Once, they stood next to justice. Now they’re standing up for it…When sworn protectors of Earth, the Justice Platoon, are all horribly killed, their former arch-enemies come crawling out of the woodwork. Outnumbered, outgunned, and out of options, the US Government has no choice but to activate the Sidekicks Initiative, dragging the Platoon’s middle-aged ex-sidekicks out of retirement.Now these … ex-sidekicks out of retirement.
Now these three reluctant, out of shape former child-wonders must work together to stop the rising tide of supervillainy, avenge their former mentors’ deaths, and bring the world back from the brink of destruction.
Assuming they don’t kill each other first.
Featuring anaphylactic shockwaves, unexpected hippos, and an aggressive man shouting at butterflies, The Sidekicks Initiative is the first book in the action-packed new series from internationally bestselling Space Team author, Barry J. Hutchison.
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This review is for the audio book.
I loved this book. My normal genre is cozy mysteries but I like super hero films and when I fancied a change I thought I would give this book ago. So glad I did, I loved it and if this is was I have been missing I might have to change which category I look in for my audio books. I loved the humour and one lines that run though out the book. The action was well spaced and enough to keep me interested until the end, it kind of makes me think of dead pool and his misfit friends. The story was well written and takes a tongue in cheek look at super heros that I can easily see being made into a film. It was the characters that stole the show though with there very unique personalities and powers. I would be hard pressed to choice a favourite character. I hope there are more books in this series to come because I for one will be keeping a keen eye out for the next book.
What do you do when all the super heros get wiped out? You turn to the sidekicks and hope for the best. Retried or just disillusioned heros aren’t the best option, especially when just normal human thugs can take them out. But when every super villain realises no body is protecting the world you have to give the world some hope. In steps in reluctant Sam aka Kid random, drunken Anna aka allergy girl and well Randy aka butterfly king and to whip them all in to shape they turn to an ex evil super villain John. What could go wrong?
Wow I have never heard a narrator enjoy himself so much (and I don’t just mean all the out takes at he end of the book) and his voices were amazing, each and everyone very different from the last. Defiantly a very good choice.
Barry J. Hutchison’s “The Sidekick’s Initiative” is a fun take on the superhero genre. It’s a great, fun ride full of the humor and wit that Barry is known for with his Space Team series.
In a world so full of dark, gritty reboots – it’s nice to see that the dark side can still come with a lot of smiles, laughs, and characters that are too fun to ignore.
Good story. Characters were fun and engaging. It was a little slow at times, but overall an enjoyable read.
5/5
THE SIDEKICKS INITIATIVE is one of the funniest books I’ve read in the past few years, let alone this year. It’s definitely a book I would have put on my Top 20 Recommended Superhero books if I’d read it before now. It’s a ridiculous world and all the more effective for its silliness. It has a general sense of humor similar to my THE RULES OF SUPERVILLAINY series but a bit more subdued (plus on the hero side of things).
The premise is Sam is an unlucky divorced loser who works as a data-entry drone. He’s also the former sidekick of the world’s Superman equivalent. When the world’s greatest heroes are all killed horribly by an unknown force, he’s forced into a government project consisting of three sidekicks recruited from civilian life then given armored super-suits. Unfortunately, well, they’re all a bunch of idiots.
Sam is Kid Random and possesses the power to alter reality at will but he can’t control what happens so he just makes oddball stuff happen (he’s a god with none of the perks). There’s Anna, Allergy Girl, who is an alcoholic former heroine with the surprisingly useful power of giving people allergic reactions. Finally, there’s Randy who is quite possibly insane but has a useless powe of talking to butterflies.
None of them are remotely qualified to be superheroes anymore and the plan to have them take on the person who massacred the greatest hero team in the world. However, the government doesn’t have plan for dealing with the end of the world and clearly didn’t update this one very well. The fact they insist on manipulating the “heroes” despite the fact they would have come around on their own is a terrible idea.
The humor is sometimes a little too hard on the fact that Randy is a complete lunatic who is trying to be a superhero despite having no powers (and not bothering to develop any Batman-esque skills). Also, Sam’s pathetic-ness approaches the Nicholas Cage’ Weatherman but these are small complaints as best.
I also really enjoyed the villain and the revelation about his motivations as well. The entire concept of the sidekick as a child being carried into battle by adult superheroes has not aged well. This satire of them works well despite it. Yeah, it may make the original superheroes look terrible but that just shows why the Sidekick Initiative is all the more heroic.