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unluckycat13's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Despite characters I didn't care about, typos, and a rushed finale it was a really enjoyable read. Undersea horror usually doesn't deliver and this one did. I like both protagonist a lot more then when I started the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, and Bullying
Be aware that anti mutant sentiment in the book is a pretty heavy stand in for bigotry in general including racism and homophobia.whatyoutolkienabout's review
5.0
What could be better than a new X-men Prose novel by Aconyte (and Tristan Palmgren)? A new novel including vampiric mermen and an ancient, dare I say eldritch, leviathan! Well that is exactly what Palmgren delivers in The Siege of X-41 and you will not be disappointed! Well not if you like those things at least!
The story focuses primarily on Joshua Fowley, a hater of mutants until he became one. Now known as Elixir and dealing with Omega-Level power potential he must learn to not only come to terms with his anti-mutant past but his mutant future.
Rejected by the anti-Mutant Reavers when his powers manifested only the X-men offered him a sanctuary. Surrounded by mutants who still see him as their enemy it’s not exactly going well for Josh. Throw in a deep-sea training mission that isolates him with a select team of new X-Men and then add in an attack – well things aren’t going well for Joshua. 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 soon go from awful to even worse when one of the team begins sabotaging their attempts to call for help, all in the name of a sleeping behemoth soon to awake.
I will start by saying I was somewhat worried because, like the trainee X-Men, I was finding it hard to like and sympathize with Josh to begin with. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who, for want of a better word, has been a racist bigot whether or not this was down to family and those around them or not. But, thanks to Palmgren’s masterful writing and characterisation within a chapter to two I was warming to Josh – I wouldn’t say he was a favourite but he was definitely getting a bit more sympathy. I think the action of fellow students helped with this.
As nearly everyone knows the X-Men have always been about fighting stigma and stereotypes, of highlighting the troubles faced by minority groups. And Palmgren understood the assignment. By taking an anti-mutant and giving them omega-level potential powers it gives us such a fantastic insight into the trouble and hardships the X-Men and mutants still face. On top of this we get to see the other side – the mutants who are so used to being hated treat Josh the same way he would likely have acted to them. Anole plays this part perfectly – blinded by his own hate for the once Reaver turned Mutant he shows how easy it is to fall into the cycle of hate. On top of this we have the claustrophobic setting of the underwater base.
This all fits together perfectly to create a tense action adventure with a brilliant touch of horror. The action and tension never lets up, between the attacks, members of the team potentially sabotaging the group, and growing tensions between Elixir and Anole. Honestly I couldn’t put it down once I had started and after getting a little more sympathetic to Josh. As you know I always try to avoid spoilers but the ending of the novel was brilliant. Honestly I loved it. Seeing everything come full circle and a lot of issues brought up in the novel begin to be resolved. I am looking forward to potentially seeing more of Elixir and Anole in the future.
The story focuses primarily on Joshua Fowley, a hater of mutants until he became one. Now known as Elixir and dealing with Omega-Level power potential he must learn to not only come to terms with his anti-mutant past but his mutant future.
Rejected by the anti-Mutant Reavers when his powers manifested only the X-men offered him a sanctuary. Surrounded by mutants who still see him as their enemy it’s not exactly going well for Josh. Throw in a deep-sea training mission that isolates him with a select team of new X-Men and then add in an attack – well things aren’t going well for Joshua. 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 soon go from awful to even worse when one of the team begins sabotaging their attempts to call for help, all in the name of a sleeping behemoth soon to awake.
I will start by saying I was somewhat worried because, like the trainee X-Men, I was finding it hard to like and sympathize with Josh to begin with. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who, for want of a better word, has been a racist bigot whether or not this was down to family and those around them or not. But, thanks to Palmgren’s masterful writing and characterisation within a chapter to two I was warming to Josh – I wouldn’t say he was a favourite but he was definitely getting a bit more sympathy. I think the action of fellow students helped with this.
As nearly everyone knows the X-Men have always been about fighting stigma and stereotypes, of highlighting the troubles faced by minority groups. And Palmgren understood the assignment. By taking an anti-mutant and giving them omega-level potential powers it gives us such a fantastic insight into the trouble and hardships the X-Men and mutants still face. On top of this we get to see the other side – the mutants who are so used to being hated treat Josh the same way he would likely have acted to them. Anole plays this part perfectly – blinded by his own hate for the once Reaver turned Mutant he shows how easy it is to fall into the cycle of hate. On top of this we have the claustrophobic setting of the underwater base.
This all fits together perfectly to create a tense action adventure with a brilliant touch of horror. The action and tension never lets up, between the attacks, members of the team potentially sabotaging the group, and growing tensions between Elixir and Anole. Honestly I couldn’t put it down once I had started and after getting a little more sympathetic to Josh. As you know I always try to avoid spoilers but the ending of the novel was brilliant. Honestly I loved it. Seeing everything come full circle and a lot of issues brought up in the novel begin to be resolved. I am looking forward to potentially seeing more of Elixir and Anole in the future.
jdalton's review
5.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Marvel Aconyte books for a review copy of this novel.
If you’re not a fan or have a fear of the deep sea, you may want to skip this book, but it would be a shame because it’s gripping in its tale as they work to find out what’s going on in the underwater station.
The book reminded me a lot of the horror film “The Thing” though not as bleak, and definitely with awesome mutant powers.
It’s also about accepting oneself for who you are and making that choice.
All in all a great addition to the Marvel books from Aconyte.
If you’re not a fan or have a fear of the deep sea, you may want to skip this book, but it would be a shame because it’s gripping in its tale as they work to find out what’s going on in the underwater station.
The book reminded me a lot of the horror film “The Thing” though not as bleak, and definitely with awesome mutant powers.
It’s also about accepting oneself for who you are and making that choice.
All in all a great addition to the Marvel books from Aconyte.
sophiasunlitreads's review
4.0
This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review from Aconyte Books via Netgalley.
I'll be honest, I'm one of those marvel fans who got into the fandom through movies and not comics. So I have a lot of catching up to do.
I requested to read The Siege of X-41 by Tristan Palmgren because of the cover. Please that is one beautifully designed cover that foreshadows the plot of the book without you even knowing it.
The book starts with Josh attending the Xavier Institute for Mutants being an omega level mutant himself. But there's just one thing about these mutants, their past can't seem to let go of their present. But despite what he'd done in the past, Josh—Elixir— wants to turn off the voices of the past and look at the new future he has in the X-men Institute.
But obviously bad things would always find a way to taunt a person. And Josh's torment comes in form of another mutant, Vic—Anole.
Vic is bent on hating Josh for his past and would do anything to expose who he truly is and how far his powers extends and prove he's a danger to the rest of the mutants.
But now, Karma has brought them together for the periodic repairs of the Station X-41 many feet below sea level.
So what happens when you toss a bunch of mutants with brewing internal hate and rage into an underwater station? I don't know, you'd have to read this book to find out. Hehe Hehehe.
Characters:
Josh is a broke character. Like the saying mutants have alot of trauma to deal with. He's not far from it as well. He's trauma is getting himself to believe he's a new person capable of doing good. And because of his past, he's scared of testing the limit of his powers. But when he sees his fellow mutants in danger, he has no choice but to believe in his strength and prove to everyone that he's not his past but he's a healer.
Vic: I loved Vic so so much. I love the enemies to friends trope between him and Josh. Vic showed his dislike for Josh openly. He's like that colleague who you want his opinion at every cost because that's when you'll feel everyone would accept you.
But I loved the overall character development between Josh and Vic.
Plot:
This was a slow read for me. But I really liked Tristan's writing style. They wrote in simple words like every Aconyte Books Authors has. Words that transported you into the story itself.
For a while I forgot that everything happening in the book was thousands of feet below sea level where there was no sufficient oxygen for humans to breathe and it was pressurised.
With bare firsthand knowledge of the characters, Tristan's writing didn't make me question who was who or even make me run to Fandom.com to search on the characters.
I loved the descriptions of each characters, their personalities, and the way they faced their trauma and battled together as a team despite their personal dislike for each other.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #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. © 2020 MARVEL
I'll be honest, I'm one of those marvel fans who got into the fandom through movies and not comics. So I have a lot of catching up to do.
I requested to read The Siege of X-41 by Tristan Palmgren because of the cover. Please that is one beautifully designed cover that foreshadows the plot of the book without you even knowing it.
The book starts with Josh attending the Xavier Institute for Mutants being an omega level mutant himself. But there's just one thing about these mutants, their past can't seem to let go of their present. But despite what he'd done in the past, Josh—Elixir— wants to turn off the voices of the past and look at the new future he has in the X-men Institute.
But obviously bad things would always find a way to taunt a person. And Josh's torment comes in form of another mutant, Vic—Anole.
Vic is bent on hating Josh for his past and would do anything to expose who he truly is and how far his powers extends and prove he's a danger to the rest of the mutants.
But now, Karma has brought them together for the periodic repairs of the Station X-41 many feet below sea level.
So what happens when you toss a bunch of mutants with brewing internal hate and rage into an underwater station? I don't know, you'd have to read this book to find out. Hehe Hehehe.
Characters:
Josh is a broke character. Like the saying mutants have alot of trauma to deal with. He's not far from it as well. He's trauma is getting himself to believe he's a new person capable of doing good. And because of his past, he's scared of testing the limit of his powers. But when he sees his fellow mutants in danger, he has no choice but to believe in his strength and prove to everyone that he's not his past but he's a healer.
Vic: I loved Vic so so much. I love the enemies to friends trope between him and Josh. Vic showed his dislike for Josh openly. He's like that colleague who you want his opinion at every cost because that's when you'll feel everyone would accept you.
But I loved the overall character development between Josh and Vic.
Plot:
This was a slow read for me. But I really liked Tristan's writing style. They wrote in simple words like every Aconyte Books Authors has. Words that transported you into the story itself.
For a while I forgot that everything happening in the book was thousands of feet below sea level where there was no sufficient oxygen for humans to breathe and it was pressurised.
With bare firsthand knowledge of the characters, Tristan's writing didn't make me question who was who or even make me run to Fandom.com to search on the characters.
I loved the descriptions of each characters, their personalities, and the way they faced their trauma and battled together as a team despite their personal dislike for each other.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #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. © 2020 MARVEL
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