The Impossible Jack: Origin Story

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A lot happens between discovering you're a freak and deciding you're a hero. After getting caught showing off in a video post, Casey Caldwell finds himself hunted by the Insiders: a cadre of villains dedicated to keeping superhumanity a secret at any cost. Desperate to lure the deadly fiends away from the first scrap of happiness he’s ever known, Casey crafts a red mask and uses his evolving powers toJack upfrom a scrawny high school nobody into a swashbuckling video stunt hunk. As The Jack of All Trades, teasing the limits of human potential is all fun and ad revenue until the price of fame becomes the attention of people like him hiding in fear around the world. To defend his found family and stop The Insiders’ true agenda, The Jack will have to level up his Jack fu, load up a Belt of All Trades, and learn the one thing his impossible powers can’t teach him: how to be the world’s first superhero. * WHAT TO EXPECT A slice-of-life origin story that opens dark but gets fun fast. SLOW BURN:This isn’t yet the story of how The Jack of All Trades saved the world and lit the way for a generation of heroes. This is the story of how a scared high school nobody became the only man who could. SCIENCE FANTASY:An evolving power system without any billionaire mentors offering immediate explanations and free tights. WEAK TO STRONG MC:That’s pretty much our guy’s power set. FRIENDSHIP:A shameless bromance for the ages with a first-ever best friend. ACTION! COMEDY! MYSTERY! FEELS! This one has it all, true believer! * Book 1: Origin Story is complete at 41 chapters releasing every Monday/Wednesday/Friday (or more) into the future. Book 2: Jack Gone Wild will follow soon after. Patreon available to support the project and read ahead.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Spacetiger

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 730
Views: 105,855

Chapters(42 total)

What readers say about The Impossible Jack: Origin Story

“Frank Capra may have said, “if you want to send a message, try Western Union.” Pace the architect of one wonderful life, that of The Impossible Jack has messages crucial for our times. Not only is evil intolerable, but growing into one’s powers can be unco…”
tinieblaRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“What if Stan Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Tina Fey, and Alexandre Dumas got together to write a superhero origin story novel? The Impossible Jack is what. To hugely oversimplify, it’s a Spider-Man-ish origin story with some Shazammy home life, a Batmanic ability…”
dinobr5Royal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

tinieblaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Frank Capra may have said, “if you want to send a message, try Western Union.” Pace the architect of one wonderful life, that of The Impossible Jack has messages crucial for our times. Not only is evil intolerable, but growing into one’s powers can be uncomfortable, difficult, downright painful … but to not do it would be a worse demise and a betrayal of what one can learn to love. Casey is marvelously, multidimensionally human. His quest to find out who he is and what he can do to help and protect others involves high school social stumbles, navigating a voracious appetite and culinary discoveries guided by the North Star of American convenience classics (how he likes his mashed potatoes matters) and inadvertently picking up quirky skills which, however fun they might be (how many animals can he now crochet?), just might have to be employed to defeat those who are dead set on using their advantages to hoodwink and enslave the rest of us. Not sure where Casey or Spacetiger are going next, but I'll be keeping going with the many others who are reading on, eager for the next twist in Casey's path. If only there were some videos to accompany the story…is the next Frank Capra out there somewhere in QwikVid land?
dinobr5Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
What if Stan Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Tina Fey, and Alexandre Dumas got together to write a superhero origin story novel? The Impossible Jack is what. To hugely oversimplify, it’s a Spider-Man-ish origin story with some Shazammy home life, a Batmanic ability set, and a Deadpoolian attitude, wrapped up in an epic literary adventure. But despite all the influences and tropes it still manages to be its own unique thing.
If anybody out there has time travel powers, go find Kevin Feige circa 2012 and have him make this into a movie!
efiLyMkcuFRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's a good book. Imagine for a second, if you will- redneck shazam. If you want to read a story about the next batman, look somewhere else. This is like, taskmaster if he was an abused trailer kid and a hero instead of a villain. Mix in a little bit of immaturity, a table spoon of hormones and insecurity, mix well, pour into a pan, throw it in the oven and serve with a homeless teen who is oddly emotionally mature. Call the author a chef because boy-are-deez good words on the internet. Enjoy.
patient9Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’ve never left a review before, and I’m only on Chapter 21, but I had to say how much I’m loving this series before I give in and go read ahead on Patreon.
The Impossible Jack offers a refreshingly human, charmingly flawed take on the superhero origin story. It’s a classic hero’s journey. Not lightning-fast in pace at first, but like a great meal, it’s not intended to be. There are so many mini cliffhangers everywhere that there’s a constantly building sense of excitement with real emotional investment in the quirky underdog MC and his friends. Speaking of which, I totally wish Lee was my best friend and Ma was my mother.
If realistic superhero stories packed with depth, charm, and witty banter are your thing, this origin story is well worth the ride. If you prefer your stories front-loaded with infodumps and OP action, take a walk on the wild side and read it anyway.
AaronMRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm loving this book and am only a few chapters into it. I'm so excited to see where the story and characters are headed. I love the writer's wry sense of humor and witty writing style. A lot of mystery, suspense, teen angst, and heart are on every page. I hope the awesomeness continues.
FunnyPunRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Genuinely best novel I’ve read in a very long time, I would put this up there with Shadow Slave and Lotm. Blends old fashioned superhero comics with our modern day and age with a fun, yet gritty take. The stakes are real and it’s hard to predict where the story will go next.
HexnRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
What a great start to an awesome book, couldn't put it down. The angst, the carefree attitude of the protagonist. It swept me up in the story. Cant wait for the next chapter of Casey's trials. What I want to know is, how does he know all these charecters he had drawn, but seem to be real? Oh well gotta read more I guess.
LelloRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Good writing, good pacing, good characters, good world building, good dialogues, good humor, good stakes. An altogether good story. The only problem is there are to few chapters!
Also I personally like his power. Being a jack of all trades is really looked down on in the usual litrpgs but that's only because litrpgs work like a videogame, in real life it is quite the opposite.
M. RiderRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This book is a great read so far, both funny and quirky it connects with the reader through relatable characters and something we've all shared once or twice. Shirt vomit. I can't help but draw parallels from the characters to buddies of mine from high school and the female interest of our protagonist draws memories of my first crush back in the day. 10/10 will continue to read.
PunchRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of, if not THE best story I've read on this site. The characters, the plot, the pacing, the action and everything else besides. All done to a level of polish and quality that has genuinely left me stunned. This story is something special. I was sucked in immediately and am still desperate for more now that I'm caught up.
If you like superheroes, you'll love this story and you'll love the JOAT.