The New Heroes

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The New Heroes (US series title: Quantum Prophecy) is a series of novels and short stories by Michael Carroll (author), first published in January 2006 by HarperCollins in the UK. The stories centre around realistic depictions of superhuman abilities manifesting in the world and the subsequent appearance of superheroes and villains. The first trilogy follows young adolescents as they become aware of their abilities and the danger that those powers may put them in. In December 2007, the author published a collection of short stories entitled Superhuman, which expanded upon the mythology.

The books are sometimes compared to the work of Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl), Joe Craig (Jimmy Coates)[1], or Jack Heath (Agent Six of Hearts).

Contents

[edit] The New Heroes

The first in the original HarperCollins trilogy is titled The Quantum Prophecy (ISBN 978-0007210923, January 2006), the second is Sakkara (ISBN 978-0007210930, October 2006) and the latest to date has been Absolute Power (ISBN 978-0007210947, July 2007)

[edit] The Quantum Prophecy

The first of the original trilogy.

[edit] Plot

The story opens with a seemingly random battle among the many superhumans that inhabited the western world, set ten years ago at the foot of a gigantic tank that was on its way to New York City. During the course of this slugfest, the superheroes and supervillains all seem to lose their abilities.

Ten years later, Colin Wagner and Danny Cooper, the children of these superhumans are discovering their abilities and they soon learn that they have also inherited their parents' enemies. The teenagers are kidnapped in order to calibrate the machine that might take away their powers and stop a war that was prophecised by Danny's father, the man once known as Quantum. Danny was believed to be the cause of this war, and so he allowed the supervillain known as Façade to take his place to let Maxwell Dalton record his visions of the future as he broke down. They had hoped to avert it by stripping the world of superpowers ten years ago, but the machine was destroyed and Danny's powers continued to manifest. The new machine would be unstable, and potentially kill hundreds of thousands of people, but it was a risk they were willing to take. With the help of old heroes, including the frozen in time Renata Soliz (Diamond), they stop this from happening and have those behind the plot taken away. By the end of the book, they realise how much risk is involved in becoming superhuman, with Danny's arm now missing, his real father dead, and many lives irrevocably changed.

[edit] US Title and Publishers

In the United States, the series was originally published by Philomel Books, as Quantum Prophecy, and so the titles of the books were changed. The series is to be republished by Puffin Books starting in 2008. The first is called The Awakening (ISBN 0399247254, April 2007 and ISBN 978-0142411797, May 2008).

[edit] Acclaim

The Quantum Prophecy was nominated for the Ottakar's 2006 Children's Book Prize[2]. The book received positive reviews from nearly all critics, but some criticised the kitch marketing of the series.

[edit] Sakkara

The second of the New Heroes trilogy.

[edit] Plot

Sakkara revolves around a superpowers research facility in the heart of the United States, for which the novel is named. The adolescent superhumans of The Quantum Prophecy return, this time their covers are blown and they are forced to flee to the US in order to protect themselves from attack and publicity. The facility that they hide in is thought to be secret, until its name is known around the world following a terrorist attack in which the supervillain-turned-assassin leaves the word "Sakkara" spraypainted on the wall of an airport after killing dozens of people. Someone among the "New Heroes" or "old heroes" has broken protocol, but everyone is a suspect. As more and more attacks begin to occur, the pattern emerges that they are going after Trutopians. Trutopians are an international organisation designed to give each of its members security and equality, but with reduced comfort and freedoms. It is revealed that they are run by the antagonist of the last novel, Victor Cross, who is really just trying to "take over the world".

[edit] US Title

The Gathering (ISBN 978-0399247262, July 2008)

[edit] Acclaim

Nominated for Best Novel in the British Science Fiction Association Awards in 2006.

[edit] Absolute Power

[edit] Plot

A direct continuation of the previous book. The lives of the teenagers have been changed forever, and they decide to proactively use their powers of their own free will, in order to better the world. Unfortunately, there continue to be antagonists try to manipulate and kill them.

[edit] Superhuman

Superhuman is a collection of short stories set in the New Heroes universe. One story is long enough to be considered a novella, however. The author released the book exclusively through the New Heroes website in December 2007, and each one is signed and numbered. It is limited to 1,000 copies.

[edit] Stories

Below is a list of the individual stories contained in the book. The book also contains a number of articles, and has a foreword written by Michael Scott (Irish author).

  • "A Decade Without Heroes"
  • "What I Did on My Holidays"
  • "The Offer"
  • "Pressure"
  • "The Footsoldiers"
  • "Out of Sight"
  • "Flesh and Blood"
  • "Scholarship Boy"
  • "One Million"


Villains throughout the novels;

Max Dalton
Victor Cross
Evan Laurie
Yvonne
Ragnarok
Dioxin
Brawn
Slaughter
Terrain


[edit] References

  1. ^ [[1]] Book shop with reviews of Jimmy Coates books
  2. ^ [[2]] Description of The Quantum Prophecy


[edit] External links