X-Men: Soul Killer

Marvel Berkley/Byron Preiss Productions Prose Novels

by Richard Lee Byers

The demon lord Belasco plans to use Rogue to bring the evil Elder Gods to Earth. The X-Men and their sister team Excalibur must stop him before Rogue's very soul is destroyed. Their unexpected -- and untrusted -- ally is the lord of all vampires: Dracula

Genres: Marvel, Fiction, X Men, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comics

310 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

A resident of the Tampa Bay area, Richard spends much of his leisure time fencing, playing poker, shooting pool and is a frequent guest at Florida science-fiction conventions. His current projects include new novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe and the eBook post-apocalyptic superhero series The Impostor.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that takes place in the Marvel comics universe. In this one a powerful rain storm is hitting the South. Storm and Rogue go to investigate and help out. Soon they are attacked by a being who wants to bring back the Dark Gods to this world. The X-Men are in a battle to save the world.

There really is not a surprise what this book is about. The X-Men once again are in a battle with a deadly foe. This one has supernatural ties as he plots to bring back the gods that once ruled the Earth. The twist of this story is that the team has to align themselves with a deadly enemy to help defeat the being who is trying to bring the end of the world. All the elements are here for an enjoyable novel. We have the established characters which I believed the author portrayed correctly. We have the conflict and we have the over the top battles between combatants. Now throw in the supernatural into the mix and I really should have enjoyed this more. But for some reason it did not capture me like it should have. I cannot put my finger on why. I liked it but I wasn't enthralled by it.

All the aspects are in play here for this to be a really good book based on the comics. I enjoyed it. I do believe this might fall on me. I am a little sick right now and maybe I could not really get into it because of that. All the characters are here like Wolverine and other X-Men. We have them battling foes and showing their teamwork that is a staple for them. This book is exactly what I want from a book based on comics. I just wish it grabbed me a little more. Like I said I am not completely myself and that might be the reason. I will try this again in the future to see if that is the case.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good (if a bit off-beat) X-prose novel. It has much more of a mystical/magical than scientific/superhero back drop. Dracula is a main character, with whom I was never too comfortable as a Marvel guy, and the X-participants include much of Excalibur in addition to the X-Men of the time. Rogue is the main protagonist, though Storm is shown sympathetically and Kitty Pryde, as was usual in the 1990s, frequently steals the show. The writing isn't flashy but tells the story serviceably... a couple of the philosophical soliloquys drug just a bit, but not too annoyingly. A good read, altogether. Excelsior!

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an.....interesting book, I guess. It held my interest enough to finish reading it. It moved at a sporadic pace - sometimes 'fast' and sometimes glacially slow. It features a blending of teams from Excalibur and X-Men [probably composed of the favorite characters from each team during that period of time]. I do not know how much 'character development' occurred , other than Rogue realizing she could 'use' the memories of those from whom she absorbed their powers to battle the Dark Ones, a la her abilities in the X-Treme X-Men comic by Chris Claremont. I wonder if Claremont read this book and incorporated the idea of Rogue using the psyches of those she absorbed to access their powers after reading this book. The book was published in 1999 and Rogue gained her 'new abilities' in the comics two years later .

Some of the imagery was rather disturbing. I am not a big fan of horror novels or movies, so perhaps the imagery was 'common' [yet blasphemous] and [much] tamer than what one would find in materials from this genre. Regardless, some of the descriptions such as a rotting corpse hanging from an upside down cross made me sick to my stomach. I guess the descriptions 'added' to the horror-aspect of the story, but it definitely did not appeal to me. [probably why it's called 'horror', right?]

I could not help but wonder how well the book would sell if it were released [or re-released] in today's market. Today's market seems to have developed a bizarre niche of horror-related stories [especially vampires, for some reason] and horror-romance stories. I think it would fit better in today's market as opposed to when it was released nearly twenty years ago.

It was unusual reading about the X-Men pairing up with Dracula to save the world. There have been some odd pairings before with the X-Men, but I think this one probably takes the cake [unless the X-Men teamed up with either Galactus or Mephisto for some reason]. Rogue is the key to either saving the world or destroying life as we know it. So it was nice to see her as a 'focus' for a change.

There was a larger amount of witchcraft/sorcery in this novel than in other X-Men novels. I cannot say it if took away from the story; I did expect the Scarlet Witch to show up at some point to assist the X-Men. I think that would have made the story SO much better! References are made to the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, about how these two super hero groups do not receive the same kind and amount of harassment that the X-Men receive. Still, though, it would have been nice to have seen Wanda Maximoff show up to assist in the story.

I was pleasantly surprised by the direction[s] the novel took. For instance, at first I thought it was going to be another 'let's bash Christianity for no good reason at all!' story, but it did not turn out to be that way. I could not help but wonder if the novel would end on a 'fluke win' where the villain makes a stupid mistake; that did not happen in this novel. Instead, the villains are defeated 'fair and square' without the super villain[s] making [too] many mistakes.

Dracula's and Belasco's comments about Christianity and how evil and ineffectual it is got pretty old, pretty fast. I hate it when Christianity gets misrepresented in a story as it takes away from whatever 'message' the story might be providing the reader. It gets real old, real quick. This particular novel seemed to revel in Amanda's witchcraft while putting down Kurt's Christian beliefs. I realize Christianity as a world-view does not mix very well with the whole 'super hero' genre [especially considering all of the cosmic and galactic entities and deities inhabiting the Marvel U] and by attempting to incorporate it makes it look ridiculous as a belief system, but the constant bashing gets old.

Dracula and Belasco appear to reap their just rewards by the end of the book.

There is very little character development in the novel. Hopefully that changes as I read other novels.

The three team leaders squabbling and the teams bickering was pretty funny when looked at through the eyes of Kitty Pryde.

Overall, it was an okay book. I am not sure I will ever read it again.

[Lori S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an OK story with that's a bit thin on plot and, much as I like all the characters, I think there were a few too many of them running around.

Rogue gets taken by an evil sorcerer and forced into absorbing the essence of one of his vampire acolytes. Afterward, she attacks Ororo Monroe, stealing her weather powers and leaving her to plunge into the Mississippi before cutting a swath of destruction through the town they were trying save from flooding. Reports get back to the X-Men, and Jean Grey, Scott Summers & Logan arrive from Massachusetts hoping to save their teammates. From Scotland, Team Excalibur, Kurt Wagner, Kitty Pride, Peter Romanov, and Kurt's sorceress girlfriend, Amanda, arrive with a unexpected ally to help stop the sorcerer causing all the havoc.

This was a slow paced book which could have used another round of something to make it sing. The number of characters kind of slowed things down further, for all that they were characters I like. I did get more of the history of both teams, so there is that.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good! I really enjoyed the inclusion of Excalibur in the story and how they changed up the character dynamics. It was really well written and everyone was very true to their characters in the comics.

[Derrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you enjoy a story not centered around the normal 'let's kill xmen', then this one is it. Also if you like Dracula and vampires. Just didn't do it for me though.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this X-men book did not rely on tired cliches. It was a good story well told — recommended to all!

[Toni Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4. It was well written, but the intent is that you know all the characters. It is all action and no character development.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

X-Men Meets Dracula...

[PMoslice · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting action filled trek into the supernatural. This was a great story including many characters and action sequences.