The Hero Virus by Russell Dumper; Having Super Powers: The Reality

 The Hero Virus by Russell Dumper; Having Super Powers: The Reality

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I have read many novels where characters obtain super powers or special supernatural abilities and they have been portrayed in different ways. They can be allegories for people with disabilities or from different races or ethnicities. They could represent a young character going through puberty or searching for their family or identity. They could result in a search in which the protagonist finds acceptance and belonging. This genre could be satiric, serious, tragic, fantastic, comedic, beautiful, scary, or intelligent but almost always at least entertaining. Some place the fantastic premise for all of its worth, some take a surprisingly realistic approach. Very few have taken the premise of people obtaining supernatural abilities and superpowers as realistically as Russell Dumper does with the novel, The Hero Virus.

Chris Taylor’s wife died and he is depressed to the point of suicidal. He has tried to kill himself several times but something always keeps the trigger from being pulled. During his latest attempt, he falls ill and passes out for a few days. When he wakes up, he finds that he has sudden energy and super strength. With the help of his friends, Tim and San, and Dr. Mike Norbury, of the Health Protection Agency (HPA), Chris learns that his super strength is the result of a virus that gives people special abilities. As they learn when they encounter Chris’s friend Nathan who has the ability to project lightning from his fingertips, the virus is spreading. As more people are afflicted with these abilities, England becomes the center of a health crisis that is threatening to go global. One of the newly afflicted is Tim who has the power of absorbing other people’s powers and is gaining a vengeance seeking megalomaniacal personality in the process leaving behind the misfit likeable stoner that Chris once knew. 

The phrase that kept coming to my mind as I read this was “of course.” Of course people would panic as others develop powers. Of course authorities would want them contained. Of course they would treat it like a virus. Of course it would be exciting and terrifying at the same time. Of course the body would suffer from serious side effects. Of course most people would use them for their own personal gain. 

Despite the fantastic premise, The Hero Virus plays it very straight. It shows how the real world would react if people suddenly developed super strength, speed, telekinesis, and so on. This isn’t a Science Fiction novel out of the MCU where these abilities are seen as a gift and colorful costumed heroes fight larger than life villains. Instead these are regular people with unique powers and no real way of understanding, controlling, or mastering them. They have the powers of gods but the limited capacity of humans. It’s enough to drive anyone insane. 

Chris is someone who recognizes his powers and the responsibility that comes with them but struggles to hold onto his humanity. He tries to retain connections with friends and family and hold onto memories of his late wife. He also wants to retain his memories of Tim and the man he once was. He doesn’t want to believe that his friend is capable of violence, so he lies in denial. He couldn’t save his wife, so he wants to save his friend to retain the last hold of his humanity. He feels that he was saved from suicide for this exact purpose to become a real life superhero and also be a decent person. Through trying to save Tim, Chris wants to preserve his former self, and still have the abilities of the god-like being that he turned into by accident.

The people are terrified, albeit amazed of those affected by the virus. When your spouse suddenly projects the ability to make fire when they are mad, you have two options: stay on their good side or leave. You never know that a disagreement with a work colleague could erupt with them creating earthquakes, you telekinetically shoving them into the side of a building, or hundreds of bystanders getting killed in the process.The book is interesting because it’s so real. People would panic and fear those who are different while also being in awe of and envious towards those who can do these amazing things. 

While many would like to believe that they would use superpowers for good, the truth is most people probably would be like Tim. Suddenly, you have unlimited powers and can finally seek vengeance on the people who made you miserable, make a mark in society when you had been ignored or overlooked, and become powerful and wealthy in the process. Plus, the particular power that Tim has, absorbing other powers, would increase one’s emotions and mindset. He develops paranoia, delusions, and uncontrollable rage. He can no longer feel anything but his various powers. He is addicted to them and craves more. For him, going back would mean going back to his old life as a failed single miserable writer. His pursuit for super powers could end up killing him and destroy the world around him, but he has lost the ability to care.

Naturally, the government would get involved and cause problems by isolating and containing the virus, its spread, and those who have it. They also wouldn’t mind turning those abilities into weapons for example, super strong soldiers, invisible spies, or assassins that can enter and exit through shadows. That would be too tempting for even the most idealistic politician to resist, let alone those who are driven by greed, power, or in Norbury’s case obtaining knowledge. 

Norbury does not himself have powers nor does he obtain them. But he does have a keen insight into human nature as well as knowledge about biology and how the virus affects people. He is mostly neutral, an observer for other’s actions particularly Chris and Tim. He bears some fatherly concern for how the virus has affected them but he also views the events with a detached scientific analysis. He is fully aware of the gains and advantages the virus could mean for his research and for the government at large. He plays Chris and Tim like chess pieces, aware that he will be the one with the checkmate no matter who is the victor in their conflict.

Chris and Tim’s conflicts are central to the book which while excellent for one and one battles could benefit from expanding the initial concept. Nathan’s powers are introduced in a chaotic manner that unfortunately puts him into a coma before he is able to affect the plot. There is an intriguing chapter in which other characters gain other powers like releasing pheromones and shape shifting but they really aren’t developed very much as people before they become appetizers for Tim’s lust for obtaining more abilities. 

Now that Dumper has created this concept, it would be interesting if he explored it further. Maybe writing different books set in the same universe about other people who contracted the virus and how they are affected with these strange gifts, how they evolve, how they choose to use their powers, and how they lose or regain their humanity in the process.