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Superhero Books
Jun. 16th, 2013 11:25 pmPART THE FIRST: I have just finished the ARC of a new book coming out on June 25 called Sidekicked, by John David Anderson, and it is awesome. I love the main character, his voice and his choices, I love the plot, I love the worldbuilding, the way a larger world is hinted at without needing to be on the page all the time, the mystery and the adventure. I love that it has diversity (at least two characters of color, one of whom is deaf! And it does acceptably well gender-wise) without Being About Diversity. I love the in-jokes and the chapter titles. If you like superheroes, check this book out come June 25. It is, technically, a kid's book, but the writing is definitely of a kind that I wouldn't hesitate to hand it to an adult who likes superheroes, or any teenager who likes a good adventure story.
Possibly one of my favorite things is that Sidekicked doesn't take itself too seriously, while taking the genre itself seriously. Every speculative fiction fan knows there are aspects of their genre or subgenre that are laughable out of context, and sometimes even in context. The best works are like, Yes, this is actually ridiculous, but work with us here--what if? Sidekicked does this marvelously without going too over-the-top or disrespecting its origins.
Also, it has really good superhero and supervillain names, which is a feat. I was impressed.
PART THE SECOND: Recommendations!
The story behind this bit is that I recently attempted to read another superhero novel aimed at the same age group and had to put it down after forcing myself through the first hundred pages, hoping it would get better. I love superheroes and I love books, but I am well aware that the two usually go together like cats and cold water (and I'm not talking tigers. Housecats. Fluffy housecats). Most of the few superhero novels and even comic book novel adaptations I read in high school and college sucked. Even stuff like Hero, which was passable, weren't great. But as superheroes become more popular and we get more books, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on, looking for the good books.
So: this is my the good, the mediocre, and the don't bother list of superhero novels. I'm not making any distinctions between intended reader age, though I shall mention it, along with a brief reason why I gave a novel this ranking.
I invite discussion and suggestions of more superhero books for me to read in the comments!
( My opinions, these are )
AND that's it's so far. There's a few obvious books I haven't read, like Jennifer Estep's Karma Girl, but it's on my to-read list. If you have other recommendations, let me know in the comments!
If you disagree with me, tell me why. I'm up for spirited discussion but trolling or rudeness will be summarily deleted at the discretion of the author.
Possibly one of my favorite things is that Sidekicked doesn't take itself too seriously, while taking the genre itself seriously. Every speculative fiction fan knows there are aspects of their genre or subgenre that are laughable out of context, and sometimes even in context. The best works are like, Yes, this is actually ridiculous, but work with us here--what if? Sidekicked does this marvelously without going too over-the-top or disrespecting its origins.
Also, it has really good superhero and supervillain names, which is a feat. I was impressed.
PART THE SECOND: Recommendations!
The story behind this bit is that I recently attempted to read another superhero novel aimed at the same age group and had to put it down after forcing myself through the first hundred pages, hoping it would get better. I love superheroes and I love books, but I am well aware that the two usually go together like cats and cold water (and I'm not talking tigers. Housecats. Fluffy housecats). Most of the few superhero novels and even comic book novel adaptations I read in high school and college sucked. Even stuff like Hero, which was passable, weren't great. But as superheroes become more popular and we get more books, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on, looking for the good books.
So: this is my the good, the mediocre, and the don't bother list of superhero novels. I'm not making any distinctions between intended reader age, though I shall mention it, along with a brief reason why I gave a novel this ranking.
I invite discussion and suggestions of more superhero books for me to read in the comments!
( My opinions, these are )
AND that's it's so far. There's a few obvious books I haven't read, like Jennifer Estep's Karma Girl, but it's on my to-read list. If you have other recommendations, let me know in the comments!
If you disagree with me, tell me why. I'm up for spirited discussion but trolling or rudeness will be summarily deleted at the discretion of the author.