David McDonald (2)

I’ve enjoyed many books featuring the Avengers in Marvel’s YA line of novels So, I was excited to finally read one with these space misfits. That excitement quickly faded.

The Guardians of the Galaxy are known for being a dysfunctional family - a group of highly trained anti-heroes/space mercenaries with some very cool technology who travel through the galaxy. So, I was flabbergasted when the author chose to take all that away. Seriously. The book started out fine, with the team bickering because Quill’s womanizing cost them all their money from a recent job. The ship is suddenly hit with something that causes them to crash on an uncharted planet, where they are promptly hit with an EMP that fries ALL of their tech. They’re stranded (castaways), and because they’re still angry, they separate and go their own ways. So: no family, no space, no technology, no fun. The book follows Quill’s POV as he navigates a world that is just like Earth’s medieval era – Dukes and Lords and all – and begins to finally take responsibility for his behavior. Meh.

Honestly, I struggled through this book because it was slow, with little humor. Quill eventually finds each of his teammates and they come together to “save” the Duke’s people, but it was anticlimactic. This story could have been told with any characters, without changing the plot, because most of what makes this group unique is absent. I only gave it two stars because the ending, which explained the EMP and why the planet was medieval, was clever. It was just too little, too late.

I really hope the next GOTG novel is better.… (mere)

I started reading the new YA line of Marvel novels when "Black Widow: Forever Red" was published. I hadn't realized Marvel had a YA line until that was recommended to me since I had read Stohl's previous series. I enjoyed the book and started looking for others. I started with the Avengers' novels, and picked this one up while on a business trip.

Captain America is contacted by Maria Hill, Director of SHIELD, to protect someone very close to her. Katharine is like family, and she has developed a ground-breaking technology that will prevent governments from blocking the internet. When she brings it to her superiors, she unwittingly uncovers a conspiracy inside SHIELD. Maria doesn't know who to trust - except Steve Rogers. He takes Katherine into hiding, but not only is the government after her, but also self-styled freedom fighters, and criminal elements.

Though not as enjoyable as the team-based novels (Cap is more fun when he is interacting with his Tony, Natasha, etc.), this was a solid story that shines a light on the best qualities of Steve as a hero. There are some excellent hand to hand combat action scenes, including a brutal battle with Taskmaster, but it is Cap's struggle with moral gray areas that was really interesting. Where do you draw the line between individual freedom/the right to knowledge versus the legitimate need for governments to keep secrets?

A good story with a lot of action, but also a lot of heart.… (mere)

I love comics, but one thing that I've found I like just as much is when a comic book, or comic book character gets put into Novel form. I get to make the pictures in my head and that means that it turns into its own little head movie instead of an artist(s) giving me what the scene should look like.

Marvel seems to be putting out a bunch of these sorts of novels about comic book heroes through Joe Books. And so far this is the third that I've read. It was in the middle for how much I liked it. There was some interesting stuff in there, I'm always a sucker for Maria Hill, but at points it also got a little bit more preachy than I like to read in fiction books.

Still, it was an interesting story about Captain America and not his usual clean as a whistle perfect American ideal sort of storyline, but instead we got to read about a slightly greyer Steve as he tried to protect Maria Hill's niece, perhaps even from his and her own government.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Joe Books via Diamond Book Distributors.… (mere)