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49 reviews for:
A Once Crowded Sky
Tom Fowler, Tom King, Ruth Lee-Mui, David Ter-Avanesyan, Steve Bryant
3.15 AVERAGE
49 reviews for:
A Once Crowded Sky
Tom Fowler, Tom King, Ruth Lee-Mui, David Ter-Avanesyan, Steve Bryant
3.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spent all day finishing it just to put it behind me. I think I'm doomed to read books I find mild this year
Ok. So to be fair, I am not a fan of superhero comics. Or anything that goes on for EVER and EVER in circles and never resolves itself. I broke my teeth on Love and Rockets and Elfquest and even those worried me when they started to grow too long. I've stopped watching Walking Dead because it's Just Another Place to Try to Find Refuge every season. You get the idea.
So that said ...
Those were the WORST first chapters I may have ever read that were written by an adult. The painful repetition and circling of words over. And over. And OVER.
I GET IT. I AM NOT AN IDIOT. I SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOOOOOOING SO STAAAAHHHHP.
Yes, the man desperately needed an editor. But also needs less of a sense of Self and more of a sense of Reader. This book read like he was writing a script for a comic. Without the images, I could not make sense of much of it at all. So what was even the point?
Also? If you can't create a set of characters that I can 1) keep straight because they all have stupid names - even after reading half the book - and 2) I can't identify or sympathize with in ANY way, then you have failed. Your book will fail. And Goodreads will reflect this quite clearly. (Which it did before we started reading it, but I figured I'd give it a fair shake.)
I'm disappointed that I spent money on it. STAAAAAHP
So that said ...
Those were the WORST first chapters I may have ever read that were written by an adult. The painful repetition and circling of words over. And over. And OVER.
I GET IT. I AM NOT AN IDIOT. I SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOOOOOOING SO STAAAAHHHHP.
Yes, the man desperately needed an editor. But also needs less of a sense of Self and more of a sense of Reader. This book read like he was writing a script for a comic. Without the images, I could not make sense of much of it at all. So what was even the point?
Also? If you can't create a set of characters that I can 1) keep straight because they all have stupid names - even after reading half the book - and 2) I can't identify or sympathize with in ANY way, then you have failed. Your book will fail. And Goodreads will reflect this quite clearly. (Which it did before we started reading it, but I figured I'd give it a fair shake.)
I'm disappointed that I spent money on it. STAAAAAHP
My review: http://obsessivebookworm.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/book-review-a-once-crowded-sky/
I really wanted to like this one. King's written some interesting comics, but boy, everything about this book beyond the first couple chapters establishing Pen and dropping some hints about Ultimate's sacrifice was an absolute slog to get through. I did like the "chapters named as if a comic book issue" conceit, and Tom Fowler's art was a treat on those few pages where it appeared.
“A Once Crowded Sky” is a comic book in novel form. Like many comic stories, it centers around a huge crisis event that brings all of the worlds superheroes together to fight a great evil. But this time, winning the battle means losing their greatest champion — and all of their powers.
The story beings six months after all of the heroes of Arcadia gave their powers to Ultimate, the superhero robot that inspired them all, so that he could fly off to defeat the threat known as The Blue (and die in the process). The heroes left behind are adjusting to normal lives. All except PenUltimate, former sidekick who quit the game and didn’t show up when the rest of the heroes did. Now Pen is the last super powered being in the world, and when The Blue returns it’s up to him (and a few former heroes) to stop it.
“A Once Crowded Sky” reads like “Watchmen” written by Jack Kirby. It’s another postmodern look at the four colour world of superheroes, but instead of critiquing the genre it celebrates it. While Alan Moore’s view was that only damaged and borderline psychotic people would choose to dress up and fight crime, Tom King’s heroes do it with a Silver Age enthusiasm (in fact, they call themselves “players” and refer to the business of being a superhero as “the game”). They understand and accept the cyclical nature of their never ending battle, which makes it that much harder to live in a world where there are no more superheroes and criminal masterminds.
I enjoyed the story, but thought the book dragged a bit in the middle (which ironically was the most action packed part). Where King really excels is telling the backstories of the heroes that populate his world — characters like Soldier of Freedom and Star Knight and Doctor Speed. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of these characters, and the chapter titles have comic book names like “Ultimate, The Man With The Metal Face #572” and “Solider of Freedom Team Up Special #1”.
If you’re a comic book fan, chances are you’ll enjoy this novel. Tom King has created an interesting group of heroes that owe much to the characters of the Marvel and DC Universes without reading like carbon copies, and he’s placed them in a grown up story that raises questions about what it means to be a hero. As debut novels go it’s very strong, and I’m looking forward to what he writes next.
The story beings six months after all of the heroes of Arcadia gave their powers to Ultimate, the superhero robot that inspired them all, so that he could fly off to defeat the threat known as The Blue (and die in the process). The heroes left behind are adjusting to normal lives. All except PenUltimate, former sidekick who quit the game and didn’t show up when the rest of the heroes did. Now Pen is the last super powered being in the world, and when The Blue returns it’s up to him (and a few former heroes) to stop it.
“A Once Crowded Sky” reads like “Watchmen” written by Jack Kirby. It’s another postmodern look at the four colour world of superheroes, but instead of critiquing the genre it celebrates it. While Alan Moore’s view was that only damaged and borderline psychotic people would choose to dress up and fight crime, Tom King’s heroes do it with a Silver Age enthusiasm (in fact, they call themselves “players” and refer to the business of being a superhero as “the game”). They understand and accept the cyclical nature of their never ending battle, which makes it that much harder to live in a world where there are no more superheroes and criminal masterminds.
I enjoyed the story, but thought the book dragged a bit in the middle (which ironically was the most action packed part). Where King really excels is telling the backstories of the heroes that populate his world — characters like Soldier of Freedom and Star Knight and Doctor Speed. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of these characters, and the chapter titles have comic book names like “Ultimate, The Man With The Metal Face #572” and “Solider of Freedom Team Up Special #1”.
If you’re a comic book fan, chances are you’ll enjoy this novel. Tom King has created an interesting group of heroes that owe much to the characters of the Marvel and DC Universes without reading like carbon copies, and he’s placed them in a grown up story that raises questions about what it means to be a hero. As debut novels go it’s very strong, and I’m looking forward to what he writes next.
I was intrigued by the bio of the author (intern at Marvel comics, then CIA officer) and the style of this novel is clever--told in snippets from the comic book issues of all of the major characters through their perspectives. Several years ago, a massive threat to Arcadia City forced superheroes to surrender their powers to strengthen just one of their own, who then sacrificed himself. His sidekick, Pen, was the only one to refuse, and now, as the only human being with superpowers, finds himself called upon when a new threat emerges...hey, wait, is this a metaphor?
An enjoyable tale of superheroes coming to terms with mortality. Tom King once interned for DC and Marvel, then worked as an operative for the CIA. Plenty of straight-forward prose with comic book illustrated interludes.
It's difficult for me to get into any superhero story where the main character isn't really interested in being a hero, so this book kind of started behind the 8-ball. The writing kept me going, though, and there are some really brilliant passages in here. I think next time I'd like to see a little less deconstruction of the genre and more application of what makes it so great. Still, this was well worth the read.