'Black and White (Icarus Project, Book 1)' [Paperback]

I purchased the book for my Kindle, and I am extremely satisfied with the selection. I am a fan of the superheroic genre despite the fact that I have not bought a comic book (other than the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volumes) in some time. I think that there are a lot of good tales to be told in this genre, and this is certainly one of them.

In fact, Black & White ranks right up with Grossman's Soon I will Be Invincible, another book that I think has done a marvelous job of representing good superheroic storytelling. The two share many similarities, such as the fact that they both use flashback "origin stories" as well as a "something going on in the here and now" plot, and the fact that they both alternate between hero & villain. But they are hardly the same book, because these are structural elements. The heart of the two -- characters, situation and setting -- are very different. These essential elements (in both books) make them both excellent stories in general and fine examples of how well a superhero book can be done.

I thought that the pacing was excellent. The author's "Then" and "Now" device undergirds the back-and-forth of the two characters and helps drive the story forward. While the same back-and-forth storytelling device was used in Soon I will Be Invincible, and the differences are noteworthy. There I was enamored of one side of the story (Dr. Impossible of course) and not-so-well connected to the other side. I understand why it was necessary: too much Impossible will spoil the soup, and the over-the-top villain had to be balanced out by the stalwart hero. In Black and White, these very different characters are both compelling to read and held my interest equally. It is not a matter of 'better' or 'worse' though, the technique needs to conform to the tale, and in both does. The characters here have a different dynamic and so -- like SIWBI -- the back-and-forth technique as applied was perfectly suited to the story. The various main supporting characters were extremely well done, both unique and interesting without going into tangents or derailing the main characters and their stories.

Beyond that structural issue, the dialogue/character/setting content was excellent. The dialogue was rapid-fire and did a good job of establishing their character's motives both externally and internally. The characterizations themselves are not only consistent but realistic within the framework of the setting material. In a way, this is even more important in a superheroic book than a non-superheroic book: cardboard cut-out characters are an anathema in Superhero fiction because that only feeds the stereotype (unless, like 'Jason' from SIWBI that *is* the point). The Plot well done, with one or two quibbles I won't belabor here because these certainly do not detract from an excellent read.

Excellent work from the authors, I look forward to more.

FOR THE KINDLE: No annoying formatting mistakes! It is really nice to see a book in Kindle version which is well-formatted. Kudos to whomever "kindle-ized" this book with one little problem: the Chapters were not "pre-notched" or Bookmarked. Navigating my way to where I need to (should I try to find a particular passage) is going to be a problem. I started Bookmarking myself as I went along, but as I got into the story I stopped: the Kindle "became invisible" which is the stated goal by Amazon, so that is no complaint. I think that also speaks highly of the story but will make going back that much harder. There was also no Table of Contents, which is the other alternative to Bookmarks in overall navigation. Still and I think this bears repeating: No mistakes! And the formatting was the most important thing to do in helping the reader 'get' the story -- if one thing needed to be done right, that was most certainly "it".

I like Jackie Kessler, and I'm a huge fan of Caitlin Kittredge, so I was expecting this to be really good. They did not disappoint! Not a comic fan as the authors are, but you don't have to be to enjoy Black and White.

This is an introduction to Jet and Iri, young extrahumans who met at the Academy and became not only room mates, but really good friends. They are opposites in many ways so they compliment each other perfectly. Iri is very smart, like high I.Q. smart. Jet is too, but she has to work very hard for every A. Iri is impatient and has a temper. Jet is very calm and likes to think things through. Iri is great at improv, and Jet is just trying to stick to protocal. Iri is a Light power, where Jet is a Shadow power. What they do have in common is how their fathers have shaped their lives. Iri's father is a rabid - what a superhero is called when he turns bad. He's imprisoned for life for speaking out against the Corp. Jet's father killed her mother and was institutionalized. The novel starts five years after the Academy where we find Jet as the superhero of New Chicago, and Iridium a supervillian.

Black and White flashes back and forth in time, to when the girls were in school, and as they are five years later. The novel also flashes back to point of view. One chapter it's Jet and the next is Iri. But it is so wonderfully written that a reader does not get confused with either time or character. As a matter of fact, this really works because you get to know each year of their lives even as the present story unfolds. It also makes for a really good mystery, suspense, and some interesting plot twists and turns. I couldn't help but cheer for them both as there are a lot of misunderstandings between the two that caused them to be enemies.

As the first of what may be a series, it couldn't have been better; and it laid down a lot of solid foundation to not only the history between the two, but of the way things are in the future, and the fight between superheroes and the Everyman, a group of regular humans who are determined to destroy the very heroes that save them.

I'm a sucker for superheroes. Always have been and probably always will be. I'm obsessed with the whole good versus evil philosophy.

A fertility clinic figures out a way to help woman become pregnant. Soon after the children are born, the clinic realizes that the children are not your average humans. They have special powers. Jet is a shadow power who's father killed her mother when he went insane. She is told that all shadow powers loose their mind eventually. Then an adult shadow power named Night takes Jet under his wing. He becomes a friend, a mentor. Iridium is a light power. Her father became a "rabid" because he defied Corp and all it stands for. He was sentenced to prison for being a traitor.

Both Jet and Iridium have suffered from tragedy. They are partners and roommates at school and become friends. But just as quickly they become enemies. Both are fighting for the good humanity, they just happen to disagree about who's is right and who's is wrong.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes superhero or the good versus evil stories. When I got close to finishing the book I felt sad. I do this when I read something that I really like because I never want the story to end. Luckily when I got to the back of the book I saw that there will be a sequel "Shades of Gray" in July of 2010. I will definitely put this on my "to be bought" list.

If you haven't read this, I suggest you purchase a copy.