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Reviewed by John A G Smith for Readers' Favorite
The Fantastic Lives of Johnny Wonderful by JF Leduc is written as an historical biography of the eponymous hero. Seemingly rather gauche and unworldly, he stumbles from one adventure to another. Almost by accident he rises to great wealth and power - on the way picking up various 'super-powers' and at one point is rebuilt with an indestructible body. The story is told by some unknown historian many thousands of years into the future of humanity when the planets of the solar system are inhabited and the whole of human existence is governed by various corporations that have replaced governments and are run for the benefit of the 'office-sirs' who own them. Our hero, born in poverty, is accidentally inducted into the hierarchy and sets about changing it from the inside … but nothing goes according to his rather ill-formed plans.
If you are looking for a work of great literary fiction then move on. Johnny Wonderful is pure escapism in the same realm as Flash Gordon. The writing is often stilted and rather strange but, as it is supposed to come from so far into the future, it works in some perverse way. The story hangs together well and bounces from one action scene to another as Johnny single-handedly overcomes immeasurable and seemingly insurmountable odds. At times the amount of detail tends to slow it down a little, but don't worry – there will soon be more mayhem in a paragraph or two. I suggest that this is a good read for teenage boys into sci-fi and X-men. A few – mild – sexual references probably make it inappropriate for a younger audience. If I had any criticism it is that there does seem to be an excess of typographical errors.
