Customer Reviews

Chance Fortune and the Outlaws (Adventures of Chance Fortune)

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We bought this book from the author at a sci-fi/fantasy convention (ConNooga). My son, who is 12, read it in a single day! He loved the book and can't wait to read the second one. I am reading it now and it is really good for an adolescent or an adult. Great world and a well written book!

The author does an incredible job describing the action, and battle choreography is thoughtful and interesting. If you are into superhero stories at all, I definitely recommend this!

CHANCE FORTUNE AND THE OUTLAWS is a fun, simple read; don't make more of it than that. Shane Berryhill's debut novel is ideally suitable for the pre-teen audience, and comic book fans will get a kick out of this as well. I really got into the premise which centers around a gutsy fourteen-year-old who doesn't possess super powers but fabricates one in order to be accepted into the prestigious Burlington Academy for the Superhuman. If you're the kind of person who'd rather root for Batman than for Superman, you'll soak in the prevailing underdog theme.

There's a quote from a Roman philosopher which opens the book and basically sums up what makes Joshua Blevins tick: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." In Littleton, Tennessee, young Joshua Blevins has spent arduous years of training under the tutelage of Captain Fearless, an old (and non-superpowered) adventurer from the Golden Age era. Joshua thinks he's ready and applies to the Burlington Academy... and promptly gets rejected because of his lack of super powers. So what does he do? He fakes a super power, the super power of impossible luck. He changes his name to Chance Fortune. And he gains admittance.

The best moments in the book, far as I'm concerned, all have to do with Chance applying his wits and training to overcome the odds, all the while keeping up his pretense of being really fortuitous. I guess I'm gonna keep going to the Batman well, because Chance reminds me quite a bit of him in terms of maximizing his merely human talents and establishing himself as a presence in a community inhabited by demigods and formidable meta-humans. Kids will particularly relish diving into the fantastical world of Megalopolis and the Burlington Academy. If you've read the awesomeness that is Alan Moore's TOP TEN, there's a whiff of that zeitgeist (except more G-rated).

One downside to the book is that the writer tends to leap over hefty chunks of time; weeks and months are sometimes glossed over perfunctorily, and so there's an abbreviated feel to the story. He also eschews other aspects of Chance's freshman year in favor of his combat training and his inter-team competitions. Students of Burlington Academy are assigned on seven man teams that regularly compete against each other in mock superhero battles with an eye towards the term-ending championship battle. Chance finds himself on a ragtag team called the Outlaws and there are immediate personality clashes. The squabbling teammates - it's a plot device that never gets old, yeah? Still, I wish there would've been more focus on Chance's other classes. As it is, I don't feel that the book delivers a truly well-rounded experience on what life is like at the Academy.

There are quite a number of in-jokes referencing well-known comic book creators (the McFarlane Cafeteria, the Kirby Coliseum, the Buscema Dormitory, etc.). If you go back a few decades, you might get the reference to an alien named Orson from the planet Shazzbot. And the name of the Academy itself - after "Edgar Rice Burlington" - is a direct homage to that master of pulp adventure, Edgar Rice Burroughs, one of my all-time favorite writers.

What the book lacks in depth and sophistication, it makes up for in vividly conveyed combat scenes and a likable cast of characters (one of the faculty members, the spooky Boogeyman, is NOT likable, but he's intriguing as heck). Chance Fortune himself is a great character. Chance's enmity with his archnemesis Superion is established early in the book, and maybe Chance bit off more than he can chew. Superion is pretty much Megalopolis' version of Superboy, except that he's an asshat. He's also the leader of the Invincibles, unanimously considered as the team to beat. You can anticipate the inevitable collision course between the underdog Outlaws and the mighty Invincibles, and the more personal confrontation between Chance and Superion. Shades of Batman taking on Superman! And, again, this leads back to my favorite bits in the book, which is Chance overcoming obstacles by virtue of his wits, his training, and, here and there, a trick up his sleeve. He even finds time to help thwart a malevolent presence which had infiltrated the Academy's hallowed halls. So, really, who needs super powers? Chance Fortune makes his own luck.

I was browsing the young adult section in my local library when I first stumbled across Chance Fortune And The Outlaws. Going against the well-known adage about not choosing a book by its cover, I saw the comicbook inspired illustration and decided it was worth a go.

Picky as I am, I really enjoyed the first Chance Fortune novel. From the title character's retired mentor to The Outlaws, to the terrifyingly creepy Boogeyman, every character is well-developed. The plot is solid, and the pacing is just right.

I'm upset that Chance Fortune isn't as known as other series of lesser merit, but it stands on its own as a fantastic tribute to pulp fiction and golden and silver age comics. I've made it a point to mention this book to anyone who will listen, and will do the best I can to see that every kid I know gets his hands on a copy of Chance Fortune.

Action and adventure await Joshua Blevins. His whole life he's been training for and dreaming of becoming a superhero... the small fact that he doesn't happen to have any superpowers isn't going to stop him. Rejected from the superhero academy, his mentor, Captain Force, forges him a new identity, "Chance Fortune" whose (difficult to prove, and subtle) power is "good luck".

Once he's at school, "Chance" spends a lot of time hoping desperately not to get caught. Even as a superhero he's classed among those with lesser abilities. He attempts to make up for this by suiting up with as many high-tech gadgets as allowed. The students at Burlington Academy for the Superhuman spend a good deal of time in mock battles preparing themselves for their lives of crimefighting. Chance is soon teamed with Psy-Chick, Gothika, Iron Maiden and Private Justice who find themselves squaring off against the school champions led by Superion, a real bully. I was kind of reminded of the Harry Potter "purebloods vs. mudbloods" conflict.

This was a fun campy read. Some of the battle sequences got a bit long, I thought, but on the whole, I very much enjoyed it. It ends on a huge cliffhanger, a certain set-up for more in the series. There is a sequel, Chance Fortune in the Shadow Zone.

I was interested in this book as soon as I started it. There's never a dull moment in the book, and the writer is very descriptive with information. Shane Berryhill never doubts his readers -- he writes confidently and it's a key to really good writing.
I'm eleven years old and if you have a kid my age you should buy this book for them.

Chance Fortune and the Outlaws (The Adventures of Chance Fortune)
I first read this from the library, but had to definitely get my own copy =)I love supper heroes! They could have shipped it better, but since they cut back on package stuffing for the environment, It was great to know exactly when I was to receive my book =)

Ever heard of the famous superhero batman? Well Joshua Blevins or Chance fortune is just like him and he takes the cake.

Joshua Blevins wanted to be a superhero all his life and he has the smarts, the strength, and the heart but one problem he has no superpowers to use. He soon gets trained by captain fearless who is a retired superhero and is just like Joshua, a human. This was the best superhero book out on the streets and I would recommend this book to superhero fans and people want a superhero in their lives. This book has it all action, romance comedy all put in it. My favorite part in the book would be the part when Joshua meets the shadow.
This writer wants us to think that we can make a difference in the world with no superpowers.

My son had to read this book for school. It was on a suggested reading list. He really loved it. We read it together. It had great characters and a very interesting story line. It had a marvel comic hero feel to it except the characters were all his age - so he enjoyed it even more. He is looking forward to the next book and hopes to play one of the characters in the film! HINT! HINT! It needs to be made into a movie!

All his life, Josh Blevins has wanted to be a superhero. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have superhero parents he could inherit his powers from, wasn't the offspring of a god, hadn't fallen into a vat of strange chemicals, hadn't been born a mutant, hadn't found a mystical object that gave him incredible powers, etc. But what he had (like Batman) was the heart and desire to become a hero. He tracks down Captain Fearless, an old adventurer from the golden age of heroes, who hadn't had any superpowers either and gets him to train him. Even with all that training, Josh isn't admited into superhero school. Ultimately, with the aid of Captain Fearless, Josh changes his name to Chance Fortune and claims his superpower is BEING EXTRA LUCKY and gets into the school. While in his classes, he meets Space Cadet and Shocker, then later gets teamed with Psy-Chick, Gothika, Iron Maiden and Private Justice (who have mental powers, magic powers, is a goddess, and can stretch like a rubberband). Chance Fortune has also run afoul of Superion and the Invincibles, the school's toughest team to beat.

This is Shane Berryhill's first novel, but there is obviously a sequel in the works (judging from the cliffhanger ending).

The book is an homage to every superhero in comics. The school buildings are named after giants in the field: (Stan) Lee, (Jack) Kirby, (Todd) McFarlane and others. Every archetypal superhero in the known comics world is revealed within the pages of fast-paced action and snappy dialogue. Chance Fortune comes across as a real character and the technology backing the world is fun. Readers will no doubt be imagining what would happen if they had superpowers and got to go to the school

The book is a quick, fun read for the younger crowd, and a trip down nostalgia lane for the older superhero wannabes out in the audience. For those who enjoyed the recent movie, SKY HIGH, CHANCE FORTUNE AND THE OUTLAWS offers another opportunity to witness a budding superhero in action.