Birds of Prey – DC Comics
The resident female characters of Gotham City are among my
favorite in all of fiction. No “Batman” book has ever captured the sense of empowerment
embodied by the woman of the Dark Knight’s city than the early 2000s run of “Birds
of Prey”, written by Gail Simone and penciled by Ed Benes.
The influence on "Caitlin Star"?
There is little bit of all the Gotham girls in "Caitlin Star",
especially Black Canary, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy from an anti-hero's perspective.
Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our
Ancestors
“Before the Dawn” by Nicholas Wade is a furious and
fascinating page turner that I could not get enough of. It is a non-fiction
science book that attempts to solve the mysteries of human prehistory,
especially the lost years between the exodus of modern humans out of Africa
50,000 years ago until the beginnings of recorded human history and urbanized
civilization roughly 5000 years ago.
The influence on "Caitlin Star"?
The scientific discoveries reported on in this book were a
major launching pad for the pre-history timeline and Bull Mongoni mythology of the “CaitlinStar” series.
“Shadows of the Empire” by Steve Perry
This book excels at world-building just as much as it does
characters. The setting is richly detailed, a vast underworld of the "Star
Wars" universe hinted at in the final act of "Empire" and the
opening set-piece in "Jedi" and fully explored here in an
irresistible fashion by author Steve Perry.
At its core, "Shadows of the Empire" is an epic
gangster story that makes fantastic use of the most interesting period in all
of the "Star Wars", the time between "Empire" and
"Jedi".
The influence on "Caitlin Star"?
Brak the Barbarian by John Jakes
First published in 1968 at the amid a torrid Frank
Frazetta/Robert E. Howard inspired sword and sorcery boom that lasted right up into
the early 1980s, this John Jakes “Conan” rip off is a glorious pulp masterwork
in its own right.
What sets the “Brak” series apart from other Conan posers is
John Jakes himself. He is a fantastic storyteller and a brilliant craftsman who
writes visually and has a keen sense of pacing. There is a reason all of those
historical novels of his (“The Bastard”, “North and South”, etc.) sold by the
tens of millions. The guy can flat out write great fiction.
The influence on "Caitlin Star"?
The vivid, colorful prose, the visceral physicality, and the
attitude.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The original dystopian, big brother, social commentary
satire novel that often gets overshadowed by "1984" and the rest of
the recently re-surging genre. I first read this book in an eighth grade
literature class. I was blown by away it then and still love it today.
The influence on "Caitlin Star"?
The idea of a society where the powers to be (be it state, corporate
or otherwise), want to impose their own perverted sense of moral superiority on others in
order to control them.
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