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.

Book Review: Shadow Avengers

Earth is on course for a devastating invasion from the Dark Dimension, forcing the world’s mightiest heroes into unthinkable alliances, in this heart-stopping new novel in the Marvel: Crisis Protocol series.

Doctor Strange created the Shadow Avengers to save the world from Dormammu, but instead they’re on the verge of dissolution. When sudden weather anomalies across the world correspond with Asgardian heroes emerging from portals ripe with Dormammu’s magical signature, the Shadow Avengers realize the “Master” is making his move. Loki, Venom, and Green Goblin are behind a ceremony plotting to open a portal big enough to encompass Dormammu’s presence. From the Sanctum Sanctorum to the streets of NYC to beautiful Wakanda, the Shadow Avengers must stop Dormammu at any cost – but the Master, in all his cunning wisdom, has something greater in store that will doom the world once and for all.

Book Review: Black Cat - Discord

Legendary super-thief Black Cat takes on on some of Marvel’s most renowned heroes and mob secrets in this electrifying heist novel from Aconyte Books' Marvel Heroines line (coming March 1, 2022).

Felicia Hardy always puts her own interests first, but the appearance of a mythical golden apple in New York has everybody with a hint of power scrambling for it. And who’s everyone’s number one choice to nab it for them? The Black Cat, of course. Yet that isn’t the only job on Felicia’s radar. When a smart-aleck kid turns up demanding her help, Felicia finds herself caught between the mob, her morals and some very insistent supervillains. It’ll take all nine lives to wriggle out of this one intact, but Felicia has more than one trick up her sleeve.

Book Review: Three Swords

While helping some rebels overthrow their tyrannical king, the Warriors Three meet an old mystic who claims to have been waiting for them. He describes to them the threat posed to Asgard by three sorcerous brothers, the Enchanters, who are each working to create an army to conquer Asgard. But the Enchanter’s towers are scattered across time and space, and the Warriors Three will have to risk life and limb to stop these sorcerers before they can overthrow Odin’s rule. But things are not quite as they seem, for in the shadows, someone is plotting against these heroes.

Book Review: Reign of the Devourer

Victor von Doom saw his future for an instant, and now he cannot rest. His obsession with regaining those memories leads him into the arcane science of geomancy. As he delves into the ancient memories that lie beneath his land, Doom discovers a tremendous concentration of power... one that should never be explored. Doom's excavations and necromancy fracture the prison of something awful: the Devourer of Souls. Now free to roam Latveria, the Devourer spreads a plague of soul-hungry vampires. Doom must choose between seizing this power for himself or destroying it, before his realm is no more.

Coming in January of 2022 is the latest in the series of Marvel Untold novels. I was given the opportunity to review an early galley for Reign of the Devourer, written by David Annandale.

Book Review: The Harrowing of Doom

Every year Victor von Doom fights to rescue the soul of his mother from Hell. Every year he fails, but now plans to turn the tables. Blending super-science and sorcery, Victor focuses on creating a singular device, the Harrower, which will rip souls from the netherworld. With the obsessive genius distracted, the underground resistance seizes a chance to liberate Latveria. But they attack at the worst possible time, damaging the machine and inadvertently tearing a gateway into Hell. As demonic creatures and rebels besiege his castle, Doctor Doom must make an impossible choice – free his mother or save his people.

The Harrowing of Doom is a novel by David Annandale, part of the Marvel Untold line by Aconyte Books.

Book Review: School of X

Coming in December 2021 is School of X, a Xavier's Institute anthology in the Marvel line from Aconyte Books. I was given the opportunity for an advanced look in exchange for an honest review.

The New Charles Xavier Institute isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: the food is so-so, it’s cold eleven out of twelve months, not to mention the creepy bunker vibes with mysterious tech popping up all over the place. But for the next generation of X-Men, it’s home. Under the stewardship of Emma Frost, Cyclops, and Magneto, these new recruits learn to control their powers and defeat villainy. Yet, danger lurks within the academy and it isn’t just monsters or evil geniuses. Now, these fresh X-Men must understand what it means to fight not just yourself, but alternative shades of who they might have become in the past, present, and future.

Book Review: The Rebels of Vanaheim

The dead have returned.

Odin, All-Father of Asgard, dispatches the heroic warrior Heimdall and the Valkyrie Uschi to eliminate a mysterious infestation of draugr – the living dead – in the proud realm of Vanaheim. Yet his home is not as Heimdall remembers it. Anti- Asgardian sentiment is rife, and the arrival of just two warriors from Asgard to deal with the draugr threat only incenses its people further. With rebellion growing in Vanaheim, Heimdall must investigate this conspiracy and the undead, even if it pits him against his own kin, to preserve the peace of the Realm Eternal.

Book Review: Witches Unleashed (a Marvel Untold novel)

Coming in November is Witches Unleashed, a Marvel Untold novel by Carrie Harris.  The publisher Aconyte Books let me read an advanced galley in exchange for an honest review.

Johnny Blaze, aka the Ghost Rider, has accidentally released Lucifer from Hell. While hunting the 666 fragments of Lucifer’s soul now loose on Earth, Johnny enlists the aid of witches Jennifer Kale, Satana Hellstrom and Topaz to track down a sliver of the demon which is possessing the body of Jennifer’s cousin, Magda. Lucifer is looking for the Tome of Zhered-Na, aiming to release the demon within its pages and unleash hell upon the world. But the witches are the Tome’s protectors, and they aren’t going down without a fight.

Book Review: Dark Avengers - The Patriot List

Under Norman Osborn’s jurisdiction, the Avengers have been secretly re-formed with a cabal of deadly super villains. This is Osborn’s chance to finally put the Green Goblin behind him and become the Iron Patriot the world needs him to be. But villains aren’t easy to wrangle into the place of heroes – doing damage control for his new line-up constantly puts his empire at risk. When S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists break into Avengers Tower and steal the secret list of replacements for his team of maniacs, the threat to his reign becomes intolerable. Osborn unleashes the worst of the worst to crush those responsible… It’s hard to be a hero!

Book Review: Triptych (A Marvel: Xaxier's Institute novel)

 

Former super-soldier and master thief, Fantomex, stumbles upon one of his clones, Cluster, breaking into museums to steal priceless artifacts. Outwitted and intrigued, Fantomex decides to beat Cluster at whatever game she’s playing. But something is different about these artifacts.  And they aren’t the only ones looking for them… Their other clone, Weapon XIII, is on the hunt too. The cat-and-mouse heists test their burglary skills and push the boundaries of how much they can trust one another.