Mutant City Review!

Hey guys, Joe here!

So, today I’m going to talk to you about a book called ‘Mutant City’ by Steve Feasey.

Disclaimer-1: There are going to be some spoilers in this, so if you plan to read this book… I’m sorry...

Disclaimer-2: I am sorry for the length, just there was a lot I needed to mention.

Here’s the blurb to get you interested:

Fifty years ago, the world was almost destroyed by a chemical war. Now the world is divided: the mutants and the pure, the broken and the privileged, the damaged and the perfect. 

Thirteen years ago, a covert government experimental facility was shut down and its residents killed. The secrets it held died with them. But five extraordinary kids survived.

Today four teenagers are about to discover that their mutant blood brings with it special powers. Rush and three brothers and sisters he can't remember. Two rival factions are chasing them. One by one, they face the enemy. Together, they might just stay alive.

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Okay, on with the review!

I borrowed this book from a friend of mine after she won it in a Goodreads giveaway. (I borrowed it after she read it of course)

As you can tell from the blurb, it’s your typical Mutant-franchised book, but with a slight twist.

50 years in the past the world was decimated by chemical fallouts, which turned the Earth into a land called ‘Scorched Earth’. Most of the worlds population turned to hiding in special bunkers underground, but not all of the human race had the luxury or the ease of finding a bunker, or having a bunker, to hide in leaving them to the fate of the chemical fall out.

When the humans underground re-surfaced they were lead to believe that no one and nothing could survive this mass of radiation and death. To their disbelief a large amount of the population above ground, when the bombs dropped, were still alive. The result of this was that the humans above ground had been transformed into abominations and plagued-beings with disproportionate body parts such as two heads or elongated bodies, etc.

So, these mutants are just diseased people, with a sliver of their race having actual mutant powers, leaving the others as deformed, diseased and strange Mutes. The only problem I find about that is, yes it’s an awesome concept how only a handful of mutants are able to get powers while the others are mutated in bodily ways… but how did they get powers when many others didn’t? Did the chemicals that were dropped have a different effect on their blood type?

The ‘Pure’ or what we call humans, live in cities numbered 1-6. The main city, which the book is focusing on, is City 4, or C4 for short. With the humans advancing in technology they have been able to build giant skyscrapers, futuristic gadgets that surpass our own real-world objects. The book doesn’t fully explain how or when they were able to regain all of these technological studies after chemical fallouts… across the world… destroying everything.

Anyways… The humans despise the Mutes as they are the abomination of humanity and they should not be allowed to mingle on the same streets as the humans, forcing the Mutes to create their own slums/ghettos outside C4.

I liked this idea, but it really did remind me of the third X-men film, when Magneto summons a mutant up rising to take on the world.

There are slight similarities and no, it’s not because they are both mutant based pieces. The reason I believe that there is a similarity is because in both X-men and Mutant City, mutants are hated and un-wanted beings, with a leader standing up for them and saying that the right thing to do is march upon the cities and battle against human-kind… you can kind of see where I’m going here. (It doesn’t help that the writer is a massive fan of X-men and many other mutant pieces, which depict mutant uprisings)

Now back to powers, I thought that was a pretty cool concept as most Mutant/Super Power based books/comics make every single mutant have a power of some sort.

For example again: X-men and the countless number of their mutants in each of their canons and added film characters.

(Just so people know, I am a massive fan of X-men and other mutant based pieces of work, so I’m not bashing them just pointing out similarities)

I thought the choice of powers (with the exception of two of them) was pretty diverse aswell, as most books explore the characters that have abilities such as element controlling (e.g. fire, water, electric, earth) super strength, flying, etc.

This book slightly divulges the power system and makes it its own.

In this story we have 5 siblings who are split up and taken to different safe houses, on their own they are almost stripped of their powers only able to access a small amount.

But when they are together, their powers intensify and boost to their utmost maximum.

We have Rush who is a Telekinetic – yes, a Telekinetic, one of the most over-used powers ever. But, with Rush, he is able to implement physical objects such as a slingshot to enhance his power, so making a pebble about a third stronger then it would be with just a simple psychic push. (Which, is pretty cool)

Then we have Brick, a ‘Healer’ – he can absorb people’s pain and use it on himself, rendering him useless if the injury is of massive proportions, but he is able to regenerate his own body within a matter of time.

He is also depicted as having a ‘hulk-like’ stature, so he also has his own boost of physical strength.

Then we have Anya, who was most definitely my favourite, she was a Shape-shifter or her preferred term ‘Polymorph’. Now most shape-shifters change into your average animal, such as a fox or a bear or a shark for instance.

Anya, though, changes into freakish combinations, a.k.a Chimeras. (a chimera is a mixture of animals) She is able to change into six different forms, which she has created from her nightmares.

This power is my favourite! It really spins the game on shape shifting and it is just an amazing power in itself for the means of terror and fear.

The fourth sibling is Flea, she is labelled the power ‘Time Decelerator’ but for super-power breakdown she’s just super fast. She moves at incredible speeds, which are quicker, then the blink of an eye.

Last but not least, we have the Professor X of the group, Jax. Jax’s power is Mind-control (mixed in with mind-manipulation, but that is a thing you have to find out yourself). Jax is able to scout people and get into peoples heads using just his mind-control abilities.

(All he’s missing now is Cerebro!)

Now, I did really enjoy this book, but at points I just wanted to stop and not continue.

It really did drag at points and then some of the questions, which were asked later on in the book, are answered at the start of the book.

And to not miss out – some bits were predictable.

Like Melk Senior having a disease that only Brick can cure… And when Brick arrives at the Mute slums he’s captured… Well, I didn’t see that coming.

Sorry if it seems like I’m grilling this book, just, I want to put out my honest opinion and I don’t want to annoy anyone, so I am sorry if you enjoyed the book. I just didn’t find it 100% to my liking, but that’s personal opinion and all.

I did enjoy the book to the extent of it being about mutants and I have a love for the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to as a whole though.

Even though I didn’t fully enjoy it, I will be reading the next instalment and I urge you to read this book aswell!

You never know, you may really enjoy it!! :D

Thanks for reading!

Joe! :D