Blog Tour: Review/Giveaway/Chattin' It Up
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The Legion of Nothing: Rebirth
Amazon | GoodReads
Author: Jim Zoetewey
Publisher: 1889 Labs Ltd. (July 22, 2012)
Genre: YA, Superhero, 254 pages
ASIN: B008NYGG8A
SUMMARY:
"You may kill somebody today. We won't think anything less of you for it."
Nick Klein's grandfather was the Rocket.
For three decades, the Rocket and his team were the Heroes League--a team of superheroes who fought criminals in the years after World War II.
But Nick and his friends have inherited more than their grandparents' costumes and underground headquarters... they've inherited the League's enemies and unfinished business.
In the 1960's, Red Lightning betrayed everyone, creating an army of supervillains and years of chaos. The League never found out why.
Now, Nick and the New Heroes League will have no choice but to confront their past.
MY REVIEW:
The grandchildren of famous superheroes decide to take over and rid the world of all the evil. Taking it under themselves to be vigilantes and work their way from stopping petty theft's to fighting well known villain's will prove a bit difficult but not impossible for this young group of Superheroes.
I absolutely loved this book. Now, I was willing to give this book a try because I love me some superheroes but this was totally out of the genres I usually read in. Who doesn't love teen superheroes? Come on, I know you watch Teen Titan! Kick ass superheroes with some equally kick ass powers? I'm in! We're first introduced to Nick who's talking with Daniel and Cassie about making their rounds around the neighborhood. From there, everything picks up and goes into SUPERHERO mode, of course. All these kids are still in school and they balance their school life and their secret life (because no one can know who they are! DUH!!) really well. Seriously, Nick has a curfew to keep and fighting crime past 10 o'clock is a no-no!
I liked that the superheroes were teenagers and that they were just starting to get their group back together and work out a system to fight crime. Coming into their prime and bonding together as a team to fight crime and evil is really something else. I also liked (despite my big romantic heart) that there was little to no romance in this book. What I didn't like was the big scene skips. I think it might just be me though, I prefer to read books that flow nice and easy. This one had a few bumps but nothing major. I feel like the book spanned a good few months from beginning to end. But, overall, I think this book was freakin' awesome.
I would definitely recommend this book. If you love yourself some superheroes and love books with action, then this book is for you. This book is definitely action-packed and a page turner that will leave you satisfied and wanting more by the time you flip to the last page.
RATING:
Ana: Welcome to Beach Bum Reads! I am super excited that you could join me today!
Zoetewey: Thanks. I'm glad you're interested in interviewing me.
Ana: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Zoetewey: Sure. I'm basically someone with lots and lots of interests, some of which actually earn me money. I've worked as a web developer and technical support person for the most part. I'm trained in programming computers, but have experience in setting up computer networks and fixing problems in computers.
I'm also trained in writing and analyzing surveys, statistics, theology, reading Hebrew & Greek, and have an interest in history—both ancient and modern.
I enjoy reading comics, science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. I also enjoy writing.
Oh, I also play bass guitar—really, really badly.
Ana: What was the first book that got you into reading?
Zoetewey: I don't even remember the name, but I can describe it a little. In second grade, one of my teachers read a book about bear cubs. I later remember getting it out of the library myself, reading the whole thing through in an afternoon, and deciding I enjoyed it and doing a lot more reading after that.
Like Legion of Nothing, it was a coming of age story, but in that case, it had bears.
That said, the earliest books I remember loving and that I can name are C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Ana: What/who inspired you to become a writer?
Zoetewey: For me there wasn't ever a moment of inspiration. I've enjoyed reading for most of my life, and I tend to assume that if someone else can learn a skill, I can do it too. I don't assume that I'll be able to do it well, but l do assume I can figure out the basics.
I tend to reflexively analyze anything I'm involved in. While reading, I tend to notice patterns in how plots work out, the techniques used to make characters feel real, and things like that. When I feel like I understand something, I often want to try it.
As a result, wanting to write has been a constant in my life. For much of my life though, what I've lacked is a reason to sit down and write. A few years ago, I started posting sections of the Legion of Nothing online. People read it, and I found the regular schedule forced me to be more consistent about my writing. The result though, is that I've written five novels (almost) of Legion of Nothing. Now, the first has actually gone out to a wider audience than people who read my blog.
Ana: Is there anything you would like to say to aspiring writers around the world?
Zoetewey: Don't aspire—write. In the end, that's what matters. Writers tend to idealize writing, and some expect it to be easier than it actually is. I tend to think of it as hard work—enjoyable hard work, but it's still work.
The key point for any kind of work is to put yourself in a situation where you actually do the work, and do a good job at it.
Ana: I absolutely loved The Legion of Nothing! But, let’s pretend I didn’t read it for a minute. Can you tell us what it’s about?
Zoetewey: The nice thing is that that's surprisingly easy. Unintentionally, I came up with a very simple and easily explained idea: What if the grandchildren of superheroes decided to take up their grandparents' powers and identities?
Once it gets going, of course, it becomes more complicated than that. The original team's legacy lives on in many ways—a reputation to live up to, the odd leftover mystery or two, and the side effects of their attempts to keep their children and grandchildren safe.
Ana: Which character was the hardest for you to write and why?
Zoetewey: None of them were particularly hard to write in the sense of personality. In the sense of powers, Daniel was a little harder to handle. Basically, if you ever want something to remain secret for any length of time, you shouldn't have a telepath in the story.
I'm not willing to come up with a pile of artificial reasons he can't use telepathy in a certain spot in a story, so any time he'd logically use telepathy and succeed, I assumed that he would. As a result, there are a few points in the story where I had to assume Daniel would discover something that I otherwise might have left hidden for a while longer. That's not all bad, but it changes where the story goes.
Ana: If you were to have any superpower, what would it be and why?
Zoetewey: I've always liked telepathy. It tends to remove the ambiguity from people's actions. How often do people do something that makes you think, “Why did they do that? That makes no sense?” With telepathy, you'd know.
Of course there are problems with telepathy. First of all, you'd be invading people's privacy constantly. Second, I suspect that I'm probably happier not knowing exactly what some people think.Ana: Are you currently working on anything? Care to dish?Zoetewey: Well, I'm always working on the next Legion of Nothing novel. Soon I'll be the revising the second and third for publication. Unrelated to that, I've got a novel that I've been writing and revising since college. It's set in Holland, Michigan, the city I grew up in—which also happens to be the place where L. Frank Baum wrote a number of the Oz novels.
Hopefully I'll finish it one of these days.Ana: Okay, one last question…and I’ve gotta ask… Are you a beach bum?Zoetewey: It depends on what counts as a beach bum. I grew up in Holland, Michigan, a small city on the coast of Lake Michigan. I spent a lot of time at the beach as a teenager, but for me, the beach was the first step toward getting in the water. I spent more time sailing, swimming, water-skiing, and (sometimes) fishing than I ever spent on the beach.Ana: Thanks so much for stopping by! It was a real pleasure having you here today! Zoetewey: Thanks for having me, and I'm glad you enjoyed the first Legion of Nothing book. There will be a few more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jim Zoetewey grew up in Holland, Michigan, near where L Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz and other books in that series. Admittedly, Baum moved away more than sixty years before Jim was even born, but it's still kind of cool. He's a web developer, a religion and sociology major, and the author of the superhero series The Legion of Nothing. He's also not sure why he's writing this in the third person, but he's never seen an author bio written in first person and doesn't want to rock the boat.
FIND THE AUTHOR:
♥Website ♥1889 Labs ♥Facebook ♥GoodReads
