This is the novelisation of the first episode of the TV series Smallville. If this isn't your bag then nothing I say will convince to read this book. However you will be missing an entertaining novel. The writing style is easy to read and comfortable, and the characterisations of the various folk inhabiting Smallville are handled in a very understated and familiar way.

That easy-going familiar aspect to the style is well in keeping with what this book is. There are few people who do not know of the origins of Superman, even if they haven't seen Smallville on television; there are the comics - going steadily since the 1930's - as well as numerous films, movie serials, TV series etc that have been appearing regularly over the decades.

All this means that the author can take a lot for granted. We don't need too much background on Smallville or Metropolis (mentioned in passing in the book). We don't need an explanation of the green substance that makes Clark weak (Kryptonite for the uninitiated). This is familiar ground.

And he has made full use of this prior groundwork. In not concentrating on the background he has taken the chance to adapt the screenplay into a flowing novel, one that should appeal to young and old fans of the show alike.

It is also highly readable to people who have never watched Smallville. For some reason when it started showing on British TV it slipped under my radar. I didn't notice it and have caught odd moments of it since with a slight touch of regret about my not being a viewer.

Reading this has partially made up for it, as well as increased my desire to purchase the DVD box set that I hope will appear in the near future.

For those who don't know (and that included me before reading this), the plot covers the meteor shower that accompanied the arrival of the spaceship containing infant Clark, the discovery of the child by Jonathan and Martha Kent, the arrival in town of the Luthors (Lionel and son Lex), Lex's losing of his hair, and the orphaning of Lana Lang (all in a sort of extended Prologue) - then moving on we move into the current time frame of the series and meet teenage high-school student Clark Kent and hear of his first encounter with the now 21 year old Lex Luthor (who's not a villain in this), his discovery of his origins, and Clark's first foray into crime-fighting.

All in all it's an entertaining book and it's worth overcoming any prejudice you might have about reading a novelisation.