Review: “Brave New World,” David Bishop (Heroes Reborn)

Pros: Interesting material
Cons: Didn’t entirely hook me; doesn’t add a whole lot to the episode by the same name
Rating: 3 out of 5

Heroes Reborn – Book 1: Brave New World, by David Bishop, is a tie-in with the current “Heroes Reborn” TV episodes. It is, roughly speaking, a novelized version of the episode which is also entitled “Brave New World.” For anyone who isn’t familiar (not that there will be many of you), “Heroes” was a show about otherwise normal people developing super-powers and the scary stuff that goes with that. “Brave New World” takes us a handful of years after the end of that series. There are some things that won’t make a lot of sense unless you’re at least passingly familiar with the basics of the original show (Noah Bennet and Claire’s background are handy to know, among others). This volume takes place one year after the Odessa Event, which set normal people against “EVOs” in a big way.

Bishop’s write-up does include information not shown in the “Brave New World” television episode, but not that much. This is a relatively short body of work, and only the short length makes it worth experiencing both the ebook and the episode. Although I will say, it’s interesting to see some parts from Noah’s point of view, seeing as he’s my favorite character from this fictional world. There’s a plot involving him that I look forward to seeing more of.

Because this is such a short piece (there’s only so much you can pack into a television episode, or the book based on it), there isn’t a lot of character development. That said, I think they packed more of that in than I expected. I read this piece, then watched the episode, then read this piece again just to compare and contrast a bit. I think they overlap enough that it isn’t necessary to read the book. On the other hand, if you’re a cord-cutter and don’t currently have access to the new TV ‘event’ as it comes out, this would be a good way to get your fix.

I have one other dislike that shows up in both the book and the TV show. I don’t want to give away details, so I’ll just say that toward the end there’s a plot involving a video game, a mysterious girl, and her missing father. I felt like I’d stepped into an entirely different genre and felt it didn’t fit the feel of the world-so-far at all.

 
NOTE: Review book provided free by publisher for review.