Rocco's Retreads

Hell and Gone by Henry Brown.

In the tradition of “The Expendables” and “The Dirty Dozen”, Hank Brown delivers rock solid military action with just a hint of techno-thriller. Brown paints Rocco’s Retreads with a sold brush that emphasizes gritty, realistic action instead of a troop of invincible soldiers. The fighting is brutal and intense; the characters are recognizable and empathetic. The language of the book is noticeably less crude than one might expect from this type of military fiction, which makes the book that much more enjoyable. The plot is straightforward, and complications derive from perfectly natural mission-creep rather than complexly contrived circumstance. Brown stays on target and develops his characters and story without resorting to vulgarity, graphic violence, or gratuitous sex. This is a book about experienced soldiers on a dirty covert op; the writing is well-rounded and professional. 

This Cold War Just Got Hot

Battlegroup Z series by Daniel Gibbs

Justin Spencer thought he was signing up for a free education and a leisurely tour of duty blasting asteroids out of the shipping lanes. Instead, he bought himself a war. 

I enjoyed this series in the same way I enjoyed playing the Wing Commander video games. There is some background for the setting, the bones of a motivation for hostilities, and some cut scenes where the main characters get to know each other, but the primary draw here is the non-stop, slam-bang, seat-of-your-pants starfighter shoot-outs.

There's a lot to like about this series. The action scenes are exciting and vivid, calling to mind my favorite dogfighting video games and movies. The characters are distinct in voice, approach, and motivation; it makes them easy to follow and keeps the large cast from getting muddled. The bad guys are clearly painted, nicely despicable, and a credible threat. The consequences of the engagements are bleak and impactful. The writing is smooth, clear, and natural.

Predator and Prey

Sides by Bradley Caffee

I really liked this book. It was easy to read and engaging. The world was interesting and the end-of-the-world scenario hit uncomfortably close to home. The action moved along nicely, and the pacing of mystery and reveal kept me interested throughout the book. Tyler's plight of being tasked with saving the world in time to ask his girl to Homecoming grounded the otherwise gruesome nature of the crisis in a reminder that the target is a young adult audience. I liked Tyler as a character quite a lot. He felt very relatable and he was easy to empathize with. 

A video game app goes online and the world comes crashing to an end. In an instant, the entire population of the world is transformed into either a predator - or their prey. Everyone who plays the game, that is. As a non-player, Tyler has to navigate this semi-surreal sort-of post-apocalyptic landscape. We get a road trip. We get a glimpse at post-Zero Hour society. It's a bit dizzying in a world where not that long ago, people were getting into serious accidents because they couldn't stop playing Pokemon Go! 

Might Beyond Might

As with many of my generation, two cartoons virtually defined the high-adventure genre of techno-fantasy during my formative years. Both ThunderCats and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe featured pseudo-technological heroes engaged in a never-ending battle against the quasi-mystical forces of evil. Both cartoons made my parents very nervous with their parade of occultish imagery and the regular invocation of otherworldly forces. They were very concerned that these shows would cause me to join a cult; I was very concerned that they wouldn’t allow me to watch them anymore. Somehow we all made it through the 80s alive and cult-free.

I originally hesitated when I saw the first issue of He-Man/ThunderCats on the comic shop shelves. DC Comics had already burned me on Scooby Apocalypse and the language in Wacky Raceland was starting to grate on my nerves. I wasn’t ready to accept another “re-imagining” of fondly remembered characters that simply cast them as dysfunctional narcissists whose cursing abused my ears. I flipped through the first couple of pages with trepidation and quickly added the title to my pull-and-hold file.

The Lies We Leave Behind

Liar's Legacy by Elliot Kessler

Who suffers when you tell one little white lie? Who is it going to hurt when everyone who knows the truth of the matter is dead anyway? Why shouldn't you use your fortune to some benefit when no one stands to lose by saying otherwise? Why shouldn't you lie - if no one knows you're a liar?

As the champion of the Polemonian war, Sevdis Minare has it made. He's got fame and fortune and an easy retirement autographing copies of his book on tour. He's got it made - until Ben Novak shows up, pleading for the hero who defeated to Polemonians to come out of retirement and save his world. There's just one problem - Sevdis Minare's heroic legacy is built on lies. 

Ben's brother Caleb fights for freedom on their homeworld, leading the resistance until help can arrive. The sudden arrival of the bounty hunter Tomita finds Sevdis unprepared to rejoin the fight and Ben desperate for allies. Swept off planet by Tromita, Ben and Sevdis flee from deadly assassins. Tromita has determined that Sevdis is going to either become the hero he claims to be, or die trying. 

The Fastest Thing Out of Print

I never would have guessed that Sonic the Hedgehog and Archie Comics would be the ones to revitalize my interest in superhero comics. For reasons I won’t go into immediately, I walked away from both Marvel and DC in 2009. They simply stopped telling the kinds of superhero stories I wanted. When Humble Bundle featured a selection of Sonic the Hedgehog comics as their digital book bundle, I thought it was a good opportunity to stoke my son’s interest in reading in general and comics in particular. I read the first book just to see what Sonic looked like these days. It hooked me instantly.

I remember when Sonic the Hedgehog premiered in Archie Comics back in 1993. I considered it a kid’s book, with goofy artwork and the kind of four page gags for which Archie Comics was known. The new Sonic book I read was from 2013. It began with Sonic and Tails fighting for their lives against a tentacular mechanized horror controlled by a sinister and murderous stuffed doll. The book slowly introduced me to the principle cast, only a few of whom I knew from the cartoons and video games. It hinted at a history of loss and sacrifice, implying that Sonic and the Freedom Fighters were all that stood between the Eggman Army and total subjugation of the world.

Atomic Robo the RPG by Evil Hat

Atomic Robo premiered in 2007 as a six-issue mini-series, quickly gaining a cult following and branching out into the two ongoing titles “Atomic Robo” and “Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures”. The story chronicles the adventures of Atomic Robo, a self-aware mechanical man created by Nikola Tesla. Each story arc focuses on a different era in the life of Robo, beginning in the 1920s and continuing to the near future. The stories imitate the pulp action novels of the 30s and 40s, with a healthy mix of Tom Swift in the recipe. Robo's foundation, Tesladyne, employs “Action Scientists”, which pretty much sums up the book's approach to storytelling. Recurring antagonists include Dr. Dinosaur (an intelligent deinonychus) and the ghost (phasically fluxed corporeal entity) of Thomas Edison. The creators premiered a free webcomic release for the entire series in January 2015 as a promotion for the tenth volume of the series, “Atomic Robo and the Ring of Fire.”

Sally Slick and the Miniature Menace by Carrie Harris

Sally Slick and the Miniature Menace returns us to the world of Young Centurions and to the adventures of Sally Slick and Jet Black, first seen in Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate. This time around we get right into the action as Sally fumes over being shut out of the local tractor races. With the circus in town, Sally decides to race “unofficially”; of course, Sally leaves everyone else in the dust. After showing up the local bullies and drawing the attention of the circus owner, Sally's prized tractor goes missing!

Young Centurions by Evil Hat

Visit a world of pulp action-adventure in the 1910s with the Young Centurions RPG from Evil Hat Productions. If you're new to Fate or to the Spirit of the Century setting, this book belongs on your shelf. If you're already familiar with either of those, take a minute to see if this book is going to add value to your collection before you jump on it.

In Young Centurions, you take on the role of a unique individual, born in the first minute of the first hour of the first day of the new century. You embody a Spirit of the age, an aspect of the new century that shapes your character with the positive energy of things to come. Shadows oppose you, those people born on the last minute of the last hour of the last day of the previous century, empowered by the energetic detritus of what has gone before. It's not always easy to separate Spirit from Shadow in the confusion of the new century, even when it seems you're all working toward the same goals. And oh yes, you're all teenagers.