The official Top 5 group is on a summer hiatus. I can’t wait for them to start up again in the fall. It is hard coming up with topics to do. I now understand why they felt the need to take a break.
I came up with this week’s topic in a round about way. I was thinking about doing a list of my five favorite books so far this year, but was having a hard time with that. Then while I was doing my Netflix book tag last week, I mentioned the Renegades series and I started to think about other superhero books that I have read and really liked. So here we are.
These are not the traditional superheroes that have been around forever, but books with fresh new takes on the genre. Most of these authors have been very creative in the types of superpowers our heroes/villains have which I think is worth the shout out.
The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson
I loved this series. I really made me think about how superpowers might corrupt people, more than it might make them do something good. Almost all of the characters with powers were evil, or even worse apathetic about how they used them. The ending was a bit weird, how and why the powers were given to people and I think there might have been a crossing of alternate universes, but otherwise a great series.
Zeroes By Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Debrorah Biancotti
This is perhaps not a traditional superhero series, but these kids have the most interesting powers and they really do try to save the world while using them, so that has to count for something. There were some very interesting superpowers in this book, such as they ability to get a crowd to do what you want or what you want them to feel. My favorite though was the blind girl who could see through other people’s eyes. A bit creepy, but cool.
The Supervillain and Me by Danielle Banas
Right now this is a stand alone book, but I certainly hope that there will be more. I loved the characters and the powers again were interesting and not typical of the traditional powers. I loved how it turned the concept of what made a person a villain on it’s head as well.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
This one is a stand alone and some may argue that it doesn’t belong on a list of superhero books, but I think it does. The character are not superheroes, but but live in the town where they are. These kids are just trying to live their lives while things are exploding around them and the superheroes pretty much muck things up while trying to save the world. It is an interesting twist on the genre and shouldn’t be missed.
The Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Of course I had to include the series that inspired the list. I am so looking forward to the final book in this series. I loved all of the very interesting powers that everyone has, such as making drawings real and being able to create things from metal. This series really does take on the ideas behind what makes one evil or good. Our two main characters certainly straddle that line quite often, as do the two main groups of heroes and villains. But it is the normal people that are caught up in the struggles that really suffer the most. If you haven’t yet started this series, now is a great time to catch up.
Hope you enjoyed the post. Are there other superhero books like these that you would recommend? Leave a comment and let me know.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 