Customer Reviews

Island of the Super People

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kevin Shamel is by far one of my favorite writers in the Bizarro Fiction genre. His work is wildly creative, original, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. Island of the Super People is a purely fun and exciting ride, which I couldn't stop reading until I was completely finished. And that's rare, so it definitely earns a spot in my "Best Books Ever" list, and has got to be one of my top favorite books of the year. And as a big fan of superheroes, I've never read something done so differently with them. It's a crazy idea with characters you'll definitely come to love, even the villains. Kevin Shamel is definitely a totally amazing writer and I don't think it's even possible to be disappointed by anything he'll ever do. I highly recommend this. You're just going to love it to bits.

Wow! Awesome book! This is one of the best super hero books I've read. Kevin Shamel created a very unique take on the super hero genre. This book does a great job combining heroes and bizarro together into a very captivating story.

Trent, three other students and their anthropology professor travel to a remote island to study its indigenous population, super heroes. Kevin builds an interesting plot and develops the characters into people that you care about. Trent, Death Killer, Squiggles, Jen, and Martin are interesting and well developed characters.

If you like either heroes or bizarro this book is for you. If you are like me and enjoy both of those genres then this book will become one of your favorites.

Let's start this off by saying I am already a large fan of Bizarro fiction in general and comic books... though I am NOT a fan of the "superhero" genre.

I went into this book having neither read the back, nor any sort of summary of the story, much like I try to do with movies that I hear good things about... and I was NOT disappointed in what I found inside. I was sort of expecting a somewhat typical superhero story with a lot of insanity thrown into the mix, and there is NOTHING like that in this book.

What I found inside was a story about a secret island, apparently known only to the military, and a small group of anthropologists. On this island lives a whole race of superheroes and supervillains.But these are NOT the heroes and villains we are used to. More like an odd species of animal, than an organization against crime. In fact, rather than making it their goal to save or destroy humanity, they barely recognize we are even there... Mostly content to fool around showing off to each other and being involved in their own messed up society, for example: a Hero or Villain is not decided by their deeds, but by the colors they are born with... (yes, born... the suit is NOT something they put on.)

The story structure was quite recognizable... a small group of people has to convince group A and group B to stop fighting and join together against group C... however, everything about the story content was wildly funny and original, and built on the backbones of some really funny and likable characters.

I highly recommend this book for superhero fans, and for any fans of things that are AWESOME. :)

A small group of Anthropology students travel to the Island of the Super People to observe heroes and villians with various powers in their natural setting. When another group of inhabitants threaten the existance of the super people, the heroes, villans and students must band together to save the island. This is a humorous book that is also thought-provoking. Themes of prejudice and acceptance run through the prose. Very colorful and enjoyable.

I had some reservations about reading Island of the Super People at first. To be honest, I'm not all that into superheroes, which is a strange thing to say in this day and age. But to be fair, I decided to give Kevin Shamel's book a chance.

And I'm glad I did.

What I was expecting versus what I got were two separate things. I expected the book to be a form of cheap entertainment with very little in the way of story or characterization. And yes, before you go and start accusing me, I know that I can be a bit of a book snob sometimes. But who among us bibliophiles aren't snobbish in one way or another? For me, it was the fact that the story took place on an island populated by super heroes. Yes indeed. We even had a tribe of both heroes and villains.

What I wasn't expecting was for this book to completely and utterly seduce me into manic reading sessions, my eyes bulging, my skin greasy with sweat, my brain twirling with the need to know what would happen next.

Trent, our hero (pun intended), is studying anthropology and is on Super Hero island with his class to observe the hero species' culture. We go along with him in monitoring what turns out to be a well-developed and fascinating people. I had a lot of fun following Trent as he failed and succeeded in his various assignments, and how he fought his way through what would become a violent and bloody war between the heroes and villains and a mysterious human military unit.

What Island of the Super People manages to do, at least in my estimation, is bring about an interesting way of life that the heroes share. It's tribal, it has its own rules and dimensions, and some of the super heroes and villains superpowers are just downright cool.

If you like a lot of action while maybe learning something, even if that something is fictional, then I highly recommend this book. There's a lot of interesting culture from an interesting group of a people inside, and if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself completely captivated.

In a genre that is permeated by non-human protagonists, it's refreshing to read a story where the main guy is human. Kevin Shamel presents an awesome story with a few flaws.

A few.

Kevin Shamel's strength is in plotting a good story. That makes him a storyteller. Parts of Island of the Super People are brilliant, but parts of it slip into mediocrity. Nevertheless, he still manages to keep the story moving forward. His writing, in terms of raw literary nuts and bolts writing, is still a bit undeveloped. But I'm going to keep an eye on him. I see a lot of potential here.

Island of the Super People is based on the superhero genre, though it's not like any other superhero story you've ever read. The superheroes are a race of people who populate an island and the human characters in the story are engaged in an anthropological study that turns out to be more than they've bargained for. There is fast action and high art mixed with a little bit of middle-brow humor.

If you want a good introduction to the bizarro genre, I don't think there's a better book. There is not a lot of crass humor or what is typically called "porn" by unsuspecting readers. It's fairly tame in terms of the bizarre aspects of the novel relative to other books in the genre, but the elements of bizarro are evident, nonetheless.

Island of the Super People is a good genre read with a well-developed easily discernible plot line and interesting characters.

This is such a fun read. It reminded me of THE INCREDIBLES, only it was a lot more fun, and it was a million times more original.

The book takes place on an island where the tribal indigenous people are all super human. Their powers range from cool, to surreal, to goofy, to creepy as hell. Each super hero you meet is fascinating. The main character is a anthropologist. This is perfect, because the world Shamel has created is so fascinating it makes you wish you were an anthropologist.

Get this book. It is such an enchanting novel. It will have your imagination feeling all bubbly and sweet, like an orange soda.

Island of the Super People is a fun read.

In the book an anthropology professor, his assistant and three students travel to the island to study the heroes.

Trent is given two of the most difficult heroes to study. The first is Squiggles. He is a misfit among his people and at first it isn't clear what his powers are.

The other is Death Killer, a villain who lives atop a mountain, alone. He spends his days painting, sculpting and collecting animal furs.

Before long Trent befriends both of these characters and we get to find out just what powers they have, if any.

It turns out that there is more going on around the island and heroes are disappearing at an alarming rate. The professor sets out to find out just what is going on and before long he finds himself a victim and all hell breaks loose.

Shamel does a great job of bringing the island to life as well as the action. I felt as if I was reading a comic book without the pictures.

Once I started reading, I didn't want to stop. I found myself rooting for the Super People and wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery.

In the end you should give this book a try. You won't be disappointed.

I am looking forward to reading more by Mr. Shamel!

A few months back I took a College Course on Screenwriting.

The teacher was always going on and on about the importance of foreshadowing.

Seriously. He never stopped talking about it.

As examples of perfect foreshadowing in a story, he had us watch "Erin Brokovitch" and "the Matrix".

I am convinced that, as fixated with foreshadowing as he was, he would make a mess of himself--drooling and making waste in his breaches--were he to read this book.

The storyline (briefly): Four anthropology students and one anthropology professor travel to Super Island to study the natives, who all happen to be superheroes.

Hence, the title.

Several things happen. I won't give any away but I will say that Dr. Shamel is not so much a writer of fiction as a documentarian of fact. (You read that right, don't worry.)

What I mean is, one of two things has happened that resulted in this remarkable book:

1) Kevin Shamel is actually a Professor of Anthropology--Akin to the Late Carl Akeley--who spent the time since his last book (Rotten Little Animals) on an actual island filled with super people, taking notes, and so on, and then simply publishing his notebooks.

Or:

2) he is a writer of incredible skill, with an incredible eye for foreshadowing that would make my Screenwriting Professor mess his drawers.

I am inclined to go with option 1.

But that is just one man's opinion. I suggest you read this book and decide for yourself.

There are a lot of super "heroes" on the Island of the Super People. And the permutations are endless: rock fists, swamp faces, claw hands, spiked bodies, capes, masks, big tits, tight asses, glowing balls of super energy, giants, bug-swarms, invisibles, and plasma orbs. It's almost like being inside a video game says a grad student doing research for his master's degree in cultural anthropology.

There's one "capeback," however, who stands out among all the rest. And he's a bad guy. In fact, he's so bad, all the other "villains" have expunged him from their tribe. It's no surprise to discover that he's the most interesting character on the island. While the heroes spend their time juggling boulders, jumping through rings of fire, and clawing their way to the center of the earth (ho-hum). Death Killer is in his cave painting, sculpting, and drinking tea. He may look like the scariest badass in the world, but he's actually just a softie with a big (broken) heart.