Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman

Title: Soon I Will Be Invincible
Author: Austin Grossman
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 2007
Formats: Hardback/Paperback/Ebook

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“Soon I Will Be Invincible” by Austin Grossman is the final book in the 2012 Sci-Fi Reader challenge that I am reading to fulfil the mad scientist requirement. I went in to this book with a hopeful mind as I always loved superhero stories but just never found comics to be something that I enjoyed reading. I wasn’t disappointed, I am sure for people who read comics there is nothing new here, but for me I was happy that I got to read something that gave me the comic book styled story in a form that I enjoy.

The plot itself follows two intermingling stories, the first is that of a super villain named Dr. Impossible with the second following a rookie super hero named Fatale. We get to see the lives of these two characters and gain a little insight into their thought processes as their stories run parallel to each other with Dr. Impossible trying to implement a new plan for world domination whilst Fatale joins a team of super heroes who are intent on stopping him.

I have to admit there was a less satire than I had been expecting when I picked up the novel. I mean there are aspects of satire throughout but they are more hidden within the standard super hero story that Grossman is telling. The chapters around Dr. Impossible are definitely the most satirical and I found them to be the most enjoyable. This was helped by the fact that I think Grossman spent time developing him into a character that the reader could actually want to succeed in his aims.

Fatale and the super heroes however were much more straight laced and the real life issues they were facing almost seemed banal when you compared it to everything else. I understand, Grossman was trying to show the reader how both heroes and villains have things they need to deal with in their life. But whilst I found Dr. Impossible’s inner monologue to be interesting and enjoyable to follow, the super heroes just came across as being a little bit more un-original and boring.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story and following Dr. Impossible’s rise and fall in particular was highly entertaining and this alone was worth reading the book for. Just don’t expect anything that original in regards to the super hero genre and you should be more than happy if you pick up this book.

Challenges Book Counts Towards:
Sci-Fi Reader Challenge
Speculative Fiction Challenge