scparris's review
4.0
If superhero movies, with all their nitty-gritty reboots nowadays could have half the story SWoD has, they'd be a lot better off.
It doesn't follow the formula most superhero novels/movies does, it's its own world, in that the superheroes, something I'm even hesitant to call them, operate, especially Spring-Heeled Jack, on this precarious border between what's morally sound, and what isn't.
It did take me quite a bit of time to finish it, but it wasn't for lack of enjoyment. Life got in the way, yet I would always find my mind returning to SWoD and what would be coming next.
Toward the end of the novel, it became apparent to me that a hero, unlike the ones we see in our media today, are not so easily defined, and I have not read a superhero novel that fully explores this, and so fully, as Sad Wings of Destiny has.
Not to spoil the plot or anything, some choices, some events cannot be avoided, and the way things must come to an end, unfortunately, or fortunately for some, involve sacrifice.
It takes a great person, super powered or no, to recognize this and commit to it fully, even if it means becoming the very thing they fought for years, as it often does.
Thom Brannan has crafted a thought-provoking read, any fan of superheroes, anti-heroes, and their villains would greatly enjoy.
It doesn't follow the formula most superhero novels/movies does, it's its own world, in that the superheroes, something I'm even hesitant to call them, operate, especially Spring-Heeled Jack, on this precarious border between what's morally sound, and what isn't.
It did take me quite a bit of time to finish it, but it wasn't for lack of enjoyment. Life got in the way, yet I would always find my mind returning to SWoD and what would be coming next.
Toward the end of the novel, it became apparent to me that a hero, unlike the ones we see in our media today, are not so easily defined, and I have not read a superhero novel that fully explores this, and so fully, as Sad Wings of Destiny has.
Not to spoil the plot or anything, some choices, some events cannot be avoided, and the way things must come to an end, unfortunately, or fortunately for some, involve sacrifice.
It takes a great person, super powered or no, to recognize this and commit to it fully, even if it means becoming the very thing they fought for years, as it often does.
Thom Brannan has crafted a thought-provoking read, any fan of superheroes, anti-heroes, and their villains would greatly enjoy.
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