Super Heroes Novels

[Solitaire]

Have just gotten back from a visit to the book store looking for something to read (Well duh book store!) have come out with Peter Clines "Ex Heroes", but couldn't see much else Super Hero related.

Can anyone suggest other novels to look out for in the Super Hero genre that are good reads? Finding pretty hard to find anything.

[Tenzhi]

There are several novelisations of popular comic book story arcs (I personally *prefer* the novelisation of Kingdom Come to the graphic novel, and I'd also say No Man's Land reads better in novel form as well), and numerous original stories featuring various characters.

And while I wouldn't exactly call him a super hero, there are a handful of Hellboy paperbacks that are pretty good.  IIRC, the best of them are written by Christopher Golden, but I could have it mixed up and I'm not in a position to dig through my dusty book piles.

[saipaman]

You might like the 'Wild Cards' series.

[Aggelakis]

Mercedes Lackey's (our very own Victoria Victrix) "Secret World Chronicle" books are pretty awesome. :)

[Solitaire]

There are several novelisations of popular comic book story arcs (I personally *prefer* the novelisation of Kingdom Come to the graphic novel, and I'd also say No Man's Land reads better in novel form as well), and numerous original stories featuring various characters.

And while I wouldn't exactly call him a super hero, there are a handful of Hellboy paperbacks that are pretty good.  IIRC, the best of them are written by Christopher Golden, but I could have it mixed up and I'm not in a position to dig through my dusty book piles.

Thanks for the suggestion, taken a look and this looks very interesting old gusrd against new guard :) Will pick this up!

You might like the 'Wild Cards' series.

There is a lot of these that I can see, lot's of reading :) Guess the books are made up of short stories from the same universe? Is it best to start from "Wild Cards 1" as noticed some of the books don't have designated numbers to follow on from...

Mercedes Lackey's (our very own Victoria Victrix) "Secret World Chronicle" books are pretty awesome. :)

Reading the synopsis this again peaked my interest, not sure on the covers though, I know covers don't mean that what is written inside isn't any good :)

[Ohioknight]

There is a lot of these that I can see, lot's of reading :) Guess the books are made up of short stories from the same universe? Is it best to start from "Wild Cards 1" as noticed some of the books don't have designated numbers to follow on from...

Wild Cards is a group shared universe project run by George RR Martin -- it started with a bunch of authors in Arizona who RPG'd one of the table-top superhero games and decided to do stories in their campaign world.  After a few shorts collections, they started alternating stories and group-novels.   I'll warn you that the world gets pretty extremely grim/nasty after a while, but it's well worth the read. The Great and Powerful Turtle is one of the best Superhero concepts ever developed and Cap'n Trips is an awesome character as well. 

Yeah, start with #1 and just be warned there's a lot of pretty grim stuff a few books into it.

[Solitaire]

Wild Cards is a group shared universe project run by George RR Martin -- it started with a bunch of authors in Arizona who RPG'd one of the table-top superhero games and decided to do stories in their campaign world.  After a few shorts collections, they started alternating stories and group-novels.   I'll warn you that the world gets pretty extremely grim/nasty after a while, but it's well worth the read. The Great and Powerful Turtle is one of the best Superhero concepts ever developed and Cap'n Trips is an awesome character as well. 

Yeah, start with #1 and just be warned there's a lot of pretty grim stuff a few books into it.

Thanks for the feedback Ohioknight, will be picking this up should keep me occupied for abit.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Try the novelization of Iron Man: Extremis. I haven't read the novelization itself, but the original comic was great (Warren Ellis!) and I recall seeing some positive reviews of the novelization.

[Night-Hawk07]

There's a series called Wearing The Cape that I see whenever I go into Barnes & Noble. Never read it, but the description makes it sound interesting. Wayne of Gotham looks interesting too.

[Kaos Arcanna]

If you don't mind looking for some out of print books there's Elliot S Maggins' Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday

[saipaman]

For 99 cents, I really enjoyed the e-book version of "Don't Be a Hero: A Superhero Novel" by Chris Strange.  It mines the familiar territory of a world that rejects its heroes.  If it goes back on sale, I would definitely recommend it.

[Nos482]

I've read and can recommend the first book of The New Heroes aka Quantum Prophecy, geared towards younger readers it has a more realistic aproach.
Actually, I just found out it's a series when looking up the english title for you... I think I'll try to get the other books too. ;)

[Mandu]

Brandon Sanderson: Steelheart.

I now want him to entirely quit writing fantasy books so he can turn out nothing but books in this series.


Also Michael Stackpole: Once a Hero

[Solitaire]

Try the novelization of Iron Man: Extremis. I haven't read the novelization itself, but the original comic was great (Warren Ellis!) and I recall seeing some positive reviews of the novelization.

Thanks, guessing I'll be able to pick this up from any decent comic store stocking books.

There's a series called Wearing The Cape that I see whenever I go into Barnes & Noble. Never read it, but the description makes it sound interesting. Wayne of Gotham looks interesting too.

Not sure on Barnes & Noble, UK has Waterstones so will seek this out when in next, picking up the other suggestions, otherwise I can hear Amazon calling :)

If you don't mind looking for some out of print books there's Elliot S Maggins' Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday

Will write this down and investigate further.

For 99 cents, I really enjoyed the e-book version of "Don't Be a Hero: A Superhero Novel" by Chris Strange.  It mines the familiar territory of a world that rejects its heroes.  If it goes back on sale, I would definitely recommend it.

Never really gotten in to e-books, like the feel of a book and turning the pages to much or I'm just old school unwilling to change ;)

I've read and can recommend the first book of The New Heroes aka Quantum Prophecy, geared towards younger readers it has a more realistic aproach.
Actually, I just found out it's a series when looking up the english title for you... I think I'll try to get the other books too. ;)

When say younger readers are we talking early teens or late teens?

Brandon Sanderson: Steelheart.

I now want him to entirely quit writing fantasy books so he can turn out nothing but books in this series.


Also Michael Stackpole: Once a Hero

I actually looked at this book, and noticed a lot of fanatsy material next to it so wasn't sure if it was hero novel or hero fanatasy, so this is worth a read then :) 

[Nos482]

When say younger readers are we talking early teens or late teens?

Late teens, one of the protagonists accidentally murders h[REDACTED].

[saipaman]

Never really gotten in to e-books, like the feel of a book and turning the pages to much or I'm just old school unwilling to change ;)

I admit that e-books are an inferior experience.   Still, if you must read, or want to read e-books, go with an e-ink reader.  The display is more natural and the battery life much longer.   

[Hyperstrike]

Okay,

As some of you know, I'm not so much a game buff as a superhero buff (but don't get me wrong, I likes me a good game, I'm here aren't I?).

In the last year or so I've been spreading out my consumption a bit from just comic books and into books.
I actually picked up Web of Arachnos and Freedom Phalanx when I found them available.

From there, I found a lot of the Marvel/DC movie adaptations.  But those are...meh.

I've also read (and reread) my way through VV's "Secret World Chronicles".  BUY!  BUY NAO!  READ!  READ NAO!

And, while I was out-of-house last year after the flood, some evil, evil person who shall remain nameless (CENDE!  CENDE!  CENDE!) turned me on to Worm.  Which immediately ate up every moment of my free time (oh yeah, when I find something I like, I archive binge like NOBODY'S business).  The sheer volume put out by that author warmed the cockles of my heart.  Maybe below the cockles.  Maybe in the sub-cockle area.  Maybe in the liver.  Maybe in the kidneys.  Maybe even in the colon, I dunno.  It's generally well written, though, given the volume of text the author puts out, it can be somewhat rushed and a bit obtuse in sections.  And it has probably one of the most inventive "official" powers classification systems outside of a game system.

At the same time I also quickly binged through Legion of Nothing.  His style takes a bit more effort to grow on you, but it does grow.  The chapters are relatively small and quickly consumed (says Mr. Voracious Reader).

After that, not finding a lot of superhero fare on the web itself, I started digging into Amazon's Kindle section.

My first pick was a villain/antihero piece called "Malevolance" (Now The Machinist Book 1: Malevolance" by Alexander Maisey.  I actually enjoyed it.  It's about a villain who finishes out a term in lockup, and then goes looking to dive back into the life long enough to build himself a nest egg.  Things, sorta don't go according to plan.  And it's REALLY not a good idea to steal his stuff and tick him off.  And yes, before anyone makes note of it, I'm thinking Alex was a CoH player.  Several of the characters HEAVILY parallel CoH NPCs.  A second book is apparently in the works already.

My next pick was Meta by Tom Reynolds.  This one is actually a self-publish, so it's possible to get either Kindle or paperback.  This one was significantly less gritty than Maisey's stuff.  It reads more like young adult fiction.  It's a little hackneyed (possibly deliberately so), and coincides with the beginning of a second wave of superhumans, after the first more or less beat themselves into oblivion.

The third, which I picked up pretty much everything for last night, based on a freebie.  Marion G. Harmon's "Wearing the Cape".  It's DEFINITELY aimed at the Young Adult (female) demographic. and can be a bit rushed in places.  But it reads fairly well, has fairly good characterization, a well defined world (mostly Chicago), and a fair amount of humor.

As I mentioned you can read the first couple chapters for free.  And most of it is available in either Kindle or Paperback form.  There are currently 4 novels and a short story.

Well, I dunno.  This is about as far as I've gotten.  If you're a voracious reader, looking for something worthwhile to read, I hope these help out.

[Solitaire]

Okay,

As some of you know, I'm not so much a game buff as a superhero buff (but don't get me wrong, I likes me a good game, I'm here aren't I?).

In the last year or so I've been spreading out my consumption a bit from just comic books and into books.
I actually picked up Web of Arachnos and Freedom Phalanx when I found them available.

From there, I found a lot of the Marvel/DC movie adaptations.  But those are...meh.

I've also read (and reread) my way through VV's "Secret World Chronicles".  BUY!  BUY NAO!  READ!  READ NAO!

And, while I was out-of-house last year after the flood, some evil, evil person who shall remain nameless (CENDE!  CENDE!  CENDE!) turned me on to Worm.  Which immediately ate up every moment of my free time (oh yeah, when I find something I like, I archive binge like NOBODY'S business).  The sheer volume put out by that author warmed the cockles of my heart.  Maybe below the cockles.  Maybe in the sub-cockle area.  Maybe in the liver.  Maybe in the kidneys.  Maybe even in the colon, I dunno.  It's generally well written, though, given the volume of text the author puts out, it can be somewhat rushed and a bit obtuse in sections.  And it has probably one of the most inventive "official" powers classification systems outside of a game system.

At the same time I also quickly binged through Legion of Nothing.  His style takes a bit more effort to grow on you, but it does grow.  The chapters are relatively small and quickly consumed (says Mr. Voracious Reader).

After that, not finding a lot of superhero fare on the web itself, I started digging into Amazon's Kindle section.

My first pick was a villain/antihero piece called "Malevolance" (Now The Machinist Book 1: Malevolance" by Alexander Maisey.  I actually enjoyed it.  It's about a villain who finishes out a term in lockup, and then goes looking to dive back into the life long enough to build himself a nest egg.  Things, sorta don't go according to plan.  And it's REALLY not a good idea to steal his stuff and tick him off.  And yes, before anyone makes note of it, I'm thinking Alex was a CoH player.  Several of the characters HEAVILY parallel CoH NPCs.  A second book is apparently in the works already.

My next pick was Meta by Tom Reynolds.  This one is actually a self-publish, so it's possible to get either Kindle or paperback.  This one was significantly less gritty than Maisey's stuff.  It reads more like young adult fiction.  It's a little hackneyed (possibly deliberately so), and coincides with the beginning of a second wave of superhumans, after the first more or less beat themselves into oblivion.

The third, which I picked up pretty much everything for last night, based on a freebie.  Marion G. Harmon's "Wearing the Cape".  It's DEFINITELY aimed at the Young Adult (female) demographic. and can be a bit rushed in places.  But it reads fairly well, has fairly good characterization, a well defined world (mostly Chicago), and a fair amount of humor.

As I mentioned you can read the first couple chapters for free.  And most of it is available in either Kindle or Paperback form.  There are currently 4 novels and a short story.

Well, I dunno.  This is about as far as I've gotten.  If you're a voracious reader, looking for something worthwhile to read, I hope these help out.

Much appreciated, have turned to reading everything I can on heroes, as have been really feeling the loss of CoH lately, so need my fix!

[Aleksandros]

Just to pop my 2 cents in, I can confirm that The Machinist book 1: Malevolence was indeed written by one of our own, the talented (and hoping to hear more from) Mikoroshi, a Forum member here.  Support him, please, more incentive to put out a full-length sequel  ;D

[Solitaire]

Was wondering if anyone has read "Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher"? As came across it today while browsing Waterstones today, looking for the books mentioned in the thread ;).