What do you think?
Rate this book
The Chaos Engine #1-3
X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy: X-Men Doctor Doom, X-Men Magneto, X-Men Red Skull
Even before the first film adaptation went into production, X-Men was the most successful comic book series ever published. When it finally debuted, X-Men: The Movie grossed over $400 million worldwide during its theatrical run. Its sequel, X2: X-Men United, grossed $155M in worldwide box office receipts on its opening weekend, and went on to make more than $400M total. And now X-Men 3 and 4 are currently in development
With that in mind, here is the perfect opportunity for X-fans to catch up on a trio of novels that not only sold well both in single volume trade paperbacks and mass-market editions, but were considered by fans to contain some of the finest writing to be found outside of the Marvel comic book series Doctor Doom. Magneto. The Red Skull. Three of the deadliest villains in the Marvel Universe, all sharing a common dream: to become absolute master of the Earth. Through the use of the Cosmic Cube-a device whose reality-bending powers allow its possessor to create their own perfect world-they are able to bring their dreams to life. With the odds against them, the X-Men must make a desperate attempt to destroy this "Chaos Engine" and restore Order to the cosmos before their entire reality is wiped from existence by an all-powerful alien race. But in order to save the world from Armageddon, one of the X-Men must be willing to risk their life-an action that may have lasting repercussions for the very fabric of reality itself. . . .
Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
128 people want to read
About the author
Steven A. Roman
23 books15 followersSTEVEN A. ROMAN is the bestselling author of the novels Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy, and Final Destination: Dead Man’s Hand. His writing has garnered praise from such authors as World Fantasy Award–winner Charles de Lint, Bram Stoker Award–winner Elizabeth Massie, and fantasist and crime fiction novelist Neal Barrett Jr.
His short fiction has appeared in the anthologies The Best New Zombie Tales 2, The Dead Walk Again!, Doctor Who: Short Trips: Farewells, If I Were an Evil Overlord, Tales of the Shadowmen 4: Lords of Terror, The Ultimate Hulk, and Untold Tales of Spider-Man. He also wrote the graphic novels Lorelei: Building the Perfect Beast, Stan Lee’s Alexa, and Sunn, and co-wrote the direct-to-DVD animated short X-Men: Darktide.
In addition to writing Steve worked as a fiction editor, then later as Editor-in-Chief, for ibooks, inc., a New York–based publishing company. Among the many titles he edited during his tenure were: original licensed novels based on Terminator 2, The Transformers, Witchblade, Spider-Man, and Ghostbusters; the fantasies Dragonkin, Moebius’ Arzach, and The Orc’s Treasure; the science fiction series Isaac Asimov’s Robot Mysteries; and the Young Adult SF spoof Britney Spears is a Three-Headed Alien!
Steve’s current writing projects include the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novel series.
His short fiction has appeared in the anthologies The Best New Zombie Tales 2, The Dead Walk Again!, Doctor Who: Short Trips: Farewells, If I Were an Evil Overlord, Tales of the Shadowmen 4: Lords of Terror, The Ultimate Hulk, and Untold Tales of Spider-Man. He also wrote the graphic novels Lorelei: Building the Perfect Beast, Stan Lee’s Alexa, and Sunn, and co-wrote the direct-to-DVD animated short X-Men: Darktide.
In addition to writing Steve worked as a fiction editor, then later as Editor-in-Chief, for ibooks, inc., a New York–based publishing company. Among the many titles he edited during his tenure were: original licensed novels based on Terminator 2, The Transformers, Witchblade, Spider-Man, and Ghostbusters; the fantasies Dragonkin, Moebius’ Arzach, and The Orc’s Treasure; the science fiction series Isaac Asimov’s Robot Mysteries; and the Young Adult SF spoof Britney Spears is a Three-Headed Alien!
Steve’s current writing projects include the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novel series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 30, 2018
Anyone interested in the Marvel multiverse would probably enjoy this book. For people that only care about a single Marvel universe, this is probably not worth the time to read it. The story explorers the idea of three major Marvel villains (Dr. Doom, Magneto, and the Red Skull) gaining the power of a Cosmic Cube and exploring the worlds/realities they create with the power. With this premise, the entire book acts as a “What-if” story and thus has no impact to any official Marvel universe. As a result, this book works as a fun, but ultimately pointless read.
It was entertaining to explore Steven A. Roman’s take on different Marvel Characters. It was also interesting how he incorporated traits from characters that I am familiar with into original, constructed worlds that have obvious impacts on the characters. This was especially evident when dealing with the three main villains and the world that they each created with the Cube.
Ultimately, I would probably not recommend this book. It definitely has some fun moments and explores some interesting concepts, but between having a relatively weak ending and a zero impact to official canon, this book is too long and requires too much commitment of the reader. This book could have easily been edited down to a book a third of length and had the same impact without the extensive reader commitment.
It was entertaining to explore Steven A. Roman’s take on different Marvel Characters. It was also interesting how he incorporated traits from characters that I am familiar with into original, constructed worlds that have obvious impacts on the characters. This was especially evident when dealing with the three main villains and the world that they each created with the Cube.
Ultimately, I would probably not recommend this book. It definitely has some fun moments and explores some interesting concepts, but between having a relatively weak ending and a zero impact to official canon, this book is too long and requires too much commitment of the reader. This book could have easily been edited down to a book a third of length and had the same impact without the extensive reader commitment.
Displaying 1 of 1 review