20 Recommended Superhero Novels

[Worffan101]

Yeah, I was actually more interested in the Steelheart world AFTER the finale than the world before.

How will it develop now that the people with powers aren't all psychopaths?

Well, being (like all Sanderson book) a genre-reconstruction, which both points out the regularly-pointed-out flaws with and endorses the central draw of the genre, most likely we'd see a period of slowly cooling tensions, Epics suddenly non-insane (I think that Calamity leaving means they will now become sane again?) committing suicide or doing dangerous stunts as they're horrified at what they did in their psychosis, David and the Reckoners have to work overtime to use their massive PR to help repair things (but they succeed, because it's a Sanderson book and it's hopeful and optimistic and positive on the human condition), and they have to fight guys like Obliteration who have faced their fears and are still total monsters.

It will probably transition slowly into a more "classic" Silver Age-y universe, or perhaps a modern 2010s take on the same, like some webcomic superhero things I've read (Grrl Power and Spinerette might be good comparisons), but with the Reckoners present as a pre-existing all-inclusive ("we take anybody who likes justice and likes taking down nasty criminals") Justice League-esque organization, the transition will likely proceed successfully.

I'm sure Sanderson could come up with something much more fun and interesting, though. XD And I'd LOVE to see a fight between Obliteration and Phaedrus + Firefight + Steelheart!David. Obliteration is so godmode he almost certainly doesn't fear David, which means the Steelheart powers won't protect David, but Firefight is a godmode level reality warper when she respawns and Phaedrus can instaheal from basically anything and vaporize anything he touches. That will...make things a bit more challenging for the nutcase.

[AllanO]

Well gee here I was thinking I would not know any of the books and I have actually read two (or rather from two of the mentioned series). I loong ago read two Wild Card books, liked them but found them a bit grimdark and never got around to reading more. I do not pay that much attention to authors (also as mentioned Wild Cards is a shared universe/multiple authors situation), now I know I've read something by George R. R. Martin (this had somehow escaped my attention). I got Soon I Will Be Invincible several years ago as a birthday present, it is certainly my favourite super hero novel by a long shot (although I suspect it might be a bit too navel gazing and referency for some tastes).

I guess I've read a few super hero novelizations (which is sort of a different thing again from an original set of characters in a superhero setting). The only book I really want to mention here is It's Superman by Tom De Haven. It reimagines Superman back in the 1930s in a sort of noirish setting, also something of a historical novel (I think), it spends a lot of time on characters like Lex Luthor and Lois Lane building up a plot and interconnecting the characters (and their reflections on life) without much superhero action, but diverges widely from the comics etc. I am not sure it does not suffer some mood whiplash between its noir gritty realism and sort of high adventure superhero moments, but I found it a pretty engaging work (I listened to the audiobook).

This sort of work appeals to me, because I happily buy in to the wacky premise but also like a bit of over thinking them to (as seen in books like Soon)..

[Independent George]

I finished Soon I Will Be Invincible and the Reckoners trilogy this week, so I figured I'd bump this with a mini-review.

Soon I Will Be Invincible: I haven't read comics in a really long time, but this book just made me smile and feel like a kid again without ever dumbing down the characterization or oversimplifying things. I loved the melding of gold and silver age comic weirdness with the modern sensibility, and Dr. Impossible managed to be awesome, sad, funny, and endearing at the same time. What I liked most was the way it took the idea of "Malign Hypercognivity Disorder" and just ran with it - showing it to us in depth through Dr. Impossible's story.

That said, it was not without a few problems. First, the glaring one [SPOILERS AHEAD]: WTF happened with Mr. Mystic trapping Dr. Impossible in his illusions? The entire confrontation just ended with the hero suddenly disappearing mid-conflict, and Dr. Impossible getting his hands on the phlebotinum. That's it. When you get to Fatale's chapter, there's no mention of it (which I suppose makes sense; I mean, if I were part of a Superteam and confronted the villain on my own, then just ditched him halfway through to get some ice cream, I suppose I wouldn't tell anyone else, either). It made absolutely no sense; you could cut that scene out entirely, and it would not have made a difference with the story.

Second, the ending felt thrown together. You get Dr. Impossible in all his glory, then Lily's big reveal, and then... that's it. I never got a good sense of her character throughout the novel, so giving her the big finale left me feeling kind of flat. Fatale, our other POV character, was a bystander at the end - which could work, but only if she established some chemistry with Lily and revealed some insight into her character throughout. There could have worked in Dr. Impossible's POV due to spoilerrific reasons, but having him reflect on it would have been grossly out of character; it had to be in Fatale's chapter, but that required a far closer connection with Lily than we got. In some ways, I suppose that's the point - her alter ego was by design a flat character overlooked by people - but it just doesn't work in the finale.

I rambled on a bit longer than I meant to, so I'll save Reckoners for a separate post.

[Independent George]

The Reckoners Trilogy (Steelheart, Firefight, Calamity): It's difficult for me to review this, as I'm a huge fan of Sanderson and can't help but compare it with his other works instead of reading it as a standalone piece. I really enjoyed Reckoners, but at the same time I don't think it's his best work. The plot and setting are excellent (I especially loved the observation that Evil Overlords require accountants as much as soldiers), but the characters and character interaction just weren't quite as fleshed out. Part of that was the first-person narration (where you only really get a good sense of David, Prof, and Megan), but the secondary characters felt more like a collection of traits than fully realized people: Abraham is the religious Quebecois guy, Cody is the wacky faux-Scottish guy, Tia is the cold professional, Mizzy is the genki gadget girl. I don't want to rip on this too much, because the three main characters were well-drawn (and in the third book, Knightfall managed to steal literally every scene he's in), but here, the secondary characters felt noticeably thinner compared to his Cosmere works.

That out of the way, everything else about Reckoners was outstanding. The post-apocalyptic world they inhabit was an extension of the Epics that controlled it, and the weirdness of the different cities felt natural because of how well established it was. I had a devil of a time writing this paragraph, because I kept wanting to write the word, "natural", because that's the best adjective I can come up with. The entire relationship between the Epics and Calamity, the Epics and their secrets, the world and the cities - everything was integrated in a very natural manner. It sounds like I'm describing a technical detail (and I suppose I am), but it's absolutely beautiful in the way it fit together. It all just worked.

[TheStarWarsTrek]

Came here to see if "Soon I Will Be Invincible" was on the list, was not disappointed.

[Nealithi]

I would recommend also Legion of Nothing by Jim Zoetewey.
And for web reading Worm by Wildbow.

[CharlesPhipps]

Sold 2500 copies of the Rules of Supervillainy in the last 3 weeks during the Audible "Great Escapes" sale.

I shall someday approach Soon I will be Invincible and Reckoners levels of fame!

*Rocky theme plays*

[Mecha82]

I only know Death of Captain America by Larry Hama but based on this thread seems like superhero novels might be big thing in USA.

[PointlessKnowledge]

I'm glad that Nuklear Age made the list. I am sad we will never get the "planned" sequel of Atomik Age, though Clevinger's work on Atomic Robo makes up for it in my opinion.

[GreyICE]

One of the only ones I've ever liked was a series called Dire. It was recommended to me online, and was quite a good romp. One of the few that captured the "fun" of superheroes for me, without really deconstructing it, feeling like a slog, or feeling tentatively cheesy (like the author was rolling their eyes while writing). Way better than Reckoners IMHO, although apparently I'm a minority who isn't overly impressed by Sanderson and thought Reckoners was one of his weaker series.