Fantastic Four: The Baxter Effect

Marvel Pocket Books Novels

by Dave Stern

They rocketed into space as four ordinary human beings. They came back as heroes. The Fantastic Four -- the Thing, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and Mr. Fantastic. Together they have used their powers for the betterment of mankind. For years, the world's top scientists have dreamed of creating a quantum computer, a machine that would be infinitely more powerful than any based on the transistor. Now Reed Richards -- Mr. Fantastic -- has achieved that dream. He has birthed a device capable of creating the unbreakable cipher, predicting the weather, performing calculations, and retrieving knowledge at heretofore unimagined speeds. He has also, unwittingly, created something else. A machine that one of the Fantastic Four's oldest and most powerful adversaries will use against them, will twist to his own destructive, murderous purposes, one that will turn friend against friend, husband against wife, and force Ben Grimm -- the Thing -- to confront a nightmarish dilemma. A choice between humanity's salvation -- and the death of the three people he loves most in all the world. . . .

Genres: Marvel, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fiction, Magic, Audiobook, Fantasy

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Dave Stern has written/edited/collaborated on multiple previous works of fiction/non-fiction, including the New York Times-bestselling biography Crosley, the epistolary novel Shadows In The Asylum, and an unauthorized Adam Sandler biography composed with the help of the good people in the Smith College Library. His most recent work is Codename: Blackjack, the second thriller in the Sagas of the Cincinnati series.

His author photo is woefully out of date.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad I came to this FF audiobook after having listened to so many others as to appreciate the story one needs to be pretty well-versed in the group's lore. That said, I think it works pretty well as a standalone and it certainly isn't a sequel to any of the other books like Doomgate or What Lies Between.

Those who've read enough of my tiresome reviews know that I have a soft spot for the Four, and The Thing is probably my favourite of the bunch so I enjoyed him taking a turn as protagonist here, and I honestly felt quite a bit of sympathy for Max "Mad Thinker" von Scharf, the putative villain of our piece.



Audioread Note: Read with aplomb and subtlety by Natalie Naudus. Highly recommended.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually don't enjoy alternate-adventures where the heroes exist in a "what-if?" and then go back to their "real" world for a re-set at the end as much as other adventures, but this one was well done. There are several interesting guests, including Doom and Agatha Harkness(!). It's primarily a Ben Grimm (who's married with a pair of children) story with an alternate group of four, but I thought the voices of the familiar characters were pretty well captured and the escapades were interesting. And we learn (to misquote Buckaroo Banzai), no matter where you go, it's clobberin' time.

[clumsyplankton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed it

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book to read. I actually felt bad for the villain at the end of the book, and that rarely ever happens for me. The author did a great job creating empathy for the villain. The book itself is primarily about Ben Grimm; the other members of the FF show up at random throughout the book.

The book starts out with a gypsy immigrant in NY having bad dreams about her time in Kosovo while riding the subway in NYC; she wakes up fearing the Gypsy King of the East. Then she watches an android murder a man before her eyes, but the android leaves before killing her. Due to the attack, she is late to her job; when she arrives, she encounters Ben Grimm. A rat crawls out of her pocket and Ben receives a warning about Reed’s newest experiment with a quantum computer. Before Ben can stop the experiment, everything goes to heck in a handbasket. The next thing Ben knows, it is up to him to save the day.

Ben is thrust into an alternate reality where he still retains his super strength and invulnerability while remaining human. The FF is a new team composed of Max von Scharf [the Mad Thinker], the Yates [the Human Torch], himself, and Reed Richards [Mister Fantastic]. Ben is also married to the love of his life, Alicia, and they have two children. Sue and Reed never married; Sue is now a geneticist who works on the West Coast and Johnny Storm is a multimillionaire CEO who works indirectly with SHIELD. At first, Ben and Max do not realize reality has changed around them, but little things start alerting Ben that something is wrong. Max eventually realizes this as well. When the ‘new’ reality begins to fall apart, Max tries to fix things but the fix causes Ben to lose his two children. That is when Ben realizes he must do something otherwise all realities will cease to exist. Upon reverting to the ‘prime’ reality, Max and Ben share a sad moment where both remember what they could have had before Max is taken into custody.

I think this was one of the saddest moments I have read in a work of fiction involving superheros – where Ben sacrifices his human body and family to save the world and Max pleads with Ben to let Max fix things because Max realizes he will become a monster/villain and he wishes to remain a hero married to the love of his life. A bitter, poignant moment, and very well written. Rarely do we see a villain pleading for a chance to become a hero if only the villain could ‘fix things.’

Doctor Doom makes an appearance, as do the Avengers. Jasper Sitwell and General Ross also have cameos. Stephen Strange is mentioned in the book , and Agatha Harkness, of all characters!, makes an appearance.

I cannot say too much more about the book for fear of giving too much of the plot [and ending] away, but it was a very good book. I felt it had a good flow to it. It was interesting to read a book that focused more on Ben Grimm than the rest of the team; he is not quite the dunderhead he is often presented as being, and it was a nice change of pace. It was a fairly fast read for me; I finished it the same day I started it.

[Jenny T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel features the Fantastic Four, specifically Ben Grimm (the Thing) who finds himself in an alternate universe in this adventure. I always enjoy reading about "what might have beens" plus the Marvel universe makes this book even more fun.

[Travis Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Ben Grimm centered Fantastic Four book was wonderful. It's not very often we get a story with "The Thing" front and centered and he carries the story well. It was well paced and oddly touching.

[PMoslice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic Four: The Baxter Effect is an amazing tale featuring Ben Grimm in a "What If?" scenario. What if the Fantastic Four was made up of four different personalities. What if Ben Grimm didn't become "The Thing"? What if Ben Grimm had all the strength of the thing but none of the rocky skin?
What if Ben and Alicia were married and had a family? All of these questions and more are answered

When experimental device creates an alternate dimension Ben wakes up with a feeling that things are Great, but just not right. As time goes on, he knows something is wrong and it eventually comes to a head.

This is one of the best Marvel prose I've come across yet. And to be a Ben Grimm story which is something else that I haven't seen before. This is a grade A, top notch read.

[Kaotic · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.5 star rating. It wasn't bad but it felt off and I didn't really get into it until near the end.

I know it was another reality, basically, but the characters didn't feel enough like themselves for my liking. It felt a little too off, but I can't place my finger on exactly why.

I did love the fact that the main focus was on Ben Grimm. He's amazing and Reed gets more then enough of the attention.

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

First FF book I’ve ever read.

Good but not great.

I know a decent amount about the Fantasic Four and some of there villains, but I have never heard of the mad thinker. So this book was an introduction to his character for me.

The “what if” elements of the story is alright. I won’t say what happens but when something happens that’s not supposed to happen - I couldn’t really envision what was going on.

I understood that the thing and the thinker altered reality, but after going back to their normal plane of existence - the book isn’t that great at being descriptive.

Maybe the author wanted it that way so you could figure it out yourself. I knew something was wrong because the thinker was apart of the team and the human torch was a different guy, but I think if the author was more descriptive in this part it would have been a lot cooler.

There are many other parts in the book like this. The Thing does have parts where he realizes something is wrong and won’t say it, but I am just confused throughout the whole book.

Not only that but the Thing is not fleshed out enough for being the main character. It almost feels like you are his character, and it’s not you watching his character- the way it should be. “Wow, he cares about his kids and his friend”…that’s it. No personal problems. Nothing.

Give the man some flesh (or rocks lol). He’s so bland in this story is frightening. The side characters are 10x more interesting than he is.

I did like the references to other marvel properties and other marvel characters showing up in the book. But it feels like whoever wrote this didn’t know what to do with these characters or how to write a good main protagonist.

Would I still recommend this book to someone? Yes. Could it be a lot better? Yes.

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting FF, if you like alternative story lines, then enjoy.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to one focusing on Ben, but this was convoluted and disappointing. Points were empathy toward the villain in the end, but otherwise it falls short.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best Marvel prose novels I’ve ever listened to!

[Brian D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a fun "What-If" read of the FF centered around Ben Grimm and the Mad Thinker. We get a deeper dive into each character and how they exist together in the alternate world.

[Oliver Bogert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rate this one as a run of the mill Marvel multiverse story. Still a good read through but your not going to find anything new and spectacular.

It seems every hero or heroine in the Marvel Universe has fallen into an alternate universe at some point in their story line, and this one covers the Fantastic Four's obligation. The Thing, Ben Grimm, is the primary character in this story. I did enjoy the alternate members that came with the alternate universe, a good "what if" addition to the story, but not enough to redeem it beyond the 3 star level.

I would recommend to deep fans like myself that want to read all that they can on the characters, but not enough here for the casual fan to take notice of.