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Zephyr #1

Zephyr: Phase One

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Alternate Cover Edition can be found here

Zephyr tells the story of a major, if somewhat jaded superhero in an alternate universe where New York City has been abandoned and the Beatles were a superhero team. Zephyr is a regular guy with massive powers, but it's easy to wonder if his life might have been better without them as supervillains and other problems that only superhumans can deal with derail his efforts handling life.

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2012

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Warren Hately

30 books31 followers

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5 stars
50 (25%)
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60 (30%)
3 stars
45 (23%)
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23 (11%)
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17 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for C.T. Phipps.
Author 86 books641 followers
January 19, 2017
Zephyr is one of, if not the, best superhero books I've read in the past five years. It's not going to be for everyone but it is definitely up my alley and has a smart Transmetropolitan-style feel which combines the absolutely insane with the mundane in a way that feels both subversive as well as cool.

The book stars Zephyr, the world's perhaps 3rd or 4th most famous heroes. He's a big deal, don't get me wrong, and plugged into the world's celebrity culture. However, he's jaded, cynical, and depressed. He also has a terrible home life with a wife who has come to view his superheroism with less pride and more understated shame.

This definitely feels like an adult Warren Ellis-esque comic with Zephyr's world being one where superheroes are stalked by the paparazzi, get in sex scandals, and are genuinely more likely to embarrass themselves than inspire you. Despite this, they live in a world with such Silver Age antics as renegade Greek God robots and banks which uproot themselves to attack people.

I happen to like Zephyr, himself, because despite the fact his every other thought is about how much he dislikes the people around him--he's a surprisingly heroic guy. He spends his days going out into society and rescuing them from horrific danger for almost no reward. You actually manage to feel bad for a world-famous guy with his own toy deal because he gets no respect at home despite all the lives he saves.

The world-building really manages to sell this is our planet but gone in a very odd direction. A lot of the changes don't make much sense in a literal way but underscore how just BIZARRE this planet and it's life is. For example, the star of the movie Troy and one of Hollywood's top buff A-list actors is Macaulay Culkin (of Home Alone fame).

Some readers may be put off by the fact there's a subplot involving Zephyr's pre-teen daughter being expelled from an all-girl's school for her homosexuality (which her mother is decidedly not supporting her through). Also, the fact Zephyr has a lesbian pair of mothers but is deeply uncomfortable with the idea anyone thinking he's gay himself. It's the kind of thing which many readers may not find entertaining but isn't played for laughs. Zephyr, himself, is supportive of his daughter even though he's flawed. This is a bizarre R-rated superhero novel with lots of sex, oddball encounters, and cool. I think people who like that sort of thing will love this book. I know I did.
Profile Image for Leo McBride.
Author 21 books112 followers
September 23, 2018
This book seems to be pretty heavily promoted on Amazon - but I heartily suggest before you consider buying you use the Look Inside feature.

Straight away you plunge into a stream of consciousness of a character busily swearing, checking out other characters' breasts and butts, and name checking celebrities in a fairly implausible way - "Eric Clapton goes past and high fives me and then immediately makes a face aghast like he mistook me for someone else".

The story is a superhero one - but set in a more real world environment. How would our world react if superheroes really existed? And what would those heroes be like in a world which would fete them as celebrities, even with their personality flaws?

It all reads like some weird wish fulfillment fantasy - and not a pleasant one at that. For example, early on, the hero uses a static electricity power to make the nipples of girls at a party harden. Really.

Now if this is your kind of thing, then hey, the look inside will prepare you for it. If that's for you, go for it. It wasn't for me.

Throw in the cover looking like it's riffing off the far superior Zenith comic book and the whole thing is a package that I wish I'd left on the shelf.

Profile Image for Ben Mariner.
Author 18 books82 followers
February 6, 2017
Well the concept of this book had me interested, but it was too much. I only got about 1/3 of the way in. Zephyr is incredibly foul mouthed and while I'm in no way a prude and will curse like a sailor, I felt like it had no purpose in this book other than to just be there. And the excessive celebrity name dropping was kind of the same. It all really distracted me from the story itself, so I wasn't able to keep going.
Profile Image for Nthato Morakabi.
Author 5 books20 followers
December 6, 2016
When I saw Warren Hately promote Zephyr somewhere on the social media space, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the book. The cover image at first glance looked like a black and white version of the Joker, which I must admit was what drew me to it. Also, he was giving Zephyr kindle edition away for free on Amazon, and well… free stuff. Zephyr.

As a comic book reader, I was yet to read a novel type version of the same genre. The beauty of comic books is in seeing the colourful characters come to life in vivid detail, facial expressions more expressive than words, action sequences spanning across the panels with exaggerated font detailing the action. I must admit that I had no problem imagining the world and characters in Zephyr with the same amount of detail. The description is just as vivid, bringing Warren Hately’s world to life in my mind. I loved this about his writing style.

A unique set of characters exist across the story. Bearing in mind that superheroes are as ubiquitous as the skyscrapers they destroy, it is not an uncommon sight to see the costumed crusaders in the day to day happenings of life. Which sets a unique world for the story. Considering that powers are quite common, many of the celebrities are super powered beings; villains and heroes. The law knows they exist and do what they can to assist them. Newspapers and glamour magazines write-up about these heroes like celebrities and in essence that’s exactly what they are. The world-building was weaved into the story so the world felt real, factual. Nothing seemed out of place even though it was an alternate history and world. One where the Beatles were an influential band and a famous superhero team… perhaps more?

Zephyr himself is supposedly another run-of-the-mill hero but really he’s not. The situations that occur and how he handles them, the villains and the heroes involved, show a much more intricate character. He’s also trying to balance his life as a hero and life as a father and husband, which has it’s own complications. Let’s nor forget the friends in his life, human and super, who add their own complications to an already conflicted man. Zephyr is not the great moral being we want to be, the Superman of our souls, but instead he is the human condition exacerbated by powers. If we were granted these unique and amazing abilities, how much of them would we use for personal gain and how much for the good of others? Would we turn to heroes or villains? Why? How would those around us be affected by our abilities? At what great lengths would we go to save our families and keep them from the dangers that come with being related to a super? And let’s not mention the big reveal right at the end. Zephry as a character is real.

And then it get’s weird. I mean really weird. I had quite a few “What is this!?” moments. And Zephyr has a mouth on him. I love his humour and his sarcasm (who doesn’t like a little wit with their punches) and sometimes he just says what he’s thinking without filter. The villains aren’t so villainous as they are desperate, and human. It’s easy to see a villain as a bad guy who doesn’t care, but Warren Hately paints humanity into some of them that is real. And then the others, the main villains who propel the story forward… well you just have to read this novel to understand the fear that it invokes within me.

Overall a really great intro novel to the world of Zephyr.
12 reviews
July 17, 2013
This is an intriguing deconstruction of the superhero concept. Zephyr isn't Tony Stark or Peter Parker - a genius whose upbringing somehow "prepares" him to be a superhero. He's the one-in-a-million working class Everyman who does something stupid, but receives god-like superpowers instead of getting killed. In his (our) celebrity obsessed world, he's a rock star. But he's also trying to manage a secret identity as a husband and father. Much of the story illustrates the difficulty (and absurdity) of maintaining this lifestyle on a day-to-day basis. All this in a different but recognizable alternate universe makes for an enjoyable story that has me very interested in the sequel.
Profile Image for James Ellis.
489 reviews9 followers
June 16, 2020
"[A]ll the so-called heroes and villains of this book will look up and shout 'READ ME!'...and I'll look down and whisper 'No.'” [With all due apologies to Alan Moore]

I will occasionally enjoy a book or series with an anti-hero protagonist or worse (Lord Foul's Bane and The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story come immediately to mind), but... no.

I found nothing redeeming about the protagonist of Zephyr: Phase One and abandoned the book midway through.
Profile Image for Derek.
10 reviews
January 16, 2019
Being a hero is hard, but not as hard as being a dad and good husband.

Meet Zephyr, one of the nation's most revered super heroes. He's not alone in the tights game (he prefers leather), but he likes to handle things solo after a botched attempt at a super group. When he's not saving the city, partying with celebs and other supes, he's an unemployed dad to a teenage girl and husband to a successful business woman. This first tale of our less-than-perfect protagonist takes us through the trials of keeping a secret identity from your own flesh and blood, while dodging witchcraft, thrown cars, and other worldly entities. This is a fun, upbeat test sarcastic take on the superhero genre that will have you clamoring for the next title in the series.
Profile Image for Matthew Avant.
12 reviews
April 12, 2019
Fun superhero fiction, with a hint of Chuck Klosterman

Irreverent and fun, although the protagonist is somewhat unsympathetic at times (but I guess that's part of the point of capepunk). The mixing of superhero celebs and distorted parallel versions of our own (e.g. A Richard Gere / Tom Cruise couple) make for an amusing game of trying to match up events across timelines. The first person narration feels no need to explain itself, and is consequently filled with blink-and-you'll-miss-it riffs on American and British pop culture that never get explained. I'm sure I've missed most of them myself.
Read it if you liked both Watchmen and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.
Profile Image for Carl.
Author 13 books9 followers
September 6, 2019
My love of all things Superhero is legendary (to those who know me anyway) so when I saw this I thought I would give it a go, the eye catching cover reminiscent of one of my favourite UK superheroes.
The story was very good and the hero Zephyr was a well rounded if not very likeable at the beginning- a hero with attitude and a big ego.
The supporting cast were excellent, lots of other heroes and villains with excellent names and powers born from a brilliant imagination.
Really enjoyed the twists and turns of the story, fantastic characterisation and a well created alternate earth vibe.
Please read this, it's brilliant!!
Profile Image for Ken Reed.
86 reviews
March 24, 2019
Definitely not for the four color hero fan. Bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and a whole lot of assholes. Is this a picture of what the reality of folks with powers would be or is it a nightmare? I don’t know. Best keep reading.
4,394 reviews18 followers
August 17, 2020
First in a new superhero series.

Freebie. Not suitable for children. Covers quite a bit of background material. An alternative world where different people have lived and died and gained superpowers.
November 12, 2022
Permanent Roster

In my opinion Warren Hately could write about anything and make it a novel worth reading. This book touches on the shadow world beyond our reach and the gifted individuals that are able to transend both.
October 27, 2019
I liked the book as I also read comic books and manga. What I didn't like was all the sex and drugs without the rock and roll.
Profile Image for Hayley.
39 reviews12 followers
September 28, 2013
Review copied from my blog http://ineedthatbook.blogspot.com

Finally a superhero story for grown ups! There's the super powers, the villains, the slightly ambiguous in betweens (I'm having to really try to avoid spoilers in this review). We get to see our hero Zephyr deal with the press and trying to keep his normal identity secret which isn't something comics really touch on too much. Warren Hately also manages to include all the battles and plots that comic readers tend to love, there seems to be something going on around every corner, I really feel for the poor normal people living in that world who have to deal with all the supercharged criminals without any powers of their own.

There's a fair bit of adult content in this, well I'm not sure how to describe it, novel? comic? so even though it's great and at certain points quite witty writing I would avoid letting children or anyone a bit on the prudish side read it.

The idea that Zephyr is a veteran in the superhero world at just 35 is quite an interesting point, especially in the youth obsessed world we live in ourselves where older celebrities tend to get less press. Though really it’s more likely that he’s a veteran because of how dangerous the superhero world is, I mean how many of us would survive in a world where people can control pretty much any element I could easily see myself accidentally injuring myself with my own powers if they were decent ones.

Anyway to cut away from the weird rambling in the last paragraph I'm seriously recommending this book to someone who likes the whole superhero thing, you don’t even have to be the greatest fan. I've never read a ‘proper comic’ and most of my superhero experience comes from films like The incredibles or Batman and I really enjoyed this book.
Profile Image for Alan Hardy.
Author 27 books127 followers
August 23, 2013
Set in Atlantic City in 2011, this is a fast-moving, tongue-in-cheek, comic-book world of superheroes flying through the skies, who, when they have time to relax, mix with other iconic figures or celebrities, such as movie stars, and even the Mafia. They carry out their superhuman, publicity-seeking exploits in the full glare of the television cameras, to the extent that they begin to feel the need for agents to promote their public images in the most effective ways possible. The electronically-charged Zephyr, administering thunderbolts to his array of adversaries, who became a supercharged hero when struck by lightning, himself narrates the brilliantly-depicted succession of frenetic incidents and titanic struggles. At times he needs to break off from such world-saving endeavours to pay attention to more mundane domestic issues, or chores even, such as a nagging wife or a teenage daughter beginning to flex her sexual muscles. Mind you, later revelations as to the superhuman nature of his daughter, and indeed his mother, round off this clever fusion of familial concerns with the graphically-conceived world of comic-book monsters and heroes. Warren Hately writes smoothly and evocatively, able to blend together the gut-wrenching combats, the contrasts, the pathos and the sheer mesmerising thrills that constitute this whirlwind of action and conflict. And don’t worry. The story rises to a rousing, identity-challenging crescendo of a finale that will leave you gasping for more…and there is more. Check out the next two books in the series. If you have any breath left.
Profile Image for Stephen Brophy.
Author 7 books34 followers
February 10, 2014
I would really like to rate this more of a 3.5, and if it weren't for the fact that I think it needed a good proofread before publication, I'd probably rate it higher. It's a little all over the place plot wise, but I will say that Hately's book is one of the most ambitious I've read in the superhero prose genre. He's going for something literary in his pastiche, not just simple satire or straightforward adventure. The main character, Zephyr, is definitely the familiar sort I'd call the relatable asshole, a likable if morally dubious wiseass with a good heart, bad luck and a wandering eye. He does a great job of combining fantastically over-the-top comic book action sequences (an early sequence has the heroes taking on a living building as it stalks through the city) with the everyday mundanities of a guy who's chronically underemployed, is a so-so father and a pretty terrible husband and can't keep his life together even as he manages to miraculously survive outrageous situations time and again. I'll definitely check out the next in the series and see where Hately takes it.
Profile Image for Neil Stenton.
Author 2 books1 follower
August 18, 2014
If you like your superheroes all grown up then this is for you. If you like Alan Moore's 'Watchmen' then you'll like this too, it's in a similar vein with hints of noir about it, wise cracking one liners, great action sequences and twisting plot

It's set in a world not unlike our own, in/around Atlantic City, where superheroes and supervillians live amongst us and try to survive the constant media circus and one upmanship as they fight to keep in the spotlight. Zephyr, our hero, has his own struggles - of the family variety and he has to manage these as well as keep his 'star' alight.

There's surprises/twists along the way and the odd minor, and major, celebrity pops up from time to time.

The good news is this is the first of a series, so the story carries on. Definately worth trying for superhero crime.
Profile Image for Sean Duggan.
139 reviews2 followers
January 20, 2017
I picked this one up for free one of the times it was offered on Amazon. I have mixed feelings on it. I almost put it down in the first chapters, because Zephyr comes off as such an unlikable character and the general theme of the book seemed to be that superheroes were inherently jerks constantly indulging in excess. It got better. We find out that the constant grind of saving people with little compensation is a large part of why Zephyr is how he is, and he suffers in his personal life as well, estranged from his wife and daughter, because of how much work he does as a superhero and how often he comes home exhausted and beaten-down, and simply unable to connect.

This book did not entice me to buy the rest of the series, but for anyone reading it, it does get better after those first few chapters.
1 review
February 8, 2017
A fun read, though the story meandered a bit and the typographical errors were distracting. I'd give the next book in the series a go.
Profile Image for Rich.
17 reviews
May 24, 2014
Not what I was expecting and the more I read the better it got. It felt jumbled and rushed in spots, but overall it was a good read. I love the idea of supers having celebrity status and hobnobbing with the elite. It's definitely not your typical superhero story.
Profile Image for Daniel Ace.
227 reviews37 followers
October 9, 2014
I was very impressed with this first book in the series. It's a challenge establishing a new universe in a series but Zephyr is an interesting real world superhero. Looking forward to more in the series.
8 reviews
August 30, 2015
ABSOLUTE GEM. I'm not picky about editing. It's the story I'm after and Zephyr delivers and more. Tired or the same old goody two-shoes or angst-driven cry baby, then turn to Zephyr for a pleasant surprise. Reads like a movie with tons of cool lines. Zephyr's an unpolished gem of a read.
1 review
August 6, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

It added more layers of real life to a world where super powered heroes and villains exist. I especially liked the husband and father elements in the story.
Profile Image for C.a. Anderson.
Author 10 books68 followers
October 7, 2016
In an alternate reality super heroes are celebrities with private lives and everyday problems. Zephyr tries to balance out fighting crime with his home life, neither are easy for him. Enjoyable fast pace story with Interesting characters.
Profile Image for Nathan.
4 reviews
October 19, 2013
Enjoyed the book although still not sure about the last part of the book when it is done as Joesph.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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