I’ve been looking for some good transgender characters recently, and it’s been a really long time since I’ve read a good superhero story, so I was immediately interested in Dreadnought by April Daniels. I’d been hearing a lot about it, and this seemed like it was going to be a fun adventure with something more personal lurking underneath.
Dreadnought (2016)
Written By: April Daniels
Genre: Young Adult Superhero Fiction
Pages: 387 (Kindle)
Series: Nemesis Book 1
Publisher: Diversion Books
The Premise:
Danny Tozer has a problem: she just inherited the powers of Dreadnought, the world’s greatest superhero. Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she’s transgender. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantle to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny’s body into what she’s always thought it should be. Now there’s no hiding that she’s a girl.
It should be the happiest time of her life, but Danny’s first weeks finally living in a body that fits her are more difficult and complicated than she could have imagined. Between her father’s dangerous obsession with “curing” her girlhood, her best friend suddenly acting like he’s entitled to date her, and her fellow superheroes arguing over her place in their ranks, Danny feels like she’s in over her head.
She doesn’t have time to adjust. Dreadnought’s murderer — a cyborg named Utopia — still haunts the streets of New Port City, threatening destruction. If Danny can’t sort through the confusion of coming out, master her powers, and stop Utopia in time, humanity faces extinction.
Spoiler Free!
Discussion: I don’t read a lot of superhero books, but I like the tropes well enough to pick one up every couple of years. One of my favorites so far is After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn, which really isn’t about a superhero at all but a superhero’s daughter. So, I was expecting something similar with Dreadnought: a book with a familiar premise but with some interesting twists in the genre.
And for the most part that’s what this was.
I was really impressed with the worldbuilding. This is a world that’s grown up with superheroes, so there are some subtle changes in everything from the economy to the infrastructure of the city. There are bunkers everywhere just in case another supervillain attacks. There are politics and legalities involved that make the distinction between “superpowers” and “special abilities” really important.
And there’s a whole dynamic community built up around “caping” and whether you do it as a white cape, a gray cape, or a black cape. We got to see the tension between the group of superheroes Danny has always though of as the good guys, the ones she looks up to and collects posters of, and the vigilantes, who are willing to get their hands dirty and work under the radar to keep the city safe.
It was a fascinating world I would really love to spend more time in.
Something I love to see in every book — YA or not — are strong, affirming female friendships, and that felt even more important in a story about a transgender teenager transitioning from male to female. And Daniels delivered. Danny has no support at home (her parents are downright abusive even before they learn she’s transgender) but she finds some really encouraging relationships with another vigilante named Calamity and with Doc Impossible, who works with the team of superheroes Danny is thinking about joining.
I felt like both Calamity and Doc Impossible stole the show in terms of characterization and how much impact they had on Danny’s character. Not to mention they were just super fun to be around. Danny encounters some pretty serious prejudice from the people around her — her parents, her old friends, and the other superheroes — and it was really nice to see that balanced by characters who saw who she actually was and accepted her for it.
Not to mention it was really interesting to see a superhero actually arguing against the choice to become a superhero. Doc Impossible’s voice of caution, making sure Danny was careful when considering a choice that would affect her life forever, was a refreshing counterpoint to the idea of “with great power comes great responsibility.” She presented many other ways to use Dreadnought’s powers for good, most of which wouldn’t end up getting Danny killed by the time she was eighteen.
These relationships felt very nuanced and unique, which is why I was surprised to find some conflicts and characters that fell very flat throughout the book. Danny’s father, for instance, seemed more like a cardboard cutout — the epitome of an abusive parent who hates the idea of a transgender child. Her mom seemed a little more subtle, but all I managed to pick up from her dad was a lot of screaming and some really hateful slurs. I recognize there are people out there exactly like this on the surface, but what else is going on underneath? Why was this man like this? A glimpse of any sort of redeeming qualities would have made him easier to connect with and would have made the emotional impact of his hatred mean way more. But as it was, he didn’t feel like a real person. Just an easy way to plug in some recognizable conflict over Danny’s transition.
Other than that, and some vague dissatisfaction with the way things lined up at the end, this was a really encouraging story about a girl kicking serious butt and learning who she is and how strong she can be in the process.
In Conclusion: If you’re looking for a story about a girl struggling with her new superpowers, trying to find a place to fit into a really interesting world full of villains and vigilantes, this will be right up your alley. And if you’re looking for a story about a character making a really difficult transition so that she can live the life she’s feels like she’s supposed to be living, then you’ll want to check out Dreadnought and its sequel Sovereign.
Superheroes are not my thing and young adult books tend to be hit or miss for me, but this one sounds interesting.