X-Men - The Last Stand (Mass Market Paperback)

by Chris Claremont (Author)
Key Phrases: optic blasts, suspender cables, cell house, Chris Claremont, Danger Room, Alkali Lake (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
TAKE A STAND.

The world has acquired a lethal new weapon against X-gene mutants, whose superhuman powers separate them–for better, for worse, forever–from ordinary mortals. Now, for the first time, mutants have a choice: retain their godlike abilities, though their powers may isolate and alienate them, or surrender them and become human. The mutant antibody is called a cure, but its invention may trigger a struggle that destroys every living soul on Earth.

As Magneto declares all-out war against humanity and its dreaded cure, the U.S. president mobilizes the military. But it is Charles Xavier and the X-Men who truly must brace for the ultimate battle, for they alone are powerful enough to determine the outcome.

Lessons of the past are useless in the coming life-and-death conflict, as new players–mutants possessing unprecedented, unearthly skills– take center stage. With so many joining forces with Magneto’s evil Brotherhood, the X-Men will face their ultimate test against an enemy whose forces far outnumber their own.

Now, as the world trembles, the Phoenix slowly rises. . .

About the Author
Chris Claremont is one of the bestselling comic writers in the world. He wrote The Uncanny X-Men for seventeen years as well as the novelization of the movie X-Men 2. He has been the co-creator of several top-selling series for Marvel Comics, including Excalibur, Wolverine, New Mutants, and, in the United Kingdom, Captain Britain. He wrote the Star Trek twenty-fifth-anniversary graphic novel Debt of Honor and a Next Generation sequel, Cry, Vengeance, for DC Comics, as well as Alien/Predator: The Deadliest of Species for Dark Horse. His debut novel was Firstflight, the story of a young female astronaut in the twenty-first century, to which he wrote two sequels, Grounded and Sundowner. He collaborated with George Lucas on three novels in The Chronicles of the Shadow War, and has delved into fantasy with the publication of Dragon Moon, a dark fantasy novel co-authored with his wife, Beth Fleisher. The couple lives in Brooklyn with their two children.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st print edition (May 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345492110
• ISBN-13: 978-0345492111
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #412,903 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh My Stars & Garters!, May 17, 2006

By	Alexander Dukas (Boston / Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Being a total X-Men/Phoenix Saga fan -- and completely addicted to this entire franchise -- I (of course) wasted no time racing-out to get this book and then blasted through it in a single day. And you know what? I think they may actually have pulled it off!

X3 should DEFINITELY exceed both X1 and X2 and will give the fans, both new and old, pretty much everything they've been looking for while solidly capping-off this 1st trilogy and while also still laying the groundwork for more down the road but in a totally non-anvilicous way. It also maintains that trademark self-referential/mocking and pithy derisive humor that made the first two movies so hysterically funny and on target.

I wasn't entirely happy with certain aspects of the ending but I can agree that they were entirely necessary and it gives a satisfactory emotional pay-off.

The film is (partly) a nifty re-working of the Dark Phoenix Saga and it also resolves the Scott/Jean/Logan triangle in a highly-effective and very believable way.

Having Chris Claremont be the novelizer was a stroke of genius because he's able to add in all sorts of thoughts and back-story to the characters they a) they won't possibly have time to feature all of in the film and b) are a good reminder of all that's happened in the X-Men Universe.

I'm sort-of holding my breath until I see the movie, however, because the X-Men franchise has a nasty little habit of adding/changing/removing scenes from the released movies that appeared in the novelizations. These changes frequently differ quite markedly from what took place in the novelization and usually affect the on-screen series of events and the final outcome.

If you don't believe me, read the first two novelizations and then watch the first two movies to see the difference.

And there are rumored to be some huge surprises in the movie that they've gone to great pains to keep secret. So, we'll see.

However, knowing what I can expect -- and that it is going to be good -- has given me great peace of mind.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far superior to the movie, June 23, 2006

By	Cassandra Mika (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews

Chris Claremont gives this story what the movie could not: depth, details, and a true love for the characters. Small wonder, given that he created and developed many of them to begin with. The novel allows for a view of the insides of many of these characters' heads, most notably that of Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix. The exploration of her psyche throughout the conflict is fascinating. Rogue and Warren are also greatly improved in the book: Rogue regains her spunky, sassy self, and loses the pathetic weakness she's taken on in the movies, while Warren is made more active, more useful, and given more than three lines.

I adored all the little things Claremont included here -- just a few words that he would toss off, referring to a single incident from comics that were published years ago. The inside jokes made it feel more like my beloved fandom again, not a Hollywood travesty.

For all of that, though, the book loses none of the action or tension that were the strong points of the movie. If anything, it clips along at a better pace, in the spirit of a good adventure read.

I recommend this book especially to those fans who were disappointed by the movie's handling of their favourite characters, and to long-time X-Men fans who will appreciate all the small referneces.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My thoughts, June 29, 2006

By	Denise L. Laurel "Dee Dee" (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All in all, a good rendition by Claremont to make a substandard movie better in novel form. It delved more into Jean's past as a child and the adult X-Men growing up in the school.

The only thing lacking (okay, two things) from the movie to novel was the after the credit scene when Xavier spoke to Moira and (bless him) he wrote in that Rogue did not lose her power.

Another thing that was off-comic storyline was Magneto ended up with Lee Forrester instead of Cyclops.

Wrapping it up, I wish I would have just read the novel instead of seeing the film.