Tomes of Costumed Adventurers: X-Men: Mutant Empire, Book Three--Salvation

Tomes of Costumed Adventurers

Welcome to the land of "reality", where scientific experiments, accidents, genetic heritage, and alien influences affect the lives of ordinary mortals. Join me as I observe the superhumans of planet earth and their struggles against equally powerful foes.

W A R N I N G !

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Title: X-Men: Mutant Empire, Book Three--Salvation
Author: Christopher Golden
Publisher: Boulevard Books
Format: Paperback
Copyright Date: 1997

With their team split in two, the five X-Men who went up against Magneto fell before the combined weight of the mutant master of magnetism and his Acolytes, both those they know and new recruits they know nothing about. Trapped and imprisoned in the Empire State Building, their only hope for escape are their fellow X-Men, just recently returned to Earth by the Starjammers. But what can five X-Men--even with three of their heaviest hitters among them--do against the combined might of Magneto, his Acolytes, and the co-opted giant mutant-hunting/mutant-terminating Sentinels? With any luck, the Sentinels will soon be out of the pictures, but that still leaves hordes of mutants with lives filled with memories of hatred, fear, bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination to fuel their powers. And even if they succeed in defeating the mutants arrayed against them, they still have Magneto to contend with...the X-Men's very first opponent and one they never really defeated. But the X-Men have wild cards up their figurative sleeves: Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men and an old friend/old enemy of Magneto's, and an unexpected non-mutant ally powerful enough to give even Magneto pause!

X-Men: Mutant Empire, Book Three--Salvation brings to a close the X-Men: Mutant Empire trilogy...and what a conclusion it is! This book closes with the kind of showdown you can only find in fiction, video games, comic books, cartoons, or fantasy/sci-fi movies and never in real life. I mean, seeing the X-Men (this team set-up, anyway) squaring off against Magneto in all their glory--Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Archangel, Beast, Bishop, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, and Gambit--in preparation for a fight to the finish is terrific, especially because we get to see it twice. That's right, not once, but twice. You'll understand when you read it. You'll even get to see Professor X walk! A word of warning, though: you'll see the X-Men die, too. I know: right, like as if! Well, read it and see.

One of the most important moments in the entire book--to me, anyway--is when Trish Tilby, the Beast's former ladylove, makes her attempt to rescue the four X-Men trapped in the Empire State Building. This one scene--coupled with another later on in the book--was more stark, more expressive, more impressive than just about any other in the entire trilogy. It was symbolic in a way, and while I hate to get deep on anyone, I have to say it: the scene was like a metaphor. Two characters, a human and a mutant, seemed to embody Professor X's dream of a unified humanity, with human-humans and mutant-humans working together for a brighter future. Letting Frenzy (one of Magneto's Acolytes) kill the two off was like Magneto utterly destroying the Professor's dream, or at least making it seem unattainable. It was a moving scene, and while it didn't exactly move me to tears, it did make an impact on me, and that's what really matters, right?

Salvation won't disappoint any X-Men fans, no matter how determined they are to find fault with a novel involving their favorite comic characters. If they do find fault with it...well, let's just say that in my opinion those people need to open their minds a bit and appreciate a different form of reading entertainment besides just comic books. And I won't apologize for lecturing here, because I happen to enjoy reading and have difficulty understanding--and at times tolerating--why some people just won't give books a chance. At least give these a try, okay? You can always go back to the comics later.

Rating: Thumbs up! It's time for a showdown in the Big Apple: Magneto versus the X-Men!

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