MARVEL - CRISIS PROTOCOL | SHADOW AVENGERS

TITLE - MARVEL - CRISIS PROTOCOL | SHADOW AVENGERS 

WRITTEN BY - CARRIE HARRIS 

PUBLISHED BY - ACONYTE BOOKS 

PUBLICATION DATES - 

US PAPERBACK - 26TH APRIL 2022 

US/UK EBOOK - 5TH APRIL 2022

UK PAPERBACK - 7TH JULY 2022 

With Doctor Strange back in the limelight recently with his new movie coming this year, this is a perfect time for this book to come out, which sees his team, the Shadow Avengers, battling an invasion from the Dark Dimension. Throw in everyone’s favourite bad guy, Loki, who teams up with Venom and Green Goblin, and you’ve got another immensely enjoyable and riotous Marvel romp from Aconyte Books. 

Carrie Harris’ “Shadow Avengers” is the latest instalment in the Aconyte’s Books” Marvel - Crisis Protocol series, but it isn’t necessary to have read the previous book (although I recommend you picking up “Target : Kree” by Stuart Moore asap) as it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone story. 

Chapters are short and dynamic which makes the story pacy and exciting, and there is a veritable who’s-who of Marvel characters. Carrie Harris has a good handle on each of the characters, and she ensures each one gets equal exposure: something which is not always easy in a multi-character story. 

Aconyte Books’ Marvel range is an enjoyable alternative history of the Marvel universe with every instalment being excellent. I recommend these books to all Marvel comics fans and want to assure them that they have nothing to fear from the longer prose format as it allows their favourite hero or villain to be fleshed out in a deeper way that comics can’t always achieve. I would go so far as to say that this range is one of the best things currently coming out under the Marvel banner.

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I received an advanced reading copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com. © MARVEL 2022

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MARVEL - XAVIER'S INSTITUTE | SCHOOL OF X

TITLE - MARVEL - XAVIER'S INSTITUTE | SCHOOL OF X

EDITED BY - GWENDOLYN NIX 

PUBLISHER - ACONYTE BOOKS 

PUBLICATION DATES - 

EBOOK - DECEMBER 7, 2021

US PAPERBACK - DECEMBER 7, 2021

UK PAPERBACK - JANUARY 6, 2022 

 “School of X”, edited by Gwendolyn Nix, the latest book in the Marvel - Xavier’s Institute series, consists of seven short stories set in the new Charles Xavier Institute which is located inside a disused underground Weapon X facility. It features the exploits of the next generation of X-Men under the tutelage of senior mutants including Emma Frost, Cyclops, and Magneto. The stories are written by, among others, the authors of the previous books in the series. These new X-Men must fight alternative versions of themselves, battle psychic visions, vengeful cyborgs and more, whilst also coming to terms with their own powers and identities. 

The first story, “Your Fifteen Minutes” by Jaleigh Johnson, takes place on movie night in the Institute. After watching the exploits of a cinematic hero, Fabio Medina longs for his fifteen minutes of fame in which he can be the hero and save the day, and gets it. The story is fast-paced and twisty, with a surprising, feel-good ending. A solid start. 

“Call of the Dark” by Robbie MacNiven is a tense, redemptive tale as Graymalkin strives to conquer his fear of the dark, which may also mean conquering himself, in the deepest, darkest parts of the underground Xavier Institute. It’s dark and brilliantly written, with hints of the larger X-Men lore. MacNiven also wrote the previous novel “First Team”, and this story has references to it as well as some recurring characters. 

The third story is “Uncatchable” by Cath Lauria, and features one of the Institute’s oldest students, David Bond, AKA Hijack, who is able to control vehicles, wanting some “me-time” away from the Institute by taking part in a road race that turns out to be much more than it appears. This is a fun and exciting story with some great banter between Hijack and Alisa Tager, AKA Cipher, and well-written action. 

In “Eye of the Storm” by Amanda Bridgeman, Iara/Shark Girl and Sooraya/Dust, under the protection (kinda) of Santo/Rockslide, are building a dam in a river at risk of flooding and exposing the Institute when Shark Girl’s curiosity leads them into a battle for their lives. This is very much a traditional story, solidly exciting and action-packed with a boo-able villain. 

Fifth story “Of Dirt And Bones” by Pat Shand stars the so-called Stepford Cuckoos, psychic triplets Celeste, Irma and Phoebe. This is more of a visceral horror story than the rest, as Phoebe and Benjamin Deeds/Morph face nature fighting back. It also touches on the fact that mutants are seemingly born to fight their entire lives. 

“Kid Omega Faces The Music” by Neil Kleid is narrated by the powerful but fun-loving and rebellious psychic mutant, Kid Omega. Attempting to steal the ultimate piece of memorabilia from his favourite actor, he instead finds himself transported to pivotal moments in X-Men history. But will he be tempted to change it? And is he really having a crisis of conscience? It’s a fun romp yet also a profound and redemptive journey and one of the longer stories in the book, along with the final tale, “Depowered” by Carrie Harris. 

Left on their own while the teachers attend a meeting, the students have the worst party ever in the Danger Room which is interrupted by the arrival of unexpected guests who have a plan to fix the catastrophe of M-Day when many mutants lost their powers. Soon, however, an outside threat forces the students to finally bond as a team. This is a cracking story, with blistering action and strong character moments. 

All the stories in this collection are very good while some are really excellent; they don’t drag and just get on with telling the story. The tales feature callbacks to earlier novels in the series but can be read and enjoyed as standalone stories; indeed, they invite the reader to check out the other books which will enhance these stories even further. Obviously, this is a vastly different experience from watching an X-Men movie, but shorn of glossy visuals, the stories are more character driven and are much better for it. As with all the novels in Aconyte’s Marvel range this book is well-written, pulse-pounding fun.

BUY IT FROM BOOKSHOP.ORG!

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I received an advanced reading copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com. © MARVEL 2021

MARVEL UNTOLD | DARK AVENGERS - THE PATRIOT LIST

 

With the real Avengers gone, Norman Osborn, the erstwhile Green Goblin, has assembled his own Avengers, made up of supervillains masquerading as their heroic counterparts, to step up and protect the world…kinda. This is his chance to be a hero and put the Goblin to rest for good. But he has a hard job trying to keep his team members in check, inclined as they are to senseless violence, murder and wisecracks. When a list of their possible replacements is stolen by S.H.I.E.L.D. sympathisers, putting his power at risk, he unleashes the full force of his twisted team of heroes to get it back…preferably without telling them what’s on the list. 

“Dark Avengers: The Patriot List” is a new novel from the Marvel Untold line, written by David Guymer, relating a hitherto unknown tale based on the Dark Avengers comic storyline. And oh my goodness…it is SO good. Sparking writing, sassy dialogue and some of the best-written action scenes I have ever read. Concise, punchy prose propels the story forward with not a word wasted. Guymer gets the tone just right with a story pitched in that sweet spot between serious and crazy, with blistering action scenes and a pacy plot. 

One of my favourite things about “Patriot List” is that there are darkly funny moments aplenty - I mean pitch-dark, even during scenes of brutal violence. Memorably, there is an hilarious “Friends” (the TV show) reference which we can all relate to. Or maybe that’s just me… Anyway, you’ll find yourself flinching, chuckling then flinching again, and enjoying every minute of it. 

I cannot and will not get over how good “Dark Avengers: The Patriot List” is. Author David Guymer absolutely nails each of the diverse characters, from the gloriously shameless Bullseye, the god-like but troubled Sentry and especially Venom, who possibly has never been so sympathetically depicted. Whilst the reader may not exactly care about the characters in the regular sense, you do find yourself rooting for them in a weird way - they are so damned entertaining! This book is a joyous celebration of bad guys pretending to be good guys, and doing what comes naturally.

BUY IT FROM BOOKSHOP.ORG!

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I received an advanced reading copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com. © MARVEL 2021

MARVEL LEGENDS OF ASGARD | REBELS OF VANAHEIM

When Heimdall and his companion, the Valkyrie Captain Uschi, return to his homeland of Vanaheim, they are shocked to find it in the grip of an infestation of draugr - hideous, undead creatures. But not everyone is welcoming of their presence or offers of help, making Heimdall’s task even harder, and he soon finds himself at odds with his own people. However, the threat of the draugr becomes even greater than Heimdall could have imagined. And are the draugr even the real enemy? 

“The Rebels of Vanaheim” by Richard Lee Byers is the fourth novel in the “Marvel: Legends of Asgard” series and follows on from the author’s previous novel “The Head of Mimir”. Just as in that book, the story is set in a time long before Heimdall became the guardian of the Bifrost, and once again the story is related in flashback by a member of the Warriors Three, in this case Hogun, reluctantly taking on the role of babysitter and telling the tale to a young girl. 

The descriptions of the draugr are deliciously gory and squirm-inducing, and their power is vividly brought to life by Byers. The story isn’t all relentless action and gore, although there is plenty of that and it is visceral and exciting, but there is also intrigue and mystery as Heimdall and Uschi discover that they aren’t being told absolutely everything about what is going on. When they discover the truth, they realise the threat goes far beyond mere draugr. 

Heimdall and Uschi have a solid relationship based on friendship and mutual respect and as lead characters the reader couldn’t ask for more. The supporting cast of characters is diverse, from gods to dwarves, and the main players feel well-rounded and interesting with realistic motivation. 

Following on from Byers’ earlier book in the series, the story mentions previous events and they have a bearing on the narrative, specifically regarding Heimdall’s abilities, but the book is still readable as a standalone novel. And readable it certainly is - pacy and breathtaking at times and thought-provoking at others. It has well-rounded characters and vivid scene-setting, with plenty of sorcery and magical weapons to satisfy fans, and a nail-biting climax. Richard Byers writes in dense, fluid language which demands close attention but which never bores, and it is always a joy to escape into the world that he has created. “The Rebels of Vanaheim” is a worthy follow-up to “The Head of Mimir“ and I can’t wait for the next one!

BUY IT FROM BOOKSHOP.ORG!

I received an advanced reading copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com. © MARVEL 2021