Steve Libbey

This may be the first book of MMORPG roleplaying guild fiction published by a major house. As such, it's fascinating - I have been in an MMO roleplaying guild, and the overall tone and flow of the book felt totally familiar to me. Don't get me wrong - this is not amateur work. It's polished, cohesive, and solidly edited. The characters tend towards the angsty rather than the overpowered - always the mark of better RP - and the original City of Heroes milieu is perfectly serviceable and handles having the serial numbers filed off without showing any seams.

As superhero fiction, it's average at best. None of the heroes have powers that really grabbed me, and the everpresent deus ex machina perching on rooftops definitely dulled any sense of danger by the midpoint of the book. The interstitial framing device was also really irritating - it set up the clear expectation that nothing of any serious consequence would happen in this particular book. But it's a decent setup for further adventures, and a damn good sales pitch for City of Heroes.… (meer)