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Heroes!
HEROES! is a collection of short fiction about superheroes, not-so-super heroes, and everyday people who find the hero within.
This anthology includes a wide range of works that capture the entire spectrum of heroism in speculative fiction. Some of the protagonists have superpowers, others survive purely on their wits and sometimes dumb luck. Some of the stories focus on the battles between costumed crusaders and their enemies, and others focus on battles against the demons within.
Our goal in this anthology is to both entertain you and engage you in the discussion of what it actually means to be a hero, and how that burden affects the person who carries it. We’ve also attempted to create characters that are diverse enough in background that readers will be left with a truly unique experience.
Each of the stories in this anthology is beautifully illustrated by renowned artist Mark Dos Santos.
In addition to illustrating each story in HEROES!, we’ve developed a beautiful original art cover for the anthology. Created by artist Dennis Loubet, best known for his work on computer and video games and pen & paper role-playing games, this cover captures the spirit and diversity of the characters found inside.
Green Room by Aaron Allston
Hero's Final Walk by Timothy Zahn
The Breaking Point by Gail Z. Martin
The Raven by Maxwell Alexander Drake
He Was a Marvelous Man by Janine K. Spendlove
The Never-Ending Battle by Steven Lyle Jordan
A Blank Canvas by Patrick S. Thomlinson
Waking Up by Dylan Birtolo
Fellow Traveler by Donald J. Bingle
By the Seat of Your Pants by Sheryl Nantus
Invincible by Sarah Hans
Blue Boy by Daniel Myers
Bloom by Bradley P. Beaulieu
Memories Like Crystal Shards by Jennifer Brozek
The Caretaker of Mire by Gregory A. Wilson
SF by John Kovalic
The Commodore by Bryan Young
Sunny Acres Home for the Specialized Care of the Elderly by Addie J. King
Barely There by Jim Bernheimer
A Fixed State by Aaron Rosenberg
Interview R.T. Kaelin
By Blood and Fang and Song, We Call You by Jaym Gates
Bindings by Steven Saus
Cheshire Moon by Tracy Chowdhury
The One Where the Dad Dies by Kelly Swails
Field Trip by Michael A. Stackpole
Empowered by Alan Dean Foster
Fulgid Shade by Jean Rabe
This anthology includes a wide range of works that capture the entire spectrum of heroism in speculative fiction. Some of the protagonists have superpowers, others survive purely on their wits and sometimes dumb luck. Some of the stories focus on the battles between costumed crusaders and their enemies, and others focus on battles against the demons within.
Our goal in this anthology is to both entertain you and engage you in the discussion of what it actually means to be a hero, and how that burden affects the person who carries it. We’ve also attempted to create characters that are diverse enough in background that readers will be left with a truly unique experience.
Each of the stories in this anthology is beautifully illustrated by renowned artist Mark Dos Santos.
In addition to illustrating each story in HEROES!, we’ve developed a beautiful original art cover for the anthology. Created by artist Dennis Loubet, best known for his work on computer and video games and pen & paper role-playing games, this cover captures the spirit and diversity of the characters found inside.
Green Room by Aaron Allston
Hero's Final Walk by Timothy Zahn
The Breaking Point by Gail Z. Martin
The Raven by Maxwell Alexander Drake
He Was a Marvelous Man by Janine K. Spendlove
The Never-Ending Battle by Steven Lyle Jordan
A Blank Canvas by Patrick S. Thomlinson
Waking Up by Dylan Birtolo
Fellow Traveler by Donald J. Bingle
By the Seat of Your Pants by Sheryl Nantus
Invincible by Sarah Hans
Blue Boy by Daniel Myers
Bloom by Bradley P. Beaulieu
Memories Like Crystal Shards by Jennifer Brozek
The Caretaker of Mire by Gregory A. Wilson
SF by John Kovalic
The Commodore by Bryan Young
Sunny Acres Home for the Specialized Care of the Elderly by Addie J. King
Barely There by Jim Bernheimer
A Fixed State by Aaron Rosenberg
Interview R.T. Kaelin
By Blood and Fang and Song, We Call You by Jaym Gates
Bindings by Steven Saus
Cheshire Moon by Tracy Chowdhury
The One Where the Dad Dies by Kelly Swails
Field Trip by Michael A. Stackpole
Empowered by Alan Dean Foster
Fulgid Shade by Jean Rabe
413 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2013
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 6, 2025
"short stories, pretty good"
January 22, 2015
I feel obligated to do a short explanation because the anthology is not out in print yet and my 3 out of 5 looks fishy.
This anthology was published thanks to a Kickstarter project. I was a backer (you can see my name in the book) because about that time I read Stackpole's In Hero Years... I'm Dead, I absolutely loved it and he's in.
Here's the completed anthology. And most of these stories are... meh.
The main problem is some of these authors wrote a gimmick, not a story. They expect you to be mesmerized by an idea. You do not get invested in their characters because there seldom is any. I don't think that can be even called a story.
I can't describe "The Raven: A Supreme Species Superhero Story" without spoiling it, but it's just something to think about next time you read Batman. The borrowed character does not get a development of any sort because his "life story" is just a couple of cliches. It's not a story, it's a scene with a gimmick.
"He Was a Marvelous Man" can be summarized as "Why did you kill the Superman, Mom?". It has something to think about. Not something to care about.
You can even see it in the illustrations. "A Blank Canvas" is just a "One guy walks into a bar" line. The illustration is exactly that because the story is exactly that. It spends more time explaining the concept of gods and sinning than developing the characters. There is nothing to paint, no picture.
The tagline of "By the Seat of Your Pants" can be "A wrestling superhero match goes the wrong way." That's it, there's nothing else. There are two heroes, one villain, they fight - BUT NOT HOW THEY PRACTICED IT.
"The Never Ending Battle" is... The two characters dress different and that is how they differ. Also, stuff happens. Ugh.
"Waking Up" reads like a first chapter of something because there's no closure or anything in the end. I felt the tale bought the ticket to Somewhere and left without me.
I think "Invincible" is the only one so far which does it right. I think it's too short because the plot is too much of a straightforward railway but there is a gimmick and there is a character.
The rest of the stories range from filler to good. I liked "Green Room" (good choice to start the book, btw), "Bloom" was the best so far - a nice realistic break from traditional superheroics and a really good short story. "Hero's Final Walk" and "Fellow Traveler" were okay.
The illustrations are.. okay, I guess. They're not psychedelic or anything. They are placed before the text - which makes the picture either a spoiler or you just don't know what the hell is pictured yet, and I can't understand anything from the picture. They don't stand alone or illustrate anything, they picture exactly what's in the text. I'm not sure this book even needs them.
So far, this is a good anthology with many takes on the different superhero ideas but you have to cut all the good bits out of this book by yourself. Also I suspect the stories closer to the end are better.
UPD: they so much are. Except for "The One Where The Dad Dies".
This anthology was published thanks to a Kickstarter project. I was a backer (you can see my name in the book) because about that time I read Stackpole's In Hero Years... I'm Dead, I absolutely loved it and he's in.
Here's the completed anthology. And most of these stories are... meh.
The main problem is some of these authors wrote a gimmick, not a story. They expect you to be mesmerized by an idea. You do not get invested in their characters because there seldom is any. I don't think that can be even called a story.
I can't describe "The Raven: A Supreme Species Superhero Story" without spoiling it, but it's just something to think about next time you read Batman. The borrowed character does not get a development of any sort because his "life story" is just a couple of cliches. It's not a story, it's a scene with a gimmick.
"He Was a Marvelous Man" can be summarized as "Why did you kill the Superman, Mom?". It has something to think about. Not something to care about.
You can even see it in the illustrations. "A Blank Canvas" is just a "One guy walks into a bar" line. The illustration is exactly that because the story is exactly that. It spends more time explaining the concept of gods and sinning than developing the characters. There is nothing to paint, no picture.
The tagline of "By the Seat of Your Pants" can be "A wrestling superhero match goes the wrong way." That's it, there's nothing else. There are two heroes, one villain, they fight - BUT NOT HOW THEY PRACTICED IT.
"The Never Ending Battle" is... The two characters dress different and that is how they differ. Also, stuff happens. Ugh.
"Waking Up" reads like a first chapter of something because there's no closure or anything in the end. I felt the tale bought the ticket to Somewhere and left without me.
I think "Invincible" is the only one so far which does it right. I think it's too short because the plot is too much of a straightforward railway but there is a gimmick and there is a character.
The rest of the stories range from filler to good. I liked "Green Room" (good choice to start the book, btw), "Bloom" was the best so far - a nice realistic break from traditional superheroics and a really good short story. "Hero's Final Walk" and "Fellow Traveler" were okay.
The illustrations are.. okay, I guess. They're not psychedelic or anything. They are placed before the text - which makes the picture either a spoiler or you just don't know what the hell is pictured yet, and I can't understand anything from the picture. They don't stand alone or illustrate anything, they picture exactly what's in the text. I'm not sure this book even needs them.
So far, this is a good anthology with many takes on the different superhero ideas but you have to cut all the good bits out of this book by yourself. Also I suspect the stories closer to the end are better.
UPD: they so much are. Except for "The One Where The Dad Dies".
March 10, 2015
Hmmm, slowly driving me mad with errors a spell-checker wouldn't notice, but you'd expect that a human would. A missing word, a homophone, an almost-homophone (entomologically instead of etymologically), and an "a" with a plural noun. And that's just the ones I'd noticed by 40%
***
The things that slow cars down are "breaks". Spacesaresometimesoptional. As are full-stops
***
Any collection of short stories is going to have some you like more than others. This collection seemed to range from 'meh' to 'OK', with nothing 'utterly brilliant' to salvage it. If I'm coming away mostly with memories of the errors, then unfortunately the stories weren't up to the usual Silence in the Library standard.
***
The things that slow cars down are "breaks". Spacesaresometimesoptional. As are full-stops
***
Any collection of short stories is going to have some you like more than others. This collection seemed to range from 'meh' to 'OK', with nothing 'utterly brilliant' to salvage it. If I'm coming away mostly with memories of the errors, then unfortunately the stories weren't up to the usual Silence in the Library standard.
November 6, 2013
This book was amazing. I've suffered through so many science fiction anthologies that were lame at best wondering what had happened to the art of crafting short stories, and then I read this. It's mostly superhero stories, but there is also just plain science fiction and fantasy. "Hero's Last Walk" by Timothy Zahn was chilling. All the stories were excellent.I never thought I'd be riveted to an anthology, but I couldn't put this one down. Highly recommended.
April 18, 2016
Meh. This anthology started off with a great story, but quickly sunk into mediocrity and then utter apathy. There were so many "costumed hero tells emergency responder that they're the real hero" that I could not stop rolling my eyes at. That idea was a little stale when Marvel did it over a decade ago. Now, it's just... dull.
Not recommended, even for fans of the genre. Especially fans, because this stuff is all old hat.
Not recommended, even for fans of the genre. Especially fans, because this stuff is all old hat.
January 24, 2015
Good collection - unlike many, I read every story. I wound a couple not too my taste, and a couple good enough that I bought novels from their authors. And that makes it a good collection in my opinion.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews