Dreams of the Golden Age

Sometimes authors are hoist on the petard of their own success. A while back, Carrie Vaughn produced Dreams of the Golden Age, which was an exceptionally good superhero book. When an author hits pay dirt, the publisher naturally invites said writer to dig a little deeper. So here we go with Dreams of the Golden Age. Twenty years have passed. The untalented Celia West has married Arthur Mentis and they have two daughters who may have superpowers.

Except, as readers, we know the older girl has powers, albeit of the passive, and not the more exciting knock-em-dead, variety. This leads us into a twin narrative. The first is a coming-of-age YA thread that charts the development of powers by a small group of teens attending school. The second, more adult thread, deals with the West family under pressure as an outside corporation moves into town and bids for a major rebuilding project. In due course, it turns out there’s a supervillain at work and various henchpersons emerge to do their thing. Although it’s very readable and has some very good moments, it’s nowhere near as good as the first, in what may now become a series.