Austin Grossman's 2007 novel, Soon I Will Be Invincible, is set in the real world with superheroes, and is just about the funniest thing I have ever read. It is written from the viewpoint of the supervillain Dr. Impossible and the female cyborg Fatale. The novel takes a perfectly realistic look at the lives and motivations of super-powered individuals.Probably the best part of the novel is Dr. Impossible's deadpan, unintentionally hilarious internal monologue. All Dr. Impossible wants is what every evil super-genius wants. He wants to conquer the world, and he wants to explain his diabolical plan to you before he does it.
Dr. Impossible's nemesis is Corefire. He is a good looking, overly self-assured, invulnerable dolt. Dr. Impossible hates him and so do I. He is one of the founding members of the supergroup the Champions.
Next in the pantheon, and also a founding member, is Blackwolf. He has no superpowers, but has trained his mind and body to near perfection. He has the single-minded focus of a borderline autistic, which he is rumored to be.
Damsel, the third founding member of the Champions, is the daughter of a golden age superhero and a princess of an alien planet. She has some issues due to her mixed heritage.Fatale, who has no memory of her life before the accident that led to her transformation into a cyborg, eventually discovers that the corporation that saved her life was a front for Dr. Impossible. Needless to say, this little development comes into play later in the novel.
Some of the other more interesting characters include:
Lily, born in the far future and stranded in the present. Her powers include super-strength and she also has access to far future technology. Also notable for her translucent appearance.
Elphin, supposedly the last fairy on Earth. She is inhumanly fast and strong and has some nature-controlling powers. The novel never makes it clear if she really is a fairy, or if she's an alien of some sort.
Mr. Mystic, a magician much like Dr. Strange. His powers include illusion and teleportation.
Two of the most inexperienced Champions are Bluetooth and Phenom. Bluetooth is a geeky young hero infused with alien technology. He has the power to read minds and control electronic equipment. Phenom's powers come from his cybernetic implants. In one of the best scenes of the novel, the hapless duo attempt to interrogate Dr. Impossible, which leads to his escape. Oops!
The most important supervillains, other than Dr. Impossible, include Baron Ether, a Golden Age scientist and robotics expert. He is sort of a mentor to Dr. Impossible. The Pharoah, whose powers come from a magic hammer, is Dr. Impossible's friend, sort of. (Actually, he thinks he's an idiot.) The Pharoah's hammer is one of the most powerful objects on the planet and figures prominently in Dr. Impossible's plan to rule the Earth.
Not to spoil anything, but does it come as any surprise when the New Champions are able to foil Dr. Impossible's plan? No matter how close he comes, even Dr. Impossible knows that he will ultimately fail, and the cycle will begin anew. And in that process, we have a lot to learn from Dr. Impossible. As he stands on the verge of taking over the world, ' at the fulcrum point of creation', he blurts out, 'God I'm so unhappy.' Success means the end of the journey, and Dr. Impossible knows that the journey is more important than the goal. Defeat means renewal, and a rediscovery of your purpose. Dr. Impossible certainly knows his own purpose: 'When your laboratory explodes, lacing your body with a supercharged elixer, what do you do? You don't just lie there. You crawl out of the rubble, hideously scarred, and swear vengeance on the world. You keep going. You keep trying to take over the world'.
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