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A review by theartolater
Resistance by Samit Basu
4.0
The first book in this series, Turbulence, was a revelation in a lot of ways. Upended a few superhero tropes, used a non-Western setting without falling into a common trap of doing so for the sake of doing so, balanced out the culture of the setting with the reality of the plot, and ended up being an exceptionally fun ride.
Resistance is not the same book as Turbulence, and, in fact, shares little in common with its predecessor outside of some characters and the basic universe. Instead, we get a really solid superhero novel (or, really, a post-supers society) where a lot of it starts as what feels like shorter pieces about supers and slowly evolves into a more political discussion about a world with supers and how the planet handles it, as well as how supers can govern each other.
The biggest flaw in Resistance is that it's not Turbulence, which is pretty unfair on a whole. There are some surprises, a good amount of fun, and it's a great read on a whole, don't get me wrong. The action sequences are great, the political machinations fun. I just enjoyed what was established in Turbulence so much that I was hoping for more specifically from that world. It's not a reason to avoid the book, just evidence that it's different.
Overall, definitely recommended.
Resistance is not the same book as Turbulence, and, in fact, shares little in common with its predecessor outside of some characters and the basic universe. Instead, we get a really solid superhero novel (or, really, a post-supers society) where a lot of it starts as what feels like shorter pieces about supers and slowly evolves into a more political discussion about a world with supers and how the planet handles it, as well as how supers can govern each other.
The biggest flaw in Resistance is that it's not Turbulence, which is pretty unfair on a whole. There are some surprises, a good amount of fun, and it's a great read on a whole, don't get me wrong. The action sequences are great, the political machinations fun. I just enjoyed what was established in Turbulence so much that I was hoping for more specifically from that world. It's not a reason to avoid the book, just evidence that it's different.
Overall, definitely recommended.