A perfect Sunday with... Charles Soule
Peach pie, reading as many books as (super)humanly possible and hitting the pavement!
Every week, a top writer, artist or creator reveals how they’d fill their perfect Sunday, sharing their favourite comfort reads, movies, food… anything that would make their weekend great.
Today, it’s the turn of author of The Endless Vessel and fellow architect of Star Wars: The High Republic, Charles Soule.
Charles’ perfect Sunday… brunch
The dish that popped to mind was Eggs Benedict if I'm at a restaurant - it's something I'm not skilled enough to make at home (or I assume; I've never tried), and feels just hearty enough without being overbearing. That said, I rarely get a version that I'd call "perfect." There's always something a bit off - the egg's overdone, the hollandaise isn't tangy enough... but it's never bad. In such cases, I simply refuse to pay, and hope the lesson is passed along to the next customer in the form of an improved Benedict. If I'm at home, and I've got it - and this might sound odd - I love a slice of pie with my morning coffee. Peach or blueberry, ideally. It's no different than a pastry. It's not self-indulgent. It's just breakfast, okay? OKAY?
Charles’ perfect Sunday… read
I took a break from my professional obligations for about ten days recently, and read five books in the time off. It was utterly spectacular. I'm a huge reader in any case, but over the past several years it's felt like something I've had to squeeze in around the edges of the rest of my life. I didn't like it - I consider reading to be one of life's true, fundamental pleasures, which has greatly enriched my time on this planet. So, just letting myself fall back into books has been wonderful, and I've been keeping it up ever since.
I'm a very fast reader (something like 300,000 pages an hour), which means I can get through plenty of books when I want to. Lately, I've been reading a bit of horror by authors like Paul Tremblay, but I also want to single out The Curator by Owen King, Babel by R.F. Kuang and both Falling and Drowning by T.J. Newman (plane-set disaster thrillers, both of which I read while on planes. It was great.)
I also, of course, love reading my own books very much. I do that often, usually selecting a choice passage or two that I can immerse myself within, just marveling at the pure craft. In fact, I just had a novel come out that I'm quite proud of called The Endless Vessel - I'd say that's certainly worth my time, and undoubtedly everyone else's as well. (By which I mean everyone in the entire world.)
Charles’ perfect Sunday… comic
Comics have been in my life for as long as prose, if not even a bit longer. I don't keep up with as much as I'd like to, but I can heartily recommend Public Domain by Chip Zdarsky, and pretty much anything by my friends Scott Snyder, Matt Rosenberg, Kieron Gillen, Kelly Thompson and Brian K. Vaughan. There's so much more, obviously, but I've read stuff by all of those folks lately, so they're at front of mind.
(And not for nothing, but my latest, Eight Billion Genies with my pal Ryan Browne, was just released as I write this in a beautiful collected hardcover edition - look for it at comic shops near you! Literally a granted wish in comic book form.)
Charles’ perfect Sunday… movie
Now we're talking. I live in New York City, and we have some of the best theaters in the world. I love, love going to the movies, whether by myself or with others, and it's actually a pretty common Sunday thing for me to do.
There's a chain in particular called the Alamo Drafthouse that offers a near-perfect filmgoing experience, with great food and, when appropriate, cocktails. They also have a system whereby you can quietly and anonymously alert a manager if someone in the theater is disturbing you, and they'll remove the malefactor... without any consequence to the person who makes the request! It's amazing. It's allowed me to see many films in a theater completely deserted other than myself. Now, the experience doesn't start out that way, of course, but with a little dedication and focus I can get myself a private screening by the third or fourth reel. Talk about perfect!
Charles’ perfect Sunday… TV binge
This is a good question, Cavan. I'm going to recommend something here that I myself would like to do, which is to watch The Venture Brothers from start to finish in anticipation of the new film coming out soon (or is it out already? I don't know, but I suspect it'll be marvelous one way or the other.) That's a show with very tight continuity that I suspect is incredibly rewarding if you can catch all the little references and callbacks. Alas, it's probably a full 24 hours of television to get through all of the episodes, and I'm far too busy working on these interview questions to allocate that much time to anything. You might not believe it, but this interview has taken me a full four months (and counting!)1 I am a meticulous creator.2
Charles’ perfect Sunday… podcast
I am not much of a podcast fellow. I enjoy the idea - like watching a TV talk show but without having to look at the people. What bliss! Imagine not having to look at people. However, I'm not rabid about the form. I can recommend The Kingcast, The Memory Palace, Dead Eyes and Lore without hesitation, but beyond that... Serial, perhaps? I recall listening to a nice one about a fellow who invented a new pasta shape - the podcast was called Sporkful, I believe. I subsequently went and found the pasta the gentleman created... it's called cascatelli (as the stuff is vaguely waterfall-shaped) and it was pretty fabulous (that one's for the food-eaters out there!)
Charles’ perfect Sunday… album
Lately, it's been Mezzanine by Massive Attack. I wouldn't call it relaxing, exactly, but it does inspire a certain mood - "Angel" in particular often sends me out to engage in elaborately-choreographed action sequences all around the yard. I think the neighbors and I all enjoy it. (This is, by the way, a reference to the fact that "Angel" has been used as the score to many ominous, slow-build gunfights and elaborate heists and kung fu battles in films and TV shows over the years. If you don't know the tune, pull it up on your device and see if it doesn't inspire a bit of parkour. Maybe even an armored-car robbery!)
Charles’ perfect Sunday… treat
I am a runner - have been for many years. Getting out into the world and letting the pavement unroll beneath my trainers is one of the great pleasures of my life. I can run something like 300,000 miles in an hour, and often do - particularly on a Sunday, when I can pretend my voluminous obligations don't exist for a little while. Setting out from your front door and ending up who knows where - left turn you make it to Montevideo, right turn you find yourself in the Yukon... there's nothing quite like it.
The Endless Vessel by Charles Soule is out now from Harper Perrenial.
Combining the wonder of The Midnight Library , the inventiveness of Ready Player One, and the artistry of Cloud Atlas, this novel by the bestselling author of The Oracle Year and Anyone explores the way we’re all connected—and what can happen when we lose our capacity for joy.
A few years from now, in a world similar to ours, there exists a sort of “depression plague” that people refer to simply as “The Grey.” No one can predict whom it will afflict, or how, but once infected, there’s no coming back.
A young Hong Kong based scientist, Lily Barnes, is trying to maintain her inner light in an increasingly dark world. The human race is dwindling, and people fighting to push forward are increasingly rare. One day, Lily comes across something that seems to be addressing her directly, calling to her, asking her to follow a path to whatever lies at its end. Is this the Endless Vessel to happiness? She leaves her life behind and sets out through time and space to find out.
From its opening heart-stopping scene in the present day at the Louvre in Paris, through the earthly meetings between Lily and her loved ones past and present, to a shocking and satisfying conclusion in a truly enchanted forest, Charles Soule has channeled history, science and drama to create a story for the ages—a story of hope and love and possibility. This is a novel you will not soon forget.
Charles Soule is a New York-based, #1 New York Times-best-selling novelist, comic book writer, musician, and former attorney. While he has worked for DC and other publishers, he is best known for writing Daredevil, She-Hulk, Death of Wolverine, and various Star Wars comics from Marvel Comics (Star Wars, The Rise of Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, Poe Dameron, Lando and more), and his creator-owned series Eight Billion Genies and Curse Words (with Ryan Browne), Undiscovered Country (with Scott Snyder & Giuseppe Camuncoli), Letter 44 (with Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque) and the Shrouded College series (with Will Sliney), which began with Book I: Hell to Pay in November 2022.
His first novel, The Oracle Year, was released in April 2018 by the Harper Perennial imprint of HarperCollins. His second novel, Anyone was released in November 2019. His third original novel, The Endless Vessel, arrived in June 2023.
Charles is a creative consultant for Lucasfilm, Ltd, and one of the founding architects of STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC, a multi-platform Star Wars saga kicked off by his #1 New York Times’ best-selling novel Light of the Jedi, released in January 2021. In addition, he worked as the legal consultant for the 2022 Disney+ television She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law.