Charles Soule ranks highly on my list of comics writers because (1) he’s a fellow attorney and (2) he wrote the criminally underrated “She-Hulk” run of a few years ago. I’m not the only Soule fan – Marvel had enough faith in the guy to let him write Wolverine’s death. His creator-owned series “Letter 44” is an interesting blend of politics and sci-fi, sort of like Brian K Vaughan’s genre-bending Ex Machina. A Kindle deal popped up in my inbox with Soule’s book, so of course I bought it immediately. While I enjoyed Soule’s novel, it wasn’t exactly ground-breaking, and the characters felt a little too cardboard for me to give much of a heartfelt recommendation. Maybe check out his “She-Hulk” run instead, which is smart and provides some fun courtroom drama.
But, here we are on The Oracle Year. Will is a struggling bassist in NYC. Insultingly to me, Will is described as good by Austin standards, but not NYC standards (don’t mess with Texas, Soule). For reasons unknown to Will, he has a dream in which he receives dozens of predictions about the future. He notices that some of them…come true. This is kind of like Stephen King’s The Dead Zone, except the protagonist is a guy who probably wears pearl snap shirts, has a well-groomed beer, and loves craft brews and talking about how Interpol was better than The Strokes ever hoped to be. Will sets up a website (“The Site”), and occasionally posts predictions. Is this good or bad, and how do rich people and the government feel about someone predicting the future? You can probably guess.
The book is a fun airport read (and it’s FREE right now for Prime readers), but again, read “She-Hulk”!