Official Review: Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?

[inksomniareads]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?" by Andrez Bergen.]

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Who Is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa by Andrez Bergen is a fiction novel about a huge, fake city, populated with heroes and normal people (referred to as Blandos). Led by newcomer Southern Cross (a man's answer to the lack of superheroes in Australia), the Equalizers are set to find out who, exactly, is killing the great capes of Heropa.

Heropa is a part of an artificial reality, a sort of MMORPG (massive-multiplayer online roleplaying game), where anyone looking to escape their actual reality, can log on and assume the role of a superhero. Southern Cross is actually a man named Jack, orphaned and starving, at 15 he comes across a man advertising Heropa and a better life. Once Jack logs-on as Southern Cross, he realizes that things aren't quite what they used to be, and that someone is murdering the characters. The problem being, that they're probably dying in real life too. The Blandos have no idea what's going on, and the largest villain group in Heropa are in the dark as well.

Heropa?, is essentially an homage to comic books, merged with a detective noir, and somehow it manages to be those things without being... serious. There's obviously death and violence, but it's humorous deaths. The names and likenesses of the heroes and villains are pretty ridiculous (as an MMORPG sometimes is), but at the same time, it's not so far-fetched you can't believe in it.

While the beginning of the novel was a bit difficult to get through, partly because of the dialogue, once I got through the first chapter I was able to really dig into it. The pacing picked up and the actual story started. There were times throughout the novel where I didn't quite “get” the language used, or the humor, but it wasn't so much that it ruined or took me out of the story. And, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of comic books, especially the golden age to which this novel is paying tribute, so I can't really comment on that front.

But, I did very much enjoy it. I thought the world building was great, and as an avid gamer, I appreciate that aspect. There's romance, as there usually is, and most of the time it's hit or miss for me in that department. I usually think that sort of thing is rushed – and a lot unnecessary in some instances – but I think the way the author set this one up was interesting. In the universe, the “Blandos” are actually NPC characters. Their memory banks are usually wiped clean so that there isn't anything held over for the next game. Essentially they are given what is called in roleplay a new life rule. Everything starts over from scratch. But there was a glitch in the system somewhere, so Jack (Southern Cross) and his love interest were able to develop, as she did not forget or act as an NPC would. It's definitely a new and different way to develop romance.

I give this a 3 out of 4. Definitely enjoyed it.

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[kio]

Great review, thanks!

[ALRyder]

This definitely looks interesting. While I haven't found too many books where people go into virtual realities I have found a few, and I've enjoyed each of them. Great review.