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The Push Chronicles #1
Indomitable
Irene Roman never wanted to be a hero, but when a strange betrayal brings literally changes all of reality, she may not have a choice. Now the Earth is filled with superhumans, both good and evil, and Irene is one of the only people on the planet who knows why and may be the only person in the world who can set things right. What price will Irene pay to be the hero she never wanted to be?
- GenresUrban FantasySuperheroes
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2014
5 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
J.B. Garner
22 books65 followersTalented top flight author and editor Jamie Beth "J. B." Garner has written over twenty novels across multiple genres and edited hundreds more. J.B.’s seen and done many things in her life, from honors student to factory worker to garbage collector to construction worker. In addition to doing so many fascinating things, she's lived in the wonderful cities of Baltimore, Atlanta, and Pensacola, before landing in the beautiful city of Chicago.
She's an avid gamer, particularly Pathfinder and Final Fantasy XIV, an enjoyer of comic books, anime, and movies of all stripes. She guests, exhibits, and panels at cons across the U.S., large and small, fueled by a love of fandoms and the desire to connect with readers and fans. Through it all, her true passion has always been the written word.
She writes fantasy, sci-fi, and pro-wrestling epics, among other things, and is always out to entertain and amaze.
She's an avid gamer, particularly Pathfinder and Final Fantasy XIV, an enjoyer of comic books, anime, and movies of all stripes. She guests, exhibits, and panels at cons across the U.S., large and small, fueled by a love of fandoms and the desire to connect with readers and fans. Through it all, her true passion has always been the written word.
She writes fantasy, sci-fi, and pro-wrestling epics, among other things, and is always out to entertain and amaze.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 13, 2017
Magnificent. Indomitable serves up the best of The Incredibles swirled into the reality bending wonder of Doctor Strange. One man transforms the world into a mad comic book with a self-reinforcing brainwash loop. Everywhere people wake up with supernatural powers while the new reality’s seductive whispers guide them into their comic book roles. Heroes make speeches while innocents die, and villains pause the fighting to serve up their plans on a cliché platter. At the center of a comic book apocalypse authored by a Lewis Carroll/Stan Lee collaboration, one woman without superpowers has to fight the new world with reason and reality – both the old and new. Start the Push Chronicles, and it will whisper, “Keep reading….”
July 20, 2016
Irene Roman is a scientific researcher who is working to create medical devices. The novel begins with her discovery of the theft of her newest prototype on the eve of presenting it to the Dean of the program. The discovery of the man that stole the device causes her world to implode. The man she had trusted most in recent past had been using her to further his goals. Irene quickly hunts him (Eric) down and confronts him even as the last minute of a strange and reality-changing experiment is ongoing. Unable to talk Eric away from continuing, the experiment finalizes in an explosion of piercing light that covers the world. When Irene wakes in her own bed with several wounds cared for she soon realizes the world has fundamentally changed. Somehow, at a reality level, the make-up of humans has changed. A small percentage of the population, called “pushed” has also gained superhuman abilities. Eric returns and tells Irene why he has done what he did, to gain the power necessary to do what a normal human could not (I will keep the secret).
There is fallout between the two as the changes the new power wrought in Eric and the betrayal that Irene feels pulls them apart until they are ultimately at odds. Now she must, along with the aid of a few friendly “pushed” and a couple government agents find a way to stop the impending escalation of violence and the ending of the world as they know it. Irene must take on the trappings of a superhero and become the nemesis of Eric's super self and use what she has discovered that may be the means to counter the power of the “pushed”.
J. B. Garner’s novel reads similar to a Clive Cussler novel with elements of the TV show Heroes, Avengers, and X-Men thrown in. It is a fast-paced story and is a good length, 177 Pages, which kept my attention and had me wanting to know what Irene and Company would get into next. The inner war that Irene fought with her rational self was well done and framed her actions as more plausible in light of a supernatural event. The cover was also well done, with a style that fit the genre.
The major issues I had early on in the novel were taken care of as I kept reading as gaps began to be filled in an organic manner. The minor issues were some spelling mistakes and somewhat excessive use of commas but this did not pull me from the story enough to be a problem. I do not read many superhero type books or comics so the use of comic books and costumes were a bit cliche for me.
Overall, Indomitable was a different take on a mutant/superhero tale, refreshing with a hint of nostalgia. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys super hero stories/comics, well-written adventures set in the real world, and those who enjoy a strong female protagonist.
There is fallout between the two as the changes the new power wrought in Eric and the betrayal that Irene feels pulls them apart until they are ultimately at odds. Now she must, along with the aid of a few friendly “pushed” and a couple government agents find a way to stop the impending escalation of violence and the ending of the world as they know it. Irene must take on the trappings of a superhero and become the nemesis of Eric's super self and use what she has discovered that may be the means to counter the power of the “pushed”.
J. B. Garner’s novel reads similar to a Clive Cussler novel with elements of the TV show Heroes, Avengers, and X-Men thrown in. It is a fast-paced story and is a good length, 177 Pages, which kept my attention and had me wanting to know what Irene and Company would get into next. The inner war that Irene fought with her rational self was well done and framed her actions as more plausible in light of a supernatural event. The cover was also well done, with a style that fit the genre.
The major issues I had early on in the novel were taken care of as I kept reading as gaps began to be filled in an organic manner. The minor issues were some spelling mistakes and somewhat excessive use of commas but this did not pull me from the story enough to be a problem. I do not read many superhero type books or comics so the use of comic books and costumes were a bit cliche for me.
Overall, Indomitable was a different take on a mutant/superhero tale, refreshing with a hint of nostalgia. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys super hero stories/comics, well-written adventures set in the real world, and those who enjoy a strong female protagonist.
February 2, 2015
The good:
Indomitable has an interesting idea to start off the whole “people with superpowers” thing. I found the idea immediately plausible, and well, highly entertaining. It was a clever way to introduce info dump and suspension of belief idea into the plot one teaspoon at a time.
I liked the whole explanation as to why Irene (the main character) could be all “I am Batman” and take on Epic (Superman/Green Lantern) or any other superhero even though she had no discernible super powers.
I really enjoyed the various characters J.B. came up with and the struggle between good and evil.
Most of the action scenes are well written, and the whole do or die nature of the conflicts combined with Irene’s concern over innocents made me smile. You never think about the normal guy when super heroes collide.
The Bad:
Indomitable suffers from not having been line edited. There was a point when I gave up counting typos very early on in the manuscript. Several of the sentences are completely bogged down by excessive prose. I found myself dreading each sentence until about halfway through the book.
The Ugly:
This is a good book. Unfortunately, the beginning of the book is so bogged down in excessive writing that I nearly put it down several times. Once I got about 25% of the way into the book, I was hooked, but honestly, I wouldn’t normally give a book that long. The author could stand to cut down on excessive prose.
Also, even though the main character is a female named Irene, I almost couldn’t tell what her gender was. In fact, the only reason I clearly identified her as female (other than her name) was because the main antagonist was her boyfriend and was clearly male.
Verdict:
Three (3) stars.
To be fair, unless you’re writing Fault in our Stars you’re not getting 5 stars from me. I’d say this was a solid 4 star book… if it wasn’t for the editing. I knocked off a star for editing. So this book gets three stars. I sincerely hope the author finds the money for line editing because it will vastly improve the quality of his book.
All that said, I’d totally read the next one.
Indomitable has an interesting idea to start off the whole “people with superpowers” thing. I found the idea immediately plausible, and well, highly entertaining. It was a clever way to introduce info dump and suspension of belief idea into the plot one teaspoon at a time.
I liked the whole explanation as to why Irene (the main character) could be all “I am Batman” and take on Epic (Superman/Green Lantern) or any other superhero even though she had no discernible super powers.
I really enjoyed the various characters J.B. came up with and the struggle between good and evil.
Most of the action scenes are well written, and the whole do or die nature of the conflicts combined with Irene’s concern over innocents made me smile. You never think about the normal guy when super heroes collide.
The Bad:
Indomitable suffers from not having been line edited. There was a point when I gave up counting typos very early on in the manuscript. Several of the sentences are completely bogged down by excessive prose. I found myself dreading each sentence until about halfway through the book.
The Ugly:
This is a good book. Unfortunately, the beginning of the book is so bogged down in excessive writing that I nearly put it down several times. Once I got about 25% of the way into the book, I was hooked, but honestly, I wouldn’t normally give a book that long. The author could stand to cut down on excessive prose.
Also, even though the main character is a female named Irene, I almost couldn’t tell what her gender was. In fact, the only reason I clearly identified her as female (other than her name) was because the main antagonist was her boyfriend and was clearly male.
Verdict:
Three (3) stars.
To be fair, unless you’re writing Fault in our Stars you’re not getting 5 stars from me. I’d say this was a solid 4 star book… if it wasn’t for the editing. I knocked off a star for editing. So this book gets three stars. I sincerely hope the author finds the money for line editing because it will vastly improve the quality of his book.
All that said, I’d totally read the next one.
April 28, 2016
The strength of a superhero origin story, aside from the storytelling itself, is in the inner struggle of the individual common person thrust into uncommon circumstances. Suddenly problems and solutions are larger than life and the ramifications of actions are likewise amplified. Throw in a sense of fun and irony and one gets the winning combination that is Indomitable.
Though centered on Atlanta area professor, Dr. Irene Roman, this tale is more than one person's origin story, it's a world-wide origin story as an apocalyptic event creates superheroes and supervillains everywhere, all at once. Cleverly filtered through the lens of comic books come-to-life, skeptical Irene seems to be the rare person who sees through the new reality superimposed over the old. Disconcerting as it is for her, her narration breaks the fourth wall of the comics world consistently and humorously such as when she's able to call out the supervillain in mid-exposition on the brink of his assumed victory for defaulting to such a tired trope.
Irene Roman feels responsible for the new reality that has created "the Pushed," the superheroes and villains, when her confidence-lacking, unimpowered boyfriend, Dr. Eric Flynn, steals her experimental bio-feedback machine to commandeer his new found "God particle" that converts belief into physical reality. His imagining himself as the new world's godlike mega-superhero in a world of heroes and villains is corrupted by his own unrealized insecurities which warp his intentions. Eric, aka Epic, is suddenly not alone in his immense level of power in the battle between good and evil. Irene's abilities, seemingly created by Eric himself from his doubts as to his girlfriend understanding his vision, lead her to vow to cut through the new reality. She dons a leather mask and straddles her motorcycle as "Indomitable". . .
I received my copy of this novel directly from the author through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com.
Though centered on Atlanta area professor, Dr. Irene Roman, this tale is more than one person's origin story, it's a world-wide origin story as an apocalyptic event creates superheroes and supervillains everywhere, all at once. Cleverly filtered through the lens of comic books come-to-life, skeptical Irene seems to be the rare person who sees through the new reality superimposed over the old. Disconcerting as it is for her, her narration breaks the fourth wall of the comics world consistently and humorously such as when she's able to call out the supervillain in mid-exposition on the brink of his assumed victory for defaulting to such a tired trope.
Irene Roman feels responsible for the new reality that has created "the Pushed," the superheroes and villains, when her confidence-lacking, unimpowered boyfriend, Dr. Eric Flynn, steals her experimental bio-feedback machine to commandeer his new found "God particle" that converts belief into physical reality. His imagining himself as the new world's godlike mega-superhero in a world of heroes and villains is corrupted by his own unrealized insecurities which warp his intentions. Eric, aka Epic, is suddenly not alone in his immense level of power in the battle between good and evil. Irene's abilities, seemingly created by Eric himself from his doubts as to his girlfriend understanding his vision, lead her to vow to cut through the new reality. She dons a leather mask and straddles her motorcycle as "Indomitable". . .
I received my copy of this novel directly from the author through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com.
October 5, 2014
I have a long and complicated relationship with comic books. I grew up in the era of Fredric Wertham, who convinced my mother and father and many other people's mothers and fathers that comic books Rot Your Brain. Subsequently, I was, formally, forbidden to own comic books during my childhood. (By the way, those of you who want to relive those glorious days of brain rotting fun should go visit www.superdickery.com. You will love it.)
Of course, this wasn't going to stick. Every other kid I knew or played with read comic books (usually Marvel). Bronx neighborhoods, from the standpoint of comic aficionados, were broken into Marvel and DC nations. My block stood with Stan Lee, and we scorned DC, particularly Batman, who in the 60s was not particularly grim nor angst ridden. Everyone felt more was going on there with Robin than a simple adoptive arrangement and we didn't approve.
Girls read Archie and those disgusting romance comics. If a guy was caught reading those, you were normally treated as if you were infected with hair lice.
Thus, I grew up in an atmosphere of deception and duplicity. I would buy comics regularly from the local lunch and candy stores, read them outside, hide them under my shirt when entering my apartment, and secret them under the toy chest in the bedroom my sister and I shared when we were small. Eventually, the space would become crowded and a new purchase would edge out from its sanctuary like a flat, colored, Judas goat and tip off Mom. She would then rake the stash out and throw it down the incinerator. The cycle would then begin again. I guess we were both making a point.
Rest of post up at: http://www.rule-set.com/ricks-blog/up...
Of course, this wasn't going to stick. Every other kid I knew or played with read comic books (usually Marvel). Bronx neighborhoods, from the standpoint of comic aficionados, were broken into Marvel and DC nations. My block stood with Stan Lee, and we scorned DC, particularly Batman, who in the 60s was not particularly grim nor angst ridden. Everyone felt more was going on there with Robin than a simple adoptive arrangement and we didn't approve.
Girls read Archie and those disgusting romance comics. If a guy was caught reading those, you were normally treated as if you were infected with hair lice.
Thus, I grew up in an atmosphere of deception and duplicity. I would buy comics regularly from the local lunch and candy stores, read them outside, hide them under my shirt when entering my apartment, and secret them under the toy chest in the bedroom my sister and I shared when we were small. Eventually, the space would become crowded and a new purchase would edge out from its sanctuary like a flat, colored, Judas goat and tip off Mom. She would then rake the stash out and throw it down the incinerator. The cycle would then begin again. I guess we were both making a point.
Rest of post up at: http://www.rule-set.com/ricks-blog/up...
August 18, 2015
Review - Indomitable - J.B.Garner (2nd edition e-book reviewed) - 4 of 5 stars I was reading outside my usual genre here, which could be the cause of some of my difficulties. (my usual genre is technical reference. Peter Norton's book SO nailed the VGA subsystem on the IBM PC...)Someone who is used to sci-fi/superhero would more readily grasp the things which didn't immediately resonate with me. Fortunately, Garner had laid an, "assistant," plot like the companion to Dr. Who (in the characters own mind) so that all could be explained and I was still carried along with the story; all I had to do was give the book enough time for that narrative to shine through.The people felt real and I grabbed on to them, despite the unfamiliarity of a slightly different world with some new terminology.My key problem was following the pacing of the action sequences and I had this nagging thing of; you know when you're watching a film and you know damn well that the revolver has fired more than six shots but you haven't seen the protagonist reload... yeh, that kind of feeling.The story felt like many others of its kind. The same type of plot points and the same kind of two-sided battles, but that was unavoidable given the kind of story that this is; in fact, it is inevitable given how Garner set it up. However, he managed to put a few twists in there that I didn't see coming and, at the end of the day it is a rare story that hasn't been told before; it's all down to the execution and the best way I can sum this up, is that when I was about two-thirds-ish through this one, I made the decision to complete The Push Chronicles.
November 17, 2014
First off, I enjoy the superhero genre, and comic books. It's hard to find new takes on the genre, but what Mr. Garner has done is refreshing, particular with the way some of the main characters interact with the world. I found myself invested in the main character, and wanted to see more of what happened with each passing chapter.
You may ask why I did not give the book a 5-star rating. I don't give anything 5-stars unless it totally blows my socks off, and I can generally find at least one or two things that grate on me in almost anything I read, from being formulaic to too-detailed to not detailed enough. My one gripe with Indomitable, and the loss of that infinitesimally small chance of getting a five from me, is that sometimes I would get lost in a fight scene and have to reread it to figure out exactly what just happened. Mr. Garner writes amazing fight scenes, but you have to be able to keep a sharp eye invested in them.
Indomitable came close to that five-star pinnacle, however, the problem I had with it owing about equally to my own ADD and reading style as it did to his writing.
Overall, the book is a good, edge of your seat read, with consistent internal logic and memorable characters. If you enjoy superheroes and are looking for a fresh take on the genre, Indomitable is a good place to start.
You may ask why I did not give the book a 5-star rating. I don't give anything 5-stars unless it totally blows my socks off, and I can generally find at least one or two things that grate on me in almost anything I read, from being formulaic to too-detailed to not detailed enough. My one gripe with Indomitable, and the loss of that infinitesimally small chance of getting a five from me, is that sometimes I would get lost in a fight scene and have to reread it to figure out exactly what just happened. Mr. Garner writes amazing fight scenes, but you have to be able to keep a sharp eye invested in them.
Indomitable came close to that five-star pinnacle, however, the problem I had with it owing about equally to my own ADD and reading style as it did to his writing.
Overall, the book is a good, edge of your seat read, with consistent internal logic and memorable characters. If you enjoy superheroes and are looking for a fresh take on the genre, Indomitable is a good place to start.
July 5, 2016
I don't often read superhero books, though I enjoy TV-shows and movies, so I wanted to give this a try. The first few chapters I've read in one session, the other chapters followed en suite. I have enjoyed the development from the 'recently ditched' Scientist Irene to "Indy" and really enjoyed the setting Garner developed for his story. Every now and then I found Indy a little too perfect. She had never really fought before, other than a little self-defence training, but her fight scenes were a little too good. I would have enjoyed it a little more if she had gone through more phases of developing her new skills instead of mastering them within minutes. But it still was a great book and I have enjoyed it a lot. The biggest plus for me was the blurry lines between the typical superhero/villain good and evil. There is no black or white, it's grey and colours all through the story. I can't wait to read the rest of "The Push Chronicles".
May 31, 2014
A fantastic storyline and interesting characters with such depth, the dynamics in this book are constantly changing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and it was a pleasure to work with the author on this, proof-reading and doing some editing here and there. This is a really fluid read and the action scenes are explosive! I would definitely recommend this to those partial to superheroes and good ol' wham-bam action; this story also has elements of sci-fi in it, I feel. I can't wait for the sequel!
March 11, 2015
A great superhero trilogy right up there with Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes series. I look forward to more from this author. Maybe since the trilogy is finished he could shift view points to a pushed hero, maybe one that people would consider to traditionally be a villain.
March 8, 2015
I give it 4.5 stars!!! A very enjoyable read!!!
May 26, 2020
I gotta give it to the author on two fronts - firstly this is a new(ish) approach to a genre that it is difficult to find new approaches and second there is no romance (always an extra star).
This is a good but not great book, don't really feel for the characters. Will probably read the next but no rush.
This is a good but not great book, don't really feel for the characters. Will probably read the next but no rush.
September 26, 2022
Fun take on superheroes
It’s all about the applied quantum mechanics....and if you push just right, you get superheroes. This was an interesting book and I enjoyed the characters and the action. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rest of the series and if there are even more people like Indy than just Ian. I recommend this book.
It’s all about the applied quantum mechanics....and if you push just right, you get superheroes. This was an interesting book and I enjoyed the characters and the action. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rest of the series and if there are even more people like Indy than just Ian. I recommend this book.
January 3, 2016
First and foremost, this is a really great superhero-comic-book-turned-literary-book story. The only thing that it was missing was the awesome pictures.
It’s a fun and easy read. Mr. Garner’s fresh and cool idea of bringing about superheroes to our world is a very good one and immensely entertaining. More importantly, it is very believable.
I adore Irene, the main protagonist. She’s smart, quick to react, and very competent. Because of this, she fell into her role as the “superhero” easily and quickly, despite the role being the very opposite of what she is, a scientist. Mr. Garner did an excellent job at keeping the character consistent in the face of all the dramatic and epic changes exploding around her. By the end of the story Irene is Indomitable. However, she is still a scientist and you don’t forget that.
I especially love how Irene is genuinely a woman for the people. In comic books, we’re use to reading about awesome superheroes with powers that destroy whole buildings. We are so in awe about it that we forget to think about the reality of the situation. If it were real, an unfortunate amount of people would die. And that’s what Irene worries about the most, endearing her to the readers. I felt that her very real concern, and the fact that her feet were firmly grounded (she is not at all distracted by the awesome powers of the superheroes), keeps the story from flying off into the realm of unbelievable-ness. Quite literally, Irene keeps the story firmly planted to the ground, making it feel like a very believable concept.
The supporting characters are amusing and logical additions to the story. Logical in that they fit the premise of the story splendidly.
The plot, again, is amusing and quite believable. I appreciated Mr. Garner’s very logical and scientific explanation for the “catastrophe”, or the event that propels the plot. Most importantly, it stays consistent throughout the story. Sometimes, when these explanations come early in the story, they are left there, at the beginning, and never mentioned again. Again, kudos to Mr. Garner for consistency.
Though I highly recommend this book, there were a few concerns I had about the reading experience. First, I don’t mind a few grammatical/spelling errors, but unfortunately, the story suffered from far too many. Enough to distract me and to interrupt my flow of reading. In addition, the construction of sentences, though usually grammatically sound, were often a bit wordy and awkwardly phrased. Finally, there were a few scenes in the story that felt a little too improbable, shaking the believability of the plot.
Regardless, I will be reading the next installment. And I totally recommend this story for its originality, awesome fighting scenes, and amazing protagonist. If superheroes is your thing (I mean, who doesn’t like Avengers, X-men, or Superman? Am I right?), this book is just up your alley.
The story is a solid 4, but due to poor line editing, I must give it a 3.
Oh, and the cover? Totally badass.
It’s a fun and easy read. Mr. Garner’s fresh and cool idea of bringing about superheroes to our world is a very good one and immensely entertaining. More importantly, it is very believable.
I adore Irene, the main protagonist. She’s smart, quick to react, and very competent. Because of this, she fell into her role as the “superhero” easily and quickly, despite the role being the very opposite of what she is, a scientist. Mr. Garner did an excellent job at keeping the character consistent in the face of all the dramatic and epic changes exploding around her. By the end of the story Irene is Indomitable. However, she is still a scientist and you don’t forget that.
I especially love how Irene is genuinely a woman for the people. In comic books, we’re use to reading about awesome superheroes with powers that destroy whole buildings. We are so in awe about it that we forget to think about the reality of the situation. If it were real, an unfortunate amount of people would die. And that’s what Irene worries about the most, endearing her to the readers. I felt that her very real concern, and the fact that her feet were firmly grounded (she is not at all distracted by the awesome powers of the superheroes), keeps the story from flying off into the realm of unbelievable-ness. Quite literally, Irene keeps the story firmly planted to the ground, making it feel like a very believable concept.
The supporting characters are amusing and logical additions to the story. Logical in that they fit the premise of the story splendidly.
The plot, again, is amusing and quite believable. I appreciated Mr. Garner’s very logical and scientific explanation for the “catastrophe”, or the event that propels the plot. Most importantly, it stays consistent throughout the story. Sometimes, when these explanations come early in the story, they are left there, at the beginning, and never mentioned again. Again, kudos to Mr. Garner for consistency.
Though I highly recommend this book, there were a few concerns I had about the reading experience. First, I don’t mind a few grammatical/spelling errors, but unfortunately, the story suffered from far too many. Enough to distract me and to interrupt my flow of reading. In addition, the construction of sentences, though usually grammatically sound, were often a bit wordy and awkwardly phrased. Finally, there were a few scenes in the story that felt a little too improbable, shaking the believability of the plot.
Regardless, I will be reading the next installment. And I totally recommend this story for its originality, awesome fighting scenes, and amazing protagonist. If superheroes is your thing (I mean, who doesn’t like Avengers, X-men, or Superman? Am I right?), this book is just up your alley.
The story is a solid 4, but due to poor line editing, I must give it a 3.
Oh, and the cover? Totally badass.
February 26, 2017
Beware comic geeks. Boyfriend steals girlfriends invention and remakes the world into a comic geek's idea of utopia. It has super-powered heroes and villains with the demigod comic geek boyfriend trying to remake the entire world into his idea of utopia. It was an okay read but I'm not going on with the series.
February 22, 2016
J.B. Garner’s Indomitable – The Push Chronicles: Book 1, is a superhero story unlike any superhero story I’ve ever read before. That’s because it just doesn’t feel like a superhero story. It feels closer to sci-fi if anything.
Indomitable follows Irene Roman, a scientist who witnesses the birth of a new reality: A world of superheroes. She takes it upon herself to try an return reality back to the way it was. Saying anything more would spoil the book, I think, but it seems heavily inspired by my favorite issue of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (issue #18, I think), A Dream of a Thousand Cats.
The novel plays with a lot of classic comic book tropes, such as monologue, with the main character being the only one aware of whats going on. It was very cleverly done, especially having the POV character being aware of the reality and tropes, but because she’s not a huge comic book fan (she doesn’t even like the things), she avoids coming across as smug.
Something I found interesting was that there is no true villain, which is quite a rarity for a story like this. Oh, sure, there are characters who are jerks or mentally ill, but no one comes across as evil. Sure, there’s mention of an evil mastermind pulling strings from behind the scenes, but he has almost no presence in the story and seems like almost an afterthought, although I’m sure he shows up in the sequel. Speaking of the sequel, one thing that felt a little off putting about the book seemed to be the build up to a specific ending without the payoff. I have a feeling that was intentional though, given the last line. The ending subverted the expectations of a superhero origin story, which is something I really enjoyed.
I did find it annoying, however, that the author commonly employed words that, to me at least, came across a little too pretentious, like he was trying to show off or enjoyed abusing the thesaurus, usually using ten dollar words when a fifty cent word would’ve done the job. He also often chose awkward sounding choices when it came to the phrasing of his sentences (although they were grammatically correct). I do know that the author just recently come out with a new edition of the novel wherein it was reedited, so its possible those issues are now fixed.
All in all, it certainly wasn’t what I expected, but I’m glad I read it. If you’re a fan of sci-fi or superheroes, give it a read. It’s a superhero book for folks that aren’t necessarily big on superhero stories. It isn’t what it appears at first glance, but that’s not a bad thing.
Indomitable follows Irene Roman, a scientist who witnesses the birth of a new reality: A world of superheroes. She takes it upon herself to try an return reality back to the way it was. Saying anything more would spoil the book, I think, but it seems heavily inspired by my favorite issue of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (issue #18, I think), A Dream of a Thousand Cats.
The novel plays with a lot of classic comic book tropes, such as monologue, with the main character being the only one aware of whats going on. It was very cleverly done, especially having the POV character being aware of the reality and tropes, but because she’s not a huge comic book fan (she doesn’t even like the things), she avoids coming across as smug.
Something I found interesting was that there is no true villain, which is quite a rarity for a story like this. Oh, sure, there are characters who are jerks or mentally ill, but no one comes across as evil. Sure, there’s mention of an evil mastermind pulling strings from behind the scenes, but he has almost no presence in the story and seems like almost an afterthought, although I’m sure he shows up in the sequel. Speaking of the sequel, one thing that felt a little off putting about the book seemed to be the build up to a specific ending without the payoff. I have a feeling that was intentional though, given the last line. The ending subverted the expectations of a superhero origin story, which is something I really enjoyed.
I did find it annoying, however, that the author commonly employed words that, to me at least, came across a little too pretentious, like he was trying to show off or enjoyed abusing the thesaurus, usually using ten dollar words when a fifty cent word would’ve done the job. He also often chose awkward sounding choices when it came to the phrasing of his sentences (although they were grammatically correct). I do know that the author just recently come out with a new edition of the novel wherein it was reedited, so its possible those issues are now fixed.
All in all, it certainly wasn’t what I expected, but I’m glad I read it. If you’re a fan of sci-fi or superheroes, give it a read. It’s a superhero book for folks that aren’t necessarily big on superhero stories. It isn’t what it appears at first glance, but that’s not a bad thing.
April 9, 2016
So this is a little out of my normal reading genre but I do like anything involving superheroes. I’m that guy who has liked every superhero movie made.. even the bad ones..i just love the genre in general.
Was I disappointed in the book? Not in the least.
This is a fast paced ride of good vs evil with a healthy dose of reality in the form of Irene.
I would say the writing style is well suited for YA or any adults like myself who enjoy the superhero genre. The style leaves it very easy to read and you don’t have to concentrate too much.. you can just enjoy the tale
The main character develops well, she turned from what came across to me as a little stuck up to showing her caring side fighting to change the world back to the way it was.
My 4* rating is because of two reasons. Mainly the FBI..they believed Irene’s story and agreed to help too quickly in my eyes. I would have like to see the struggle with not only the bad guys in the story but also the non-pushed..see Irene truly alone.
The other reason was her powers..although a good idea (I won’t spoil that for you) I felt the sequence that played out with her power draining became a little repetitive as they seemed to drain very quickly… but then again that’s due to the pace of the story. None of this took any enjoyment away from the tale
If you are looking for a nice easy and enjoyable read this is perfect. For me being a reviewer sometimes I need to change the style of book I read, refresh my eyes with a book that’s not too heavy going. This book was spot on for me in that respect and was more enjoyable then I first imagined
I’ve high hopes for the next book, I hope to see more detailed battles with the superheroes so you can really get to grips with the world J. B. Garner has created
I’ve got another book from the author on my TBR list so I’m looking forward to that and will most certainly read the others in this series further down the line
Was I disappointed in the book? Not in the least.
This is a fast paced ride of good vs evil with a healthy dose of reality in the form of Irene.
I would say the writing style is well suited for YA or any adults like myself who enjoy the superhero genre. The style leaves it very easy to read and you don’t have to concentrate too much.. you can just enjoy the tale
The main character develops well, she turned from what came across to me as a little stuck up to showing her caring side fighting to change the world back to the way it was.
My 4* rating is because of two reasons. Mainly the FBI..they believed Irene’s story and agreed to help too quickly in my eyes. I would have like to see the struggle with not only the bad guys in the story but also the non-pushed..see Irene truly alone.
The other reason was her powers..although a good idea (I won’t spoil that for you) I felt the sequence that played out with her power draining became a little repetitive as they seemed to drain very quickly… but then again that’s due to the pace of the story. None of this took any enjoyment away from the tale
If you are looking for a nice easy and enjoyable read this is perfect. For me being a reviewer sometimes I need to change the style of book I read, refresh my eyes with a book that’s not too heavy going. This book was spot on for me in that respect and was more enjoyable then I first imagined
I’ve high hopes for the next book, I hope to see more detailed battles with the superheroes so you can really get to grips with the world J. B. Garner has created
I’ve got another book from the author on my TBR list so I’m looking forward to that and will most certainly read the others in this series further down the line
July 23, 2017
I picked up this book from a local convention. The story looked interesting, and after a little bit of a slow start, the story became very interesting. I think parts of it could have been stronger, and a little bit more depth for the characters would have been nice, but overall, I enjoyed the story, and will have to look for more by this author.
June 5, 2016
Going into this book I was hesitant because this is a genre I don't normally read. I wanted to give it a chance just so I could widen my horizons and venture out into new genres. However, it was a rocky start. The synopsis of the book was interesting to me, but I just was not able to get into the book. It definitely has potential and I can see why others like it, but this book was not for me.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
August 8, 2017
I must be honest, I am not a fan of these kind of novel, but great Caesar's ghost, I was hooked from the beginning. Mr. Garner created a kickass superhero that I would not soon forget. I highly recommend this piece of fiction. Great job, Mr. Garner.
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