Penguin Michael Joseph scoops Grossman’s ‘smart, contemporary’ superhero novel

Penguin Michael Joseph has signed Fight Me by Austin Grossman, a follow-up to his debut novel Soon I Will be Invincible, which was published by Michael Joseph in 2007.

Publishing director Rowland White acquired world rights from Luke Janklow at Janklow & Nesbit. It is scheduled for publication in spring/summer 2024. 

The publisher says: “Grossman’s much-loved debut novel, Soon I Will Be Invincible, was published before the unstoppable rise of Marvel Studios and became the go-to reference point for a generation of screenwriters wanting to bring heart, intelligence and substance to their genre scripts. 

“With his new book,  Fight Me, Grossman has returned to the landscape of  Invincible  for the first time to show us once again how it should be done.  Riffing on familiar superhero tropes to tell a story that’s at once a coming-of-age tale, wry reflection on lost youth, murder-mystery, and fantastical adventure, he’s raised the bar again. 

“Fight Me  takes us back to 1990, when four misfit high school students with unique abilities were placed in a secret government programme where they were tested, tutored and trained to save the world. For one brief moment they were famous, and the best of friends, and the future looked dazzlingly bright.  What followed was two decades of betrayal, divorce and disaster.  The world has forgotten them. Most of the time, they’d rather forget each other.  Until the death of their one-time mentor forces them back together…”

Grossman said: “When I wrote Soon I Will Be Invincible, I knew there was a corresponding book to write, reimagining the good guys. I started with a reunion of friends — perhaps my favourite trope in literature — and let it grow into a chronicle of secret origins, messy lives, and the grand stupidity of trying to do the right thing. I’m immensely proud of the result.”

White said: "I’m so excited to be working with Austin again on  Fight Me.  Using a genre that’s as much a part of the American cultural landscape as hard-boiled detective fiction or jazz as his sandpit, Austin’s given us a superhero story that’s smart, contemporary, wildly entertaining but ultimately moving, and he’s parcelled it all in great writing.  Like ’The Big Chill’  or ’The Royal Tenenbaums’  with superpowers, it’s the book I always hoped he’d write."