Novels and Short Fiction about Superheroes: A Universe-building detour

Okay, another post about superhero novels so quickly? Yes, it’s unusual for me, but I’ve done readers a bit of a disservice by not pointing them to Michael Carroll’s Young Adult works set in his ‘The New Heroes / Quantum Prophecy’ universe.

I felt that it was important to highlight Mister Carroll’s work, because (due to the time-consuming nature of writing novels) novelists general don’t stick to building and expanding universes when it comes to superheroes. George R. R. Martin’s Wildcards is a notable exception.

The New Heroes or Quantum Prophecy series began with the novel, The Quantum Prophecy a.k.a. ‘The Awakening’ (2006). There were two follow-ups entitled Sakkara a.k.a. ‘The Gathering’ (2006) and Absolute Power a.k.a. ‘The Reckoning’ (2007). You can find abridged information about the trilogy here.

The author has also released Superhuman, a collection of short fiction focusing on untold stories taking place in the decade spanning the three novels. No reviews. pity. Here is some info on from the author's website. Strangely, this short story collection has the same name as the fourth novel in the series.

Novels about Superheroes - a rare detour for me...

Novels are generally neglected by 1truegl, but there are three that are somewhat intriguing to me.

First, there’s “Black and White” co-authored by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge. It features two female former BFF superheroes as its protagonists who are forced to team up. Black and White is the first in something called the Icarus Project series of superhero novels. Here’s a review from SFsignal. The next novel in the series “Shades of Gray” will be available June 2010.

The second novel I’d like to direct your attention to is “Devil’s Cape” by Rob Rogers. It’s a story about revenge with some “pastichey” characters spanning 35 years. Here’s a review from Sfsite.

The one I’m most excited about is “Ex-Heroes” by Peter Clines. It’s cross-genre novel that actually features a superteam of sorts. Here’s more information.

Throughout this post, you may have noticed my subtle reference to team-ups and superteams (it’s the subtle bolded and italized text). It’s surprisingly rare to have a team-up or superteam novel, considering all them pages that make up them novels. The non-solo aspect is probably a big part of the reason I’m intrigued by above three offerings, because I'm crazy about superteams.

Novel about superheroes raises more questions...

A while (almost two years) ago, I heard about an original superhero novel called Soon I will be invincible authored by Austin Grossman. I’ve been undecided about to buy this novel, because (i) I prefer both comics and short fiction to novels and (ii) I’m unclear what to make of the title...

Seriously, what does Grossman mean?

A] Soon I will be invincible (as in: “before you can say Shazam!”)

OR

B] Soon I will be invincible (as in: “That’s right. Me. I’m the one who’ll become invincible. Not you. I!”)

OR

C] Soon I will be invincible (as in: “All you haters that’ve been hating on my ambitions of power can take my future invincibility to the bank. And. Cash. It.”)

OR

D] Soon I will be invincible (as in some sort of existential statement)

OR

E] Soon I will be invincible (as in: “You want to know what I will be in the near future? I’ll be invincible, that’s what!”)

But if you’ve gotten past ‘the mystery’ of the title, check out this review by Karen Healey of Girls read comics. While you’re there, take a look at the cover. The helmet combines the headwear of Magneto and Thor. Is the Grossman or his publisher trying to tell us something? Egomania and Megalomania are a great combination in the same person?

Here’s another review for your enjoyment. I do however differ regarding this reviewer’s opinion about the character named Elphin’s comic book origins.

Here’s yet another from January Magazine.The column title forced me to include it.

Now, go forth and make up your own mind if novels are your thing and superheroes are your other thing.