#bob proehl

[xplainthexmen]

Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men, Episode 312 – Something Amazing Had to Be Done, feat. Bob Proehl

In which author Bob Proehl joins Jay to discuss the Resonant Duology and what it means to write original work rooted visibly in the X-universe!

In which author Bob Proehl joins Jay to discuss the Resonant Duology and what it means to write original work rooted visibly in the X-universe!

[starrlikesbooks]

Who’s ready for that March Super Moon?

Enjoy your month, and your books! As always, check under the cut for your full horoscope

Aries: You’re off from the get go this month. Big ideas are taking root in your brain, and your inspiration and motivation are going to rocket you forward. Read a book that reminds you to take advantage of your inspiration and motivations, and to embrace your magic.

Taurus: Attraction is in the air. Relationships, opportunities, and communication are all blooming for you. Make the next step and make a real grab at what you want to grow, and read a book that does the same.  

Gemini: Your curiosity is heightened this month. Your March is full of new theories, forward thinking, and a free mind. Read a book about gaining that freedom, and overcoming the overbearing people who would stop you.

Cancer: March is for new ideas, new perspective, and fresh motivation. Try a book about pushing yourself, or being pushed, to use that to start something, instead of staying where you are.

Leo: This is a high energy month for you, full of creative energy and big emotions. Passion and willpower are going to lead you as much as your general emotions are. Burst through with that passion, and read something about someone making the decision to motivate themselves into doing something big.

Virgo: You’re more introspective this month, rethinking thing carefully as your intuition and curiosity guide you. Try a story that follows someone committing to their new decisions, and moving forward despite their past ideas.

Libra: Your usual ability to compromise and stay flexible is at risk this month. The emotions are too big not to tether you, and make you want to dig your heels in. Read a book about compromise, and how you know you need to make your own way instead. The Oracle Year

Scorpio: This month you are going after what you want, and using the tides of the universe to get it. As things end, you’re gaining closure and preparing for the next good thing. Read a book about change, and its importance.

Sagittarius: Your ruling planet is in Capricorn, which means your adventures nature is going to lean more towards the ambitious side. Lots of planning, lots of big ideas, a lot going on inside and outside your head. Try a book that focuses more on the internal, exploring the planning, but taking action as well.

Capricorn: Your way ahead is a bit less expected or traditional than normal, due to your ruling planet being in Aquarius. As inspiration and fresh thoughts come to you, consider a book about plowing forward by following your gut and/or emotions.

Aquarius: As always, you’ve got big ideas. Your introspective nature is your strongest quality in March, keeping you in your head. Read a book about overthinking and being stuck in a rut, and make sure you don’t.

Pisces: You’re met with brand new points of view this month that will help you communication and learn. You are curious and intuitive, and these qualities will only be more heightened with your season. Read a book about experimenting and using your knowledge to move forward, even when nothing seems concrete.

[ninja-muse]

Currently reading! (Mostly because it’s out in two weeks and I want to be able to talk it up at work on release day.)

[jennabookish]

The Nobody People, by Bob Proehl (Review)

The Nobody People, by Bob Proehl (Review)

The Nobody People by Bob Proehl

Genre: Science Fiction

Length: 496 Pages

Release date: September 3, 2019

Publisher: Del Rey Books

Synopsis: 

After decades in hiding, a group of outcasts with extraordinary abilities clashes with a world that is threatened by their power.

When Avi Hirsch learns that his daughter Emmeline has special abilities, he tries to shield her against an increasingly hostile…

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[fansplaining]

'I got hazed, and I got beat up, and someone stole my Doctor Who novel and kicked it down the hall and that makes me a better fan than you’re ever going to be.' ...what you see is these people who have gone through that and they’re turning around and doing the same thing to fans, which is horrible on its own, but more often than not these are white males doing this to fans of color or female fans. And you know, people who have enough of that crap in their lives, outside of fandom, and come to fandom to have something of a safe space, it just makes it that much more despicable when that type of gatekeeping goes on.

Bob Proehl on fan gatekeeping, in Episode 33 of @fansplaining

[ninja-muse]

Finished!

[ninja-muse]

The Nobody People - Bob Proehl

In brief: The X-Men, trying to be out and proud in present-day America—the “right-wing pundits and surveillance state” America, not the breezy comics version. First of two.

Thoughts: Finally, a superhero novel that isn’t shy about tackling issues, and the standard superhero metaphors of race and disability and orientation, with the seriousness they deserve! Finally, a take on the X-Men-style ensemble cast instead of the lone hero or faux-Justice League! Finally, a superhero novel written from the literary tradition instead of the genre one! Finally, a superhero novel that is topical.

This wasn’t a perfectly even book for me, in terms of how it goes about things, and I’d have liked some of the issues and scenes to pack a bit more punch for me than they did, but Proehl does what he’s aiming for well and with the witty, lyrical, true-to-the-world style I remember from his first book. He’s got a great and diverse cast of characters, has some lines that made me snort out loud, and is not afraid to let shit get real.

(It’s worth noting that his first novel was one of those books that spoke so directly to me that nothing Proehl writes will probably ever measure up, so I’m probably being pickier than this book really deserves.)

I also liked the way the X-Men are remixed, revamped, and realized in this book. Proehl takes some of the common powers and thinks through how they’d actually affect people, how they might be used outside of a superhero context, and there are characters who’ll be recognizable to X-Men fans that get new life and depth breathed into them. It’s one thing to give a teenaged girl invisibility; it’s another to deal with how that plays into her insecurities and family life. It’s not straight-up X-Men copy, though. He’s added a few other elements to the world, at least one of which is really cool.

So, while this didn’t give me the full-on “whee!” sensation of his first book, this was still an entertaining, engaging, clever, and occasionally terrifying novel (in this sense of, “yep, of course someone did that awful thing in this world too”).  Proehl’s clearly a fan of the X-Men and has given the “X-Men but real” concept a lot of thought, and that alone would’ve sold me on this. And while I don’t have the urge to gush about this and tell everyone to read it, I certainly recommend it and will definitely be reading the sequel, because I want to know what happens to the characters and what exactly Proehl’s going for with those unanswered questions.

A solid book, in other worse, and while it might have minor second-novel syndrome, you should probably read it anyway if you like the concept.

To bear in mind: As mentioned in my summary and review, this tackles some pretty major issues within Western/American culture, including terrorism, incels, radicalization, murder, Islamophobia, other racism, hate speech, hate crimes, and internment camps, always with the point being, “this is wrong.” There were scenes where I (white, not-American) was sucked into the emotions of the above, so can only imagine the sort of power these scenes might have with people living more closely with those realities. Also contains a suicide and a power that’s almost but not quite a bomb.

8/10

[ninja-muse]

My latest book haul!

At least I’ve already read two…