Hard to beat one of the best movies ever created though
Are you referring to Akira here? If so, we have wildly differing opinions.
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In the vein of "Stuff I'm reading", I have been
voraciously tearing through the web series
Worm. The protagonist is Taylor, a 15-year-old girl in a parallel Earth where superpowers exist. She develops powers of her own (unbeknownst to anyone else, secret identities are a very big thing in this universe), which manifest as controlling any and all bugs in the area (range varies depending on the circumstances). She has dreams of becoming a superhero, which doesn't go entirely as intended; on her first time out using her powers in a "heroic" sense, she succeeds in taking down a particularly powerful local supervillian. However, another group of supervillains mistakes her for a new, solo villain, and they promptly invite her to join their group (since she inadvertently saved their asses). She agrees, in the secret hopes she'll gather valuable info she can feed to the local hero group to secure herself a place among their members. Although you quickly learn that things aren't so black and white as "good vs evil". There are some real stand-up "villains", some morally bankrupt "heroes", and a few who aren't easily categorized.
Superhero novels are
not typically my thing, but the author is a phenomenal writer, crafting a supremely engaging cast, in a world that artfully manages to suspend disbelief, despite the physics-breaking supernatural powers so many of the characters possess. Much of the story is spent in the minds of the characters, rather than just the "pew-pew, LASERBLAST" aspect (although there is a lot of that, and
very creatively utilized). It also touches on some pretty dark themes on occasion. Definitely not all sunshine and rainbows.
A few things to note:
A - It's
not a book, it's an online web series. Which is great for me, as most of my reading lately I do on my phone.
B - It's free to read.
C - There's a LOT of content. Approximately 1,680,000 words. For comparison, the entirety of the
A Song of Ice and Fire series is 1,736,054 words. And this guy wrote it in two years.
Anyway, I recommend this series 150%. It's well-written, it's the most creative use of powers I've seen, and it's addictive as hell. I can't stop.