Looking back at 2018: the top 5 reads

I wanted to read a lot more novels than I read in 2018, but instead I found much of my reading time spent on research for various projects online. That being said, I still managed to read several great novels in the year and here's a lovely list of my five favorite.

Remember, this is just a list of the favorite books I read in 2018, not necessarily books released in 2018.

1. Mississippi Roll: A Wild Cards Novel edited by George R. R. Martin
   
   The new standalone novels in this series are refreshing after multiple heavily connected series and I would honestly prefer they keep that format going forward. I haven't stayed caught up with the follow up novels as of yet, but they are on my radar for 2019.
   
   
2. A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn
   
   I read several Honor Harrington books in my teens and early twenties, but it has been a series I wanted to dive back into for some time. This first book in a prequel series by Weber and one of my favorite authors, Timothy Zahn, drew my interest enough to jump back in. It proved to be a great read, so much so that the sequel is already done and the final book in the series is in my reading list.
   
   
3. Arsenal: Full Metal Superhero by Jeffrey H. Haskell
   
   I stumbled upon this one thanks to a buy at my job and I am hooked. Haskell is one of the few supers writers not on my radar but he proved to be a great one with this first book in his ongoing series. I'm definitely interested in seeing where it goes in the follow up novels.
   
   
4. Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas
   
   I talked about this one just a few days ago, but Maas has the clear winner in licensed superhero novels this year. She weaves an amazing new take on Gotham centered around Selina Kyle, one I would love to see more of in the future.
   
   
5. The Oracle Year by Charles Soule
   
   Charles Soule has written his share of superhero comics, but his literary take on the tale of a man with a limited set of future visions proved to be the most fascinating read I completed in the calendar year. I'm curious to see what the future holds for his prose career. 

Buy them on Amazon:

What's Up for February 2, 2018

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)


It's been a little quiet here as I've been focused on medical issues and my fiction, but I have had time to read, watch and listen over the last two weeks.



Mississippi Roll: A Wild Cards Novel | Dr. Strange: Strange Tales |
Not Drunk Enough | Femme Fatales Season 1 | Camila

What's up for January 19, 2018

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)


Writing has been a major focal point, but I've definitely made some time for other work of late! Here's what has been on my table and television for the last few days!



Mississippi Roll: A Wild Cards Novel | Voices of Wrestling NJPW 2017 Year in Review |
Harley Quinn: Hot in the City | Thanos: The Infinity Relativity | Westworld Season 1

Influential: Wild Cards

I am deep in the heart of the latest Wild Cards volume in between writing work, so it seemed apt to share this classic influential about the series.

Brian Bolland drew the best of many Wild Cards covers over the years.

It is hard to talk about super powered prose fiction in the United States without bringing up the Wild Cards franchise. Conceived by George R.R. Martin in the late eighties and based on a Superworld campaign by some of the original authors, it was the first major work to put original superheroes into prose form.

Now decades old, in many ways the series defined superhero prose fiction. It also proved that a cohesive universe shared by multiple authors was not only feasible but could also be incredibly compelling.

While the first volume in the series was published in 1987, I didn’t discover the series until the very early 1990s however through six hardcover reprints produced by the Science Fiction Book Club and available at my local library.

When I read that first volume, now renamed Wild Cards I, a major revelation hit me. I could combine my love for superheroes and prose into something wholly original. My terrible artistic attempts pretty much ended when I finished that first book and reveled in the adventures of Jetboy, Tachyon, The Great & Powerful Turtle, Golden Boy, The Sleeper, Fortunato and more. They weren’t like the characters in comics. They were far more adult, far more violent and far more real.

The books decision to never hide sex and violence from its pages is a major influence on Walking Shadows. If I wanted to tell the real lives of these young people, I knew I needed to never shy away from their real lives. With that in mind, I set out to make this a series aimed at younger readers with a mature bent while still having some of the high drama of superhero stories.

At the same time, Wild Cards I also did much to encourage the history of the Quadrant Universe. The book stretched across four decades of the twentieth century, interwoven through a subtly altered history. It was a concept I embraced when designing the thousands of years worth of history that make up the backstory of my world, much of which still waits to be revealed.

But if you have never read Wild Cards, go give the first book a chance. The new edition first book even has some new tales by modern authors in it for long time readers. I’m pretty sure you’ll be glad you gave it a try.

What's Up for December 22, 2017

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)


Christmas isn't here yet and I had a bit more reading and watching time than usual. So here's some interesting things I have been up to in the last week.



Mississippi Roll: A Wild Cards Novel | Dark Knight: The Master Race |
Ka-Zar by Waid & Kubert | Westworld Season 1 | Dick Tracy

What's Up for October 21, 2016

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)

What's Up for September 30, 2016

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the articles, books, comics, movies, videos, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)

This time around, I have a favorite maxi-series back on the reading pile, a so-so superhero sequel, the latest in a 20 plus book series and more!

What's Up for September 16, 2016

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the articles, books, comics, movies, videos, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)

What's Up for September 9, 2016

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)

Sex and Violence in Super Powered Fiction

Today I wanted to write something on the two big subjects of modern genre literature. I am of course talking about sex and violence, two factors that play a weird twisted pattern in modern English writing.

Most people pretty much consider it impossible to write super powered fiction without the second half of that equation, although not impossible. Big powers often imply slugfests between two super powered beings. But characters with powers could just use those powers for the common good. Or even their own self interest. Even with two or more characters with powers, no one says they should have to get into great big fights. Walter Mosley’s Blue Light fits the bill perfectly for this. While the book does not shy away from uncomfortable situations (including murder) it is not built around the kind of battle one expects when they know a story has super-powers.

Sex on the other hand often seems taboo in modern super powered fiction. Obviously most modern Marvel & DC superhero comics run on a strange system where they aim for a PG-13 style rating scheme for their titles. Rarely do they feature more than the hint of sex. Prose super powered fiction often follows this lead. I certainly do with my Lightweight series of serialized stories. Numerous other tales both large and small press seem to aim for that same level. But the history of the super powered prose space makes that a strange choice.

So much of super powered prose stems from George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards series. From the first book, authors like Lewis Shiner and Stephen Leigh introduced sexually explicit content into their tales. In many ways Wild Cards is the godfather of all super powered prose, yet still so many titles shy away from its lead. Meanwhile the ever-growing urban fantasy field often dives head-long into explicit storytelling.

I am by no means saying that anyone writing super powered prose should immediately add an explicit sex scene to their stories. But I do think that if we are acceptable to extremes of violence, we should also not be afraid of writing sex as well.

My web serial Walking Shadows has shown several of its leads in sexual situations and will continue to do so. The series was built around the concept of following the lives of young men and women with powers that do not want to be heroes. And when you right about young adults, sex will come into play.

Let’s not be afraid of it.

Today’s image is from issue two of Peter David & George Perez’s Sachs & Violens, simply because I enjoy name puns.

Reblogged from the classic site.

Influential 4: Wild Cards

Brian Bolland drew the best of many Wild Cards covers over the years.

It is hard to talk about super powered prose fiction in the United States without bringing up the Wild Cards franchise. Conceived by George R.R. Martin in the late eighties and based on a Superworld campaign by some of the original authors, it was the first major work to put original superheroes into prose form.

Now decades old, in many ways the series defined superhero prose fiction. It also proved that a cohesive universe shared by multiple authors was not only feasible but could also be incredibly compelling.

While the first volume in the series was published in 1987, I didn’t discover the series until the very early 1990s however through six hardcover reprints produced by the Science Fiction Book Club and available at my local library.

When I read that first volume, now renamed Wild Cards I, a major revelation hit me. I could combine my love for superheroes and prose into something wholly original. My terrible artistic attempts pretty much ended when I finished that first book and reveled in the adventures of Jetboy, Tachyon, The Great & Powerful Turtle, Golden Boy, The Sleeper, Fortunato and more. They weren’t like the characters in comics. They were far more adult, far more violent and far more real.

The books decision to never hide sex and violence from its pages is a major influence on Walking Shadows. If I wanted to tell the real lives of these young people, I knew I needed to never shy away from their real lives. With that in mind, I set out to make this a series aimed at younger readers with a mature bent while still having some of the high drama of superhero stories.

At the same time, Wild Cards I also did much to encourage the history of the Quadrant Universe. The book stretched across four decades of the twentieth century, interwoven through a subtly altered history. It was a concept I embraced when designing the thousands of years worth of history that make up the backstory of my world, much of which still waits to be revealed.

But if you have never read Wild Cards, go give the first book a chance. The new edition first book even has some new tales by modern authors in it for long time readers. I’m pretty sure you’ll be glad you gave it a try.