Natalie Zina Walschots Books In Order

Publication Order of Hench Books

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

Natalie Zina Walschots
Natalie Zina Walschots is a Canadian fiction and poetry author and game designer. Her poetry has won her several awards, including the IndieCade and the Robert Kroetsch Awards, among others. When she is not writing or developing games, Wlaschots sits on the Dames Making Games board, a platform that allows gender-marginalized and queer people to create their own games. She also participates in Nordic LARPS, reads speculative fiction, and loves watching horror movies in her free time. The talented author currently resides in Toronto and lives with her partner and their five cats.

Hench
Hench tells the story of Anna Tromedlov and her experiences with superheroes. Anna has been doing a boring job for a living. Being an office help for criminals is not any fun, and as a temp, this young lady is nothing but a cog in the wheel. The one time Anna gets a promising assignment, everything goes wrong, and she is left with bad injuries. Her boss also fires her, so she is both incapacitated and without an income. For some time, Anna feels nothing but anger for the so-called heroes who leave nothing but destruction in their wake. Through her accident, Anna realizes that these superheroes are not what they seem, and the bodies strewn at the accident scene are enough proof to show that these gods are not good for this world.

With injuries to heal and no job to sustain her, Anna is left with nothing but her internet research acumen. With just a little digging, she discovers that she is not the only one who has suffered at the hands of the superheroes. When others start paying attention to her research, Anna realizes that she is not as powerless as she thought. By making good use of her skills and using data to her advantage, she could manipulate and weaponize any information at her disposal. Before long, Ann lands a job as a Hench with a Supervillain. Here, she continues to tally the human cost that comes with the superheroes and shows how they wreck people’s lives.

Follow Anna as she works to make the world a better place. While it may seem that she has a problem with the superheroes, the truth is that she is just angry that these creatures do too much harm, yet the public is misguided to think that everything is okay. As she gets deeper into her job, Anna realizes that marketing is mostly the only difference between good and evil. Thanks to viral videos and social media, she could control how the superheroes appeared to the world. Anna makes use of her skills for the good of society, and she comes close to saving the world.

Hench is an intriguing story that every science fiction fan will love. Anna is an outstanding character, and it is incredible how much she is able to accomplish with no superpowers. The plot follows this young lady’s work highlighting some of the significant events that define her professional life. While Ann will be doing a lot to destroy the superheroes, it is incredible that this story doesn’t get too dark or depressing. There is some snarky humor, and the narration is done so well you will not want to stop once you start reading. This book is slightly over 400 pages, and the tension starts rising from the first page and doesn’t ease up until the end.

Doom
Doom is a collection of love poems directed to the Supervillains. These erotic and edgy poems investigate the bad boys in comic books using dense and highly technical language. The language not only makes them witty but also enhances their intimacy and tenderness. All the poems touch on the effects of abuse of power. Considering present case studies on villainy pathology, it is clear that misuse of power comes with far-reaching consequences, especially where matters of the heart are concerned. All this is done in an uncommon way making the poems stand out. The poems are nerdy yet erotic, and they are perfect if you are looking for something out of the ordinary.

Through this book, Walschots covers decades of outstanding comic characters starting with the likes of Dr. Doom, the Joker, and Magneto and ending with more recent characters like Omega Red and Bane. This makes the poems resonate with a wider group of comic lovers. Most of the poems are written in the first person. They are either done from the villain’s PoV or, at times, the semi-willing concubine. Aside from wording her poems in a way that keeps you glued to the pages, the author allows you space to fill some details through your imagination. If you have read about any of these superheroes, the author will make you look at things from a different and more interesting angle.

Walschots’ prowess is clear from her writing. It is amazing how the author imagines evil beings’ lives with superhuman abilities and makes you think about them in a totally different light. The tone is playful, meaning that these are not poems that you should take too seriously. They are fun poems that are sparsely worded, brief, and nearly epigrammatic. Most, if not all, the poems come with no punctuation, and this works great since they are short. They are titled according to the villain being discussed or using the realm of dominance.

Are you a comics lover or a fan of poems that are anything but ordinary? This book is for you. Doom delves deep into the world of superheroes, bringing them to life through words and showing how their love lives would be if they had any. Some of the poems may send you in search of the comics with the said superheroes, but you can be sure that you will enjoy every single one of them. It is safe to say that this poem collection is a work of genius. The author is obviously a nerd given her understanding of comics and superheroes, not to mention her way with words. This is a book worth reading if you like fun poetry.