Chance Fortune and the Outlaws

By Pat Ferrara     October 11, 2006

Packed with action and filled with quirky characters, Shane Berryhill's Chance Fortune and the Outlaws is a fun adventure targeted for the pre-teen, superhero-loving youth.

The book tracks one boy's quest to enter the most prestigious superhero school in the world: The Burlington Academy for the Superhuman. The only problem is our determined protagonist Josh Blevins doesn't have any unique powers of his own. With sheer perseverance, however, and the tutelage of Captain Fearless, the world's most renowned superhero with no superpowers, Blevins is able to transform himself into Chance Fortune.

Although the book has good description and engaging action, the overall pacing is a little rushed. We get an unfortunately brief glimpse into the life of Josh Blevins in his hometown of Littleton, Tennessee but the character-building promise of a satisfying training montage is reduced to a gap between prologue and chapter one. Though once Chance gets to the school for the superhuman everything begins to shape up.

Existing in a futuristic city where heroes fly overhead and alien species make up a large portion of the student body, Burlington Academy is a colorful locale that any kid can get into. The students are divided into three main categories: demigods who wield the highest level of powers, mortals who typically wield only one specific and lower level power, and adventurers who command the most trifling of unique attributes. Through the help of his mentor Captain Fearless Chance Fortune has wormed his way into this lowest echelon of inductees under the guise of having incredible luck. Chance soon finds out though that he has anything but when pitted against the other students, including his nemesis Superion who has the strength "capable of crushing boulders into powder and steel blue eyes able to see amoebas divide."

During his first semester of class Chance finds his niche when TCT (team combat training) begins. Grouped up with a telepath, a witch, a superhuman redhead with an ego to match, a technophile inventor, and an elastic do-gooder, Chance soon becomes a school icon as he leads the underdog Outlaws team in the first-year student tournament. Here the book really shines with battles spanning multiple chapters and immersive action sequences all taking place in the school's Infinity Chamber (an arena that gives access to the parallel dimensions in the known multiverse). As Chance and his team square off in a David-and-Goliath showdown against the demigod-like Invincibles team at the end of the semester, a malignant alien presence is succeeding in taking over the school.

Reminiscent of the Harry Potter series, Chance Fortune and the Outlaws opens a children's saga that is chock-full of student combat, layered school mysteries, and magic-wielding action. But don't look for the same sort of depth or over-arching sophistication of Rowling's masterpiece here; this book is short, sweet, and summed up in a single word, digestible. Perfect for the beginner bookworm, Chance Fortune is an entertaining read that falls just a little short on substance when compared to its genre giant counterparts. But with an interesting character cast and a solid cliffhanger at the end, you'll be sure to hear more of Chance and his Outlaws in future installments of The Adventures of Chance Fortune.