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A review by thoughtsonbooks
Behind the Mask: A Superhero Anthology by Kyle Richardson
4.0
In a nutshell: very well-crafted anthology with lots and lots of amazing, thought-provoking stories, both by established authors (Kelly Link and Seanan McGuire for example) as well as authors who are less well-known. I enjoyed this mix of different voices a whole lot.
I have been thinking about this review all morning and still do not know how to write it. I always find anthologies difficult to assess and to review - there are so many things happening and obviously some stories resonate more with me than others. Also, for me the stories tend to blend into each other and I cannot always remember each one enough to even have an opinion about it after finishing the whole collection. That said: this was a pretty brilliant anthology. Tricia Reeks and Kyle Richardson obviously put a lot of thought and love and work into collecting these stories and to fit them into a more or less coherent order.
As you can tell from the title, this is a collection of superhero stories focussing on the maybe less often talked about aspects of being a superhero. Interestingly, most stories focus on female superheroes (and some supervillains) and the specific problems they might face (work/life balance, sexism in the workplace, losing your identity etc) and I obviously loved that to pieces. I don't know if this was on purpose or if those just were the stories the authors wanted to tell, but I appreciate it nontheless.
Every author put their own spin on the superhero genre and mostly they greatly succeeded. I did appreciate the newer voices more than the stories by the more established authors. Some standouts for me were Nathan Crowder's "Madjack" - a wonderful homage to David Bowie; Kate Marshall's beautifully imagined and original "Destroy the City with Me Tonight" (with the absolute best ending of all the stories); Aimee Ogden's "As I Fall Asleep" - sad and poignant and very very great; Carrie Vaughn's playful spin on a romantic comedy "Origin Story" (even villains have meet cutes!); and my absolute favourite of the book: Chris Large's "Salt City Blue" - I loved loved loved this one and its beautifully flawed main character and I do not want to spoil it but you should read it.
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I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Meerkat Press in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
I have been thinking about this review all morning and still do not know how to write it. I always find anthologies difficult to assess and to review - there are so many things happening and obviously some stories resonate more with me than others. Also, for me the stories tend to blend into each other and I cannot always remember each one enough to even have an opinion about it after finishing the whole collection. That said: this was a pretty brilliant anthology. Tricia Reeks and Kyle Richardson obviously put a lot of thought and love and work into collecting these stories and to fit them into a more or less coherent order.
As you can tell from the title, this is a collection of superhero stories focussing on the maybe less often talked about aspects of being a superhero. Interestingly, most stories focus on female superheroes (and some supervillains) and the specific problems they might face (work/life balance, sexism in the workplace, losing your identity etc) and I obviously loved that to pieces. I don't know if this was on purpose or if those just were the stories the authors wanted to tell, but I appreciate it nontheless.
Every author put their own spin on the superhero genre and mostly they greatly succeeded. I did appreciate the newer voices more than the stories by the more established authors. Some standouts for me were Nathan Crowder's "Madjack" - a wonderful homage to David Bowie; Kate Marshall's beautifully imagined and original "Destroy the City with Me Tonight" (with the absolute best ending of all the stories); Aimee Ogden's "As I Fall Asleep" - sad and poignant and very very great; Carrie Vaughn's playful spin on a romantic comedy "Origin Story" (even villains have meet cutes!); and my absolute favourite of the book: Chris Large's "Salt City Blue" - I loved loved loved this one and its beautifully flawed main character and I do not want to spoil it but you should read it.
_____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Meerkat Press in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!