In the end, there is a short interview with the author where he claims this novella was initially a movie script. That explains the uneven pacing, but the bigger problem is the author turning a subpar story into a bombastic adventure that makes no sense from start to finish. An undercooked tale served with glossy decorations doesn't do justice to the author's legacy. Since Seven Ancient Wonders in 2005, Matthew's novels have been the biggest selling new fiction title released in Australia for that year. Now there is Cobalt Blue. Reilly’s super ability is to tap into the zeitgeist, even if he doesn’t direct it. While an uneasy truce was held between America and Russian thanks to the presence of their respective superheroes, Cobalt and the Fury of Russia remained rivals for many years. Yet in spite of their great abilities, both continued to age as normal humans do, and Cobalt, already older than the Fury by two decades, eventually passes away at age 79. As soon as she passes, the Fury - no longer possessing an equal to oppose him - announces that he will soon begin a campaign of destruction against the U.S. and to eliminate Cobalt's children.

years ago, during the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia attempted to ease the old tensions by collaborating on a space mission to study the atmosphere of Venus. Upon the probe's landing in the Arctic, an American science team and a Russian special forces unit were sent to retrieve its samples. However, a tiny organism from Venus's atmosphere that had become attached to the probe abruptly burst and released a strange gas into the faces of Dr. Christine Cobalt and Sergeant Nikolai Furin, rendering them both comatose for a few months. After they had awoken, both found that they had developed superhuman powers, such as enhanced strength, senses and even the ability to fly. I blitzed through this book and I'm definitely keen to read more from this world of megalomaniac supes. It was dark, brutal and fast, and left me craving more. Not just stupid, but actual terrible writing that I can’t believe got past the multiple steps of editing. If it wasn’t filled with WAY too many mentions of r*pe (seriously. Where were those editors..?!) I’d say it COULD have MAYBE worked as a teen action book, but even then it would have been SOOOOO BAD, because once you take away the terrible bits, guess what? You’re just left with the shit writing.

Summary

Cobalt White does not have a dedicated coloured text section, instead sharing the same purple text as her twin, Cobalt Purple, likely due to the difficulties of using white text. It’s obviously inspired by The Boys, Shazam, and a dash of Marvel (I mean, Russia’s secret weapon, America’s greatest hero?? AND A TOP SECRET SUPER EVIL GENIUS?? C’MON), but it was so cringe and flat that even if you’re not a fan of Marvel/DC, you’d think they’re masterpieces compared to this. The day after Cobalt's funeral, the Fury arrives over Washington, D.C. to begin his campaign. Cassie, now aged 29 and working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles, watches the television broadcast as her eldest brother, Greg, aka Cobalt Green, steps forward to take on the Fury. Having served proudly in the United States Army, Cobalt Green might seem to the one to end the Fury's campaign before it begins, but alas he is swiftly defeated and decapitated. As the Fury practically demolishes the Pentagon before flying off to his next destination, the horrified Cassie and her husband Trey Cassowitz decide to return home.

Overview: Matthew Reilly is the international bestselling author of eight novels: The 6 Sacred Stones, 7 Deadly Wonders, Ice Station, Temple, Contest, Area 7, Scarecrow, and the children's book Hover Car Racer, and one novella, Hell Island. In the post-novel interview, Reilly revealed that he had begun writing Cobalt Blue as a screenplay, before expanding the story into the current, novel version. The screenplay version of the story was said to contain less scenes, such as the cruise liner incident and the scene with the Vice President at LAX. Reilly maintains that he'd like to direct a film adaption of it at some point. I have adored the author's writing style for years as he takes his time setting up the stakes for the adventure while fleshing out the characters judiciously so that the story gains from it. However, in his recent outings, including the atrocious movie 'Interceptor' written by the author himself, he has resorted to cliches built upon cliches ending in stale action set pieces. Cobalt Blue is another outcome of the same. But when, as a teenager in 1919, her life is suddenly turned upside-down, she is catapulted into a new and extraordinary life - as a secretary, a scientist, a sister and a spy.Oh and Cobalt Gold?? Talk about ridiculously stereotypical. Listen, I’m well aware that stereotypical gays exist, but “Golden Gary” was the most 2 dimensional queer character I’ve ever seen. Stephen Swain • William Race • Jason Chaser • Elizabeth I& Roger Ascham • CJ Cameron • Skye Rogers • Cassie Cassowitz • Raf Following rejections from all the major publishers, Matthew self-published Contest in 1996, printing 1000 copies. He produced a big-budget-looking novel which he sold into bookshops throughout Sydney, one shop at a time.

years ago, Cassie and Arnold were alone at the family home in Texas when two of the Fury's sons, the Fury of Odessa and the Fury of Kazan, broke into the house. Odessa and Kazan admitted that their government's agencies have little intel on Cassie, and their intent to gift both her and Arnold's heads to their father. Despite an attempt at fleeing, Kazan managed to snatch Arnold from Cassie and broke his spine with a single punch, crippling him. Before the brothers could move in on Cassie, Cobalt returned home and swiftly killed the two Furies, later having their severed heads delivered to the Russian embassy in Washington. This incident prompted the family's relocation to a new home in Montana.

🍪 Privacy & Transparency

From racist gangs in Berlin to gangsters in New York City, Nazis in the 1930s and Hitler's inner circle during the Second World War, Hanna will encounter some of history's greatest minds and most terrible moments, all while desperately trying to stay alive. America and Russia both have superheroes - the Fury of Russia (all strength, rage, and hate) and Cobalt Blue (full of compassion and intellectual curiosity). They both got the same powers (think Superman, only better) during the same event. With each country having a superhero, we get a truce of sorts similar to the nuclear standoff during the Cold War. Fury of Russia is a ridiculous villain - a resentful psychopath with no boundaries and a lifetime of anti-American indoctrination. Being insane is his job and hobby. He wants to storm America, crush its monuments, and murder its people, starting with Cobalt Blue’s super-offspring. The whole thing is laughable, and I admit, it was probably made even more laughable in audiobook format. The narrator did a decent job, even though the Russian accents were a bit much - but hearing the cringey, ridiculous plot read aloud was embarrassing. It was a mess that I just couldn’t stop listening to, so yeah, it probably did it’s job, but lets be real - it’s full of needless deaths that could have been avoided if these supposedly great superheroes uhh… ACTUALLY WORKED TOGETHER?! Why was that never an option???? This is the fourth of Reilly's novels to feature a main female protagonist, following Bess in The Tournament, CJ Cameron in The Great Zoo of China, and Skye Rogers in The Secret Runners of New York.

She is a most unique secretary and she will work for many bosses - from shrewd businessmen to vile Nazis, to the greatest boss of them all, Mr Albert Einstein... Spanning forty years, this is the thrilling tale of a young woman propelled through history's most dangerous times. But read it carefully, because all may not be as it seems... As these children grew up, it became clear that all of these offspring had only half of the strength of their respective superhuman parents. While the Fury's sons were conscripted into the military, Cobalt raised all of hers with her husband (albeit under constant guard) and had them attend public schools. Upon reaching adulthood, the eldest seven were allowed to choose their futures and places of residence, with most becoming heroes to their adopted cities. Cassie, meanwhile, preferred to remain anonymous to the public. The problem with this? Cobalt Blue was much older than Fury when she got superpowers, which unfortunately don’t stop aging and heart failure. So one day after Cobalt’s death, the Fury of Russia comes to America to kill her offspring and wipe out the country.Matthew has also written several short stories, including Roger Ascham and the King's Lost Girl, a special free prequel to The Tournament which is available online. Other short stories include Time Tours, The Mine and the hyper-adrenalised romp, Altitude Rush. Two weeks earlier, Cobalt informed Cassie that the psychopathic Fury wants to tear down everything America stands for, humiliate and kill its leaders, and something else she had warned Cassie about after a summit in Paris. Cobalt knows that no one will be able to stop Furin after she dies, even her children since they are only half as strong as him. However, she revealed to Cassie that he has the same weakness as herself; their muscles, bones and organs may be stronger than normal, but as her declining health has proven, their superhuman feats take a heavy toll. Cobalt then tried to encourage Cassie to consider being a hero like her siblings, and while Cassie has always disliked the idea of being idolised and in the spotlight, Cobalt believed her daughter has the right mix of brains, strength and foresight necessary to stop the Fury. And then there’s our lead who apparently has 0 emotions despite a whole bunch of people she loves dying around her within the space of 24 hrs.