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37th out of 94 books
—
82 voters
Prepare to Die!
by
Paul Tobin (Goodreads Author)
Nine years ago, Steve Clarke was just a teenage boy in love with the girl of his dreams. Then a freak chemical spill transformed him into Reaver, the man whose super-powerful fists can literally take a year off a bad guy's life.
Days ago, he found himself at the mercy of his arch-nemesis Octagon and a whole crew of fiendish super-villains, who gave him two weeks to settle...more
Days ago, he found himself at the mercy of his arch-nemesis Octagon and a whole crew of fiendish super-villains, who gave him two weeks to settle...more
Hardcover, 350 pages
Published
June 5th 2012
by Night Shade Books
(first published June 1st 2012)
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This book was so good, I read it 3x faster than a normal human being.
Full review here: http://superheronovels.com/2012/07/07...
Full review here: http://superheronovels.com/2012/07/07...
2 likes · like · see review
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What a hoot!
I was walking through the library looking for someone else when I noticed this book, and with a title like "Prepare to die!", how could I resist? Happily, it lived up to the bombast implied in the title, and my craving for a rock-em, sock-em superhero adventure was fulfilled.
The basic premise is that the last of the superheroes gets his butt handed to him by the team of supervillains, who tell him (in classic comic book speak) to "prepare to die" - to which he responds "ok, I'll nee...more
I was walking through the library looking for someone else when I noticed this book, and with a title like "Prepare to die!", how could I resist? Happily, it lived up to the bombast implied in the title, and my craving for a rock-em, sock-em superhero adventure was fulfilled.
The basic premise is that the last of the superheroes gets his butt handed to him by the team of supervillains, who tell him (in classic comic book speak) to "prepare to die" - to which he responds "ok, I'll nee...more
If you've seen the move Hancock, this will remind you of it. Except the hero, Reaver, is not a depressed drunk. And he has not one villain to fight, but about eight or ten. And they have extraordinarily cool names--Octagon, Macabre, Laser Beast, Tempest, Siren, Mistress Mary, Stellar, and a few others.
Reaver was created from an accident involving a chemical spill (where have we heard that one before?), and he now has super strength, invulnerability, and can move three times faster than a normal...more
Reaver was created from an accident involving a chemical spill (where have we heard that one before?), and he now has super strength, invulnerability, and can move three times faster than a normal...more
Nov 26, 2012
Alan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Horny, lonely superheroes... and their biographers
Recommended to Alan by:
The Portland Mercury, and an ageless theme
Angst-ridden superheroes (and supervillains) are something of a thing, these days, and Prepare To Die is a perfectly adequate example of this burgeoning subgenre.
I'm a fan of this sort of thing anyway—other examples that spring easily to mind include Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible; the zany From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain by Minister Faust (and don't miss The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad); Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez; the super-crimin...more
I'm a fan of this sort of thing anyway—other examples that spring easily to mind include Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible; the zany From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain by Minister Faust (and don't miss The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad); Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez; the super-crimin...more
4.5 out 5 punches to the face.
I started this yesterday afternoon and finished it today. That in itself is a recommendation.
This book isn't brilliant but it *is* really fucking good. You can think of it like a Marvel Max with the adult themes and sex talk and Rated-M-for-Mature attitude. It's definitely lewd and crude, but Tobin doesn't do it to be shocking; rather, it's just the way some of these characters behave. I do wonder if some people might see some misogyny in parts of the book, but the...more
I started this yesterday afternoon and finished it today. That in itself is a recommendation.
This book isn't brilliant but it *is* really fucking good. You can think of it like a Marvel Max with the adult themes and sex talk and Rated-M-for-Mature attitude. It's definitely lewd and crude, but Tobin doesn't do it to be shocking; rather, it's just the way some of these characters behave. I do wonder if some people might see some misogyny in parts of the book, but the...more
Originally reviewed at Kirkus
I admit I have a fascination for stories about superhumans and I’m always on the lookout for new novels featuring super-powered characters. This fascination stems from all the potential inherent in such stories, from examining the roles super-powered people might play in human society to the effect that super-powers can have on one’s psyche—a great example of the latter is the ongoing Extrahuman Series by Susan Jane Bigelow. Of course, navigating this subgenre of SFF...more
I admit I have a fascination for stories about superhumans and I’m always on the lookout for new novels featuring super-powered characters. This fascination stems from all the potential inherent in such stories, from examining the roles super-powered people might play in human society to the effect that super-powers can have on one’s psyche—a great example of the latter is the ongoing Extrahuman Series by Susan Jane Bigelow. Of course, navigating this subgenre of SFF...more
6 likes · like · see review
Aug 23, 2012
Rose
marked it as tried-to-read
I usually try to make it more then a chapter and a half before giving up on a book -- particularly a book about superheroes, particularly a book about a superhero with such an inventive superpower. (Get hit by the Reaver, and you lose one year off your life.) But, despite the fact that author Paul Tobin has written GNs before, this is Tobin's first prose novel, and he breaks several rules: no info-dumping, no having your first-person narrator describe himself because he's looking in a mirror, pi...more
When superhero Steve Clarke (aka Reaver) is defeated by Octagon & his band of evil henchmen, rather than killing him on the spot, he is given two weeks to live. We follow Steve as he attempts to complete his modest bucket list, which primarily consists of unfinished business from his life before he became a superhero.
Clarke’s world is clearly post Miller & Moore. The heroes are burdened by their abilities and the consequences of their actions. The villains are very very evil. There are l...more
Clarke’s world is clearly post Miller & Moore. The heroes are burdened by their abilities and the consequences of their actions. The villains are very very evil. There are l...more
Jul 21, 2012
Glenn
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
any superhero fan over 16
Recommended to Glenn by:
Geeddad.com
I really enjoyed the book but found it difficult to read due to the rampant use of flashbacks and asides. I was three times as annoyed as a normal person by the "Three times faster then a normal person" used every third page. This is not your grandparents superhero book. There is three times the sex as a normal romance novel, three times the cursing as teen locker room, and three times the lesbian sex then a 1970 porn flick.
The book reminded me of the Wild CarsWild Cardsbooks by George R.R. Mar...more
The book reminded me of the Wild CarsWild Cardsbooks by George R.R. Mar...more
May 21, 2012
Rachael
is currently reading it
I just started this book, but I already have some issues with it. I want to be very clear, I LOVE what I've read of Paul Tobin's comics (Marvel Adventures, Spider-Girl) and the books he's done with Colleen Coover (Gingerbread Girl, Banana Sunday). The characters are dynamic and the action is zippy and fun. So I was really looking forward to this novel to get a sense of what Paul Tobin can write for adults.
On the very first page, he alienated me with the following description of a woman as "too o...more
On the very first page, he alienated me with the following description of a woman as "too o...more
Note: This is not a comic book or a graphic novel.
I've been reading comics since I was 8 years old, so that's a 22 year love affair with America's greatest art form. (Sorry jazz). In that time, I've heard all of the intellectual, faux-intellectual and unintelligible arguments surrounding the medium. I think in the last 15 years, we've won the war against the intelligentsia who claim comics are lowest common denominator. Books like Maus, Sandman, Love and Rockets, The Invisibles, Strangers in Par...more
I've been reading comics since I was 8 years old, so that's a 22 year love affair with America's greatest art form. (Sorry jazz). In that time, I've heard all of the intellectual, faux-intellectual and unintelligible arguments surrounding the medium. I think in the last 15 years, we've won the war against the intelligentsia who claim comics are lowest common denominator. Books like Maus, Sandman, Love and Rockets, The Invisibles, Strangers in Par...more
Pretty good. Very oriented towards the sexual conquest idea, but not bad, though some might be turned off on this. We have seen several books and graphic novels over the last few years remaking the superhero idea and what it would do to a normal human if they suddenly got this great power. From Powers by Brian Bendis, or The Boys by Garth Ennis. The idea that "With Great power comes great responsibility" is a wonderful thing to strive for, but it will probably be too far out of reach of the aver...more
Women in this universe are motivated primarily by sex. Sure, you expect that from Laura, the sexy horny promiscuous frequently topless lesbian (and yes, that's an ACTUAL character), but every female character is just biding her time until she can make herself sexually available to the hero, or at least tease him a little. So that's obnoxious.
The concept was intriguing to me, but the execution lacked. Frequent flashbacks can work, but they need to be more skillfully managed than they are here. A...more
The concept was intriguing to me, but the execution lacked. Frequent flashbacks can work, but they need to be more skillfully managed than they are here. A...more
Jun 15, 2012
Ken
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
lonely teenage boys who daydream about superheroes having sex
Oh, man, this was not the book for me. Much of the book is told in author's summary, so there's very little sense of immediacy. It's also almost entirely lacking in suspense, tension, drama, almost any sort of emotion, really, aside from a vague sort of humor. There are so many digressions and back stories that I really found it very distracting and frustrating. And I really tired of all the allusions to how many people the main character had had sex with. For a book brimming with boners and bra...more
This could have been great; instead it was uneven, occasionally good, sometimes ho-hum, often a bit annoying.
The pluses:
The plotting
The realistic-but-not-nihilistic tone
The fight scenes
The minuses:
The sexism
The pacing
The flashbacks, interrupting events just as they get interesting
The typos
The sexism
The continuity errors (on one page, someone who's been dead for 12 years is referred to as dead for 9 years, and on another the author says "Adele" when he means "Apple")
The language--not the profanit...more
The pluses:
The plotting
The realistic-but-not-nihilistic tone
The fight scenes
The minuses:
The sexism
The pacing
The flashbacks, interrupting events just as they get interesting
The typos
The sexism
The continuity errors (on one page, someone who's been dead for 12 years is referred to as dead for 9 years, and on another the author says "Adele" when he means "Apple")
The language--not the profanit...more
This book was a lot of fun. Superheroes usually get the short shrift in prose, which for the most part is fine; comics do a better job of getting across flying, death rays, etc. But Prepare To Die is literally the story of the last hero beaten by the villains and given three weeks to prepare to die-which is fairly unique. The dialog is reasonably snappy, the characters are pretty full, and the change, chapter by chapter, between what's happening "now" and flashbacks to the heroes shared history...more
I enjoyed the setting of 'Prepare to Die' a lot.
The gist of the story is that it's about a super hero who has been given 2 weeks left to live from a group of super villains. The hero(Reaver) basically uses the time to deal with his own personal issues before his time is up.
Overall, I found the book to be enjoyable and I was fan of the constant flashbacks. I understood the ending, but I thought it may have been a little cheesy. Still, I flew through the book in a day, so there's something to say...more
The gist of the story is that it's about a super hero who has been given 2 weeks left to live from a group of super villains. The hero(Reaver) basically uses the time to deal with his own personal issues before his time is up.
Overall, I found the book to be enjoyable and I was fan of the constant flashbacks. I understood the ending, but I thought it may have been a little cheesy. Still, I flew through the book in a day, so there's something to say...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I really enjoyed this book. Unlike most people, I always thought that being a superhero would be a horrible job. Who wants to fight all of the time and be a target all of the time? So that perspective naturally fed into the approach this author took to projecting a (somewhat) realistic idea of what being a hero would really mean, with a lot of sad and dirty details in the mix. When we meet our hero he's done, beaten, worn down and just done with it all, and then we get to go back and try to figu...more
A very good story with a very sincere, believable characters and motives in many situations. A fun twist near the end. The Reaver is a likeable guy with real problems that I can relate to. One of the failings in the book, the most important, is buying into how wonderful Adele is. There simply isn't enough of her for me to really fall in love the way I wanted to. The stream of conscious writing style is not to my taste, but it is easy to adapt to and starts to feel proper for story that's being t...more
Very quick read and very fun. The story does jump around quite a bit, but I was quite fine with that since to me it helped support the overall narrative. As for the sex, well, that was all fine for me too. Considering the way movie stars, musicians, and athletes are portrayed in our culture with regard to, um, access to sex, putting superheroes in that same category seemed pretty natural.
I thought I'd enjoy it from the description. I never thought I'd be this impressed by it. But I am. The jumping-around-in-time narrative style bugged me just a little, but as the books went on the flow got better. Tobin keeps the reader guessing the whole way through, and even the things you think you've figured out - you haven't. Excellent book with excellent twists.
I loved this book, I really didn't think i would, the writing was excellent, the characters well built, the surprises in the book are spectacular, just as I was starting go ok so who is this person, it was revealed before I got annoyed. A great twist to the standard superhero fare. Well done and I hope there are more.
Jun 11, 2012
Alex
marked it as to-read
Guys, I am such a sucker for superhero novels. I thought Soon I Will Be Invincible was a heap of fun. If I read stuff like this occasionally you won't judge me too much, right?
This is a great book about super heros and where they come from. Reaver is the last of the good super heros around. After being caught in a trap set by the Eleventh Hour (the bad guys) Reaver is given two weeks to put his affairs in order and prepare to die.
I actually enjoyed this book, but do think it has a limited audience to which it would appeal.
I am a woman and I was not offended. But I can see how a woman would be.
The conversational style of writing, I believe, was purposeful and was meant to bring the story a more "real" (just a regular guy thrust into superheroism) feeling, and as such, I was able to forgive it. But I can see how a reader might not be able to.
What was and is important to me is that the story was fun and interesting and (I t...more
I am a woman and I was not offended. But I can see how a woman would be.
The conversational style of writing, I believe, was purposeful and was meant to bring the story a more "real" (just a regular guy thrust into superheroism) feeling, and as such, I was able to forgive it. But I can see how a reader might not be able to.
What was and is important to me is that the story was fun and interesting and (I t...more
Picked it up because of another book on a break from work. I think I said, "Damn" by the end of the first page knowing this was going to be one of those books I'd finish before I closed my eyes. It's entertaining ...
"Prepare to Die!" offers an entertaining look into the mind of the world's foremost superhero within a universe full of interesting concepts and characters. Unfortunately, everyone in said universe can't seem to think about anything other than sex in specifically the same way a 15 year old boy thinks about sex. There were some parts that were so puerile that they nearly derailed the entire book for me, not out of prudishness, but out of fatigue of certain immature sexual phrases. Still, the plot...more
Bailed after 12 chapters. Too much leering at a topless lesbian--among other stunted-adolescent sexual attitudes. Wait, maybe that's the hero's journey and I missed the point. Then again, I just got the point if that's the case and I still don't want to read any more.
Interesting book - completely different from what I know of Paul Tobin's other work. Wasn't quite sold by some of the content (a lot of sex, a lot of "love conquers all", and a lot of every-single-woman-who-is-not-a-lesbian-has-sex-with-the-main-character) but... I finished it.
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Last week I got an exercise bike, and all my muscles are sore. But in the good way.
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“Lots of men think that women should tell the truth, explain their feelings. These men should use their wishes more wisely. (Prepare To Die!, p.27)”
—
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