9 Books to Keep Your Wonder Woman Buzz Going

Fallout, by Gwenda Bond
It takes guts, drive, and verve to stand up to the strongest man on Earth, and if there’s anyone in the DC universe who can do it, it’s Wonder Woman—but in line right behind her? Lois Lane. No, she doesn’t have superpowers, but she is super smart, and savvy, and resourceful, and in this YA-targeted series launch, she’s a new transplant in Metropolis, ready to take the city—and high school—by storm. Her first task is fighting back against a group of bullies harassing another girl at school, targeting her via the immersive video game they all play. Using all of her skills, and her new status as the school paper’s hotshot reporter, Lois will save the day. We always knew she was better at her job than that doofus Clark Kent.

At the Table of Wolves, by Kay Kenyon
Kim Tavistock, the star of Kay Kenyon’s forthcoming novel, is one of a new breed of humans who developed paranormal talents following tumult of the Great War. Her talent is particularly Wonder Wonder Woman-esque: she has the ability to draw out the truths that people are most keen to hide. In 1936, with Germany again on the rise, she’s a test subject at a secret British facility whose head might be a spy for the fascists. Though she’s uniquely qualified to uncover the truth, she’s soon drawn into a world of espionage for which she has no experience or training. She’s also confronted by the real possibility that her own father might be among the fashionable aristocrats in sympathy with the Nazi party. The period splits the difference between Wonder Woman’s WWII origins on the page and the Great War setting of the new movie, with a hero who shares attributes with both Diana and Agent Carter.

Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor
A young woman sets off into the broader world from her secretive, isolated community. Though she’s among the most accomplished of her people, her family resists her impulse to explore for fear of the influence of outsiders. With advanced technology so mysterious as to be almost magical, her journey brings her face to face with an intractable enemy whom she doesn’t defeat but, instead, communicates with to reach an accord that puts an end to a bloody conflict. It’s there that Binti might do Wonder Woman one better: the title character is a member of an African ethnic group accepted to a competitive intergalactic university. On the way, her transport is attacked by the Meduse, a seemingly vicious alien race whose reign of terror ends not with a battle but with new understanding. To equate masculinity with violence is overly simplistic, but Binti represents a Wonder Woman-like paradigm in dealing with the aggressors: whenever possible, make peace. (The fearsome Meduse are reminiscent of Wonder Woman’s occasional adversary, the mythical Medusa, and there’s a great deal about the importance of clay. I’m sure those bits are entirely coincidental, but there are a lot of thematic similarities.)

The Just City, by Jo Walton
Like Binti, Jo Walton’s trilogy proves a woman doesn’t have to be a fighter to be a wonder woman. Diana’s own patrons, the Greek gods, are the catalysts for this story in which Athene forms what she hopes will be a perfect city (on a remote Mediterranean island, no less) inspired by Plato’s Republic. Simmea is one of the 10,000 children plucked from throughout history in order to live out her life as part of Athene’s experiment, and ultimately proves herself to be the best representative of the platonic ideal. And, as the city’s stated democratic ideals begin to give way to old habits of patriarchy, she’s the loudest and strongest voice standing against the backsliding.

The Immortals, by Jordanna Max Brodsky
Without spoiling the new movie too much, there have been a few different spins (pun intended) on Diana’s origins since she first appeared over 75 years ago. In the more traditional version, she was given life by the gods at the behest of her mother, Hippolyta. More recently, the idea has been that she is actually the secret daughter of the union of Zeus and the Amazon queen. Whether Diana is literally divine, or divine-adjacent, is open to interpretation, but this urban fantasy will appeal best to fans who like the idea of Wonder Woman has a true part of the pantheon. The lead character calls herself Selene DiSilva, but that name is merely a modern cover for her for her true identity: she’s actually the venerated Artemis, now living in New York City. She’s come out of seclusion in order to defend abused women from the men who’ve taken advantage of them, often violently. Wonder Woman might not approve of her methods, but she couldn’t argue with the cause.

Six-Gun Snow White, by Catherynne M. Valente (with Charlie Bowater)
Catherynne M. Valente has written some fabulously entertaining, proudly feminist works, including The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and the recent deconstruction of women’s roles in the comics, The Refrigerator Monologues. Here, she translates the story of Snow White to the old west, and adding cruel irony to her name, in that she’s the daughter of a Crow woman and the white silver baron who forced their marriage. The origin of Wonder Woman repurposed Greek myths and cultural tropes to create something new, and Valente does a similar trick with this particular fairy tale, adding new context and layers. The book hews closely to the Grimm Brothers version to a point; from there, Snow reclaims her own narrative agency from the boys who’ve been telling her story over the centuries.

Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone
Diana’s Themiscyra is an island over which the gods of old cast a deep shadow. Aphrodite serves as an often-absent patron, but their vanquishing of the demi-god Hercules created the conditions for their society. Max Gladstone’s beloved Craft Sequence similarly involves a world in which the gods were all but cast out by human masters of a magic that they call the Craft, leading to a workaday world not unlike our own, but with a lot more magic. The God Wars freed mankind, but left scars, and plenty of people are still bound by the old laws. Three Parts Dead begins the series (well, sort of: the books can be read in any order), and tells the story Tara Abernathy, an associate Craftswoman and her boss Elayne Kevarian, who are tasked with investigating the potential murder of the god Kos, without whom the infrastructure of Alt Coulumb will collapse. There’s less butt-kicking and patriarchy-busting in this one, but it’s got a diverse cast lead by several powerful women.

Heroine Complex, by Sarah Kuhn
Here’s a book that celebrates heroines in all their forms. Evie Tanaka lives in the shadow of Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend who also happens to be the superhero protector of San Francisco. Which is fine—Evie likes being a personal assistant, and she’s damn good at it (even if she could use a little help managing her own life, including caring for her younger sister). If you’re seeking a frame of reference, think of her as real Etta Candy type. But when circumstances require Evie to fill in for Aveda during a public appearance, it comes out that Evie has superpowers too—and an imminent demonic invasion just might force her to don the mantle of the heroine she always was. In the sequel, this summer’s Heroine Worship, Aveda realizes she’s feeling a loss of direction after agreeing to share the spotlight with the newly empowered Evie, and decides to reassert her sense of secret identity by throwing Evie a smashing wedding—a task that becomes harder when a supernatural force begins targeting brides-to-be. Evie and Aveda are both flawed and heroic in equal measure, and it that way, they inspire us to be the heroes of our own lives.

Warbringer, by Leigh Bardugo
Last, but certainly not least: if you’re really looking to keep your Wonder Woman buzz going, you could do worse than to pick up a book actually starring Diana Prince. Warbringer, from YA bestseller Leigh Bardugo, features the young Amazon princess alongside Alia, a seemingly normal girl who is also a descendent of Helen of Troy. Alia learns that she’s destined to herald a global age of bloodshed and war, and finds herself hunted by those who want either to destroy or to possess her. Luckily, she’s got Diana of Themiscyra on her side. There’s also a movie novelization from Nancy Holder, as well as a young-reader adaption from Steve Korte.
Who’s your next Wonder Woman?