Phase Two: Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron

by Alexander C. Irvine

Following the record-shattering successes of Marvel's The Avengers in 2012, The Avengers must reassemble to combat the robotic menace of Ultron! Acclaimed writer/director Joss Whedon and producer Kevin Feige return, along with the all-star cast of Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) and Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye). They are joined by Emmy Award- winner James Spader ( Lincoln , The Blacklist ) as Ultron.

For the first time in print, experience the excitement of the complete cinematic story of Marvel's Age of Ultron.

© 2016 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.

Genres: Marvel, Middle Grade, Superheroes, Young Adult

208 pages, Hardcover

Published February 2, 2016

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

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting since the other ensemble books were my favorite, I just didn't like this one as much. There wasn't as much humor and people spent a lot of time moping. I never understood Ultron's motivation, either. And I don't get Vision. Is he the infinity stone? Why was Ultron bad and Vision good?

Thor said at one point that 4 infinity stones have now been revealed which confused me. There was the Tesseract and this Mind Stone, and maybe in his space travels he heard about the Orb from Guardians of the Galaxy, but that's only 3. Am I missing one? One of the main reasons I wanted to read these books is to review the info about the stones. I thought I had forgotten info from the movies, but I'm now concluding that the info was never there to begin with! If anyone can help me, please do so!

But a good thing about this book: I didn't realize that Wakanda and Vibranium were mentioned! Having just seen Black Panther, it was nice to make that connection. The bad guy played by Andy Serkis in Black Panther was also in Ultron was also in this book, which I had forgotten. And now I see how he lost his arm. So there was good stuff in this book, bit overall, it was a bit of a bummer.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner (Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk) have good intentions when they begin working on a global peacekeeping system. But when the plan goes awry, Iron Man, the Hulk, and the rest of the Avengers will have to stop Ultron from destroying humanity in Avengers: Age of Ultron, adapted by Alex Irvine.

So, in my journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I'm past the point when I might have "had" to know exactly what happens in Age of Ultron. But I decided to go back and read the story based on the screenplay anyway. I'm glad I did.

As with other installments in the series, this one jumps right in without preamble or introductions. Yes, there's good superhero action and danger. But like the rest of this ongoing sci-fi saga, the layers of the Avengers' individual stories are what give compelling, even poignant, relevance to it all.

Ultron has interesting personal bits about some of the characters, and as usual, the parts when the Avengers come together and get all Avengery are pretty great. Alas, this book does have a little language I'm not keen on for children's reads, so I beg the kids and their parents' pardon on that score.

I wasn't planning on it, but now that I've read this, I think I will go on (or go back) and watch the movie.

[Aprilia Oon · Rating 3 out of 5]

k.

[Santosh Thapa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bhadra 17, 2077, Wednesday

Phase Two: Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron - Alexander C. Irvine (2016)

Genre: Fiction/ Science Fiction/ Action/ Superhero/ Adventure/ Middle Grade/ Young Adult
Pages: 208
Rating: 2/10

Theme: Family/ Technology and Modernization/ Justice and Judgment/ Transformation

Opener:
“The twins knew something was wrong. They reached for each other and touched hands wondering what they should do.”

Summary:
When Tony Stark jump-starts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and the rest of the Avengers to reassemble. As the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, the team is put to the ultimate test as they battle Ultron, a technological terror hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they encounter two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.

Verdict:
Big, loud, crowded, and messier than perhaps even the Ant-Man book, the action is wayward and hard to follow, not to mention utterly lacking in excitement.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

TBH I would rather read this book than watch the movie, which I've always thought is bloated and chaotic (even though we get the birth of Vision, one of my fave MCU characters). This was a nice one-session read, though I continue to think these screenplay adaptations kind of strange. What was behind the thinking of removing the scene where Ultron rips of Klaue's arm, but including the weird "oh no, Black Widow is sterile" stuff? Klaue's arm does actually pop up as a plot point in Black Panther, whereas I don't think Black Widow's forced sterility has shown up again in the MCU. (Maybe in the upcoming BW movie, if we ever actually get to see it.)

(quarantine book 89; read a book featuring a superhero romance)

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

67 - 2021

p.47
Stark: Whatever happens on Earth, that up there is the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?
Rogers: Together.
Stark: We'll lose.
Rogers: Then we'll do that together, too.

So...
Stark: ENGKE KUMAHA Team
Rogers: KUMAHA ENGKE Team

Hell, no! How about planning and preparation? Leaders KNOW they should plan, Rogers. Failing to plan is planning to fail!

p.94
Rogers: Sometimes, my teammates don't tell me things.

How cute. He didn't tell his teammates things either. Leaders must walk the talk, Rogers.

Conclusion:
Steve Rogers must attend a leadership program. Seriously!


p.138
Thor: Because Stark is right.

Conclusion:
It's hard to be a futurist leader a la Tony Stark. The Cassandra Complex is real in MCU!

[Madi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly really liked it for a "junior novelization" as it would usually be considered, of course there's one thing that I believe both the movie and book could use, MORE BADASSERY and LESS ROMANCE I don't give a sh*t if Nat and Bruce have a little romance going on between them it does nothing for the story, I read this on the kindle and everytime we got a "brutasha" moment I was just like "Blegh. Unecessary Romantic Subplots make me sick." but when we got a little action in there it was amazing and the humor with how Mjolnir works was pretty funny too.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that Marvel's Avenger Age of Ultron is a very good book to read and I enjoyed reading as a Marvel fan. I think the book did well on expressing what the characters were thinking and were doing. The book is very exciting, action, and different other feelings. I like how it was like the movie but even more detailed information in what they were doing. I would recommend this to any Marvel fan and encourage them to read the book and the movie itself to get a idea of what their doing. I would recommend this to age 9 and up to read this book. I would totally read this.

[Nora Swerbinsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Age of Ultron is one of my favorite Avengers movies so I had high expectations going into this book, and I was a little let down. A lot of the best lines were altered and some scenes were cut short. I understand the need to cut some things out since the book only has 191 pages but still, I know pretty much all the lines from the movie by heart so i recognized their absence. I also felt like this book really down-played Pietro's death. Overall it was okay but not my favorite.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely enjoyable read (despite a few spelling and grammar errors). Reading this novelization actually gave me a new appreciation for, and a deeper understanding of, Age of Ultron, which is regarded as lackluster compared to the other Avengers movies.

[Allison Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite books from the series even though the movie is not at the top of my list.

I really enjoyed reading about Wanda and Pietro, along with Vision. Their stories came together in this book to show how they became Avengers.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story that despite its short length pack in enough detail to make it a good romp where a lot happens.

[James Biser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent retelling of the Age of Ultron story that was in the movie. It also tells the tale of the birth of Vision and an explanation of the Maxinov twins. It is a great read.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

[Kian Moe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Even better than the other "Age of Ultron" book! The only thing is that there are certain things either missing from the book from the movie or misplaced! 😃🤨🤔😐😐😒😆😃

[Sara Gillard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of this just for sillies but it ended up being a time and a half.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is way better then the junior movie novelization. For one thing, it actually has the entire movie. For another I feel it delves a bit more into the characters and what they're thinking a bit more.
The thing that bugged me the most tho is a character would say something that is an important line in the movie and it would just fall flat on the page. The writer didn't seem to know where to put the emphasis in the important scenes and lines, almost like they'd never seen the movie.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 2.5 star books for me, but I just can't bring myself to give it a 2 because it IS a Marvel book. I love everything Marvel; they can do no wrong... except for this movie. In all fairness, the author did a great job capturing the movie in a junior novelization. However, this is my least favorite movie in the MCU and that can't be fixed.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable audiobook. Natasha and Bruce together still doesn’t make a lick of sense to me but whatever.
The way the book described Wanda’s powers is hilarious. Sokovian accents were spot on, shout out to the narrator.

[Tia Garrigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scene by scene retelling of the movie, complete with foul language and violence, written so an elementary school student could understand.