Is this another coming-of-age fantasy about a super-powered teen, his friends and rivals?

Use this forum to discuss the September 2021 Book of the month, "The Fourth Kinetic: Clairvoyants Book 1" by Brady Moore
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Sushan Ekanayake
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Is this another coming-of-age fantasy about a super-powered teen, his friends and rivals?

Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

The book features the constant battle between a group of people with super powers (the Clairvoyants) and a group who are determined to eradicate them (the mysterious organization which tries to capture all the super-powered ones).

The moment I took this in I thought "this is a common concept which has been used in sci-fi fantasy for a long time". And with its published date (2021 May), it is unlikely for the other work to be inspired by this book.

What do you think? Is this another book in which can be categorized as a common sci-fi fantasy with super powered fellows and their rivals? Or has the author been able to create something more with it?
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Post by Jessica045 »

Personally, I think that this is another coming of age sci-fi story. A high school guy suddenly gets powers and now has to take responsibility for it's usage... They are all the same.
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Post by Courtney Hughes »

This book has all the aspects you mentioned: coming-of-age, battle of good and evil, fantasy, etc. I think that the author was able to capture my attention with the relationship Rion has with his mother and his inability to make meaningful connections at first. I think that those points are something different the author offers to the reader.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Jessica045 wrote: 02 Sep 2021, 20:16 Personally, I think that this is another coming of age sci-fi story. A high school guy suddenly gets powers and now has to take responsibility for it's usage... They are all the same.
I felt the same. Whenever we see supernatural guys they have their rivals who just want to get rid of them. This has been a common base for the development of many similar sci-fi fantasies and Brady Moore too has used that. So I do not see any uniqueness in this story.
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Post by Medhansh Bhardwaj »

I agree with you. A school student has trouble socializing and ends up being a loner. He has a disturbed family background, and has a poor life overall. Suddenly, some mystical being/object/weapon comes in his contact and boom! We have a superhero! Classic Spiderman.
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Post by Rosefarid »

Yeah @sushan, I've been thinking the same thing. I've just finished reading opaque. So they seem similar.Especially these guys don't know their father and in school no friends they won't feel it's their origin.They search for the dark world and find their parents, the clairvoyants must be the story.. But no worries authors I still love reading this kind of sci-fi novel.
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Post by Susan Kihleng »

It's a common storyline that we have seen quite frequently in past young adult novels, but it is the type of storyline that is popular and sought after. I think the author does a good job of keeping this genre fresh with some new ideas and twists in this book. So yes, while it's similar to other books of this genre, it's a common fantasy for young people, particular introverts, to find they have a superpower, some way to make them special and set apart from their peers.
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Post by ej_author »

Sadly, I think I have to agree with you. If this story would have been more unique, I probably could have forgiven more of its faults. As it stands, the book just felt very flat to me, something I've seen before and seems to be heading in the same direction as all the others. I want to be hopeful that the next book will be a little more colorful, so we'll see!
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Post by mohamed benziane »

I think it most definitely is, i hate books that have almost the exact same consent and story of other well know and published books, this one for instance is practically the bad version of the X-Men series, authors need to come up with something new and exciting, it's ok to have the same concept, like teens with super powers but you need to add the spice to make it stand out
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Post by Booklover547 »

He didn’t suddenly get powers in high school, he suddenly was forced to use them. The focus shifts to the reason why, which sets this apart from the sci fi genre.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Courtney Hughes wrote: 02 Sep 2021, 22:47 This book has all the aspects you mentioned: coming-of-age, battle of good and evil, fantasy, etc. I think that the author was able to capture my attention with the relationship Rion has with his mother and his inability to make meaningful connections at first. I think that those points are something different the author offers to the reader.
Though there are few unique things to this story, and for the details of it per se have never been used before, the core idea is the same. Rion and his Clairvoyant friends face their rivals, as happens in X-Men, Avengers, and many more. Do those subtitle differences make this book unique enough to grab the attention of the intended audience?
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Post by Ndive Mzamo »

Yes. After separation Rion finds other Clairvoyants. They all on Psyriin, an agency with unknown agenda.This is all about mingle power with other adolescent.
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Post by Deval Sodha »

I agree that the concept of the story is common like fantasy, teen with super power etc. But yes the author added a spice by mixing up mother son relationship along with the Science fiction.
Rion's character and his style to tackle his setbacks is interesting too.
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Post by Reader-247 »

I think this book has used the recipe for trending commonalities fron teen and/or young adult hits, it gives X-men-esque vibes. Super powers, good versus evil, teen drama, all over uttilized, all quite redundant.
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Post by Black Jewel »

I lean heavily towards this being just another sci-fi/fantasy coming of age story that has been so heavily done in the past. This concept has been heavily done, and I don't really feel that Rion's story added anything truly new to this category.
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