Superman does not kill. Ever. That is the Miracle Monday Rule.
Miracle Monday was the second of two Superman novels, a follow-up to 1978's also-awesome...moreSuperman does not kill. Ever. That is the Miracle Monday Rule.
Miracle Monday was the second of two Superman novels, a follow-up to 1978's also-awesome Superman: Last Son of Krypton -- that were released to capitalize on the popularity of the Superman movies. Though, despite the presence of 8 pages of black and white photos of Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and Terence Stamp, Miracle Monday had nothing to do with the movies.
Instead, it's a prose version of Superman at his Bronze Age best, and stands as one of the all-time best Superman stories ever printed in any medium.
The plot focuses on a character named Kristen Wells, a historian from the 29th Century -- the year 2857, to be exact -- who travels back in time and goes undercover at the Daily Planet in order to discover the origins of Miracle Monday.
Of course, in true comic book time travel fashion, Wells ends up becoming a critical part of the holiday herself. A demon named C.W. Saturn -- released by Lex Luthor when he dabbles in magic and acting on the orders of the Ruler of Hell -- possesses Wells and unleashes hellish power all across the world, pushing Superman to the limit with threats that are both outlandish and genuinely sinister...culminating in forcing Superman to physically stop a nuclear war, and then exposing his identity as Clark Kent to the world.
His goal is to force Superman to stop him by killing Wells, taking an innocent life and destroying everything he stands for. But Superman is never for a second conflicted about whether or not he should take this action. The idea of Superman killing someone is, as the man himself says, nonsense. Superman does not take a life, even if it means he would have to spend the rest of his life battling Saturn. Superman explaining that he'll always be there to stop evil to a living embodiment of evil, and doing it like he's trying to break down the simplest fact for a child, is an amazing bit of writing. And of course, in the story, when faced with someone who is truly unshakable in his convictions and willing to to sacrifice his life to do nothing but wage that never-ending battle, Saturn's hold on Wells is broken, and Superman is granted a wish.
He asks that everything that happened since Saturn's arrival be undone, and it is granted, with Saturn then being banished back to Hell. However, a lingering memory of the events remained within the souls of humanity, causing them to begin celebrating the day every year, on the third Monday of May, starting the Miracle Monday tradition. Everyone just remembers how relieved and happy they are on the third Monday in May, and they commemorate it every year. Kristin then returns to the future to reveal this fact to the public.
It's an amazing character study of how Superman works, and it also introduces some great ideas into the larger mythos of the character -- like time traveling historians crowding into the woods, shushing each other and trying not to be seen when the Kents find the rocket from Krypton, which is hilarious and wonderful. The holiday itself was very rarely mentioned in the actual comics, it does show up as a celebration in the future in Superman #400.(less)
A fun short story set before the adventures in Hounded and The Iron Druid Chronicles pentalogy. It was nice visiting a less harried Atticus O'Sullivan...moreA fun short story set before the adventures in Hounded and The Iron Druid Chronicles pentalogy. It was nice visiting a less harried Atticus O'Sullivan and Oberon, his faithful Irish Wolfhound. It was also a pleasant treat to briefly go back to Tempe, AZ and Third Eye Books and Herbs. I had missed it. (less)
In Discount Armageddon (Three and a half stars rounded to four), the first book in the InCryptid series, the best of Seanan McGuire's talents are on d...moreIn Discount Armageddon (Three and a half stars rounded to four), the first book in the InCryptid series, the best of Seanan McGuire's talents are on display -- Great world-building, smart empowered female protagonist written with a witty and engaging voice touched by snark. In the second book, it's some of the worst bits of her talents on display -- Disorganized plot, monotone writing, ad nauseam repetition of jokes and background details, indulgent dialogue and way too much internal monologuing.
I really enjoy this series. It's a breath of fresh air from her others. Verity Price is not a broken toy. She's bright, happy, mostly well adjusted and comes from a large extended family who give her unconditional love and support. There are also the Aeslin mice, who alone are worth the price of admission. I LOVE those little guys.
I speed read. I learned in the first book to skip the chapter headers. I'm sure others do as well. Suddenly, at about the third quarter mark, for four chapters, the narrative voice switches from Verity to that of her adoptive cuckoo cousin, Sarah. I didn't even notice the switch in "voices" until I read Verity being discussed in the third person! Sarah's voice remained static and sounded identical to Verity. At a moment when most books should be building up the action to its conclusion, those four chapters froze me. They didn't do or mean anything. They even lead to the most annoying bit of hand waving I've ever done with a McGuire/Grant book. Really, "Uncle" Mike the professional cryptozoologist with 20+ years of experience doesn't understand how telepathy works? Really!?
This feels like a placeholder book. A seventh or eighth book in a series, not the second. Nothing really happens. The big bads are talked up quite a bit but they never live up to it. There is a consequence for a secondary character, but apparently not to Verity or anyone else. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but it just isn't what I expect from her books -- especially not from the nearly note perfect first book. That said -- A bad McGuire/Grant book is still better than 90% of the stuff being churned out. ALL HAIL THE AUTHOR WHO VERY RARELY DISAPPOINTS! (less)
I was going to do a quick review but then I happened on one from Lavie Tidhar. It's much better than mine would have been.
Cade, the President’s vampir
...moreI was going to do a quick review but then I happened on one from Lavie Tidhar. It's much better than mine would have been.
Cade, the President’s vampire, must save the United States from an Al-Qaeda zombie attack.
Perpetrated by Dr. Frankenstein.
Who is an ex-Nazi.
And the best part? The very best part? There’s a moment in the book when Cade has to get from somewhere back to Washington in time to save the President. From the zombies. Who are made of the body parts of dead US Servicemen. I am not making this up! But he can’t make it back in time. It’s a three hour flight by conventional airplane.
So he rings up the US Air Force. And they send over a plane designed from alien technology recovered from the Roswell crash.
The creatures known as cryptids are real, and have shared the earth with mankind since time immemorial. For centuries, a religious order known as The...moreThe creatures known as cryptids are real, and have shared the earth with mankind since time immemorial. For centuries, a religious order known as The Covenant of St. George has been defending and protecting unknowing humanity by slaying cryptids wherever they encounter them. But a schism occurred in the ranks, and one Covenant agent and his wife left the order, never to return. They and their descendants, now hunted by the Covenant, settled in Portland and dedicated their lives to studying cryptids, learning their ecological purpose, and only harming them when no other method of dealing with their presence would work.
The Healy and Price families operate with the knowledge that the Covenant considers them traitors and wants them dead. The cryptid community knows that the families are no longer Covenant -- but they are not uniformly convinced that it isn't a trick. So the family must train to survive both the cryptids who don't trust them, and the Covenant who still think of them as filthy traitors.
The youngest generation of the Price family consists of Alex, zookeeper; Antimony, still studying; and twenty one year-old Verity, who wants to forgo the family business and be a ballroom dancer. Verity, who sarcastically (but very aptly) describes herself as Batgirl, has decided to move to NYC to catalog its humanoid cryptids and to prove to the family she can survive on her own. She lives in an illegal sublet, rented to her by a Sasquatch. During the days, Verity dances semi-professionally under an alias and at night she waitress in a cryptid strip-club owned by a boogeyman and roams NYC leaping from rooftop to rooftop using her Olympic level gymnastic, dance and free run abilities. She is always well armed and is an expert in Krav Maga. Verity lives with talking mice who have been in a symbiotic/worshiping relationship with her family for 7 generations. Nearly every Price family pronouncement is worthy of a religious holiday for these little guys -- "Today is 'Don't put that in your mouth - really, drop it now!' Day! Hurrah!"
This newest urban paranormal fantasy series from Seanan McGuire (who also writes as Mira Grant)is light, fun and diverting fantasy by an author I've grown to trust and enjoy.
The second book in a new series released and set just a month after the first book. I enjoyed this one more than Hounded. I checked and saw that I gav...moreThe second book in a new series released and set just a month after the first book. I enjoyed this one more than Hounded. I checked and saw that I gave it four stars. Again, if GoodReads offered half-stars, Hounded would have received 3 and a half. Unless something in the book really annoys me, I'll generally round up. The four stars I give Hexed are completely without qualification.(less)