Customer Reviews

X-Men Mutant Empire 3: Salvation (No 3)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Golden brings out the characters personality and emotion in this great book. We get to see in depth what everyone is going through. This added to nonstop action is makes for one great read. If you like the X-Men then you'll love this book too.

(If you'd like to know where I'm coming from, I explained my familiarity with the X-Men in my review of Siege, the first installment in this series.)

Ah. This is the novel I've been waiting for in the Mutant Empire series - the climax. Christopher Golden has been masterfully building suspense in one of the most powerful series I've ever read, detailing the X-Men's almost hopeless endeavor to prevent Magneto from taking control of New York City forever.

Just why is it hopeless? This is classic X-Men, where the team is so far overmatched that you want to cry. Not only do they have to face Magneto, who can give the team a run for its money by himself, but they also have to contend with his Acolytes, a city full of mutants, and then the Sentinels. Plus, the American government is tight-lipped about its plans, offering only a seven-hour window to solve the crisis.

The novel begins with one half of the X-Men captured, and the other half going into New York. That half splits once more, with three people trying to disable the Sentinels, while the other half rescues the X-Men.

There's relatively little time and advancement of the team that tries to disable the Sentinels. They basically traipse around New York, trying to identify the Alpha Sentinel to reprogram it (and why is it called the Alpha Sentinel if it has an Omega symbol on its back?).

The other team, however, has more than its share of the action. Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Rogue try to sneak into the Empire State Building to free the X-Men - and meet up with the Juggernaut. In a bizarre twist of events, the Juggernaut joins up with them, helping to even up a still one-sided fight. But Golden knows his X-Men history, and he does an excellent job of explaining Juggernaut's psychology and motivations so that long-time X-Men fans won't be offended by what may seem like an implausible move.

The past subplots, namely those involving Henry Gyrich/Val Cooper and Professor Xavier, slowly fade out as Salvation brings in its own subplots. This novel helps to develop Trish Tilby more, as she questions her ethics and principles. As she reports the story directly from New York City, she begins to question the morality of her actions as the X-Men are chained up. She eventually helps them escape, but not without a price.

As a minor quibble, I find that there are several scientifically implausible points in Salvation. I know, I know: it's all fiction, so there's no real science here. But still. First, I hate the idea of "disabling" mutant powers. You should no more be able to do that than to "disable" someone's motor skills with a special collar. Second, Professor Xavier fools the Sentinels by making them think that Valerie Cooper is a mutant - HOW is this possible at all? The Sentinels are robots, and can't be fooled by a simple illusion like that. And it's not even that necessary to have Valerie there, really. So these two points are momentary irritations in an otherwise excellent novel.

Some fans may complain that Mutant Empire, while doing a great job of building suspense, has had little in the way of action so far. Well, no more. Christopher Golden rewards us with nearly half a novel of the biggest brawl ever, as the X-Men and Juggernaut team up to take on the new mutant population in New York City. Of course, the odds are still daunting, but Golden brings in some extra help that make it a fairer fight.

The action was great, but what made Salvation rewarding, in my opinion, was the change in the characters. It's not a change that we'll see in the comics, since this is written "out of continuity" (although Golden makes references to specific events and suggests that this took place just before the Fatal Attractions crossover). But some of the characters have evolved by the end of the novel - Senator Kelly has begun to turn, Trish Tilby's faith in mutants has been reinforced, Major Ivan Skolnick (created exclusively for this series) realizes that there's only one way to fight for equality. Even the Juggernaut's hatred for the X-Men has lessened.

Unfortunately, that leaves the X-Men struggling for growth. To be honest, there wasn't much of it. Xavier's opinions didn't change. The Acolytes still side with Magneto, and the X-Men agree with the latter. But Magneto comes to a startling revelation that impressed me greatly, although Golden sort of backpedals over that catharsis in the epilogue. So he leaves open the possibility of future conflict, but he does so by leaving the X-Men right where they started. It's not at all a problem for me, but I understand that some people want that, so I want to point out that this series won't give that to you.

But for all the other X-Men fans, invest some time to find the series and to read it. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

PS. I couldn't find a proper place to insert these quibbles, so I'll tack them on here. First, where is Colossus? He should have been with the X-Men if this is before Fatal Attractions (and it really can't be after, considering the references to X-Factor in Genosha, which occurred just prior to that crossover). And why didn't the Juggernaut help the X-Men to fight Magneto? I think Golden was trying to avoid the question of what Magneto's power could do to either character (especially Juggernaut - is his mystical armor vulnerable to magnetism?), but it seemed too transparent.

The final conclusion to a very good trilogy. This book can be quite brutal, and to be honest, it is refreshing to see someone take risks with the characters they are writing about. This book will be great for all X-Men fans, as it has non-stop action, character dilemma, and numerous guest-appearances by Marauders, Tusk, Blob, Toad, Pyro, etc. Not to mention Juggernaut teams up with the X-Men, and he is written FAR better than his other book we'll get to much later. A good read for all! Here's the score:
1) X-Men: Mutant Empire (series)
2) Daredevil: Predator's Smile
3) Hulk: What Savage Beast
4) Fantastic Four: To Free Atlantis
5) Ultimate Spider-Man
6) Spider-Man: Carnage in New York

This is definatly one of the greatest books I have read. the whole trilogy is the best. I don't know what happens in the ending, beacause I haven't finished it yet. I ordered it used. I got it yesterday and I am more than half way through. No im not braging because I should definitly be done. The only dissapointmen is the length of the book. It is about a hunded pages shorter than the second book in the trilogy: Sanctuary.
I love Jean Grey, Gambit, and Angle, but my very favorite characters are Storm and Wolverine. This trilogy has them all. And in this book in particular the X-men (the ones that aren't Magneto's Prisoners already) team up with The Juggernaut. It really does suck that half of the X-men are still captive and iactive by the middle of the book, but it doesn't take away from the story.
Trust me, its a real page turner. I recomend to anybody, even to Rappers and Gansta Bitches.

this has to be one of the best series ive read, golden doesnt leave out a detail about anything and brings new and wicked mutants into the fold, anyone who reads this will thourouly enjoy it.

salvation is extremely well written and when the x-men are in their final battle for manhatten and freedom itself u cannot tear your eyes away from the book.

A exciting end to a wonderfully done trilogy. Golden does not leave out any facts. He includes many different mutants from the wide spread background of the X-Men. With Manhattan taken over by Magneto and half of the X-Men captured, things look bleak. Fortunately the X-Mens stuck in space are able to get back to earth and devise a plan to stop Magneto from achieving his goal. Amazingly, Juggernaut joins the X-Men in conquering Magneto. After the fierce rescue it comes down to all out brawl between the X-Men and the mutants of new Haven. In the end it is possible this leads to the Asteriod M saga.

this episode in the series was non-stop action. also, i liked the humanization of magneto and the ethical dilemma of Xavier (though Golden didn't develope it enough)

I really liked this book, but I thought that the first two of the trilogy were better. I didn't really like the ending or the deaths of some of the characters, but all in all, a good book.

An excellent trilogy and I reccomend it to any X-Men fan and adventure lover.

I have read alot of X-men books so I know what I am talking about when I say that it was AWESOME!! If i had to pick a favorite this would not be first but it would be right after Law of the Lizard by: Dave Smeds. Action, suspence, and drama all in this one book...its like your there!