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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely one of the best X-Men novels, June 30, 2001
X-Men: Mutant Empire Book 1 - Siege, by Christopher GoldenI'm a longtime fan of the X-Men. I discovered the comic book over 10 years ago and have been following it or one of its cousin books ever since. In that time, I've also managed to compile a sizeable back-issue collection, meaning I have most of the X-Men comics from 1975 and on. That leaves me with huge expectations for every X-Men issue, TV series, movie, and novel that comes out. Needless to say, I've been disappointed by many of them. Sometimes, my only wish is that a new X-Men related product merely be decent, if not great. Siege, the first part of the Mutant Empire trilogy by Christopher Golden, meets and exceeds every single one of my expectations. One thing I love about this series, and about each individual novel in it, is the pacing. With about 350 pages per novel, Golden has a great deal of room to work with, and he puts that to great use. He maintains suspense by actually having two simultaneous plots (although one is clearly a relative subplot). The larger issue is that Magneto has taken control of the Sentinels (mutant-killing robots), and has declared himself ruler of New York City. One half of the X-Men deals with that, and the other half goes into space to rescue Corsair, Cyclops' father. I'll be honest - the latter plot is doomed to be filler from the start, and it doesn't occupy my interest much. But beyond the plot pacing, the characterization is almost dead-on. The X-Men are just how I remember them from the comic books - complete with accurate dialogue, realistic character interaction, and even some personality development. It's a testament to Golden's skills that he continues to flesh out characters with over 20 (and in some cases, 30) years of history. Each of the characters has a particular worldview, and Golden not only gives each one fair representation, but he also gives the reader a deeper understanding of how each character ticks. However, I do find that some parts of the novel degenerate into comfortable, "easy" writing. One of my complaints is Golden's description of both Deathbird and Henry Peter Gyrich (the two main villains in the novel) as "evil and insane." Ho-hum. Although he slips in a bit of irony by having Deathbird's obvious paranoia and insanity justified, he paints Gyrich as so thorough a bigot that he borders on contradicting established comic history (but then, that's a fanboy gripe). I like it that Magneto, soon to be the principle villain of the story, receives very little attention and development in the first novel. His basic motivations and plans are spelled out at the very beginning, and then Golden proceeds to develop the character slowly as the novel proceeds. It's a great way to build suspense toward the inevitable takeover of New York. In short, Siege is one of the best pieces of X-Men literature I have read, including the comic books. Christopher Golden has an excellent handle on the basics of fine writing, as well as the complex histories of his particular characters, and proceeds to combine them into an engaging and enjoyable tale. This novel stands alone for new readers, or even for people who don't want to buy the whole series (but be warned, the cliffhanger will make you want to read the other two books). And it will please all but the pickiest of longtime X-Men fans. Go for it.
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