Fighting crime in the city of diamonds
Superheroes and super-gadgets, courtesy of a Singaporean author.
I lost count of how many times I said, “Just one more chapter!” while following these teenaged superheroes as they face the fight of their lives.
The direct style and chapter structure exude comic-book punchiness, and I felt such nostalgia for The Incredibles and Totally Spies! Each chapter — numbered like a magazine issue — ended with a segment akin to a teaser trailer, which would have perhaps been more effective as a comic, rather than prose, but the it worked excellently. I felt genuinely compelled to read on.
There was a nice plot twist, and I enjoyed the lack of girl-on-girl hate between the protagonist, Violet (a.k.a. the superhero Koolara) and her colleagues. The gadgets were cool — it’s refreshing to read about regular heroes who don’t have superpowers to rely on, just their smarts and smart-tech. The antagonists’ motives were complex, and superheroes are contrasted against vigilantes in a thought-provoking way.
“We are superheroes. We defend the law, not execute it. Our job is to bring supervillains to court, not condemn them to die.”
I appreciated the little nods to Singapore in Diamond City’s design, for example the chewing gum laws and the city’s importance to maritime trade. Mentions of bubble tea made me smile, too — and miss bubble tea.
There were only a couple of very minor editing issues but this barely impacted my experience of the book.
I’m really glad we’re getting a sequel! Aside from the mystery remaining around certain plot threads, I also liked the other superhero characters and hopefully we’ll get to see more of their ‘normal’ life, as we did with Violet. I sense there’s an even darker villainy waiting in the curtains…
If you’re in the market for a colourful escape, I certainly enjoyed my visit to Diamond City - maybe you will too!
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