Book Review: Christopher L Bennett - Only Superhuman

2107. Generations ago, Earth and the other cislunar colonies banned genetic and cybernetic modifications. But out in the Asteroid Belt, anything goes. Dozens of flourishing space habitats are spawning exotic new socieites - and strange new varieties of human. It's a volatile situation that threatens the peace and stability of the entire solar system.
 Emerald Blair is a Troubleshooter. Inspired by the classic super-hero comics of previous centuries, she's joined with other mods to try and police the unruly Asteroid Belt. But her loyalties are tested when she finds herself torn between rival factions of superhumans with very different agendas. Emerald wants to put her special abilities to good use, and atone for her scandalous past, but what do you do when you can't tell the heroes from the villains? 

I was in Southampton's Forbidden Planet last Saturday, and was ambling towards the cashier when I noticed the book cover you're currently looking at.
 Redhead with a blaster pistol?
Consider my interest piqued.
 The back cover blurb sounded promising too. Basically "Superheroes in a realistic SF setting."
So, I thought "What the hell" added it to my pile of reading material and broke out the debit card.

  I have to admit that initially I struggled with this book. It opens well, with heroine Emry and her mentor battling modded terrorists intent on mass murder, but after that it gets a bit dry.
 Bennett's world-building is good, creating a well thought-out system of satellite colonies, modified humans and social divisions. Baseline humans are paranoid about those with modifications. The inhabitants of the Asteroid Belt are wary of Earth sticking her nose into their business. Some people just want to get on with their lives, some want to kick the Universe until it cracks.
 So if you're looking for debate on such issues you might get more out of this than I did.
 Frankly I was hoping for more Superheroics and less cerebral Sf. There's a lot of debating and a lot of explaining and not nearly enough punching of naughty people.
 The writing can seem a bit dry and wordy sometimes, so I was reading the words without really feeling the moment. I like to get lost in a book. Here I was peering in through the window.
 I also found it hard to feel sympathetic for Emerald , one particular incident sending my opinion of her right down the tubes.

  However, the pace picks up in the last third of the book, the various plots and counter-plots start colliding with each other and Emerald gets a crucial bit of character development that made me like her again.  Oh, and the climax involves a respectable amount of action so "Only Superhuman" starts being the book I was hoping to get.


"Only Superhuman" isn't, I think a bad book, it's just one that didn't really resonate with me.
  I do like the cover though.