C.T. Phipps's Blog, page 53
March 22, 2019
The Sidekicks Initiative: A Comedic Superhero Novel review
THE SIDEKICKS INTITIAVE is one of the funniest books I've read in the past few years, let alone this year. It's definitely a book I would have put on my Top 20 Recommended Superhero books if I'd read it before now. It's a ridiculous world and all the more effective for its silliness. It has a general sense of humor similar to my THE RULES OF SUPERVILLAINY series but a bit more subdued (plus on the hero side of things).
The premise is Sam is an unlucky divo...
March 14, 2019
Titans (2018) review
TITANS is a series that I had to go to great lengths to watch because the Kindle Firestick just does not work very well with my television. However, there was no way I was not going to share this with my wife. I am a huge Teen Titans fan but this has been a controversial adaptation of their story due to the fact the majority of people are familiar with them through the lighter and softer Teen Titans cartoon as well as Teen Titans Go. This seems inspired by the Marvel Cinema...
March 12, 2019
Clan Novel: Toreador review
TOREADOR is the first novel of the VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE Clan Novel saga that began in 1999 and finished right before the ending of the Old World of Darkness tabletop roleplaying game. If that sounds like gobbledygook to you then you're probably not the intended audience of Goth nerds who ate these books up toward the turn of the millennium. Even so, I remember a lot of people picking up these books who'd never played a game with dice or character sheets in their life. It...
February 25, 2019
20 Recommended Superhero Fiction Novels
Superhero novels are one of the areas of genre fiction that don't get much attention. A few great authors like George R.R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson have dipped their toes in the genre but prose fiction is something that is traditionally considered a somewhat off-beat medium for stories about them. The vast-vast majority of superhero fiction is in comic book form and following up are movies, cartoons, video games, and even live action storytelling.
Cant imagine who inspired these two.This...
Cant imagine who inspired these two.This...
February 23, 2019
Dreadnought (Nemesis #1) reviw
DREADNOUGHT is the first novel of the Nemesis series. The premise is Danny Tozer, young transgender girl, is there when Dreadnought the world's greatest superhero is killed. Danny inherits the power of Dreadnought but also becomes her idealized self (effectively Supergirl).
This is problematic since Danny is still hiding her trans identity from her transphobic parents as well as schoolmates. She is, after all, only fifteen. But there's more to her life th...
February 22, 2019
Strange Days (Bill of the Dead #1) review
STRANGE DAYS is the reboot of the TOME OF BILL series that remains one of my favorite literary guilty pleasures. The second series, called BILL OF THE DEAD, is the start of a new storyline that reverses a lot of the final changes in the finale as well as sets up an entirely new chronicle of what I hope to be an equally lengthy series of books. It's an entertaining book, one of the author's best, and fans of the series should definitely pick it up.
If you...
February 19, 2019
C.T. Phipps FAQ - Ask me Anything
I recently did a request for questions on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/charles.phipps.946
Lots of wonderful questions and I tried to answer them as best I could.
1. You’ve created several series, how do you manage to keep them so distinct and memorable? [Luke Hindmarsh]
I basically just feel like writing things I'd want to read and I have diverse interests. Gary is born from my life-long love of superheroes and the Dresden Files. Cassius from my desire for a darker Star Wars...
February 10, 2019
Masks of Nyarlathotep Radio Play review
MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP remains one of the greatest RPG supplements of all time. It was created in 1984 by Larry DiTillio and Lynn Willis before being updated in 2018 by Mike Mason, Lynne Hardy, Paul Fricker, and Scott Dorward. Its premise is simple: nasty no-goodnik cultists are going to destroy the world and the Investigators have to go on a globe-trotting adventure to stop them.
The campaign was famous because it incorporated multiple elements that made i...
February 4, 2019
Never Die by Rob J. Hayes review
NEVER DIE is a stand-alone novel by popular grimdark novelist Rob J. Hayes (The Ties That Bind, Best Laid Plans, Drones). I've always been a fan of Rob J. Hayes and will recommend all of his books to those who want an awesome dark fantasy story. I think he stands up there with Ben Galley and Mark Lawrence for stories that are just plan good. Never Die isn't quite up there with the Best Laid Plans series but is certainly as entertaining as Drones. I also applaud the book for...
February 1, 2019
Cthulhu Armageddon available for 99c
“Under an alien sky where gods of eldritch matter rule, the only truth is revenge.”
CTHULHU ARMAGEDDON is the story of a world 100 years past the rise of the Old Ones which has been reduced to a giant monster-filled desert and pockets of human survivors (along with Deep Ones, ghouls, and other “talking” monsters). John Henry Booth is a ranger of one of the largest remaining city-states when he’s exiled for his group’s massacre and suspicion he’s “tainted.” Escaping with a doctor who killed her...
