Book Review: Suppression of Powers (Turn Six of the Hybrid Helix) by JCM Berne


4.5/5 stars. Another great installment in the life of Rohan and his compatriots. (There are a few spoilers here if you are not caught up to this point in the series.) This story was one of the more difficult to read for me, as Rohan attempts to learn to use the fighting technique gifted to him by Spiral. Spiral used it to defeat a god in battle. If Rohan can learn to use it, maybe he can defeat the new Hyperion. Berne writes characters in a way that is both consistent and frustrating. I deducted half a point from my rating for my frustrations, but those might not reflect everyone’s experience of this novel.

For all of Rohan’s intelligence and powerful abilities, he makes some bad decisions, and Berne relishes the level of conflict that he throws Rohan into. In this story, he has suppressed his powers, has to deal with a young Kaiju on Toth 3, a group of Tolene’ans who want to kill him - in revenge for the deaths of their families in one of Rohan’s most difficult past decisions, gets to meet Tamara’s father in a not too friendly way, has to fight in a tournament to help decide the future ‘protector’ of Wistful, and has to deal with Tamara’s ex-husband in very unexpected ways. How will he overcome each of these dangers, especially with his powers suppressed?

Some of my favorite characters are back in this story. These friends and enemies of Rohan keep the story and the action moving forward in each book, but where would we (and Rohan) be without Wei Li, Tamara, Void’s Shadow, the Ursans, especially Ang, and his new girlfriend (and Rohan’s self-proclaimed bodyguard) Katya, and even everyone’s favorite idiot, Lahnegarn (Lonnie)? As with most superheroes, it is their friends and families that keep them grounded and give them motivation but are also the ones who get thrown into danger along the way. Fortunately for Rohan, his friends are smart, strong, and powerful in their own ways.

Finally, I have been listening to the audiobooks as Wayne Farrell records and Berne releases them - this audiobook released last week (end of August). I understand from Mr. Berne that two more audiobooks should be coming out this year (2026), which will catch us up on the released books. I also understand that Turn Nine will not be far behind. Farrell does an outstanding job with all the voices in this series, and his voice for Rohan (and several other characters) is the one I hear in my head as I’m reading the ebooks, even when not listening to audio. If you can pick up the audiobooks, get them, as I highly recommend this narration!

I am looking forward to continuing this series!

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