Scott's Take: Hawkeye: Bishop Takes King by Ashley Poston

 

Hawkeye: Bishop Takes King by Ashley Poston is the first novel to feature Kate Bishop (the second Hawkeye or, as she calls herself, the better Hawkeye) as the main character. After a mishap rescuing a guy named Milo who was having his bag stolen, in the process, she accidently switched bags with him. Inside Milo’s bag is a book. Kingpin wants that book and is willing to kill anyone he has to so that he gets it. Of course, if Kingpin wants the book so bad, he has a nasty plan involving it. That means it is up to Kate Bishop, Lucky the pizza dog, and others, to stop him.

 

Full of humor, action, some romance, a mystery, and cameos by various superheroes, this tale is worth your time. While this is billed as a young adult novel, there are some rather intense horror elements/horror scenes in this read. This story is told in an interrogation/ flashback style which means that every few chapters of flashback, there is an interrogation chapter, before the reader goes back to the flashback chapters. Surprisingly, this technique worked well and did not create a choppy read. 

 

This is supposed to be a canon novel set in the comic book universe. Kate Bishop in the comic has a way different backstory that the tv version. Therefore, it could have been helpful for readers not familiar with the original version to have here a short backstory summary along with the significant relationships listed.

https://amzn.to/4aPzTVf 

 

I highly enjoyed this novel and I hope there is a sequel.

 

My reading copy came in hardback from the Central, aka Downtown Branch, of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2023

Scott's Take: Gamora And Nebula: Sisters In Arms by Mackenzi Lee

Gamora And Nebula: Sisters In Arms by Mackenzi Lee tells a story from two different points of view. Gamora and Nebula are the daughters of Thanos which is a different character than the movies. In the comics and in this book, Thanos is in love with Death, who has a physical form and is female, and is trying to get her back as they have a love/hate relationship. Abusive warlord wants what he wants and he manipulates his daughters, who do not get along at all, so that they go to the planet, Tordune, on separate missions to steal an object its core. Tordune is a polluted and dying world that once was a lush green planet until a valuable energy source was discovered beneath the surface. Mining has decimated the world and now the population is oppressed by a massive corporation known as the Mining Corporation.

 

In exchange for help to get to the core of the planet, Gamora allies herself with the rebels that are attempting to free their world from the Mining Corporation. At the same time, Nebula arrives on planet and allies herself with the Universal Church Of Truth (a cult). She agrees to “diplomatically” deal with the rebels so that the Church can continue to profit off the energy source through their controlling interests in the Mining Corporation. Like her sister, she is using this connection to get help to travel to the core to recover the object. Both sisters individually soon suspect that the object in question is far more important than they were told and have to decide if they will fight or work together.

 

The story being primarily told through two different perspectives that have very different personalities makes this read interesting. Thanos has raised his daughters to see each other not only as his personal living weapons, but as a direct threat and another face of competition. He has thoroughly and repeatedly traumatized both girls as they grew up and each sister has a different reaction to that ongoing trauma. The tale is heavily defined by their sibling relationship which frequently leads to some predictable cliches.

 

Gamora And Nebula: Sisters In Arms has action, drama, and humor and is a standalone book set in the Marvel Universe. Other than the understanding that this Thanos has little in common with the movie version, one does not need to know much about the Marvel Universe to understand and follow. I recommend this book for Marvel fans and newcomers alike. This author also wrote Loki: Where Mischief Lies which is also a stand-alone book set in the Marvel Universe. Both books are good and highly enjoyable.  

 

  

Gamora And Nebula: Sisters In Arms

Mackenzi Lee

http://www.mackenzilee.com/

Marvel Press

https://books.disney.com/book/gamora-nebula/

June 2021

ISBN# 978-136802225-5

Hardback (also currently available in audio and eBook formats)

400 Pages 

 

My reading copy came from the Audelia Road Branch of the Dallas Public Library System. 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2021