Review & Contest: AFTER THE GOLDEN AGE by Carrie Vaughn

We all love the werewolf named Kitty and the Kitty Norville series, right? Author Carrie Vaughn has been releasing a number of non-Kitty books recently, including YAs like Discord's Apple and Steel, and last week a new fantasy, After the Golden Age, which is a salute of sorts to the golden age of superheroes--and what might come after. That's the one we're looking at today--and a contest at the end!

THE OFFICIAL BLURB: Can an accountant defeat a supervillain? Celia West, only daughter of the heroic leaders of the superpowered Olympiad, has spent the past few years estranged from her parents and their high-powered lifestyle. She’s had enough of masks and heroics, and wants only to live her own quiet life out from under the shadow of West Plaza and her rich and famous parents. Then she is called into her boss’ office and told that as the city’s top forensic accountant, Celia is the best chance the prosecution has to catch notorious supervillain the Destructor for tax fraud. In the course of the trial, Celia’s troubled past comes to light and family secrets are revealed as the rift between Celia and her parents grows deeper. Cut off from friends and family, Celia must come to terms with the fact that she might just be Commerce City’s only hope.

MY THOUGHTS: If you like Kitty (and even if, like me, you're not a big fan of superheroes), you'll love Celia West, the spectacularly non-superhero daughter of Captain Olympus and Flash. Talk about parent issues! This single-title book is breezy and fun to read, grabs you from Page One and doesn't let go. Vaughn is great at weaving Celia's conflict over her parental relationships with the main plot as the authorities try to bring down the Destructor. In a fit of teen rebelliousness, Celia had suffered Stockholm Syndrome after being kidnapped by the Destructor--then sided with him briefly against her parents. As a result, she gets caught  in the middle of the trial, in a very public way. There's even a little romance on the side with a police detective who might or might not be a pawn of his father the mayor.
     Beneath the kind of campy superhero theme is a story all about finding one's own way in the world, the legacy of family (good and bad), and the struggle of a young woman to find what makes her a superhero--even if it's being the world's best forensic accountant. 
     After wallowing in the dystopian fiction pool for a while, reading about Commerce City was great fun. No surprise here, but Carrie Vaughn should have another hit on her hands.

Want to win a copy of After the Golden Age? Tell me your favorite superhero! I must confess a fondness for Batman, but I can't tell you how much is the tights and how much is the Batmobile. Holy Contest, Batman--you know the drill: +1 for comment, +1 for blog follow, +1 for Twitter follow @Suzanne_Johnson, and +1 for Tweet or Retweet. Fly!


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