Phase One: Iron Man

by Alexander C. Irvine

Tony Stark was once just a billionaire industrialist. But after building himself a lifesaving suit of armor, he became Iron Man.

Join the action as this Super Hero fights for the American way against Iron Monger and Whiplash in his ongoing saga as told in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 . Re-live all of The Avengers' individual stories before they reassemble in Marvel's Age of Ultron.

Genres: Marvel, Middle Grade, Fiction, Superheroes, Adventure, Fantasy, Young Adult

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 4, 2014

About the author

Alexander C. Irvine is an American fantasist and science fiction writer. He also writes under the pseudonym Alex Irvine. He first gained attention with his novel A Scattering of Jades and the stories that would form the collection Unintended Consequences. He has also published the Grail quest novel One King, One Soldier, and the World War II-era historical fantasy The Narrows.

In addition to his original works, Irvine has published Have Robot, Will Travel, a novel set in Isaac Asimov's positronic robot milieu; and Batman: Inferno, about the DC Comics superhero.

His academic background includes an M.A. in English from the University of Maine and a PhD from the University of Denver. He is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maine. He also worked for a time as a reporter at the Portland Phoenix.

Reviews

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Nice to be able to read about Tony Stark's origins as Iron Man. Glad he has mostly stopped his playboy ways. Also glad that he stopped manufacturing weapons. Wonder if he will get together with Pepper. Liked seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. and Natasha/Black Widow.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8 stars. This covers both Iron Man and Iron Man 2 movies. I didn't remember these movies as well, probably because they were the first ones released, I think. Anyways, the first half (aka the first movie) was really good, but I felt like the second half of the book was a little boring. The antagonist wasn't that interesting, and I think reading about Iron Man isn't as entertaining as watching Robert Downey Jr. play Iron Man. He makes his arrogance and self-absorption funny and charming. It doesn't read that way on the page. Also, after finishing this book, I can't figure out if Iron Man and Pepper are really a couple (like I said, I don't remember these movies as well). I know they must be, because they are in the Avengers, but I don't know when it happened in the book. I guess since these are really kid books, the romance is skipped over as boring?

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the events of the Iron Man 1 and 2 movies. Although it wasn't bad, Alex Irvine certainly told the story of both movies in a way that didn't feel at all rushed in one novel, it was still a chore to get through. Iron Man is exciting and Tony Stark is a fun character to explore; but maybe that's only with RDJ sarcastic smirk to aide the character? The story just didn't translate well into a book, especially one aimed for kids. The technical jargon of Tony building the arc reactor and than for Ivan to build the droid army...it was boring. Iron Man is certainly a tale better told in movie or comic form with the visuals to express the cool technology being explored was just boring to read and slowed down the plot.
Real young kids may have difficulty with this one, definitely better for upper elementary or early middle school.

[Sky Purple · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books. I can't wait to finish the phase one box set!
Then I get to start phase two box set when it gets released

[Kyler Sousley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book I enjoyed reading it. The main character of the book Tony Star is a billionaire and is popular to the world. He is well known for his great weapons he builds. Tony is also a industrialist and a ingenious engineer. At the beginning Tony Stark was in Afghanistan demonstrating a new weapon but gets kidnapped after the event. He gets sent to a facility after being kidnapped. With the help of a friend he made, he made a electromagnetically powered suit of armor and used it to escape and save his life. After this he runs in to many problems and was in many fights. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes action books or to anyone who loves Marvel. Fun fact this book covers both the first and second Iron Man movies without rushing the novel. I rated this a 5 because I loved the story line and how it was written and also because I'm a big fan of Marvel.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 75% I really started to skim read this. I didn’t really love the Iron Man 2 section. It felt really rushed and skipped some really good details and dialogue from the movie. It’s okay though, I don’t think I liked the movie as well as the first one. Still glad I read this, still glad I have it in my collection.

[Trinity F · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.o stars

Overall, a really good read if you want something mindless and fun to read to get out of a reading slump or to pass time, but their were several things that disappointed me while reading.

Pros:

Characters: Tony Stark is the main character.

Cons

The Writing: I found that the writing completely ruined the entire book for me, and I don't really blame the author. He had a job to do and requirements that needed to be met for this book adaption and I think he did the best he could with the restrictions on him.

However, the writing was still terrible. This book only held the very basics, and I think that is very evident seeing that 4 hours and 10 minutes of action-packed movies managed to be condensed into less than 250 pages. It was very simple; no descriptions, no detail. Conversations that were critical to world building or characterisation were glossed over, and sometimes not even included. I felt as though it was the parts that made the movies so good, were the ones that were removed.

Book adaptions of movies are supposed to add to the experience that the movie already provided, for fans who want more depth into the characters, world or plot. Absolutely nothing was added to this novel to improve the overall experience. It pretty much was just a play by play of the major plot points of the two movies, and even then it was pretty minimal.

I understand that this is a book aimed at younger kids, but nonetheless, books aimed towards younger kids to not have to read like the plot description of the movie on Wikipedia.

I Recommend This Book To:

Young readers, at the highest level middle grade. This book is very good if you want to encourage a child who loves superheroes to develop their reading skills, but I would not recommend it to older readers or to young readers with strong reading skills as it is very basic.

[Allison Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a lot of cases, people enjoy reading the book before seeing the movie. This book was different in that sense for me. I am a huge Marvel fan. This book, Iron Man, was the story of the first two movies. Since I have seen both, I already had images in my head if exactly what the characters looked like. The story brought about my favorite parts of the movies. This is one you will enjoy!

[Jerry Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action packed

I definitely would give this book five stars for the action and fun in it. I personally really like superhero books and iron man is in my top two.I love this book also because of the amazing detail. The detail is so good I can imagine exactly what it looks like whiplash and all.

[Em's Adventures · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I was disappointed because I thought I'd ordered comic books and was looking forward to trying something completely new. And I wasn't interested in reading a book of the movie. But to my surprise I actually, really, enjoyed it! It delved deeper and helped me to understand things that went on in the movie that I hadn't picked up on or didn't understand.

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asher (9yo) read: "How Iron Man realizes how he should make a suit instead of weapons because he see a battle against the enemies used with his manufactured weapons. He fights Iron Mongol and this crazy man seeking revenge. Awesome to see the weapons and upgrades they all have."

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

635 - 2019

Iron Man & Iron Man 2 Movie novelization (yes, movie, not screenplay novelization, so ad-lib dialogues included).

PG-13-ized (censorized? disney-ized?)

No sex scene.
No stripper pole.
No innuendos and inappropriate words.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was very nice reformation of the movie.

[Eric Zulueta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise book on the goings on in Iron Man's life leading to the events in the first Avengers movie.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was the junior novelization of the first two Iron Man movies. I wasn't expecting much. I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't surprised either.

[Brianjabali]

Still reading but good book so far....It's a reflection of the movies but in a book.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacob checked this book out of the library and read it for his free read for our family summer reading program..krb 7/12/17

[Mahad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has two books in one.

[Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it amazing that they were able to accurately sum up both Iron Man 1 and 2 in less than three hundred pages! 🤣

[Andrew Sammut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a 4 and a half stars for me. It felt like I was literally watching the movies in my mind. Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2 are 2 of my favourite movies and I've certainly watched both of them multiple times which probably contributed to the fact that I could relive the experience of watching them while reading them. I also realised that there were certain, very few, inaccuracies. I understand that the sexual aspect could not be included directly because it's adapted for a smaller audience however certain scenes and certain dialogue which in my opinion made the movies significantly better were left out. The fight scenes were told perfectly however I feel as though the kidnapping didn't have such a great impact in this book and Justin Hammer's annoying traits weren't amplified as they should have been. I rated this book so highly because I was capable of picturing the whole thing through reading it since it's written so well and although there aren't many illustrations, the drawings at the top of every chapter and the miniaturised arc reactor at every change in scene were wonderful and captured every moment very well. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series and now even more since I started watching Wanda Vision and am enjoying it although it is rather mundane up until episode 3 always in my opinion. First book of the month and a lot of books (15) on their way to my home since my Birthday is in 3 days... Can't wait to read them all! Good luck me... I need to learn to manage my time well and waste less time on social media and balance my time between reading, writing and doing my homework as well as studying. Iron Man has always been a role model of mine, true, but he's a genius and even the hardest tasks are extremely simple for him as proven by when he rediscovered a new element with the help of Nick Fury, his deceased father and a motivation to destroy Ivan Vanko (whiplash) since he swore to kill him because of what Howard had done to his father. Tony wants nothing but peace and yet Obadiah and Vanko don't care about that. They care about their own personal needs which I guess is what makes them such great villains.

[Holli · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a decent adaptation, but really a gutted version of the first and second Iron Man movies. The heart and soul of the story and characters are missing. A lot of the best lines and scenes are absent as well. It's also incredibly rushed. It kind of ruined it for me and left me disappointed. I think if the author hadn't smushed both movies into one book, it might have been better so he could have devoted a little more time to the story lines and made them less of shadows of their movie selves. A little disappointing, but a fast read anyway.

[Jerome Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Iron Man book. As a book reader, I read this book after watching the movie. But I have to admit it, that I am a cinephile too. I know it is hard to be a cinephile and book reader at the same time. This book contains the story of iron man and iron man 2. Reading this book was actually like watching the Iron Man and Iron Man 2 again. Some scenes literally got me in goosebumps. The same feeling when I watched the movies. I know most of you guys have watched this movie, but if anyone haven't watched it. I recommend to read this book and watch it.

[Elena Barnard · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was exactly like the movie and included some of the most iconic lines, this made me very happy. It was really good.

It also felt like I was reading fanfiction because it was exactly like the movies, just without y/n. And for months I've only been able to read fanfics so it's kinda nice knowing it's a real book and not just Wattpad.

[Gary Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about MARVEL'S Iron Man. Basically it talked about Tony Stark and how he became Iron Man. It also talked about his love life. Then it also talks about how he formed and met the Avengers.

[Gabriella Araujo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a book based on the movie. Draw your own conclusions. Lol
The writing isn't bad. Kids and teens will find it fun. As a fan, I get a kick out of it, but it is by no means high class literature. It's fun, easy, brainless and enjoyable for a very light read.

[Julianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was basically the movie in written form. I liked it, however I was expecting it to be a little bit different. I might read the rest of this series, but I prefer the movies and the comics over this.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

685 - 2020

Akhirnya beli, karena obral di BBW.

Ini gabungan IM 1 dan 2. Maklum, namanya juga Phase One.

[Ernest Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[flomer · Rating 3 out of 5]

i am iron man

[Tiffany Wright · Rating 1 out of 5]

Childish