Identities 1: The Aquarius Gambit
By: Charles F. Millhouse
Genres: Sci-Fi
The world is growing stranger and more dangerous. Madmen look to wreck havoc and destruction on a global scale. Grown out of desperation or destiny humans have come forward with amazing abilities. Some use them for good, some use them for evil. Others walk a fine line between both. For the first time, seven extraordinary beings have come together to stop a psychopath from causing death on a scale unseen in history: Defender – The Black Clad Titan, Neo Frost – Alien/human hybrid, The British Lion – Cursed Immortal, Lady Powerhouse – Astonishing Street Fighter, Slipstream – Subspace Traveler, Ink – Chinese Priestess, and the stranger, Bob who foretells of a catastrophe yet to come. Beginning a new series of superhero storytelling in the tradition of the bronze age of comics!
Now, I have to say, I was a little out of my comfort zone with this one. Do I regret taking this book from Rick's list? No, not one bit.
I actually thought this book was going to be a comic book, which was why I asked the author for a copy (Rick likes comics), but when we got it in the mail, I was curious...So, I opened the first page and read...That's when it happened. That was when I decided that I needed to read this book and throw out all my other book responsibilities. IT WAS SO GOOD! My only thing about this book was the comma use, but I think it's because I use TOO MANY commas..and I quickly got over it.
I did say to my mom that I felt as though the cover didn't really do the book justice, but I was on our Facebook (look us up) the other day and saw that Charles (can I call you Charles?) revamped the cover! A little before and after here:
Good, amirite? I am.
The new one is a little blurry because I took it from Charles's facebook, but the point remains.
So, my favorite passage from the book was nearer to the end, let me type it for you:
'The commandant grabbed Nefarious and spun him around. His grip tight and eyes hardened.
"You cold hearted son of a..."
Nefarious slapped his hand around the commandants face. "Language commandant, this is a story for young adults you know," he said and jerked his arm out of the commander's hand.'
Ah, characters who are aware they're a character. I love it.
That was honestly my favorite part of the entire book.
There are a number of 'heroes' that get introduced, but it doesn't get overwhelming when they're introduced. I think it helps that they're all so different. Typically when I read books that have several main characters (that are seemingly unrelated), it's very hard for me to keep up, and I end up pushing the book aside to read less work-like books...but this problem wasn't present in Identities: The Aquarius Gambit.
Speaking of titles, IT HAS MEANING! I didn't miss that, sir. That was so great! It's always very satisfying to read the title of the book IN the book, like, as a plot point. It was the second best part of this book.
While there were some minor inconsistencies, it was well worth the read. I am very thankful that Charles sent us a review copy because I don't know if I would have thought to pick it up otherwise, solely because it isn't something I typically find myself reading.
When I turned the last page, I found myself wanting more. The action and mysteriousness drew me in right from the beginning. The question isn't IF I'll read the next book, it's "when is it being released?".
That's all for now, my lovelies.
Make sure you stay tuned on the AnythingForThirty blog; I've been taking notes and looking things up like crazy for our first challege-ey thing! I'll be sure to keep you updated on that. I'm VERY excited!
Keep you noses in the pages, and I'll blog YOU lovelies later!
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