"Some relationships are built on trust and mutual respect, others are built on using someone as a pawn in a game of global domination." Mild-mannered janitor and superhero fanboy Dave Johnson gets all his wishes at once when an alien symbiote gives him supernatural powers. But what's he to do with them? Follow the zany adventures of the clueless custodian as he fights crime and corruption while trying to keep his family together and avoid being sued for copyright infringement...
Tales of the Dim Knight (Adventures of Powerhouse)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Author
Tales of the Dim Knight began in 2004. Inspired by comedic superhero fare I watched growing up on programs such as The Tick and Darkwing Duck. My goal when I started writing the book was simple: Have fun with every superhero convention out there and then wrap it up in a nice and neat package. Thus I was able to play with concepts like team ups, secret identities, costumes, etc.
While we started with comedy, Tales of the Dim Knight has a thoughtful family story that runs through it. The nature of the story is episodic to recreate the fun of reading comic books or watching Saturday morning cartoons.
It's definitely a new approach to storytelling. However, as the critic Anton Ego observed at the end of Disney's hit cartoon Ratatouille after eating Rennie's delicious dish, "The new needs friends." So it is with Tales of the Dim Knight and I assure you this book will be more enjoyable and healthy than eating a plate of peasant food cooked by a rat.
I hope you enjoy Tales of the Dim Knight and be sure and check out the sequel, Fly Another Day which is also available on Amazon.
If you're a fan of characters like Captain America, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Superman, Batman, and even little old Underdog, you'll recognize references to them in this book. However, we ended up poking fun at some non-superhero concepts and entities such as the late great Crocodile Hunter, auto insurance, and self-help books.
While we started with comedy, Tales of the Dim Knight has a thoughtful family story that runs through it. The nature of the story is episodic to recreate the fun of reading comic books or watching Saturday morning cartoons.
It's definitely a new approach to storytelling. However, as the critic Anton Ego observed at the end of Disney's hit cartoon Ratatouille after eating Rennie's delicious dish, "The new needs friends." So it is with Tales of the Dim Knight and I assure you this book will be more enjoyable and healthy than eating a plate of peasant food cooked by a rat.
I hope you enjoy Tales of the Dim Knight and be sure and check out the sequel, Fly Another Day which is also available on Amazon.
--Adam Graham
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Dave dropped the mop into the bucket. Finally. He thought he'd never finish.
He pushed his janitor's cart back to the closet and dumped the dirty water down the drain, still feeling that same tug towards the vault, almost like the cylinder was calling him. But opening the crate would be a breach of trust. If anyone found out, he'd lose his job.
The chances of discovery were almost nil, though. The FBI came by maybe three times annually. The security guards were supposed to do rounds inside the warehouse, but hadn't in years. He could pry it open for a peek, nail it back, and nobody would know.
Yeah, one little peek. One little peek wouldn't hurt.
He grabbed a crowbar off the wall and tiptoed into the vault. Bingo. He pried open the crate and pulled out the cylinder. It seemed to pulsate in his hands.
Wow. Imagine the power it could give him. Instead of, "Today, three children died in a three-alarm fire," reporters would say, "Today, a Real Life Superhero rescued three children from a three-alarm fire."
Dave slid the cylinder up his arm. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. He didn't have time to fight an evil symbiote. He had a softball tournament on Sunday.
The world swirled around him. His stomach lurched, and he closed his eyes.
Once the dizziness subsided, he opened his eyes and gasped. A hundred yards away, a massive waterfall roared like the Boulder Dam, booming in time with his racing heartbeat. Six moons reflected in the waves lapping at his feet. Beside him, a neon orange tree shaped kind of like a curly fry grew bent over, as if bowing to the waterfall.
"Where am I?" Dave asked.
A purple light flashed, and a gray-skinned man at least eight feet tall appeared before the bowing curly fry tree. In his black armor and green cloak, the giant looked like he could snap Dave in half with his pinky. And Dave wore a 2XL in shirts.
He clapped. "Wow, can you do that again?"
The gray figure glared. "I am Zolgron, Champion of the Karonites, not a trained baboon. Fifteen hundred years ago, I was one of eight of my kind. We were a powerful race with strength and abilities far surpassing those of the common Gorlen.
"I resolved to make myself King of the Karonites, vanquish the champions of the seven other nations, and take their lands for my own. Before I even raised my hand to do this, the Creator seized me. He said he had made me and my brethren as guardians, not lords. He took a common, weak Gorlen and made him the new champion.
"As for me, he said I must learn a great lesson. Until I do, I can only empower others. I've had three thousand hosts on fifty planets. When I attach to a host, I become part of it. When the host dies, I live on, taking another form. My shape-changing ability is the one power he has left me."
Attach? Dave touched the arm the cylinder had attached to. "You're the cylinder?"
"That is the shape I took. I can be as tiny as a mouse or as large as a Doberman."
"How did you travel from planet to planet?"
Zolgron laughed. "Most of the galaxy has possessed the secret to space travel for six hundred years. And not to merely create something in space to fly up to in the ship you built so you can fly to the thing you created."
Huh? The International Space Station was cool. Then again, Zolgron was cooler. "So, with you attached to my arm, I get some great powers."
"You can run faster than one of your sports cars. You have the strength of a hundred ordinary humans, can change shapes, and materialize objects at will."
"Can I fly?" Dave flapped his arms.
"Not naturally. You could materialize a jet pack on your back, though."
"This is so cool!"
Zolgron buried his head in his hands. "Creator, have I learned the lesson yet?"
"Wait a second." Dave folded his arms. "How do I know you're not evil?"
"I'm neither good nor evil. I'm simply a tool to be used as my host sees fit, like one of your handguns."
"But guns are evil!"
Zolgron snorted. "Oh, one of those. Let me try this again. I'm like your mop. Your mop can be used for good or for evil."
Dave laughed, shaking his head. "How could mops be used for evil?"
Zolgron smiled. "Watch."
Seven mops appeared and bludgeoned Dave.
"Vile cleansing instruments, you shall not defeat me!" Dave karate chopped one of the mops, knocking it to the ground. He jumped in mid-air and decapitated another. He turned. Hundreds, no thousands of mops came at him from all sides, like a horror film shot in a cleaning supply store. He screamed like a cheerleader.
The world spun. Again his stomach lurched and he squeezed his eyes shut.
He pushed his janitor's cart back to the closet and dumped the dirty water down the drain, still feeling that same tug towards the vault, almost like the cylinder was calling him. But opening the crate would be a breach of trust. If anyone found out, he'd lose his job.
The chances of discovery were almost nil, though. The FBI came by maybe three times annually. The security guards were supposed to do rounds inside the warehouse, but hadn't in years. He could pry it open for a peek, nail it back, and nobody would know.
Yeah, one little peek. One little peek wouldn't hurt.
He grabbed a crowbar off the wall and tiptoed into the vault. Bingo. He pried open the crate and pulled out the cylinder. It seemed to pulsate in his hands.
Wow. Imagine the power it could give him. Instead of, "Today, three children died in a three-alarm fire," reporters would say, "Today, a Real Life Superhero rescued three children from a three-alarm fire."
Dave slid the cylinder up his arm. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. He didn't have time to fight an evil symbiote. He had a softball tournament on Sunday.
The world swirled around him. His stomach lurched, and he closed his eyes.
Once the dizziness subsided, he opened his eyes and gasped. A hundred yards away, a massive waterfall roared like the Boulder Dam, booming in time with his racing heartbeat. Six moons reflected in the waves lapping at his feet. Beside him, a neon orange tree shaped kind of like a curly fry grew bent over, as if bowing to the waterfall.
"Where am I?" Dave asked.
A purple light flashed, and a gray-skinned man at least eight feet tall appeared before the bowing curly fry tree. In his black armor and green cloak, the giant looked like he could snap Dave in half with his pinky. And Dave wore a 2XL in shirts.
He clapped. "Wow, can you do that again?"
The gray figure glared. "I am Zolgron, Champion of the Karonites, not a trained baboon. Fifteen hundred years ago, I was one of eight of my kind. We were a powerful race with strength and abilities far surpassing those of the common Gorlen.
"I resolved to make myself King of the Karonites, vanquish the champions of the seven other nations, and take their lands for my own. Before I even raised my hand to do this, the Creator seized me. He said he had made me and my brethren as guardians, not lords. He took a common, weak Gorlen and made him the new champion.
"As for me, he said I must learn a great lesson. Until I do, I can only empower others. I've had three thousand hosts on fifty planets. When I attach to a host, I become part of it. When the host dies, I live on, taking another form. My shape-changing ability is the one power he has left me."
Attach? Dave touched the arm the cylinder had attached to. "You're the cylinder?"
"That is the shape I took. I can be as tiny as a mouse or as large as a Doberman."
"How did you travel from planet to planet?"
Zolgron laughed. "Most of the galaxy has possessed the secret to space travel for six hundred years. And not to merely create something in space to fly up to in the ship you built so you can fly to the thing you created."
Huh? The International Space Station was cool. Then again, Zolgron was cooler. "So, with you attached to my arm, I get some great powers."
"You can run faster than one of your sports cars. You have the strength of a hundred ordinary humans, can change shapes, and materialize objects at will."
"Can I fly?" Dave flapped his arms.
"Not naturally. You could materialize a jet pack on your back, though."
"This is so cool!"
Zolgron buried his head in his hands. "Creator, have I learned the lesson yet?"
"Wait a second." Dave folded his arms. "How do I know you're not evil?"
"I'm neither good nor evil. I'm simply a tool to be used as my host sees fit, like one of your handguns."
"But guns are evil!"
Zolgron snorted. "Oh, one of those. Let me try this again. I'm like your mop. Your mop can be used for good or for evil."
Dave laughed, shaking his head. "How could mops be used for evil?"
Zolgron smiled. "Watch."
Seven mops appeared and bludgeoned Dave.
"Vile cleansing instruments, you shall not defeat me!" Dave karate chopped one of the mops, knocking it to the ground. He jumped in mid-air and decapitated another. He turned. Hundreds, no thousands of mops came at him from all sides, like a horror film shot in a cleaning supply store. He screamed like a cheerleader.
The world spun. Again his stomach lurched and he squeezed his eyes shut.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Let me start with the bad stuff and get it out of the way. This book is poorly written. Not just mildly poor but majorly poor. It's so bad that I got sick and tired of re-reading things that didn't make sense. At first I thought it was me but as this pattern continued I realized this book was just badly written. Not just sentence structure and staging but in form and function. For instance this attack helicopter hovers above the front yard of this guys house and after shooting up the house the bad guy inside the helicopter parachutes down to the yard. I'm not kidding. Does the author know parachutes don't open from 20 feet up? And this is just a small example of the constant mistakes in the book. The storyline is disjointed and written in abbreviated form, leaving out necessary transitions in scenes and content that are no where to be found. The characters were thin and two-dimensional and the dialog was contrived at best. Truly one of the worst written books I've ever had the pleasure to read. Did I say pleasure?
Now this said, I did find the book funny and entertaining. How it accomplished this with such bad writing I'm not sure. I guess maybe I just subconsciously pretended it was a comic book. After-all every man wants to be a superhero and longs to be the knight in shining armor. The Adams family definitely have a sense of humor and it shows. The over-all storyline is acceptable but nothing that will keep you up at night. Because of the fun-factor and humor I am giving this book three stars.
The storyline makes no compromise when it comes to faith in Christ. I appreciate the authors stand and their choice to make this a Christian novel. The lessons in marriage, family and what it means to serve Christ are well covered.
With all this said I think it's worth reading. Obviously other reviewers didn't have the problems with the book that I had so maybe you won't either. For the price of the Kindle version it's worth giving it a try. Send me a comment and tell me what you thought of it.
1 Star = Pathetic
2 Stars = Fair
3 Stars = Good
4 Stars = Excellent
5 Stars = Life changing
For those who give me a negative vote on my review please comment and let me know why. I'd like to improve my reviews so they can be helpful to those who read them. (I choose not to give a synopsis of the book because it's already given at the top of the books page.) Thank you.
Now this said, I did find the book funny and entertaining. How it accomplished this with such bad writing I'm not sure. I guess maybe I just subconsciously pretended it was a comic book. After-all every man wants to be a superhero and longs to be the knight in shining armor. The Adams family definitely have a sense of humor and it shows. The over-all storyline is acceptable but nothing that will keep you up at night. Because of the fun-factor and humor I am giving this book three stars.
The storyline makes no compromise when it comes to faith in Christ. I appreciate the authors stand and their choice to make this a Christian novel. The lessons in marriage, family and what it means to serve Christ are well covered.
With all this said I think it's worth reading. Obviously other reviewers didn't have the problems with the book that I had so maybe you won't either. For the price of the Kindle version it's worth giving it a try. Send me a comment and tell me what you thought of it.
1 Star = Pathetic
2 Stars = Fair
3 Stars = Good
4 Stars = Excellent
5 Stars = Life changing
For those who give me a negative vote on my review please comment and let me know why. I'd like to improve my reviews so they can be helpful to those who read them. (I choose not to give a synopsis of the book because it's already given at the top of the books page.) Thank you.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
No comic book was ever this well written or this carefully plotted of gave the reader such poignant moments of introspection between the laughs and the adventure. It's a great romp through the world of baddies with Superhero Powerhouse, but mild mannered janitor Dave Johnson has to live in the real world, too. And as much as he loves his wife and son his conflict between the everyday world and the Powerhouse world is intensified by the fact that he's fighting to save the real world for his family. but how much will it mean to save the world if he loses his own marriage? Dave Johnson is defiitely a superhero with a difference. As is this book.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Enjoy a good superhero story? How about a naďve, poignant, and funny superhero?
Adam and Andrea Graham have artfully combined these elements in their Tales of the Dim Knight.
When mild mannered janitor, Dave Johnson, a twelve year old in a man's body, receives superpowers from an alien with an attitude, it's his life's dream come true. Dave dips his toes into the world of crime fighting and finds it isn't always easy or appreciated being a superhero. Along the way, the Dim Knight learns some serious life lessons about family, home, and values.
Tales of the Dim Knight is a fun read. I highly recommended it for a healthy dose of holiday cheer.
Adam and Andrea Graham have artfully combined these elements in their Tales of the Dim Knight.
When mild mannered janitor, Dave Johnson, a twelve year old in a man's body, receives superpowers from an alien with an attitude, it's his life's dream come true. Dave dips his toes into the world of crime fighting and finds it isn't always easy or appreciated being a superhero. Along the way, the Dim Knight learns some serious life lessons about family, home, and values.
Tales of the Dim Knight is a fun read. I highly recommended it for a healthy dose of holiday cheer.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent read
A cute story.
The story itself is a great message of faithfulness, forgiveness, respect and grace. Read more
The story itself is a great message of faithfulness, forgiveness, respect and grace. Read more
Published 3 months ago by T
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the read
If you injoy old science fiction,you will love this.It has all the ingreadence of an early Hienlen or Azimov.Well worth your time.
Published 9 months ago by Draco 049
1.0 out of 5 stars
Ambushed by Christianity
There should be a warning when there is an underlying Christian theme to a book. I could deal with the fact that the story bogged down in parts. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Kay Ashworth
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keeping It Balanced
Being a superhero is tough. Saving the world while raising a family is tougher. That's what Dave Johnson finds out when he encounters an alien symbiote in an FBI warehouse. Read more
Published 21 months ago by C. Koepp
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great themes
I enjoyed this book, not only because it takes place in the local city of Seattle, but because it promoted great family values. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Noah Arsenault
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth Reading - Very enjoyable!
Shazam!
Here it is, one of the most unique books I have read in a while! I think we all grow up knowing at least a few Superheroes, and some know more than others. Read more
Here it is, one of the most unique books I have read in a while! I think we all grow up knowing at least a few Superheroes, and some know more than others. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Carol Keen
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Super Hero for the little guy
". . . the targeted reader for Christian fiction is a middle age, middle class Conservative white woman, who lives in the South to midwest, is Evangelical, who has several kids,... Read more
Published on May 5, 2011 by B. Burnham
4.0 out of 5 stars
The dim bulb superhero
With endearing cartoonish characters, this book gives a good laugh. If you love superheroes and their exploits, you'll love the book. Read more
Published on May 5, 2011 by Phyllis H. Wheeler
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly original premise
Review by Jill Williamson
Follow mind-mannered janitor, Dave Johnson, as he takes on a second job as a superhero. Read more
Follow mind-mannered janitor, Dave Johnson, as he takes on a second job as a superhero. Read more
Published on April 21, 2011 by Novel Teen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tales of the Dim Knight
A few months ago, I remember seeing Adam and Andrea featured at another blog. This isn't normally the type of book I read, but I was very intrigued. Read more
Published on April 5, 2011 by Bluerose's Heart
