Book picks similar to
The First by Kipjo K. Ewers
superhero
science-fiction
sci-fi
superheroes
The Paladin Prophecy
Mark Frost - 2012
At his parents' insistence, he's made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and is being followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he's capable of--physical and mental feats that should be impossible--and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia.Co-creator of the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, Mark Frost brings his unique vision to this sophisticated adventure, which combines mystery, heart-pounding action, and the supernatural.
Death Becomes Her
Michael Anderle - 2015
For a thousand years, it has felt stifled by Michael's strictures, the rules they must follow on pain of death. As the first and most powerful vampire in existence, he has the power to keep the power struggles under the radar from the rest of humanity. Unfortunately that is changing.Someone has found the serum to make intelligent nosferatu, a type of vampire little better than blood sucking beasts who can change the power struggle significantly. Michael thought this serum safely lost in the bombing of Japan in 1945.The third effort to overturn Michael's decrees is about to take place, the problem is Michael is tired. After a thousand years of fighting and keeping the peace with his Family, the Unforsaken and the known supernaturals he is world weary and ready to sleep a final time.He needs to find a way to bring another to take his place, someone with the will and desire to make a difference. He finds Bethany Anne.The daughter of a General, she excels were others fear to go. She accepts the offer but doesn't realize she won't be transformed like any other vampire in history, even Michael. The problem? Even he didn't realize exactly how he was transformed and it completely throws the understanding of vampires and why they were created out the window.When she wakes up, nothing is going to go like she thought. The UnkownWorld is going to change, it just doesn't know whose beat they will dance to, yet.
The Emperor's Edge
Lindsay Buroker - 2010
But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed. Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin, is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.
The Rook
Daniel O'Malley - 2012
With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own. In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.
Amped
Daniel H. Wilson - 2012
When the United States Supreme Court rules that implanted individuals are no longer a protected class, Owen's life is changed forever, as he discovers that his implant has a very dangerous secret.
Dark Star
Bethany Frenette - 2012
Her mother is the superhero Morning Star, the most deadly crime-fighter in the Twin Cities, so it's hard for Audrey not to feel safe. That is, until she's lured into the sweet night air by something human and not human--something with talons and teeth, and a wide, scarlet smile. Now Audrey knows the truth: her mom doesn't fight crime at night. She fights Harrowers--livid, merciless beings who were trapped Beneath eons ago. Yet some have managed to escape. And they want Audrey dead, just because of who she is: one of the Kin. To survive, Audrey will need to sharpen the powers she has always had. When she gets close to someone, dark corners of the person's memories become her own, and she sometimes even glimpses the future. If Audrey could only get close to Patrick Tigue, a powerful Harrower masquerading as human, she could use her Knowing to discover the Harrowers' next move. But Leon, her mother's bossy, infuriatingly attractive sidekick, has other ideas. Lately, he won't let Audrey out of his sight. When an unthinkable betrayal puts Minneapolis in terrible danger, Audrey discovers a wild, untamed power within herself. It may be the key to saving her herself, her family, and her city. Or it may be the force that destroys everything--and everyone--she loves.
Arsenal
Jeffery H. Haskell - 2017
As the armored superhero-Arsenal, she has the power of a small army at her disposal. Fourteen years ago her parents disappeared after a horrific wreck which left her wheelchair bound. With thieves salivating to steal her armor, and supervillains trying to kill her, Amelia must learn to trust her new team if she wants to survive long enough to learn the truth.
Arena
Holly Jennings - 2016
She's died hundreds of times. And it never gets easier...The RAGE tournaments the Virtual Gaming League's elite competition where the best gamers in the world compete in a fight to the digital death. Every kill is broadcast to millions. Every player leads a life of ultimate fame, responsible only for entertaining the masses. And though their weapons and armor are digital, the pain is real.Chosen to be the first female captain in RAGE tournament history, Kali Ling is at the top of the world until one of her teammates overdoses. Now she s stuck trying to work with a hostile new teammate who s far more distracting than he should be. Between internal tensions and external pressures, Kali is on the brink of breaking. To change her life, she ll need to change the game. And the only way to revolutionize an industry as shadowy as the VGL is to fight from the inside
Metamorphosis
Kevin Rau - 2011
The meteor shower that altered the heroes also mutated many others in Metrocity, causing a scene of chaos at Iron Cross General Hospital as Lance and Stephanie are captured by law enforcement, and Rael must free them.The friends join the Homeland Extraordinary Response Organization (H.E.R.O.), and seek to stop a mutant named Shrinker as she gathers new supers to build an army of bloodthirsty mutants in her plan to cause anarchy. Her evil squad kidnaps normal humans to feed those mutants, and it becomes a race against time to find the anarchists before they murder the people.While searching for the villain's base of operations, the group must learn their powers and overcome the problems associated with telepathy, a strong blood thirst, and strength capable of crushing steel under one’s fingers. They also begin to take part as heroes in the city, and discover that having powers is not as easy as it appears - in heroic actions or in normal life.H.E.R.O. – Metamorphosis is the first novel in a growing series of action-based superhero novels based on the Metrocity division of H.E.R.O. It acts as the introductory novel to the supers and how three of the main characters fight crime and deal with disasters in the city. The novel leads the way into the H.E.R.O. series as a growing roster of H.E.R.O. agents take part in various events and disasters.H.E.R.O. – Metamorphosis is a full-length novel of approximately 122,000 words. An preview is included of the first five chapters of H.E.R.O. – New Markets as a bonus.The ongoing series currently consists of these novels (as of early 2012):H.E.R.O. - MetamorphosisH.E.R.O. - New MarketsH.E.R.O. - Rise and FallH.E.R.O. - Dark ResearchH.E.R.O. - HordeH.E.R.O. - ParagonH.E.R.O. - Illustrated Guide (behind-the-scenes book w/pictures of characters, doesn't fit into a specific order in the series)H.E.R.O. Shorts - GatecrasherH.E.R.O. Shorts - SilverlashH.E.R.O. - Gene Front (coming soon)“I'm half way through the last book, Horde ... the characters have become like friends and I don't want to leave them. Thank you, Kevin, for writing this series. I felt like a kid again reading it. The series can be summed up in one word, ‘FUN.’” - Dale R. Bille“… I just couldn't stop flipping the pages of HERO.This book is smoothly written. It flows well, and although the story isn't groundbreaking, it has its own brand of charm. It has all the cool super hero stuff you want, and the 3 main super heroes are very well fleshed out. Their internal dialogues and character development are really what gives this book a (super) leg up on other similar novels.” – Gregory Ciallella“This was fun to read, and if you're a twenty-something then you'll enjoy the characters and their relationships. Action like X-men, romance like Twilight, bloodier than both but nothing too serious.” – Geeky guy"Greatest superhero book series ever..." - Taylor Robbins
Masques
Patricia Briggs - 1993
— The ae'Magi is corrupt and yet irresistibly charismatic, the horror at his core shaded by a spell-cast mask of regal charm. Only a few have the will to resist his evil domination... like King Myr, dragon blessed, Wolf, driven by immortal rage, and Aralorn, weaponsmistress of the shapeshifting race.Captured and brought to the Archmage's castle, Aralorn faces slow death by torture unless faithful Wolf can find her in a labrynth of power and shadows.
Finder
Suzanne Palmer - 2019
He prefers the term finder.His latest job should be simple. Find the spacecraft Venetia's Sword and steal it back from Arum Gilger, ex-nobleman turned power-hungry trade boss. He'll slip in, decode the ship's compromised AI security, and get out of town, Sword in hand.Fergus locates both Gilger and the ship in the farthest corner of human-inhabited space, a gas-giant-harvesting colony called Cernee. But Fergus' arrival at the colony is anything but simple. A cable car explosion launches Cernee into civil war, and Fergus must ally with Gilger's enemies to navigate a field of space mines and a small army of hostile mercenaries. What was supposed to be a routine job evolves into negotiating a power struggle between factions. Even worse, Fergus has become increasingly--and inconveniently--invested in the lives of the locals.It doesn't help that a dangerous alien species thought mythical prove unsettlingly real, and their ominous triangle ships keep following Fergus around.Foolhardy. Eccentric. Reckless. Whatever he's called, Fergus will need all the help he can get to take back the Sword and maybe save Cernee from destruction in the process.
Caped
Darius Brasher - 2016
He doesn’t want to do anything great, though. It’s too much work and too dangerous. Unless it’s safe and involves Theo finally getting a girlfriend, he’s not interested.Theo gets more danger than he can handle when a supervillain attacks. In self-defense, Theo is forced to pursue a hero’s cape in superhero school, a frightening place of grueling humiliation, intense combat training, and deadly tests.Theo soon finds that even just a potential superhero gets an archenemy. The problem is Theo’s doesn’t want to just defeat him.His archenemy wants to kill him.
Rewinder
Brett Battles - 2014
But even if you did, you’d never believe it.The world as you know it wouldn't be the same without him. Denny was born into one of the lowest rungs of society, but his bleak fortunes abruptly change when the mysterious Upjohn Institute recruits him to be a Rewinder, a verifier of personal histories. The job at first sounds like it involves researching old books and records, but Denny soon learns it's far from it. A Rewinder's job is to observe history.In person.Embracing his new duties with enthusiasm, Denny witnesses things he could never even imagine before. But as exciting as the adventures into the past are, there are dangers, too. For even the smallest error can have consequences. Life-altering consequences. Time, after all, is merely a reference point.
Wayne of Gotham
Tracy Hickman - 2012
No fan of the Dark Knight will want to miss this one-of-a-kind window into Gotham’s dark protector in this fast-paced thriller from New York Times bestselling fantasy writer Tracy Hickman. Readers of Kevin J. Anderson’s The Last Days of Krypton and Enemies & Allies will know that comic book characters pack a powerful punch when they enter the pages of a novel. Wayne of Gotham is no exception: as the DC Universe’s millionaire playboy journeys into the dark recesses of his own past, his a journey that could spell the end for everything he holds dear—and the end of the hero he has become: the Batman.
Superheroes Anonymous
Lexie Dunne - 2014
So when a villain attacks editorial assistant Gail Godwin and she’s rescued by superhero Blaze, it’s a great story, and nothing more. Until it happens again. And again. Now, the media has dubbed her Hostage Girl, nobody remembers her real name, and people are convinced that Blaze is just Gail’s boyfriend Jeremy in disguise. Gail’s not so sure. All she knows is that when both Jeremy and Blaze leave town in the same week, she’s probably doomed. Who will save her now?But when the villains miraculously lose interest, Gail is able to return to her life…until she wakes up strapped to a metal table by a mad scientist who hasn’t read the news. Escaping, and now more than human herself, she’s drawn into a secret underground world of superheroes. She’ll have to come to terms with her powers (and weakness) to make it in the new society, and it’s not easy. After all, there’s a new villain on the rise, and she has her sights set on the one and only Hostage Girl.