haywire. Ummm- kind of....

The answer to all the above is both "yes" and "no" and further complicated by the fact that certain main characters (trying go avoid too many spoilers here) keep changing personality and motives throughout the book. Whether this is an intentional attempt at stylized narrative or just a byproduct of frenetic plotting, it does the story and the reader no favors. I would have been happier if some of those elements had been better grounded.

Despite these flaws, I do recommend The Seven Wonders, especially to comic book fans. It's a rockin' -fun ride with some memorable moments and does nice job delivering comic book kicks without and actual comic.
(less)

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Oct 15, 2012 Benito Corral rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 t...more 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!(less)

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Oct 03, 2012 Ken rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: superheroes

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 exploi...more 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/...)(less)

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Aug 30, 2012 Bob Milne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: superheroes

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 vari...more 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(less)

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