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jmanchester0's review against another edition
4.0
I read this in high school, but don't remember so much about the war in the beginning. It just kind of dragged on for me for a while. When are we getting to the good stuff? Where is Fortunato? The Turtle? Where are all the cool jokers? The stories were interesting to be sure, but all of the politics and all of the courtroom scenes started to get a little boring. Finally, nearly halfway through, we get through a lot of the background and into the stories I was more interested in.
I still love The Sleeper (Croyd is fanastic) and Shell Game; and The Long, Dark Night of Fortunato is even better than I remember it.
And the new stuff was interesting - especially Ghost Girl Takes Manhatten. Though now the old paperback copy I own is pointless. *sigh*
I love how these are all separate stories are all interwoven. A hippie who has a big part in Fortunato's story pops up in Rosemary's story. The enigmatic Croyd - who has the first real ace story - makes cameos in several others.
As I reflect on it, it is a little bit groundbreaking to see a series with superheroes that delves so much into the crap you have to deal with everyday life. That's one great thing about a short story anthology - you have the time an leeway to mix it up, like having the regular day-to-day humdrum mixed with the epic action.
But wow, there's a lot more sex than I remember. Some of the stories are lightly PG. Some are R. Just be aware of this going in. Generally, the content fits the story its in. Fortunato fits. Though I could have done without the creepy mix of sex and politics in Strings.
And it's interesting to see that so many of these stories hold grains of truth. Eagle Eye in Powers was a real person. And he really flew the U-2 and was held by the Soviets for espionage right before the Paris East-West summit. (While reading this book, I accidentally happened upon the following quote on the internet, looking up something completely unrelated this book: "I was a pilot flying an airplane and it just so happened that, where I was flying, made what I was doing spying." -Francis Gary Powers)
Great book. At this point, it's kind of a classic.
I still love The Sleeper (Croyd is fanastic) and Shell Game; and The Long, Dark Night of Fortunato is even better than I remember it.
And the new stuff was interesting - especially Ghost Girl Takes Manhatten. Though now the old paperback copy I own is pointless. *sigh*
I love how these are all separate stories are all interwoven. A hippie who has a big part in Fortunato's story pops up in Rosemary's story. The enigmatic Croyd - who has the first real ace story - makes cameos in several others.
As I reflect on it, it is a little bit groundbreaking to see a series with superheroes that delves so much into the crap you have to deal with everyday life. That's one great thing about a short story anthology - you have the time an leeway to mix it up, like having the regular day-to-day humdrum mixed with the epic action.
But wow, there's a lot more sex than I remember. Some of the stories are lightly PG. Some are R. Just be aware of this going in. Generally, the content fits the story its in. Fortunato fits. Though I could have done without the creepy mix of sex and politics in Strings.
And it's interesting to see that so many of these stories hold grains of truth. Eagle Eye in Powers was a real person. And he really flew the U-2 and was held by the Soviets for espionage right before the Paris East-West summit. (While reading this book, I accidentally happened upon the following quote on the internet, looking up something completely unrelated this book: "I was a pilot flying an airplane and it just so happened that, where I was flying, made what I was doing spying." -Francis Gary Powers)
Great book. At this point, it's kind of a classic.
justaguy's review against another edition
2.0
It was interesting at the beginning but I skimmed after 3/5 way in. Different stories watering down the sensation. Wished this could do differently.
jlsigman's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent blending of fact and fiction. Will be looking for more in this series.
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