3 out of 4 stars
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This first book of the sci-fi trilogy Superhighway written by Alex Fayman is about a teenage boy with the ability to travel through internet fibers. Alex Fine grew up in an orphanage with no knowledge about his parents. He showed eagerness and curiosity in learning; computers and internet fascinate him the most. At the age of 18, he discovered his superpowers while trying to fix a computer. Upon holding the tip of the internet cable, his surroundings suddenly accelerated around him. He found himself moving at a very high speed in a dark tunnel. Finally, he ended up on a beach miles away from the orphanage. It was the first of his many travels on the optical passageways of the internet. With his ability, he visited places, experienced diverse cultures, and met beautiful women. With information stored in the web, he manipulated databases of banks and government. He did it to steal money from the bad people and help the poor. Along the way, he obtained answers about his past and the reason of having his superpower.
The author did a great job in conceptualizing a unique superpower. It is timely in this generation where computers and internet have become a limb of humanity. Almost everything is up on the web of networks. It is brilliant to come up with the idea of a person being able to enter the complexity of that web and have access and control to anything in it.
It could be considered a superhero story because of him helping the poor with his ability. Despite being a superhero, his immature and irresponsible decisions and actions didn't make him a likable character. I looked forward to his character development as the story unfolds. But I was disappointed that he made even more mistakes.
The book did great in introducing Alex Fine's background and in building up the adventure and responsibility attached to his superpower. But through the middle part, some events happened in fast pace without proper transition. Some ideas also were not given enough details. It's hard for me to follow the flow and identify which were the important parts of the plot. Reading through, I liked the latter part of the book where the events and plot were page-turning.
The great concept was mainly my reason for liking this. I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars, one point taken off for the parts lacking in details and the fast-paced events without smooth transitions. I would recommend this book to readers who are into interesting sci-fi concepts. But this might not be a good fit for those looking for a good superhero story that focuses on helping other people.
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Superhighway
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