Book Review: The Siege of X-41

Once, Joshua Foley hated mutants, then he became one. It’s… problematic. When his healing powers manifested, the violent anti-Mutant Reavers rejected him and only the X-Men offered sanctuary. Now he’s surrounded by mutants who still see him as their enemy. A deep-sea training mission isolates him with a select team of new X-Men, which is bad enough, but then the attacks begin. A sect of sea monster-worshiping vampire mermen besiege the base, leaving them stranded and trapped. As the attacks escalate, their chances of survival plummet. Things go from awful to even worse when one of their team begins sabotaging their attempts to call for help, all in the name of a sleeping behemoth soon to awake…

Thanks to the publisher, I had the opportunity to read an advance of this adventure which hits bookstores on May 3rd of 2022.

While the story focues on a set team of students from the school and their faculty chaperone Karma (who herself was once a student at Xavier's back in the classic The New Mutants published back in the early 1980's), the main focus of the tale is on Josh (codename Elixer) and Victor (codename Anole). The chapters of the tale are told from their two viewpoints, switching focus numerous times throughout the story. That gives readers a good handle on both characters who are forced to work together even though there is ill-will between them.

I want to specifically give props to author Tristan Palmgren and the editorial team for the continuity that continues here with The Siege of X-41. They not only fit this tale quite firmly in the ongoing Xavier's Institute banner of titles that Aconyte has been putting out for the last few years, yet Palmgren also managed to link to some of their earlier work on titles like Domino: Strays and Outlaw: Fractured which are part of the publisher's Marvel Heroines line. The latter of these two even makes an appearance in this tale. That cohesiveness goes a long way in building the line and rewarding those who have been reading the entire line of Marvel branded books.

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