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http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2019/02/20-recommended-superhero-fiction-novels.html
Superhero novels are one of the areas of genre fiction that don't get much attention. A few great authors like George R.R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson have dipped their toes in the genre but prose fiction is something that is traditionally considered a somewhat off-beat medium for stories about them. The vast-vast majority of superhero fiction is in comic book form and following up are movies, cartoons, video games, and even live action storytelling.
This is because superheroes are a primarily visual medium and you get a large amount of storytelling from watching the heroes at work. I have a certain fondness for superhero prose, though, because it's a genre that hasn't been utterly glutted by imitators. My first book, The Rules of Supervillainy, was released in it as a sort of pure fun collection of pop culture and oddball antics. It also remains my most successful book series by far.
Superhero prose fiction tends to deal with either deconstructing the genre conventions of the superhero world or parodying them. They can be very serious or very-very silly. Neither of these styles is any better than the other and the best part of the superhero genre is that you can do both without going too far from your inspirations. Superheroes are, after all, stories that can be horrifically tragic one day to relentlessly goofy the next.
I should also note that superheroes are a major inspiration for other successful genres that are much larger in prose fiction. Where would Urban Fantasy be without its leather jacket wearing Buffy-eque heroes? What about Harry Dresden? Is he not just Spiderman with a magic staff? Well these are beyond the scope of my discussion and here's 20 of my favorite superhero novels. I've tried to mix better known works with indie favorites.
20. Sensation by Kevin Hardman
I very much enjoyed Kid Sensation as a novel series because it's very different from the majority of books on my list. In simple terms, it takes its plot very straight. It's about a kid who discovers he hit the jackpot in terms of superpowers but decides to play things cool before his tryout to be a superhero with the big-leaguers. That, unfortunately, goes horribly wrong.
19. Villains Don't Date Heroes by Mia Archer
This is a novel that was on and off this list multiple times. Basically, I couldn't decide if I didn't like it or really-really liked it. Finally, I decided on the latter but it's an acquired taste. It's a lesbian superhero romance about the local Lex Luthor equivalent Night Terror falling for the Super Girl-esque new hero in town. It has a very Megamind-esque feel and I haven't checked out any of the sequels but I had a lot of fun with this.
18. The Case of the Claw by Keith R.A. DeCandido
A bit of an oddball case, The Case of the Claw has multiple sequels but they're not listed as part of the same series. For them, you'll have to look under (the SCPD series). The premise is basically Gotham Central but in a nicer community. It follows regular cops working cases that often bump up against superheroes and supervillains. I love anything KRAC does and am a huge fan of his work in the Star Trek universe so this was always a guaranteed sale.
17. Nuklear Age by Brian Clevinger
I used to read 8-bit Theater, a webcomic about Final Fantasy I, in the far off time of 2004 (which is 14 years ago--Jesus Christ). Brian wrote a 777 page novel called Nuklear Age that is about a radioactive Superman-esque figure's sidekick. It follows a story that moves from the Silver Age to the Iron Age to the Modern Age of comics. It gets dark in many places and ends on a surprisingly heartrending but powerful note. The writing is a bit rough and the author admits it in the 2012 preface but I forgive it for that. The fact it's stuck with me for 14 years should also say how good it is.
16. Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots by Seanan Maguire
This is a book I debated putting on here because it's not easily available in ebook format. You can read it online for free or listen to the audiobook but some issues mean you can't just pick it up. However, the books are damned hilarious so I think you should read them anyway (or listen). The premise of Velveteen is a woman named Velma Martinez who possesses the power to animate toys. Velma's archenemy? The corporation that owns the copyright on all superheroes and treats them worse than Disney does its stars.
15. Superheroes Anonymous by Lexie Dunne
Imagine Lois Lane getting superpowers and keeping them. Essentially, this is the premise of Superheroes Anonymous when after a career of being kidnapped and menaced by people trying to fight the superhero Blaze, he moves to Florida before his last remaining villain experiments on her. Gail Godwin is a great leading protagonist and while most of the first book is a training montage, it works out surprisingly well just for the smoothness of the dialogue.
14. Blackjack: Villain by Ben Bequer
Blackjack is a gazetteer, archer, and super-strong. They're abilities that benefit one another as he robs from the rich and gives to himself. Unfortunately, he kills a superhero and is permanently branded as a monster not long after he decides to go straight. The books are a bit iffy on the editing at times but I enjoyed all three of them a great deal.
13. Dreadnought: Nemesis by April Daniels
Dreadnought is the story of a transgender girl named Danny Tozer. One day, she finds herself inheriting the power of Earth's greatest hero, giving her a body as well as powers similar to Supergirl. I very much enjoyed this heartbreaking tale of coming to your own and learning to rely on yourself because no one else can be trusted.
12. So Not A Hero by S.J. Delos
Another supervillain story, though this one is about one who reformed. Crushette is a woman with the powers of She-Hulk who was briefly involved with the world's worst supervillain. Now she's devoted herself, quite by accident, to the cause of good in the name of her newborn daughter. I'm really looking forward to the third novel when it comes out.
11. Broken Nights by Matthew Davenport
Broken Nights is a fun little story based around the premise of, "What if Batman were middle class and got his gear from Amazon.com?" It's an entertaining little story and while fairly straight to traditional superheroics, was one I definitely enjoyed. I also liked the sequel and hope they make a third book to cap off the series.
10. Caped by Darius Brasher
Darius Brasher is a great writer of superhero fiction and has made two great series before starting on a third one, all set in the same world. Caped is the story of a classic superhero "coming of age" story that follows a kid as he tries to figure out whether he wants to be a hero and then how it makes him a darker person than he wants to be. I really enjoyed the entire series. I also recommend his Superhero Detective series.
9. Villains Rule by M.K. Gibson
There's a lot of books about supervillains in this work and that's because getting into their minds is sometimes (only sometimes) more interesting than getting into the heroes'. Villains Rule is about a demigod wizard who serves as a villainous consultant to fantasy and comic book superhero baddies. It's a ridiculous and fun premise that I enjoyed tremendously.
8. Confessions of a D-List Supervillain by Jim Bernheimer
I actually belonged to the same writing group as Jim Bernheimer at Permuted Press' old website. The two of us wrote our supervillain novels simultaneously and he helped give me a leg up to release The Rules of Supervillainy. Confessions of a D-List Supervillainy is the story of Cal Stringel a.k.a Mechani-Cal. He's basically the kind of guy Spiderman beats up in the opening of a comic before going to fight his real enemies. Cal ends up unwittingly saving the world in the first book but has a flashback in the second (and superior) Origins of a D-List Supervillain. So far, I've enjoyed all four of the novels, though.
7. Forging Hephaestus by Drew Hayes
There's a truce between the superheroes and the supervillains of the world. A set of rules ala The Ventrue Brothers to keep things from exploding into pure chaos as well as eliminating each other's families. This doesn't sit well with extremists on both sides and results in one of the oldest and most terrible of supervillains coming out of retirement. I, sadly, haven't checked out his other superhero series Super Powereds.
6. Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain by Richard Roberts
Please Don't Tell My Parents is a nice antidote to a lot of the grimdark which has been afflicting plenty of superhero stories. It's the story of an adorable set of junior high school students who have superpowers and their decision to become supervillains after their attempt to be superheroes goes disastrously wrong. It helps that Penny Akk looks almost identical to Tegan Croft's Raven on their audiobook covers. Sadly, there's currently a kerfluffle and it's not available in Kindle form. Hopefully, that will change soon. It's very YA, I should warn people, but cute isn't always bad.
5. Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines
Superheroes versus zombies is an inherently wonderful concept. It's like pirates versus ninjas. In this case, the superheroes of the world are a lower-level than normal so they're unable to stop the zombie apocalypse. They are, however, able to save a small group of people in Los Angeles. The series was abruptly cancelled but got a number of really good books out. Notably, I was really impressed with how the author addressed a lot of criticisms of the original book in-universe.
4. Wearing the Cape by Marion G. Harmon
Before Supergirl had her own series, she was a fairly obscure character mostly loved by hardcore comic book fans. Wearing the Cape is a tribute to Kara Zor-El by creating the character of Hope Corrigan, who is one of the best stand-ins you could make. In a world where thousands of people gained superpowers spontaneously, she gained the typical flying brick ones. I admit, I like the first book better than the sequels but it remains one of my all-time favorites of superhero fiction. There's now an RPG setting based on the works.
3. Wild Cards by George R.R. Martin
Before A Game of Thrones, there was Fever Dream, and before Fever Dream there was Wild Cards. Wild Cards is an experiment in fiction writing where George invited a bunch of his friends to write in a world ravaged by a super-power granting plague. For the most part, the superpowers are just horrifying deformities that are used to comment on the then-current AIDS crisis and social justice. It's also got some pretty awesome characters both good, bad, and grimdark. Newcomers may want to try Inside Straight, which updates the setting to the 21st century.
2. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
The Reckoners Trilogy would be the no. 1 on this list if it's take on superheroes wasn't a fairly dark one that isn't quite what I was looking for. Superheroes have taken over the world and made it an awful, bad, and post-apocalyptic sort of place. The Reckoners are a unit of humans with special weapons devoted to taking them down.
1. Soon I will be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Soon I will Be Invincible is the inspiration for a lot of what would eventually become the prose superhero genre. Doctor Impossible is the world's greatest criminal mastermind but he's also mentally ill (sort of). He has hypercognition disorder, which means he's an evil genius. The book is both loving and condemnatory to the superhero genre and probably the best out of all of this group for someone to read. Better still, the more you know about comics, the more a lot of the in-jokes will make sense.
Also Recommended:Crimson Son by Ross Linton, The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell, Zephyr by Warren Hately, Sad Wings of Destiny by Thom Brannan, and Prepare to Die by Paul Tobin
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I got into Worm from seeing people on r/whowouldwin mention all the crazy powers and figuring I needed to read it for the novelty value if nothing else. But I didn't really appreciate it until the big reveal at the end of arc 26.
The crowning achievement of Worm to me is that it has a logical answer to every question that is typically handwaved, ignored, or outright parodied in superhero fiction. Things like, "why don't powers kill their users" and "why can't the pyrokinetic just cook your insides" and "where does the energy for the finger lasers come from" and "why don't people with powers get jobs instead of becoming superheroes or supervillains". Not only that, but all of those questions have the same extremely clever answer. If you had asked me before, I would have said that was impossible.
I'm currently on arc 25 so knowing a big reveal is fairly soon just got me excited.
Well, how'd it go?
It was a cool reveal.
Funnily enough I just finished reading this yesterday. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2048585717
In agreement with your opinion on The Reckoners. Not terrible but not great either with an interesting premise but rough execution at times. I'm a little dissapointed that Super Powereds didn't make it on the list though. Compared to Forging Hephaestus, I found the series to be much stronger in terms of overall writing and characters. That and, the civil servant style of super hero that acts more like specialized law enforcement is a really good hero concept.
To be fair that's pretty much Sanderson in a nutshell. As popular and influential as he may be he will always only ever be a good writer. Never a GREAT writer.
But you know that's not always a bad thing I mean Edgar Rice Burroughs was never a great writer and we still read his books and enjoy them for the influence they had on the genre.
Sanderson is a really fast writer though, I'd say that's his greatest strength
That's an... interesting...opinion. Lots of folks who would beg to differ with what you state as "categorical fact"...
I admit to having some small issues with the Reckoners series but it's an easy to understand and clear world-building work. Obviously, YMMV but I also liked the twists and turns in it.
I felt the ultimate solution was a bit too neat. But it was very comic-book like.
One difference between this book and Worm appears to be that the list is of published works.
I left Worm off for format/medium reasons than quality. It's a great work.
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Didn't the author of worm eventually publish it online?
Nope. It can still be found at https://parahumans.wordpress.com. He has been working on getting it published, but it is a huge task.
There isnt even a Kindle Version?
So glad to see worm here was gonna mention it myself!
Sad that such a good read has no exposure
Super Powereds by Drew Hayes is excellent!
I've only read a couple but very much agree.
Those Wildcard books are always a pet peeve of mine. If you look at the book “edited by GEORGE R.R. MARTIN” takes up almost the entire spine and cover. The title is always the size of another books author. Their publisher is definitely playing off of that Martin popularity.
They're also not really superhero books so much as "Mutant" books. But they are very original and sometimes extraordinarily good. Other times...not so much.
It doesn't feel right having a superhero list but not having Worm by Wildbow on it.
It is conspicuous by its absence. I left it off for format/medium reasons rather than quality.
In light of reddit's API changes killing off third-party apps, this post has been overwritten by the user with an automated script. See r/PowerDeleteSuite for more information.
its less comic booky but Vicious by V.E. Schwab (book 1 of currently 2 in the villains series) is an excellent read
Book 2 Vengeful is also really good
This is a great post, but I have to say Super Powereds not being on there is a travesty. I'm being over dramatic, but it's my favorite in the sub genre, and I was fully expecting it to be in the top 5 as I read down the list.
I'm a huge fan of superhero fiction, so it was a nice surprise seeing a few I had never heard of on this list, along with some I've heard of but didn't know much about.
I'd like to mention a few more that I've enjoyed, because I rarely get to recommend superhero fiction beyond some of the big ones, and I figure a few fans of the genre might see this.
The Meta series by Tom Reynolds was great. It is another YA coming of age superhero type of story, but it has a unique twist on where superpowers came from that I won't mention to avoid spoilers. It also has a mentor character who is basically that universe's Batman, and that part of it is a lot of fun.
The Full Metal Superhero series by Jeffrey H. Haskell is about a girl who is paralyzed due to an accident, but is such a genius that she makes her own super armor capable of flight and lots of other things. The central plot is about her trying to find her parents, but it's also about her joining a government sponsored super hero team. This one has a bit of everything with "natural" born supers, aliens, magic, and mythology. Each book is short and easy to read, but luckily the author puts them out fast so you don't have to wait too long. I think it's on book 6 or 7 by now.
The New Heroes/Quantum Prophecy series by Michael Carroll is probably more for middle grade or early teens, but I enjoyed it as an adult. Basically heroes lost their powers 10 years ago, but now a new generation of supers is starting to emerge. I just read the first trilogy, but there are more books written.
After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn is about the non powered daughter of the city's greatest Superhero couple, and she's being asked as a forensic accountant to help prosecute the big super villain for tax fraud. I can't really give a great description beyond that to avoid spoilers, but I really liked it. I picked it up after loving one of her stories in the first Wild Cards, and I'm glad I did. There is a sequel, but I haven't read it yet.
Thanks for the mention and I'm glad you enjoy them. I'm on book 7, it comes out tonight!
Well that's a happy coincidence. I finished the 6th book late last year and I knew the 7th was coming out sometime relatively soon, but this is perfect timing. Now I'm excited and I don't even have to wait very long.
I mentioned it in the Forging Hephaestus entry (one author per list is my rule) but I can understand why it was a favorite pick. I just have to admit some villain bias.
:)
Thank you for the recommendations!
I can definitely understand the villain bias. I just wanted to mention I've read the first two in the Supervillainy Saga and I absolutely loved them. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series at some point too.
Thanks. Music to my ears. :)
I would add Hero by Perry Moore to that list. It's YA, really fun, and shines a light on more "useless" superhero skills (one guy's specialty is that he gets sick, and infects everyone with his illness, for example).
I admit to planning on reading that next.
I hate when people jump on things like this and say "This list is incomplete without..." but yeah, I'm going to do that. Turbulence by Samit Basu. Passengers on a plane from London to Delhi develop amazing abilities, tied to their personalities. Some become heroes, some villains. Thoughtful, intelligent writing, but also great characters and fantastic action. As deeply rooted in American comics as it is in India. There's a sequel, Resistance, that I haven't read yet.
Believe me, I had other entries I could have shared but figure once you start going over 20 entries that you start to turn off the reader. I also am very glad to hear about new entries since I love literary superhero stories.
How have I never heard of this? This looks awesome, and I love the idea of a more Indian style super power story.
Soon I will be Invincible as number one is something I can agree with, Doctor Impossible's blend of brilliance and poor mental health makes him one of my favourite characters.
Can I ask you a question since you clearly know your way around the world of superhero prose. For a while now I've had little luck looking for novels with a supervillain protagonist where the protagonist is actively on the side of evil. One where they're not in confrontations with even worse villains, forced to help the heroes, questioning their choices or anything like that. Instead they're dedicated to a diabolical scheme for riches, world domination, or revenge.
Super intelligence as their primary power is a plus, and preferably not too dark.
DOCTOR ANARCHY'S RULES FOR WORLD DOMINATION by Nelson Chereta is a dark black humor book about a completely awful human being. It's got some serious editing issues but those don't really bug me.
SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE also makes it clear that Doctor Impossible is sympathetic but completely irredeemable.
Nelson Chereta is the guy behind the Waldo Rabbit series hmmm... I thought Waldo Rabbit one was ok but not brilliant.
Soon I Will be Invincible is exactly what I want, but I've already read it several times :)
Speaking of Doctor Impossible what's your theory. Is he compelled to be the villain by his hypercognition disorder, or is that just an excuse he uses?I think the former. He might have days where he "doesn't feel all that evil" but lots of disorders give you good days. And the more I see his backstory the more I think this is not a guy who really wants to take over the world.
I think Doctor Anarchy is better than the Waldo Rabbit works in terms of writing-writing but it's not on my Top 20 list either.
As for Doctor Impossible, I think its an interesting metaphor for the fact that he's a comic book character and trapped in the cycle of perpetual storytelling. Whether he's genuinely mentally ill or an awful person is less important than the fact he can't change who he is or grow (unlike the Lois Lane equivalent). So a little of column A, a little of column b.
Thanks for this list, I will definitely be adding some of these to my pile. I enjoyed your rules of supervillany series, are you working on anything new?
In addition to my ongoing other series (Bright Falls Mysteries, Straight Outta Fangton), I am currently working on a 6th Supervillainy Saga book with the Future of Supervillainy.
The Supervillainy Saga series is meant to be 12 books total.
Thanks for assembling this list!
To be honest, I want books about superheroes to be great (and I've read quite a few on this list!), but they're ... often not. I think books about superheroes have always had a hard time competing with other media. Comics (and movies) (and TV) have a whole visual language that works really well in this space.
Books have a hard time competing on action and I tend to prefer the ones that are a little more low key, and try to use the 'space' of a book to think more deeply about what superheroism means. (Which, again, has already been done best in comics, but at least books stand a fighting chance).
So a few to add:
Lavie Tidhar's The Violent Century - alternate Cold War history with superheroes. Sort of Le Carre with more flying people.
Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - I mean, this is probably the Watchmen of superhero books, in that it really set the standard for the deep, introspective, psychological look at what superheroism means to its 'practitioners'. An amazing, decades-spanning story of adulthood and creativity and secret superpowers.
Mark Charan Newton's Book of Transformations - the only example I can think of superheroes - as superheroes - in a secondary world fantasy setting. It is a mid-series book (but stands alone), in a dying earth, very weird world. And the heroes assemble: not as an adventuring party, but as superheroes. It is really interesting, as it makes you question the role of the traditional 'hero' in this sort of setting, as opposed to, in this case, more manufactured, deliberate heroes.
Marion Harmon's Wearing the Cape - Unlike the others, this one is pretty straightforward, but, eh, I liked it.
Wearing the Cape is number 4# on the list.
Thank you for the recommendations!
Doh! So it is!
Only read list to see if/where Soon I Will Be Invincible was placed on list. Not disappointed.
You know that was only published 12 years ago, right?
There's a "prose" missing in that sentence.
A perfectly reasonable assertion, then.
I was confused that Austin Grossman looked exactly like Lev of the same name..... Twin brothers! TIL.
He (the former) is also the more talented brother, writing-wise, in my opinion.
I've not read Austin's work but will start on Soon I will be Invincible.
Thanks for the FYI. I wasn't a fan of the characters in the Magicians series but liked the premise and story.
Great list, I've read most of these and really enjoyed Velveteen, Bernheimer, Harmon, and Roberts was fun but a but more of a YA style.
It's like you copy and pasted my audible library.
I would also recommend, In Hero Years... I'm Dead by Michael A. Stackpole. It revolves around a Batman gadgeteer hero named Coyote who got captured by the bad guys...for the last 20 years. He's been missing, presumed dead, by all his old compatriots but his enemies finally just...let him go. Now it's like he just got out of prison and he's trying to put his life back together, not sure if he should still be a hero in a very different super hero world than the one he left. His old friends are mostly retired, and the new crop of heroes are more about their social media likes than the cause. There's also a weird Farenheit 451 vibe going that isn't fully explored.
Thanks for the list. I've always loved superhero comics and movies/TV shows, but have never been able to get into the books, will have to check some of these out..
I am always torn by The Reckoners.
Steelheart is one of my favorite books in recent time, but I found book 2 to be a disappointment, and book 3 to be hot garbage.
I honestly usually tell people to just read book 1.
I admit to being a bit of the reverse as I was kind of annoyed at the, "Everyone with powers is an evil psychopath." So, I liked that the books eventually explained the whys.
But I understand your position.
Super Powereds, Worm, Forging Hephaestus, and the Reckoners books are some of my favorite superhero fantasy.
I hadn't heard of some on the ones on this list and they look really interesting, so thanks for making it!
When I wrote Rules of Supervillainy, I tried to figure out what to read to get a feel for the genre. I read some truly awesome books and some truly terrible ones.
Some extra comments about works that didn't make the list:
Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley stars an African American female SWAT member who belongs to a specialized task force in a superhero world that...indiscriminately murders superhumans. It's a rather dark story and the protagonist is utterly irredeemable.
Sad Wings of Destiny by Thom Brannan is basically a literary Watchman attempt that has the Batman/Tony Stark equivalent decide to eliminate superhuman crime by using nanotech super-soldiers as well as getting rid of superheroes. It turns out this is a bad idea.
Doctor Anarchy's Rules for World Domination by Nelson Chereta: The guy who did the Waldo Rabbit series. Basically Doctor Anarchy has conquered the state of Rhode Island and he wants to let you know how. I recommend the audiobook over the written one.
Zephyr by Warren Hately: In a world where superheroes are celebrities, there's going to be the guys who are Corey Feldman. Burnt out and struggling with 9 different kinds of trauma, Zephyr struggles to keep his shit together while also trying to save the world.
Plus, obviously, I recommend my own books. The Rules of Supervillainy are for the guy who just quite isn't bad enough to be a supervillain and not good enough to be a hero. The first audiobook (narrated by Jeffrey Kafer) is on sale at Audible.com for $7.
In addition to the other books mentioned in this thread, I'd also highly recommend Casey Glanders' "Gailsone" series, Matthew Phillion's "Indestructibles", Andrew Seiple's "DIRE!", Sarah Kuhn's "Heroine Complex", Caitlynn Kittredge and Jackie Kessler's "Icarus Project" books, Kristen Brand's "Hero Status" and Rafael Chandler's "The Astounding Antagonists".
(Also, Marta Acosta's "The She-Hulk Diaries" was fun.)
Feel the need to throw in the Podcast/Novel series (5 books) "The Secret World Chronicles" done by a team headed up by Mercedes Lackey. Superheroes vs. Space Nazis!
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Author Appreciation: Mercedes Lackey from user u/lyrrael
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mastercreator u/LittlePlasticCastle with any questions or comments.Turbulence and Resistance by Samit Basu are two of my favorite superhero novels.
Commenting to read later
Looking forward to your thoughts.
What grabbed my attention here was the title and the woe that there isn't enough superhero prose. It's a gripe I have long held as I love the genre in film /tv format, but I can't get into the comics.
For instance, I just binged Umbrella Academy and fell in love with the universe, the characters, the tech... so I grabbed an e-version of the comic it was based on and well, rather hated it. Same with most comics, it's a medium I wish I could get into but I just can't. I'm left wishing there was more dialogue, more expository about the universe, more everything. People complained in the UA subreddit that there was lazy writing in the show with quick jumps in plot beats and character development... but that's all I saw in the comic version! it was way too brief and smashed together. the writing in the show, particularly with character development was so much more nuanced and complete because there was simply more meat on the bones with more space to divulge.
It's this wanting more which is why I probably list Brandon Sanderson as my favorite contemporary author. I loved Steelheart just as I've loved about every other of his books because of all the development that goes into it. In more pop fiction, I enjoyed Maximum Ride by Patterson likewise for the same reasons. I got my superhero fix but I also got more development with it. Also, I don't know if this would fit in, but Ian Tregillis's Bitter Seeds/Milkweed trilogy is another favorite of mine that features humans outfitted w/ tech to become superhero-like. But out of all three, only one would be considered non-YA and, again, it's listed primarily as alt history sci-fi.
TBH, I didn't even know there was an actual subgenre for adult superhero prose (or at least, I don't know why it's taking this long for me to realize this is a reading itch for which there is a niche I need to explore). I've added your book to my wishlist to read next and look forward to going through the other books you've listed.
Thanks for sharing!
I agree 100% with this and think that the big appeal of superhero prose is that it is not limited to the cosmic resets, lack of endings, and lack of world consistency that afflicts mainstream comic books.
One of my favorites is from Sevan Paris, Superheroes in Prose amazon
While im certainly less well-versed than you in the genre I'd recommend Not your Sidekick by C. B. Lee. It has a young MC, and is generally just light, fluffy and awesome to read.
I would also like to recommend Prepare to Die! by Paul Tobin its a pretty great read.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13570764-prepare-to-die
It was on the list at one point. A little confusing but a strong ending.
Have you read the Milkweed Triptych? Or do you not think it qualifies as supers?
Check CJ Carmella’s New Olympus series out as well. It’s cosmic level fun.
Well, thanks for sharing!
I recommend Steelheart as a good start for a lot of people who want to get into the genre because it's an easy "three book and done" series that is fairly serious.
For a contrary opinion, I found The Reckoners to be painfully "YA" in that characters were quirky beyond belief, dialogue was stale or cringeworthy, and the ending is a bit of a deus ex machina.
That said, they are quick easy reads so give the first one a shot if you think it sounds interesting.
Will look 'em up.
It is less clearly in the super hero genre than most of these others, but Larry Corriea's Grim Noir trilogy is pretty much supers without the costumes and names and I'd say its in my top 5 supers books.
Soon I Will Be Invincible is definitely number one though, seriously if you like supers at all and haven't read that yet I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I think those Corriea books would top my list of superhero books. They’re so much fun.
Awesome list! I really love the Ex-Heroes series and I'm glad to see it on here. Was it really cancelled?? I hadn't heard anything about that, although I did think it was strange that he hadn't released any new entries lately. I did some Googling and couldn't find any official announcements that it was cancelled, but if true that's a shame...
EDIT: Just to answer my own question and in case anyone else was wondering, I found a recent blog by Clines discussing the question here
https://thoth-amon.blogspot.com/2019/01/those-frequently-asked-questions.html
The tldr is the series isn't 100% dead, it may come back to life like the zombies in the story, but we shouldn't get our hopes up...
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Cool beanz.
Hey so I’ve read the whole steel heart series (loved it!) and I’m about to read soon I will be invincible, should I read number three on the list next, or does anyone have a suggestion of which book I should read afterwards? Thanks!