The Supernaturalist
by Eoin Colfer

Release Date: 27th Jan 2005
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 978 0 1413 1741 0
RRP: £5.99

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I can appreciate that this is not a latest release, being first published back in 2004, but still, with all the furore surrounding the series Artemis Fowl, I was keen to establish whether or not the author had considerable talent in writing creative pieces or was merely the conduit of unearthly inspiration when it came to Artemis... so I stumbled across The Supernaturalist, and with my curiosity piqued, I reasoned that now was as good a time as any to review an alternative work by Colfer. Why this title – well, simply put – because a review stated boldly that it was “like The Matrix crossed with Oliver Twist” [1].

Cosmo is our hero of sorts and he has an assortment of rather oddball acquaintances with equally surprising and unusual names such as ‘Ziplock’, which rather reminds me of a name for a rucksack than a child. Raised in an orphanage and desperate to escape sooner than face the statistical fact of certain death by his next birthday – we are catapulted into Cosmo’s extraordinary and explosive reality check as he comes to realise that the orphanage might have been a sanctuary rather than a prison. The Supernaturalists are a group of teenagers with attitude, hell-bent on making a difference in a culture where individuals mean nothing. It’s all quite surreal and quite brilliantly written.

Whilst, I, personally, would not suggest that The Supernaturalist is like The Matrix – it lacks the shellshock after ripping off a plaster effect and the insane plausibility that becomes more and more terrifying – I can see where there might be some parallels. It is set in the future. Satellite City’s sole aim seems to be to put people in boxes and keep them there... and so on. And because the orphanage only features for a short while, I wouldn’t say it screams Oliver Twist at me either. No, I have my own take on this book – it’s a bit like a typical gun-toting Playstation or Nintendo game mashed in with some surreal Japanese Manga. Intense, dark and with a cold sharpness that makes us all suspect even the author knows it’s not real.

This is a decent fantasy book, but you could be forgiven for thinking - Marmite...

[1] The Times, front cover of The Supernaturalist, 2005 edition

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