X-Men: The Mutant Empire Omnibus

X-Men Mutant Empire #1-3

by Christopher Golden

Bringing the classic X-Men: Mutant Empire trilogy back into print in a brand-new omnibus.

MAGNETO'S EMPIRE WILL RISE...

They live as outcasts, hated and feared by the very humanity they protect. They are mutants, born with strange and wonderful powers that set them apart from the rest of the human race. Under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier, they are more than mutants. They are--the X-Men.

Magneto--the X-Men's oldest, deadliest foe--has taken over a top-secret government installation that houses the Sentinels, powerful mutant-hunting robots. The X-Men must fight to keep this deadly technology out of Magneto's hands and stop him from carrying out his grand plan: establishing a global Mutant Empire. The X-Men must join forces with old enemies to stop him--but in Magneto's brave new world, who can they trust?

Book 1: Siege
Book 2: Sanctuary
Book 3: Salvation

Genres: Marvel, Fiction, X Men, Fantasy, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels

691 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

About the author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good X-Men book, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the comics.

[Jamie Brackell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in the late 90s, the Mutant Empire trilogy of books are deeply entrenched in the continuity of early 90s Marvel Comics, referencing storylines such as Operation Galactic Storm and the iconic status-quo of the X-Men franchise at this time, which had seen Jim Lee launch X-Men # 1, the greatest-selling comic of all-time. Despite this commitment to reflecting the continuity at the time, author Christopher Golden ensures that his trilogy is accessible to casual reader (or someone reading this book twenty years later) and often makes use of the significant page count to carefully explain character motivations and backstories. With a sizeable cast of heroes and villains populating the omnibus, this attention to detail is greatly appreciated and gives the trilogy a suitably epic feel.

Spread across three books, Mutant Empire is a love-letter to 1990s X-Men which resonates even more with this re-release, taking everything that was awesome about this era and squeezing it into one epic-sized omnibus. The focus is split between two adventures which separates two groups of X-Men into a mismatch of the traditional Blue and Gold teams. First, we have an intergalactic jaunt to rescue Scott Summers’ father from Deathbird and the Imperial Guard, then secondly, the novel focuses on Magneto and his Acolytes as they use the Sentinels to take over Manhattan. Both of these adventures typify this era’s X-Men stories, and Golden’s writing frequently evokes memories of the legendary 1992 X-Men: The Animated Series.

While it may have been contemporary at the time of writing, the novels have an entirely new feel reading them twenty years later and it feels like a period piece – something that is particularly evident when the author makes casual mention of the World Trade Center, years before the events of 9/11. In fact, the series feels very prescient given the current political climate and one cannot help but make comparisons between Magneto’s brand of mutant terrorism and the fundamentalism that currently makes the headlines. While I’d always viewed the X-Men as a parable to race relations, particularly when it was initially developed in the 1960s, this novel made me consider Magneto more as a terrorist than a supervillain – with his acolytes following his idealism towards violence. This was one of the more fascinating elements of the novel, and it is interesting to read Magneto’s plans for a Mutant Empire knowing that modern X-Men series have done something very similar, both with Utopia and now with Krakoa.

Despite the massive page count, Christopher Golden’s epic X-Men tale is extremely engaging and the way he switches perspectives between his army of characters allows the reader to get under the skin of each of the main players. Rather than focusing purely on the X-Men, Golden gives secondary characters such Trish Tilby and Amelia Voght an opportunity to take a more lead role with passages exploring their inner thoughts. With the benefit of hindsight, Golden is also able to set up foreshadowing for the “Fatal Attractions” story-arc, which takes place after this one. One notable example of this is when Magneto deals with Wolverine and considers punishing the feral mutant by ripping his adamantium out of his body – a threat he would later follow up on in the comics. These little nods to the comic series are fantastic and really entrenches the novel in the main continuity – something I personally love as tie-in novels can sometimes be viewed as non-canon and difficult to reconcile with the comics.

At almost 700 pages in length, there is no denying that this omnibus offers extraordinary value for money and it certainly kept me engaged for a number of weeks. Unfortunately, there were moments where the plot felt stretched out in order to fill three books – for example, the period where the X-Men are left adrift in space in a powerless ship. While this sequence was actually quite tense and exciting, it felt like an obstacle put in place to ‘pad out’ the story and keep the two X-Men teams separated. I think if the omnibus had been written as a single book originally, it would have had some of these sequences and POV chapters trimmed down to streamline the narrative. That said, I did find the book immensely enjoyable throughout and Golden’s focus on character development was always a joy to read.

A blockbuster epic that celebrates everything X-Men, Mutant Empire is a trilogy of novels that deserve a place on every fan’s bookshelf. Titan Books’ collected edition is a thing of beauty, and offers readers incredible value, especially since the original novels are long out of print. Now viewed through a nostalgic prism, these novels are a brilliant representation of the merry mutants’ trials and tribulations in the mid-90s – a period which is arguably the franchise’s heyday. Reading through this omnibus, I couldn’t help but imagine the brightly coloured uniforms of the X-Men as rendered by the unparalleled Jim Lee, and hear the dialogue delivered by the spectacular voice cast from the animated series. Overflowing with nostalgia and drowning in nods to the original comics, Mutant Empire is easily one of the best Marvel prose novels that I’ve ever read, and made me eager to dig out my back issues to relive the era in full Technicolor!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was a whole lotta X-Men.


Art Credit: Warpath28 on Deviantart

I'm glad I read these books as I love the characters and recognize this was the height of late '90s written X-Men media before the 2000 Bryan Singer film would change the game. In fact, I caught a couple of direct inspirations for the Singer films, including Magneto shouting the immortal line, "You should have killed me when you had the chance!" nearly at the end of the third book, though the context was quite different.

Overall there was too much energy devoted to establishing characters that were basically treated as disposable, and the stuff in space involving more than half the team for two thirds of the trilogy just felt really aimless. Perhaps my bias is showing in saying as much but I've never been a fan of "Mutants in SPAAAAACE!" adventures so devoting so much time at it felt like a missed opportunity.

Oh yay. Starjammers.

I would definitely recommend to X-Fans, particularly 80s/90s kids.

[Matthew Sciarrino · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the comics....

While a bit long, it is very readable and a great X-Man adventure. If you like the comics you will enjoy the novel.

[Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

90s X-Men in a nutshell

[Nisar Masoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't fancy Christopher Golden's X-Men: Codename Wolverine (1998) that much (which actually takes place after this trilogy) but his X-Men: Mutant Empire Trilogy (1997) was simply awesome! You'll like it if you're a comics fan but you'll love it if you're an admirer of the 90s X-Men Animated Series. I felt like I was watching an arc of the show when I was reading these three entertaining stories.

The plot was amazing, the characterisation was top-notch and the only difference that I had noted between these novels and the show was that the former were more adult-orientated as of course it wasn't a cartoon designed for kids.

There were two flaws that I found both with Book #2 Sanctuary and Book #3 Salvation. One was that there were too many characters. Secondly, there was an overabundance of side plots. I felt that these aspects would have been handled better in the graphic format.

Nevertheless, Christopher Golden's X-Men Mutant Empire Trilogy is a must-read especially for enthusiasts of the comics. It's just sad that the last two entries were not perfect like their predecessor, again, due to having an excessive number of individuals and an inordinate amount of subplots.

#1 Siege: 5 out of 5

#2 Sanctuary: 4 out of 5

#3 Salvation: 4 out of 5

You can read a copy of this review on my website here: https://www.literaryretreat.com/x-men...

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed reading this "omnibus edition" of the Mutant Empire novels. The cover art is banal. The interior art has its moments. Some of it is good; some of it is not as good. Some of it is "meh." I did like how the artwork for chapter 17 of Salvation is an homage to the cover of X-Men #1 (volume 1) (with the original five X-Men facing off against Magneto). It has plenty of "good action sequences" in it; the author does a nice job of describing the bouts between the heroes and their opponents, overall. It also has its weak moments, too, but the author does a nice job with his descriptions of various moments and events. The character development is so-so. It is hard for the characters to really have any kind of "development" as that development will probably not carry over into the comics. That being the case, some of the "truest character development" has to be with secondary characters, with peripheral characters, the author creates and who will have zero bearing upon the comics, because they are really the only characters who can truly "grow" in any meaningful fashion.

The storyline does have some glaring weaknesses to it, however. The first "biggest weakness" is the whole "splitting the team into two" because of the crisis in Colorado at Operation: Wideawake and the crisis on Hala (and pending death of Corsair, Scott Summers' father, and his lover Hepzibah). To be honest, I felt the whole "Shi'ar crisis" storyline was pretty weak and could have been dispensed with completely. This is partly because for the entirety of the second book, the Shi'ar team is stranded in space just outside the Stargate that lies near Sol and the Starjammer is caught in the Sun's gravity and being pulled toward the Sun. So, you have the team that is battling to save NYC and you have this other team that is fighting for its life to return to Earth. I mean, c'mon! You already know the "away team" is going to survive; it's not like they can really truly be in any kind of danger that is going to kill them! Maybe if Marvel occasionally had some of its heroes die, as well as some of its villains, and leave them dead, the reader might wonder in the back of his or her mind that maybe, just maybe, the team might truly be in mortal danger! I didn't really care about "the away team" or what they were doing; I knew they'd eventually make it back to Earth. It was more a matter of "when."

Also, the Starjammer is nearly forty miles long and nearly four-to-five miles wide, but the author makes it sound like it's a little larger than the former American space shuttle or maybe a bit bigger than a large yacht. I'll even go so far as to say it sounds like it might be a bit larger than the largest Terran airship (be it the Airbus A380 or the Spruce Goose or the Russian Antonov AN-225), the way the Starjammers and X-Men are described as quickly moving from the front to the back of the vessel (or all points inbetween). Also, they are never described as being out-of-breath, despite running essentially a marathon-and-a-half every time they "run" from one end of the space vessel to the other. If it had truly "crash-landed" in the lake as described in the beginning of the story, it should have caused some major damage to the environment as well as the spaceship itself (weighing in at over 1.2 billion tons! (Granted, I have always assumed the bridge was at the very front of the starship; perhaps that is not the case and the bridge is located more amidships than at the front, which would make a bit more sense, in some regards.)

The second "biggest weakness" for me has to do with the lack of other superheroes in these novels. Well, other than X-Factor and Alex Summers (who Valerie Cooper speaks with to find out how soon they will be wrapping things up in Genosha and can return to the US of A) and Kurt Wagner getting an honorable mention along with Excalibur (six hours away, if they chose to fly commercial, as opposed to X-Factor's being on the other side of the world). At one point, Bobby Drake was talking about Hank McCoy about his (Bobby's) days serving on the Championsand Defenders (Bobby, Hank, and Warren all served on the Defenders at the same time) (74). That would imply, then, that the Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Hercules, Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Namor, Incredible Hulk, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat, Gargoyle, Carol Danvers, Moondragon, and Luke Cage are all a part of "this" universe created in this book/storyline. If that is the case, then, logically, the "other" superheroes and teams should also be present. That would include the NYC-based Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Daredevil, and a host of other heroes who lived in the Big Apple. Are all of these other heroes supposedly non-existent? What happened to them? Why were they not involved in the story, in the conflict? There is no way they would have allowed Magneto to move in like they did and take over. So, unless this is supposed to be some kind of "alternate reality"? (Which does not work, considering a whole "timeline" was created that shows where this story fits in to the timeline in relation to the other books and short stories that were written.) It seems like a glaring omission to not have the other teams and individual heroes involved in the story, let alone explain why they are missing and unaccounted for. It was "hard" (frustrating) to read this book about NYC being taken over and there not being any other superheroes accounted for and aiding in the uprising against Magneto or not having fought against the Sentinels and Magneto in the first place.

I think the third "biggest weakness" for me has to do with the story itself. Since there is no real threat to anybody, no concern over anybody truly dying, there is no suspense. There is no sense of impending doom, other than Magneto's actions actually making things "worse" for mutant humans in the long run and "justifying" strong, adverse reactions to what Magneto did by the normal human population of the planet. Also, parts of NYC are either severely damaged or destroyed (including the UN building), but none of this damage appears in any subsequent stories (and clearly does not show up in the comics). This is also a problem with (in) the comics; you can have NYC seriously damaged in one comic and yet there is no mention of that damage in any of the other comics that take place in NYC. At times, Marvel truly seems to have its various characters inhabiting different universes unless it is convenient for the heroes to work together or there is some kind of "massive event" that involves most (if not all) of the super heroes. Anybody who dies is a created character and "does not matter" in the big(ger) scheme of things; they are merely created to die in a story and that is it. There are no long-term consequences from this storyline, even though there should be.

There were some "minor" weaknesses as well. These included how some of the Acolytes were badly injured in various battles with the X-Men (to the point of having broken bones, concussions, and severe lacerations with the subsequent blood loss from Wolverine's claws) and yet seemed perfectly healthy every time the Acolytes faced the X-Men in the next fight. This was passed off as Magneto having a number of mutant healers working for him by that point, but it still seems like the Acolytes should have been unable to continue on like they were, with no problems. Some of them were near death, yet still come back as being perfectly whole, hale, and hearty. Or how the three novels are supposed to have taken place over maybe three-days time; it felt like a lot more time than that should have passed (especially considering all that occurred - massing the US military around the island, mutant humans coming from all over the globe to Haven, the island being evacuated by normal humans, one team having flown to Hala and back before being stranded in space of an indeterminate period of time before figuring out a way to reach Earth, and the numerous fights/skirmishes the went on). At one point, it is said that Xavier has not slept for two days straight because of this "national emergency" (and this happens during the third novel, mind you!). So, yeah, all that occurred only occurred in three days? That seemed pretty far-fetched to me! Finally, it seemed pretty "ironically convenient" that the Starjammers were "too injured" to be able to assist the "away team" in retaking NYC while trying to free the Sentinels from Magneto's control AND freeing their captured teammates in the process. Why is it that the Starjammers were more severely wounded than the X-Men? I guess Gambit was the only X-Man on that team who truly suffered any serious injuries, but it still felt like this team "got off lightly" in a pretty convenient fashion and were still able to remain on their feet and fight coherently despite all that had happened in three-days time.

Any "weaknesses" I had with the individual stories are discussed on the pages for those specific books.

I did think the story had some good (strong) points as well. I felt like, even though Bobby Drake was continually described as "the weakest link" throughout the three books, he did "finally" come into his own halfway through Sanctuary. I also felt that these books showed why it was such a misnomer as to why he was considered "the weakest X-Man" for the longest time; he is clearly not the weakest X-Man! I think it was more a matter of authors and writers not knowing how to write him, not knowing how to use his powers "in the best or appropriate way possible" and thereby labeling him as "weak" when it was more the inability of the storyteller to use Bobby Drake and his abilities in the best way possible. If the man can flash freeze the air in a person's passageways like he claims or can flash freeze a person's chest to the point of shattering, he is not "weak" by any means. I think the author did a "great job" of showing how Iceman is not the weak link he was always made out to be; I don't know if the author meant to do this or not, or if it was accidental in nature, but it was still a great reveal of how powerful Bobby truly is (or, a great hint of how powerful he can be in the hands of the right person, the right author/writer who knows how to utilize him and his abilities).

I loved how the Juggernaut worked with the X-Men in the third book and was instrumental in defeating Magneto's forces and freeing Manhattan Island. I also loved how it felt like Cain Marko had some of the best character development in the book, considering how he is normally the "heavy" and usually opposes the X-Men. The author did a nice job describing his internal thought processes as well as how well the Juggernaut worked with the X-Men, how he was a valuable ally. I also liked how he fled the scene of battle but then returned with reinforcements to help turn the tide. He is usually portrayed in such a "negative light" and I really do not remember any other authors giving Cain Marko such a "solid treatment" like Christopher Golden did in this book. I thought Golden helped make Cain Marko a better-rounded, more believable character, which is why I felt like Cain Marko had "the best" if not one of the "best" bit of character development in the book.

I also liked Major Skolnick's "redemption" by the end of the third novel. I thought that was well-done, that the author did a nice job of handling it. It was an interesting journey that the Major underwent, and though he might not have had as much "on-page presence" as other characters, I still felt he was an integral part of the story and also had some of the best character development as well.

The author did an interesting thing with Amelia Vought. I felt like she was some kind of "conscience" for both Magneto and Xavier. She did not worship Magneto like the other Acolytes did, but she did respect Magnus. She was able to speak her mind to him and even influence some of his decisions, as well. In any case, she was used primarily in the first two books to point out weaknesses with Xavier and even the X-Men (up to a point), but then in the third book, the author has her start pointing out even more weaknesses of Magneto (or, the ones that she does point out are glaring enough to show the ever-growing hypocrisy of what Magneto was doing and what he was allowing to happen under his "benevolent rule."

There were other observations made throughout the story that did surprise me (such as how the X-Men constantly fighting "evil mutant humans" to further protect humanity actually supports the "belief" (fears) that mutant humans cannot be trusted and that normal humans need to be protected from mutant humans). I was not expecting some of the observations to be made that were made, so it was an interesting "change" from what normally is presented in the comics.

I was also surprised that the author actually made Henry Gyrich a "sympathetic character" for a brief moment! Regardless of how brief it might have been, it still happened and shocked me! Henry Gyrich has always been portrayed in the worst way possible, so to have him shown in a fashion that made him understandable and even "forgivable" was pretty amazing to me and shows how well the author presented him at that moment. It was quite the moment (and then Gyrich ruined it by being his "normal self").

I liked how the Juggernaut handed various mutants their heads in a basket throughout the third book. Even though it felt like the author "powered-down" the Juggernaut so he could compete "equally" with the villains, I still enjoyed the Juggernaut and "his arc" the most in this story, I think.

Overall, I did enjoy the story. I did not care for it all the first time around, and I think I remember why. Despite its weaknesses (which were very obvious), it was still a fun story to read, to see how the author made it all work out in the end. I think I enjoyed it far more this time around because I had forgotten that the Juggernaut was in the third book, and that made all the difference in the world.

links to each volume's individual review:
Siege
Sanctuary (positive)
Sanctuary (negative)
Salvation

[Jessica Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the three books that make up this omnibus a ton as a kid since the X-Men were and remain my favorite superheroes so I have lots of nostalgic love for this. That being said it feels too much like baby’s first introduction to the Chris Claremont/Jim Lee era to recommend it now. Fans of the X-Men now will find much of it too different and confusing while fans of that 90s era will probably get annoyed at how much is a recap of stuff they already know.

[Philmore Olazo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Split across three books, this saga delivers a surprisingly sweeping epic about Magneto seizing Manhattan and crowning himself emperor. With the X-Men scattered by circumstance, nobody’s around to stop him (one wonders where Spider-Man, the Avengers, or all the other Marvel heroes are, but who's considering continuity on these things, right?).

Half the team jets off into space to save Corsair, Scott’s dad, from certain execution, while the mutants left on Earth aren’t enough to block Magneto’s opening gambit. He strikes fast, hijacks control of the Sentinels, and locks down the island before anyone realizes could react.

The story jumps through several angles: politics, warfare, public paranoia, and the personal fallout this kind of crisis would actually create. The U.S. government is caught between outrage and impotence. Outside of nuking Manhattan, which they openly consider, they’ve got no clue how to deal with Magneto except to shove the X-Men at the problem.

The book doesn’t shy away from the ugly part of Marvel’s mutant metaphor either: bigoted politicians, fearmongering pundits, and the casual assumption that mutants aren’t really people.

Now, Magneto is no better; even his most common ally, the Juggernaut, decided to join the X-Men to take him down. Since he understood that once Erick consolidated his power, he'd have no place in his empire either.

It’s a long ride but a genuinely entertaining one. If anything drags, it’s the space subplot. It stinks of editorial mandate, Corsair, and random alien factions shoved into a story that didn’t need them. The whole arc adds nothing, teaches nothing, and gives the X-Men no new tech or insight. It just exists to keep half the team off the board long enough for Magneto to win the first round.

The ending was so poetic, being more of a battle of ideologies than brute strength. Magneto feels lethal, as he should, and the resolution is more bittersweet than glorious.

Simply marvelous.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the '90s, there was a lot of Marvel prose novels based off of either The X-Men, or Spider-Man...since well, they were the best selling books at the time at Marvel! This one was the first X-Men prose novel series I ever read, now in one volume. It's still a '90s story, and feels like that...so no iphones, or facebook in there...many '90s x-people are in there....so be ready for that.

The story is how Magneto and followers the Acolytes, from their space station in Earth's orbit take control of a hidden army of Sentinel robots, for the cause of turning Manhattan into Magneto's "Mutant Empire". A mutant nation on Earth, where he rules. Of course the X-Men can't let that happen! There's a B plot that's good, but doesn't have much to do with the main story, where some of the x-men are on a space mission to save Cyclop's father from the Sh'iar and being killed...so half of the x-men team up with the Starjammers....but it doesn't have much to do with Magento or his plans.
And I was a bit confused. The whole "Sentinels now controlling Manhatten" sounded way too much like the "Onslaught" story line. And what about "Fatal Attractions" which I felt like didn't happen, so this was a alternate time line?
The ending made it sound like this takes place BEFORE that story....even with the plot holes that wouldn't make it work., but comic books.
But if you're an x-men fan, or a '90s x-men fan, check this book out!

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An original trilogy of prose novels in one omnibus from 1996; so good! I can’t believe this has been lost in time. I’m a fan of the 90s cartoon and all the movies and a lot of peripheral knowledge of the comic universe but never really read any of the comics, but this story felt as good as any of the stories I’ve seen; in fact there are several plot lines obviously that happened in the comics, but much of the details I can see how character details and arcs helped form some of the ways they chose to translate the comics to the screenplay.

This isn’t an origin story for anyone, in fact there is so much previously established character arcs that many of the times we meet a character on the page for the first time it assumes we already know who they are but gives us a quick summary to establish their place in time in this book. For example, the Jean Grey Phoenix storyline hasn’t happened yet, but it’s foreshadowed in interesting ways, and Cable is there from the future and we don’t really know how but enough background info is given that we can just proceed with the current plot and development.

I enjoyed this so much I’m going to root around and find more X-Men books and other series novelizations by this author.

[Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

X-Men: Mutant Empire Omnibus brings together three classic X-Men novels into one huge paperback edition, that pits the iconic mutant heroes against their greatest foe, Magneto, as he attempts to turn New York City into his own mutant empire.

When the X-Men are spending a rare day to themselves, relaxing in the grounds of the Xavier Institute, a spaceship crashes within the grounds, bringing their festivities to an abrupt end. Thankfully, instead of being an alien invasion it's half of the outlaw pirate group The Starjammers, led by the father of Scott Summers, the X-Man Cyclops. The Starjammers inform the X-Men that Cyclops' father has been captured by the tyrant Deathbird, and faces execution.

At the same time, a military facility in Colorado that houses the deadly Sentinel machines falls under attack by an unknown group. These two missions force the X-Men to split their forces. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Archangel, Rogue, and Gambit leave Earth and travel into deep space to rescue the rest of the Starjammers; whilst Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Beast, and Bishop try to prevent the Sentinels from falling into the wrong hands.

When the X-Men discover that Magneto and his deadly Acolytes are the ones after the Sentinels the stakes get a lot higher. Unable to stop the theft, the X-Men are shocked when Magneto uses the Sentinels to take over New York, declaring it the start of his new mutant empire and a save haven for all mutants. Now the team must try to fight their way through an army of mutants, and the Sentinels, to stop their oldest foe, hoping that the rest of their team can make it back from space in time to help against the overwhelming odds they face.

X-Men: Mutant Empire is a big story. It seems pretty obvious to say that, considering that it collects together three novels, but it's worth pointing out that so much happens in this book. The whole first third of the book feels like set-up for the rest of the story, and there are so many twists and turns when the X-Men have to assault Magneto's empire that it would be easy to see this as a story that would span a year or more across multiple titles if it were a comic, released as a huge bumper graphic novel.

One of the best things about the book is how it feels like a comic in a lot of ways. The story here was completely original to the book, and didn't happen in the comics, yet has so many connection to past stories and continuities that it feels like it could easily slip into the comics without any real effort. The side adventure with the Starjammers draws upon lots of existing backstory by bringing in the Shi'ar, the Kree, and the Imperial Guard. Though contained only within the first section of the book the space adventure is a lot of fun, and thanks to the inclusion of the Imperial Guard and the Shi'ar, reminds me a lot of the classic X-Men cartoon from the 90's. Maybe it's because of the more fantastical setting and the strange aliens the team faces, but this part of the book stands out as particularly different from the rest of the story.

Despite dealing with fantastical characters and events that are well beyond normal the story feels a lot more grounded when it reaches the streets of Manhattan. The X-Men are reduced to sneaking through the streets and back alleys of the city, getting into fights in bars as they try to locate Magneto and bring an end to his plans. It's strange to see such brightly costumed characters sneaking around a city instead of running straight into battle and being the big heroes, but it adds a sense of realism to the proceedings. Even if they had the whole team with them they'd be up against huge odds, but with half the team in space it's even more stacked against them.

The sense of realism in the novel are one of the best things about the translation from comics to prose for the X-Men, the other is that unlike comics, which focus on action a lot of the time, we get to spend more time with the characters and get to know what's going on in their heads. Readers get the chance to explore the inner workings of Bishops trauma from his experiences in his nightmare future and how this current situation terrifies him. We get a greater understanding of Jean and Scott's relationship and their strong psychic bond. And we have the chance to see how Iceman goes from being the joker of the group to a much fiercer warrior, and the things that drive him to that point.

These quieter moments when the reader can forget about the over the top action and learn more about the characters are some of the best parts of the book, and gives some insight that the comics rarely give. Yes, sometimes it can feel a little repetitive when we're told about Bishops past and his motivations for the third time; but then this would have been in a separate book in it's original format, so it's a little more understandable.

Whilst the bringing together of the three individual books as one is great, there is one drawback to the collected volume. The original books had a combined page count of close to 1000, but X-Men: Mutant Empire Omnibus clocks in at just under 700 pages. In order to achieve this, the font size has been reduced to fit more onto each page. The result of this is that it can at times feel like it takes a lot longer than usual to read, and I a times felt that I'd made little progress through the book despite having read a good portion of it. This is just a personal thing, however, and the real drawback I found to this condensing of the book is that the font size is very small, and I am concerned that readers with sight problems could find it difficult to read and enjoy the book. Despite these small criticisms, however, the book is a great addition to Titan Marvel prose series.

X-Men: Mutant Empire Omnibus is a huge book, filled with great character moments and some brilliant action sequences. Christopher Golden crafts a tale that would be at home on the comic pages just as much as it does here, and knows the world and characters brilliantly. Three books for the bargain price of £9.99, any comic book fan would be a fool to miss out.

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[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has yet to get past the 80s comic run of the X-Men, this is still a fun read. The civil rights themes were very apparent in this, which I for one enjoyed because of the parallels it has with the current U.S. Personally, I was not a fan of the Shi’ar plot line in the Siege and Sanctuary sections. I could have done without it since I was more interested in what was happening in Manhattan. Regardless, a fun read for any X-Men fan.

[Nabil Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scintillating and Marvellous X men Epic.


This volume of the Xmen stories featuring Magneto and his accomplices: The Acoyles was simply fantastic and Brilliant. The stories had plenty of intrigue and wonder. There was a multitude of super hero action and fighting endeavor. It was just Mega!!

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

337 - 2020

Well, setting novel ini pasti di alternate timeline. Dunia tanpa Avengers atau superhero lainnya, yang tidak kelihatan batang hidungnya saat Magneto menduduki Manhattan.

Yaaa, mirip2 universenya X-Men di versi film Fox.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long, but easy to digest. Written with the 80s/90s X-men fans in mind and great for escapism. It's a great reminder of X-men from the series and the comics, because some of the characters were represented differently in the X-men films. Rogue was done a huge disservice in the films.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the graphic audiobook version. This is a great timeless X-men story. It always seems to be and endless uphill battle on all fronts from our favorite X-men. Great primer for the new 97 X-men show coming to Disney soon

[Afiq Fikri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. A bit predictable, played around with common themes in X-men lore but very well presented and very much an enjoyable read for x-men fans.

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book! It really captures the feel of the comics and animated series.

[Christopher Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like hero's and action then this Omnibus is a must for any X-Men fan.

[Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second X-men omnibus adaptation I’ve listened to and they have been excellent. Wonderful story telling given a wonderful, dramatic treatment on audiobook.

[Branson Boykin · Rating 5 out of 5]

X-Men storytelling at its best