The Superyogi Scenario by James Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
In the world of The Superyogi Scenario comic book type heroes and villains are real. These exceptional individuals powers don't come from mutations, being aliens, or science experiments gone wrong, but from yoga and meditation. Verses of The Yoga Sutra are brought into a comic book style universe to explain how ordinary men and women can open their chakras to become beings greater and more powerful than most people could ever imagine.
The Superyogi Scenario is an interesting take on the superhero world which results in a story both familiar and very different at the same time. I picked this book up because it seemed intriguing. I'm certainly not one for yoga, but superheroes are an area I know and love. I wasn't at all disappointed with the familiar superhero powers and scenarios. As the book delved into The Yoga Sutra I found myself as ignorant as the majority of american sports fans trying to watch cricket. I can't help but feel that this book would be far more appreciated by a person who likes superheroes and yoga rather than one or the other. Despite large portions of the book being about topics I have little knowledge or interest in, I still found I enjoyed The Superyogi Scenario.
The author's creativity really creates a compelling story. Choosing to depict heroes gaining powers through yoga and meditation creates a new and potentially endless supply of heroes and villains. It also is a take that I don't believe I've ever witnessed before which is always fun to see. Creating super powers from verses of The Yoga Sutra went really well for the author. While the powers were familiar the way they turned on were quite intriguing with glowing eyes/skin and hair color changing.
Like nearly all books, The Superyogi Scenario has its warts. One such wart was that the point of view jumped around like a drunken bullfrog. At times the point of view changed every paragraph with no indication a change had been made. It also slipped into third person omniscient at times which I personally found to be the most annoying of the point of view issues.
The Superyogi Scenario also suffered from the recurring moments of eye rolling dialogue. The dialogue was eye rolling because it was the type of dialogue that even as a child I'd get annoyed with such as "Physique is going down" and "It's diamond time." Perhaps the author's intentions were to recall the dialogue from the most innocent heroes in the media and if that was the case then the mission was accomplished.
The story also suffers because it can't seem to decide how serious it wants to be. At one moment it's naively innocent with kid friendly dialogue the next its a woman in a wet white shirt thinking how the guy she likes can now clearly see her nipples since she apparently wasn't wearing a bra. The more adult vibe continues with a naked hero at the moment of her rebirth and comic artists trying to make the female heroes sexy costumes rather than practical ones. Honestly either tone would be fine with me I just wish the story would choose one and stick with it.
One other neutral comment I wanted to make is that all the people doing yoga were repeatedly mentioned as being extremely physically beautiful. Not one of the characters who practiced yoga seemed to have a physical flaw at all while the CIA and FBI agents were depicted as particularly average looking. The main male character is repeatedly thought of as being a gorgeous man by nearly all the female point of view characters. It's not especially important, but I wanted to note that point.
The Superyogi Scenario was something slightly different in a sea of books where many look the same. It was a nice change of pace.
2.5 out of 5 stars
An advanced read copy was provided.
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