Wistful Ascending, by JCM Berne

There are many…many bigger superhero fans than me.  And I certainly never believed I needed a superhero novel.  But Wistful Ascending kept coming up on book twitter, with praise from many I trust, and when there was an excellent deal on the novel on amazon I jumped at the opportunity to purchase it.  The praise is well warranted.  This book was just a joy to read.

Rohan is a Hybrid from Earth.  What does that mean?  He is half human, half some other alien species that rules a significant portion of the Galaxy and passes on super powers to its offspring.  So Rohan is a Superhero who fought wars for the il’Drach Empire.  But now he is done fighting wars and lives on an Ancient space station hauling spaceships into port (by flying to them with his super powers and pulling them in himself).  It’s a simple life, and throughout the novel we come to understand why it’s the life he has chosen for himself.

The book doesn’t so much have an ongoing plot, as a series of events that Rohan must deal with (This aspect of the novel reminds me of Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet).  These events allow us to meet many interesting characters and species, and provide some incredible action set pieces.  But the charm of the book comes from Rohan and his sarcastic, witty, never taking himself too seriously outlook on life.  Rohan is a joy to be around, and a wonderful character to explore the world (or system as it were) through. 

I’ve already added book 2 to my Kindle Library and will be continuing the series in the not too distant future. 

Felan’s Rescue is available in Ebook form (and Kindle Unlimited), AudiobookHardback, and Paperback!

The Descendants of Prontoth is available as an Ebook (and Kindle Unlimited), Audiobook, hardback and paperback!

Seventh Contact is now available!

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