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Review: Shooting Star By Paddy Lennon

Review: Shooting Star By Paddy Lennon

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They’re real and they’ve been watching us for almost seventy years… 
The world’s newest (and pretty much only) superheroes, Ryan Curtis and Aimee DeWitt, have their next mission. An old acquaintance of Ryan’s, long thought vanished, has re-appeared with a warning; an invasion fleet of ravenous aliens is coming. It’s up to them to undertake a dangerous assault on the alien flagship and try to stop a war before it starts. Can Flare and Revenant turn the tide? Why do most inhabitants of Las Vegas seem to hate living there? What exactly is Hiroshi Saito building? Will any of these questions actually get answered?v
Continuing on from where Flare left off, Shooting Star continues the series following the adventures of teenage superheroes Ryan Curtis, Aimee DeWitt and Hiroshi Saito.
Screen Shot 2015-07-03 at 01.06.15Another great addition by Paddy Lennon, with cover art again from the talented Ben Hennessy and Miriam AbuinShooting Star lives up to expectations and continues to demonstrate Lennon’s love for superheroes, with aliens thrown in for extra measure. Like its predecessor, Shooting Star captures action in a way that you could swear you’re there. This needs to be a graphic novel already, so if someone could get on that asap, that would be great!
The story had me guessing at times and definitely kept me entertained. Each character continues to develop as the story progresses and we get a better sense of their dynamic. We are familiar with their origins at this stage and welcome them back while being introduced to additional characters in a way that in no way takes from the three main protagonists.
Aimee, while still hard as nails, is shown in a different light and adds a more ‘human’ element to the group, and while I have made Buffy the Vampire Slayer comparisons in the past, Aimee is reminiscent of the character of Willow.
Hiroshi Saito is definitely drawn out more in this instalment and has a lot more to offer by way of humour and action. And Ryan Curtis grows as a character and I feel he was much more relatable this time than he may have been in the first instalment.
The one thing I would have liked in my first introduction to the book is maybe a re-cap or a signpost to what went on previously. Now, that may be because I need that mental nudge but I think that with it, readers could easily be brought in at any stage of the series.
I have to say I enjoyed the introduction of the new bad guys as well and really got sucked into their scenes, although I would have liked to maybe continue the arc of Maria Fleming and Behemoth. Saying that, though, if there were no grey aliens there more than likely would not be Virtus or, as I affectionately call her, my female Drax the Destroyer. 
One thing I found in the first book was that sometimes it was difficult to differentiate between the different narratives of the characters, and this is addressed in this book while staying true to its own voice. You can feel the love that has been put into every single character in this instalment, keeping them relatable, exciting and human. – Long live Flare, Mech and Revenant.
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Lennon does a fantastic job of captivating the reader by well-timed action sequences that pack a punch. As mentioned earlier, this really reads like a graphic novel – a great strength in my opinion – and this is felt strongly in the climactic final boss battle. I even found myself reading and re-reading this battle for the visual affect!
So if you’re looking for a read that’s fun, action-packed and full of great characters then this is the one for you! Lennon captures his love of science-fiction, superheroes, books and action and put them into these characters for us to enjoy.
He has also more or less finished the sequel, Shooting Star, which should be available in 2015 and I, for one, look forward to reading it. Shooting Star will be available in printed copies at Arcade Con which takes place this weekend from the 3rd to 5th of July so definitely stop by to grab a copy and say hi to Lennon himself.
Don’t forget to also check out the author’s Facebook page and find Paddy Lennon on twitter @paddylennon1.
Have you read Fireborn? Do you agree with me? Let me know in the comments!

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