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51 reviews for:
A Once Crowded Sky
Tom Fowler, Tom King, Ruth Lee-Mui, David Ter-Avanesyan, Steve Bryant
3.11 AVERAGE
51 reviews for:
A Once Crowded Sky
Tom Fowler, Tom King, Ruth Lee-Mui, David Ter-Avanesyan, Steve Bryant
3.11 AVERAGE
I very much wanted to love this book. I went in excited as I am a very big Tom King fan. I love his take on Vision, The Omega Men, and his Batman comics. However after just a little ways into this book I knew I was not going to finish it with a good opinion. It wasn't that the story was bad. It wasn't. It reminded me of Watchmen in a way. Almost a deconstruction of the "superhero". That's great. I'm all for that. My issues really stemmed from the pacing and repetitiveness. Too much time was spent on things that didn't seem to matter. Too little time was spent keeping the story cohesive. It felt all over the place and kind of unsure of where it wanted to go exactly, how it wanted to get there, and why it was going in the first place.
That said, isn't an interesting concept. The ideas put forth in this story are good ones. I think had this been a straight up comic run, it may have been very good, maybe even great. As it is is though, it's hard to really recommend it to anyone who isn't just a die-hard King fan who has to read everything he does.
That said, isn't an interesting concept. The ideas put forth in this story are good ones. I think had this been a straight up comic run, it may have been very good, maybe even great. As it is is though, it's hard to really recommend it to anyone who isn't just a die-hard King fan who has to read everything he does.
Interesting idea but a very confusing and repetitive read. There's too many characters. Couldn't get past my 100 page threshold. Maybe I'll come back another time.
Please note: this book should be on a shelf marked "Could not finish"
The premise: superheroes sacrifice their powers to save the world, and then try to pick up the pieces. The first quarter of the book is comprised of character introduction and backstory via flashback. Unfortunately, the sections are highly non sequiter, making it a difficult read. From the chapter titles, it seems the author perhaps intended the book to mimic picking up different comic books, going back and forth between characters, but its not working. The chapters are too short, and the feel of the prose is awkward.
I also have little like or sympathy for the majority of the ex heroes, who are swimming in self pity.
The premise: superheroes sacrifice their powers to save the world, and then try to pick up the pieces. The first quarter of the book is comprised of character introduction and backstory via flashback. Unfortunately, the sections are highly non sequiter, making it a difficult read. From the chapter titles, it seems the author perhaps intended the book to mimic picking up different comic books, going back and forth between characters, but its not working. The chapters are too short, and the feel of the prose is awkward.
I also have little like or sympathy for the majority of the ex heroes, who are swimming in self pity.
I liked the format, but man oh man was this taxing to read. Ugh. :/
Did not finish. I like Tom King. I like superheroes. I LOVE lit fiction. Really tried to get into this and just couldn’t. Would recommend picking up the graphic novels for “Sheriff of Baghdad” (DC Vertigo comics) and Vision (Marvel Comics) instead.
Superhero prose has become a minor trend over the last few years, which one can explain with a quick summer trip to any multiplex. Superheroes are big right now and since comics are increasingly irrelevant (and have only themselves to blame for that) people are going elsewhere for their fix.
A Once Crowded Sky is set after the big mega-crossover event where all the heroes sacrificed their power to save the world. Fortunately, the big event also removed all the villains. How do you deal with being merely mortal after you've been something like a god? The answer for most of the heroes is, not very well. Strength, the woman without weakness is suicidal, as is Soldier of Freedom. Doctor Speed is a drunk, Sicko is obsessed with comics, and the one hero who didn't give up his powers is just a kid sidekick who grew up and quit.
That kid, PenUltimate, is the heart of the story here. Supehero (in this case a robotic Superman analog named Ultimate) takes badly traumatized kid (a mind controlled Ultimate killed his parents) and turns him into a superhero. We've seen this before of course, it was a Golden Age staple and Tom King is quite well aware of how ridiculous the whole thing is. Pen's quitting and the reasons for it are an important part of the background to this story, which is mostly about the question, do the heroes come back again?
King has a strong sense of the silliness of comics (he interned at both Marvel and DC, so one has to assume he's a fan) and makes some argument for their importance despite that.
A Once Crowded Sky is set after the big mega-crossover event where all the heroes sacrificed their power to save the world. Fortunately, the big event also removed all the villains. How do you deal with being merely mortal after you've been something like a god? The answer for most of the heroes is, not very well. Strength, the woman without weakness is suicidal, as is Soldier of Freedom. Doctor Speed is a drunk, Sicko is obsessed with comics, and the one hero who didn't give up his powers is just a kid sidekick who grew up and quit.
That kid, PenUltimate, is the heart of the story here. Supehero (in this case a robotic Superman analog named Ultimate) takes badly traumatized kid (a mind controlled Ultimate killed his parents) and turns him into a superhero. We've seen this before of course, it was a Golden Age staple and Tom King is quite well aware of how ridiculous the whole thing is. Pen's quitting and the reasons for it are an important part of the background to this story, which is mostly about the question, do the heroes come back again?
King has a strong sense of the silliness of comics (he interned at both Marvel and DC, so one has to assume he's a fan) and makes some argument for their importance despite that.
Some fascinating ideas, some good execution but unfortunately never quite nails the landing. I'll definitely give King's next novel a try though.
A deconstructionist novel about comics and their role as modern mythology that gets caught up so much in what it is trying to do that it maybe forgets exactly what it is. Actual comics in this day and age are better written, with more depth and backstory than this novel about them, and so this left me cold. There is a point where the reader is meant to see what's happening, and this was about 100 pages after I saw it. Heavy with tropes on purpose, making a point by them, but this is a point possibly made better by what Tom King is pointing at.
Austin Grossman's fabulous 'Soon I Will be Invincible' does this same job, but does it better.
Austin Grossman's fabulous 'Soon I Will be Invincible' does this same job, but does it better.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes