Author: T.J. Land
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 207 Pages
Category: Fantasy
At a Glance: A fun, villainous love story with some unexpected twists and a thoroughly enjoyable plot.
Reviewed By: Jennifer
Blurb: Being the most powerful superhero in the world can get lonely.
Ask the Golden Ranger. He’s still struggling to make friends after landing on Earth two years ago, even now that he’s become a member of the Remarkables. Humans are just so complicated, with their odd aversion to public nudity, their obsession with sex, and their temperamental genitals.
Thank goodness for his villains. Sure, they’re crooks and it’s his job to thwart them, but at least they offer him a chance for social interaction. And they’re all pretty cool, too, as villains go. Henry X has a gun that can fire anything from exploding bullets to robot bees, and he’s also got these incredible biceps and warm brown eyes – not that the Golden Ranger cares about stuff like that. Light Brigade can create holograms, plus he’s handsome and snarky and covered in tattoos – again, not that the Golden Ranger cares. The Sash can use his clothing as a weapon, which isn’t really fair seeing as how his slinky body would be an effective weapon all by itself. Which isn’t something the Golden Ranger cares about. At all.
It’s possible that the other Remarkables are right when they accuse the Golden Ranger of being a little too intrigued by his rogues gallery. But he thinks they’re just jealous. Even so, when they tell him that Henry X, Light Brigade and the Sash are working for someone who might be a threat to the whole city, the Golden Ranger knows he needs to learn the truth. And what better way to do that than by adopting a civilian disguise and getting to know his villains personally? It’s a brilliant plan. Nothing can go wrong.
Review: T.J. Land hits it out of the park again with another self-published book set in the same world as The Amateur. Another villainous love story, this one focuses on a different hero and his villains. And while I loved the first book, this one is even better.
The Golden Ranger is a hero who has come to Earth from another planet. Trying to prove himself to be a hero, he quickly finds himself tasked with his own regular nemeses, the villains Henry X, The Sash, and Light Brigade. Of course, he’s fond of them; they’re his villains, and they’re the first he battled after landing on this planet and becoming a hero.
While still trying to master some human activities—such as masturbation and sex—he realizes he needs to find out where the otherwise normal villains received their super-powered weapons. And as he gets closer to them as Noah, he discovers his own feelings for the trio are a bit more amorous than he had at first believed.
Told from the perspective of all of the characters, this book is hilarious and full of surprises. I loved each character for their personality and what they brought to the story. Moe as The Sash was my favorite. I always love quiet, brooding characters, and Moe is just that. He has more to his personality, though, and it takes a special person to bring it out. Then there’s Stu as Henry X. He seems pretty normal aside from his anything gun that shoots anything he can imagine. And Len, or Light Brigade, with his holographic discs that can conjure amazing images that throw normies and heroes alike into a panic whenever they’re enveloped by one. Though they do not team up with each other, they are all friends outside of being villains. Len and Moe even had a relationship at one point, and Len is interested in Stu. Except Stu seems to be into women, so there is that problem…
Noah is a genuinely funny character to read about. He talks to his parts out of confusion. Being an alien with a different anatomy and social system than humans, he is getting used to his constructed body, and the results are just hysterical at times. He is simultaneously innocent and perverted, and I loved it. The same with Moe. The two of them just seemed to go together so well.
Fans of The Amateur will see brief appearances from characters in that book. It’s enough to keep them fresh in the mind, and they are often present with hilarious results. Especially at the end. I laughed pretty hard in the final pages from Henry X’s way of dealing with Electric Eel.
This book can be read as a standalone, and it can also be read first. I highly recommend it either way. If you read the first one, please read this! If you haven’t, read either one first and then get the other. If you like superheroes and villains, you will not be disappointed!
And now, I wait and hope T.J. Land decides to write another villainous love story.
You can buy Good as Gold here:
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