What do you think?
Rate this book
Marvel Aconyte Novels
Sound of Light: A Marvel: School of X Novel
Dazzler, rock ‘n’ roll, and the children of Cyclops and Magneto launch into space and beyond in this electrifying trans-dimensional adventure from Marvel’s School of X
When rock star Dazzler walked out on S.H.I.E.L.D., she hoped she’d seen the last of the clandestine organization. But when a rogue agent drops in after a sold-out gig, she must decide whether to work with them again or stick to her solo career. The agent links Mutant Growth Hormone – a dangerous biochemical that wildly enhances mutant powers – with the disappearance of Magneto and Cyclops. Reluctantly, Dazzler takes the case and unfolds a mystery greater than she anticipated. In need of a new team, she recruits the extraordinary mutants Emma Frost, Polaris, and Rachel Grey on a mission to foil a plot to remove mutantkind forever, which blasts them from Earth into a whole new dimension.
When rock star Dazzler walked out on S.H.I.E.L.D., she hoped she’d seen the last of the clandestine organization. But when a rogue agent drops in after a sold-out gig, she must decide whether to work with them again or stick to her solo career. The agent links Mutant Growth Hormone – a dangerous biochemical that wildly enhances mutant powers – with the disappearance of Magneto and Cyclops. Reluctantly, Dazzler takes the case and unfolds a mystery greater than she anticipated. In need of a new team, she recruits the extraordinary mutants Emma Frost, Polaris, and Rachel Grey on a mission to foil a plot to remove mutantkind forever, which blasts them from Earth into a whole new dimension.
352 pages, Paperback
Published November 22, 2022
5 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Bridgeman
28 books107 followersAmanda is a Scribe Award winner, a two-time Tin Duck Award winner, an Aurealis and Ditmar Awards finalist and author of several science fiction and thriller novels. Her works include sci-fi mystery SALVATION series, consisting of THE SUBJUGATE and THE SENSATION (published by Angry Robot Books, UK), which is being developed for TV by Aquarius Films and Anonymous Content (True Detective, Mr Robot, The Alienist).
THE SUBJUGATE is also currently being studied at two German universities (Düsseldorf and Cologne) as part of a program on Australian speculative fiction, in conjunction with the Centre for Australian Studies.
Born in the seaside/country town of Geraldton, Western Australia, she moved to Perth (Western Australia) to study film & television/creative writing at Murdoch University, earning her a BA in Communication Studies. Perth has been her home ever since, aside from a nineteen-month stint in London (England) where she dabbled in Film & TV ‘Extra’ work.
Amanda is a versatile writer who enjoys working across different genres and creative formats, be it novels, screenplays, short stories, etc, and creating both original and tie-in work.
Her Scribe Award winning novel PANDEMIC: PATIENT ZERO is the first novel set in the award-winning Pandemic tabletop board game universe.
She has written short stories for Marvel (X-Men) and Black Library (Warhammer 40k) anthologies.
Her new novel, Sound of Light, set in the Marvel X-Men universe and featuring mutant Dazzler, is out now!
THE SUBJUGATE is also currently being studied at two German universities (Düsseldorf and Cologne) as part of a program on Australian speculative fiction, in conjunction with the Centre for Australian Studies.
Born in the seaside/country town of Geraldton, Western Australia, she moved to Perth (Western Australia) to study film & television/creative writing at Murdoch University, earning her a BA in Communication Studies. Perth has been her home ever since, aside from a nineteen-month stint in London (England) where she dabbled in Film & TV ‘Extra’ work.
Amanda is a versatile writer who enjoys working across different genres and creative formats, be it novels, screenplays, short stories, etc, and creating both original and tie-in work.
Her Scribe Award winning novel PANDEMIC: PATIENT ZERO is the first novel set in the award-winning Pandemic tabletop board game universe.
She has written short stories for Marvel (X-Men) and Black Library (Warhammer 40k) anthologies.
Her new novel, Sound of Light, set in the Marvel X-Men universe and featuring mutant Dazzler, is out now!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 30, 2024
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Sound of Light in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to The Book Network, Aconyte and Amanda Bridgeman for facilitating!
Read this and other reviews on my blog, Write Read Repeat.
Over the last decade, Marvel movies have become synonymous with high action, complex characters and long-term storytelling. Though I’m not a diehard fan of the franchise, that definitely wasn’t a barrier to my enjoyment of Sound of Light, a novel within its School of X series.
As I said in my introduction, I didn’t have huge prior knowledge of the Marvel universe (confession: I’ve actually only watched Iron Man – eeep!). Because of that, I was a bit worried that the book would be full of Easter eggs that I wouldn’t understand. Gladly, that wasn’t the case.
Don’t get me wrong – I do think that hardcore fans would probably enjoy this book more than your average reader. But Bridgeman’s aware of the fact that not everyone knows Marvel so well. As such, she goes over key events, like M-Day (when mutant powers were temporarily wiped out) for the uninitiated, while not being so detailed as to bore those who know about them already.
These events, though not central to the story, are important in understanding its main character: Alison Blaire, aka Dazzler.
When we’re first introduced to her, Dazzler is the lead vocalist of The Casablancas. She restricts the use of her powers – converting sound into light and energy beams – to adding some pizzazz to concert lighting (and dealing with some crowd fighting in the process).
On stage, she’s the epitome of confidence, but it’s once she’s offstage that we start to see the person behind the persona.
Dazzler’s mother walked out on her and her father when she was small; that would explain her distrust of people well enough, but the novel also explains that she was used by villainous mutant Mystique as a source for Mutant Growth Hormone – a steroid that can boost mutant powers, and even give humans mutant-like abilities.
It’s because of this that she’s confronted by S.H.I.E.L.D operative Markis Bennett. MGH is not only back on the streets, but Dazzler’s father is missing, alongside powerful mutants Magneto and Cyclops. Not surprisingly, Dazzler isn’t enthusiastic about the idea of working with MGH or S.H.I.E.L.D again, given her murky past with both.
Marvel works have often been praised for their allegory, and that tradition continued here. The descriptions of Dazzler’s ordeal with MGH, talking of “people using her ‘essence’ without her consent” could just as easily be talking about a sexual assault. Intentional parallel or not, trauma and growing from it is an undeniable running theme throughout the novel; not just for Dazzler, but also her ragtag mutant team.
After visiting Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters to get more information from its Headmistress Emma Frost (a woman with plenty of her own sins), Dazzler is teamed with three fellow mutants to find Magneto and Cyclops. They are Sage, an Eastern European mutant and school teacher who has a photographic memory; Cyclops’ Rachel Grey, who has abilities of telepathy and telekinesis; and Magneto’s daughter Polaris who can control magnetic fields.
To say the quartet don’t gel immediately is an understatement. With Dazzler working for S.H.I.E.L.D, Sage working at Xavier’s School, and Rachel and Polaris students at the rival Jean Grey School, the distrust is palpable. Whether it’s Rachel messing with Dazzler’s head and calling her “Dizzler”, or Polaris shutting her out completely, the team’s differences threaten to compromise the mission before it’s begun.
Even the unexpected death of a potential lead fails to solidify them as a group. What eventually starts to bring them together is something much deeper than their mission.
All three have demons to deal with - beyond the fact their fathers are missing. None of the foursome are seen fully recovering from their trauma - but I think this is exactly the point. As Sage puts it to the others, they’re “the scions rising from the ashes of [their] parents. The next generation of mutants who will one day lead.”
And lead they eventually do - blasting into another dimension to take out the novel’s main villains. With her teammates by her side and confidence building, Dazzler comes into her own.
Despite Dazzler’s success here, her relationship with her father remains strained. “You love me,” Dazzler explains “but you just can’t bring yourself to approve of who I am… So, nothing’s changed.”
Healing, Bridgeman shows us, is an ongoing process. Trust isn’t easily won back, but you have to start somewhere – and with Dazzler, that’s on stage. We don’t know what her future holds, but as the novel ends, we see her ready to face it, confident in the support of her newfound friends.
This isn’t a book without issues – Bridgeman employs strings of questions a little too often – but it succeeds in staying true to its characters, and giving mental health issues the spotlight they deserve.
Read this and other reviews on my blog, Write Read Repeat.
Over the last decade, Marvel movies have become synonymous with high action, complex characters and long-term storytelling. Though I’m not a diehard fan of the franchise, that definitely wasn’t a barrier to my enjoyment of Sound of Light, a novel within its School of X series.
As I said in my introduction, I didn’t have huge prior knowledge of the Marvel universe (confession: I’ve actually only watched Iron Man – eeep!). Because of that, I was a bit worried that the book would be full of Easter eggs that I wouldn’t understand. Gladly, that wasn’t the case.
Don’t get me wrong – I do think that hardcore fans would probably enjoy this book more than your average reader. But Bridgeman’s aware of the fact that not everyone knows Marvel so well. As such, she goes over key events, like M-Day (when mutant powers were temporarily wiped out) for the uninitiated, while not being so detailed as to bore those who know about them already.
These events, though not central to the story, are important in understanding its main character: Alison Blaire, aka Dazzler.
When we’re first introduced to her, Dazzler is the lead vocalist of The Casablancas. She restricts the use of her powers – converting sound into light and energy beams – to adding some pizzazz to concert lighting (and dealing with some crowd fighting in the process).
On stage, she’s the epitome of confidence, but it’s once she’s offstage that we start to see the person behind the persona.
Dazzler’s mother walked out on her and her father when she was small; that would explain her distrust of people well enough, but the novel also explains that she was used by villainous mutant Mystique as a source for Mutant Growth Hormone – a steroid that can boost mutant powers, and even give humans mutant-like abilities.
It’s because of this that she’s confronted by S.H.I.E.L.D operative Markis Bennett. MGH is not only back on the streets, but Dazzler’s father is missing, alongside powerful mutants Magneto and Cyclops. Not surprisingly, Dazzler isn’t enthusiastic about the idea of working with MGH or S.H.I.E.L.D again, given her murky past with both.
Marvel works have often been praised for their allegory, and that tradition continued here. The descriptions of Dazzler’s ordeal with MGH, talking of “people using her ‘essence’ without her consent” could just as easily be talking about a sexual assault. Intentional parallel or not, trauma and growing from it is an undeniable running theme throughout the novel; not just for Dazzler, but also her ragtag mutant team.
After visiting Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters to get more information from its Headmistress Emma Frost (a woman with plenty of her own sins), Dazzler is teamed with three fellow mutants to find Magneto and Cyclops. They are Sage, an Eastern European mutant and school teacher who has a photographic memory; Cyclops’ Rachel Grey, who has abilities of telepathy and telekinesis; and Magneto’s daughter Polaris who can control magnetic fields.
To say the quartet don’t gel immediately is an understatement. With Dazzler working for S.H.I.E.L.D, Sage working at Xavier’s School, and Rachel and Polaris students at the rival Jean Grey School, the distrust is palpable. Whether it’s Rachel messing with Dazzler’s head and calling her “Dizzler”, or Polaris shutting her out completely, the team’s differences threaten to compromise the mission before it’s begun.
Even the unexpected death of a potential lead fails to solidify them as a group. What eventually starts to bring them together is something much deeper than their mission.
All three have demons to deal with - beyond the fact their fathers are missing. None of the foursome are seen fully recovering from their trauma - but I think this is exactly the point. As Sage puts it to the others, they’re “the scions rising from the ashes of [their] parents. The next generation of mutants who will one day lead.”
And lead they eventually do - blasting into another dimension to take out the novel’s main villains. With her teammates by her side and confidence building, Dazzler comes into her own.
Despite Dazzler’s success here, her relationship with her father remains strained. “You love me,” Dazzler explains “but you just can’t bring yourself to approve of who I am… So, nothing’s changed.”
Healing, Bridgeman shows us, is an ongoing process. Trust isn’t easily won back, but you have to start somewhere – and with Dazzler, that’s on stage. We don’t know what her future holds, but as the novel ends, we see her ready to face it, confident in the support of her newfound friends.
This isn’t a book without issues – Bridgeman employs strings of questions a little too often – but it succeeds in staying true to its characters, and giving mental health issues the spotlight they deserve.
December 5, 2022
Aconyte and Marvel provided me with a free copy as a reviewer. All opinions about the book as shared in the review below are my honest opinions and were not influenced by receipt of a review copy of the novel.
Dazzler is a character with a long and weird history in comics, born out of an already-dead cultural movement in 1980 and buried in Marvel's D-list of mutant characters. Over the last several decades, she's had numerous attempts to revive her and bring her back into Marvel's storytelling fold, though success with the character has been middling.
It's a little surprising, then, that she ends up the central protagonist of Amanda Bridgeman's Sound of Light, a novel in the School of X series from Marvel's prose novel publishing arm. Bridgeman makes some interesting choices for the cast of her novel, using various secondary characters from the X-Men universe to both propel the book's plot forward and explore the book's major themes.
At the heart of the book's emotional arc is an issue of agency, bolstered by the complex relationships several of the book's cast have with their father figures. Joining Dazzler, whose father has gone missing, is Rachel Summers (daughter of Cyclops and extraordinarily powerful telepath/telekinetic) and Lorna Dane (daughter of Magneto and powerful magnetikinetic), and Bridgeman uses the two women as fascinating foils to Dazzler's character, generating unique conflicts in the group over their various issues and politics.
Still, central to the book is the question of a woman's agency, and Bridgeman uses the novel's plot as a coded exploration of the limitations of agency and the responsibility the characters feel toward what happens in the world as result of their exploitation and trauma. Bridgeman's choice of characters--all of whom have been impacted in one way or another by choices made for them without their consent and in spite of their power--only serves to augment the emotional resonance and depth of the book.
Of course, no Marvel story exists in a vacuum of continuity, and this is really where the book struggles. Because readers are expected to understand all of the backstory of the characters, and especially the stories told about the X-Men in the last twenty years, some of the story's action relies a bit too heavily on understanding the stakes to the characters based on their history. If you haven't read House of M or the complicated origins and history of Mutant Growth Hormone from post-House of M continuity, or the events of Avengers vs. X-Men and the whole Phoenix saga stuff, it's very easy to get lost in the book's worldbuilding. This isn't so much an issue with Bridgeman's attempts to cover all of the events of the book so much as it is an issue with the density of Marvel's continuity. Some of the magic, the nuance, of the book's major themes might be lost without reference to the canon continuity of X-Men comics, but this wouldn't serve as a good introduction to any of the book's major characters or storylines for new readers.
In spite of the major continuity demands, the book still builds its mystery quite well and includes satisfying depictions of some fan-favorite characters. This is a really excellent novel about some of Marvel's lesser-known characters, and is a fine showcase of how superheroes can be used to tell symbolically relevant stories well beyond the confines of their genre-specific tropes.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
Dazzler is a character with a long and weird history in comics, born out of an already-dead cultural movement in 1980 and buried in Marvel's D-list of mutant characters. Over the last several decades, she's had numerous attempts to revive her and bring her back into Marvel's storytelling fold, though success with the character has been middling.
It's a little surprising, then, that she ends up the central protagonist of Amanda Bridgeman's Sound of Light, a novel in the School of X series from Marvel's prose novel publishing arm. Bridgeman makes some interesting choices for the cast of her novel, using various secondary characters from the X-Men universe to both propel the book's plot forward and explore the book's major themes.
At the heart of the book's emotional arc is an issue of agency, bolstered by the complex relationships several of the book's cast have with their father figures. Joining Dazzler, whose father has gone missing, is Rachel Summers (daughter of Cyclops and extraordinarily powerful telepath/telekinetic) and Lorna Dane (daughter of Magneto and powerful magnetikinetic), and Bridgeman uses the two women as fascinating foils to Dazzler's character, generating unique conflicts in the group over their various issues and politics.
Still, central to the book is the question of a woman's agency, and Bridgeman uses the novel's plot as a coded exploration of the limitations of agency and the responsibility the characters feel toward what happens in the world as result of their exploitation and trauma. Bridgeman's choice of characters--all of whom have been impacted in one way or another by choices made for them without their consent and in spite of their power--only serves to augment the emotional resonance and depth of the book.
Of course, no Marvel story exists in a vacuum of continuity, and this is really where the book struggles. Because readers are expected to understand all of the backstory of the characters, and especially the stories told about the X-Men in the last twenty years, some of the story's action relies a bit too heavily on understanding the stakes to the characters based on their history. If you haven't read House of M or the complicated origins and history of Mutant Growth Hormone from post-House of M continuity, or the events of Avengers vs. X-Men and the whole Phoenix saga stuff, it's very easy to get lost in the book's worldbuilding. This isn't so much an issue with Bridgeman's attempts to cover all of the events of the book so much as it is an issue with the density of Marvel's continuity. Some of the magic, the nuance, of the book's major themes might be lost without reference to the canon continuity of X-Men comics, but this wouldn't serve as a good introduction to any of the book's major characters or storylines for new readers.
In spite of the major continuity demands, the book still builds its mystery quite well and includes satisfying depictions of some fan-favorite characters. This is a really excellent novel about some of Marvel's lesser-known characters, and is a fine showcase of how superheroes can be used to tell symbolically relevant stories well beyond the confines of their genre-specific tropes.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
December 9, 2022
I remember the first appearances of Dazzler in 1980 (guesting in X-Men and Spider-Man) before she launched into her own solo title. I enjoyed getting in on the ground floor of a brand-new heroine. Her journey with the merry Marvel mutants has been long and varied. Bridgeman takes all that into account, even tapping into her brief time with S.H.I.E.L.D. from 2013 (which is a period which I am not so familiar). Of course, my continuity brain wants to figure out how much time has passed in the character's life to account for 42 years of publishing; I can't help putting her into her late 30's at least. Though comic book time can be really wonky.
But the story has no time for that because there are former allies to find and threat to be stopped. That leads to an expected "find some uneasy allies" and "learn to trust one another and work together" situations. It's a formula but it is also reliable; it gets the job done. Of course, there are plenty of speed bumps along the way which keeps the story on ever-shifting ground.
There is a wealth of X-Men history to draw upon, and Bridgeman does a solid job weaving elements into her story. While I was not familiar with some of the last couple decades of it, she conveys the details needed to keep the story moving. I definitely want to go delve back into some of those older storylines now to catch up.
But the story has no time for that because there are former allies to find and threat to be stopped. That leads to an expected "find some uneasy allies" and "learn to trust one another and work together" situations. It's a formula but it is also reliable; it gets the job done. Of course, there are plenty of speed bumps along the way which keeps the story on ever-shifting ground.
There is a wealth of X-Men history to draw upon, and Bridgeman does a solid job weaving elements into her story. While I was not familiar with some of the last couple decades of it, she conveys the details needed to keep the story moving. I definitely want to go delve back into some of those older storylines now to catch up.
September 26, 2022
Many thanks to Aconyte Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a honest review.
Those who know me are probably aware that I’m a HUGE Marvel comics fan - I don’t know what I’d do without my Marvel Unlimited subscription! So imagine how happy I was when I found out that they are cooperating with Aconyte Books, letting some of my favorite characters shine in their own prose novels. I love that they’re especially highlighting female heroes - from mainstays such as Rogue to more cult classic Elsa Bloodstone, there’s something for every taste. Sound of Light by Amanda Bridgeman stars no other than everyone’s favorite light-emitting, rollerblading 70s disco-pop icon, Alison Blaire aka Dazzler.
Comics continuity-wise, Sound of Light is set roughly after the Avengers vs X-Men period, with the X-Men being split in two factions. Dazzler is the frontwoman of a rock band, with her mutant identity only being known to few. That is until suddenly MGH - mutant growth hormone, a drug derived from her own DNA, granting users special powers for a time - is linked to the disappearances of prominent mutants Cyclops and Magneto, as well as Dazzler’s own father. S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts her to investigate, and quickly, a team is assembled to stop the distribution of MGH and recover the missing persons. Dazzler steps up as leader, and is joined by Rachel Summers, Emma Frost, Sage and Polaris.
S.H.I.E.L.D, Cyclops’ school, Wolverine’s school and Dazzler in the midst of it all - with so many fractions, loyalty and trust are hard to come by at first. The group of mutants spends a fair amount of time bickering and mistrusting each other at first, but during their international - even galaxy-spanning - adventures, they quickly realize how well they work as a team.
Dazzler gets plenty of time to shine in this novel. In the past, I felt like many comic writers didn’t really know what to do with her, but by giving her a gentle modernization, Alison’s personality feels so much more fleshed-out. She feels more confident and less „gimmicky“ as a rock musician, and I also really liked what Bridgeman did with her power set - she found lots of creative ways to use it, and I don’t recall seeing anything similar done in comics of the past years.
However, I did have a few problems with some of the team members’ characterizations. My biggest issue was probably with Emma - she has so much personality in the comics, but I felt like barely anything of that was shown in the novel. Also, regular readers are well aware that she cannot access her telepathy while using her secondary mutation, her diamond form, which was sadly disregarded in the novel. Furthermore, Polaris and Rachel Grey seemed quite weak - however, this can possibly be explained by their powers being influenced by the fallout of M-Day and AvX.
Overall, I had a great time with this mutant murder mystery! I loved seeing so much of Dazzler and her entirely female team of such diverse mutants. With many references to comic continuity and quite a few cameo appearances by both famous and niche characters, I’m sure this is the perfect read for any X-Men fan.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
Those who know me are probably aware that I’m a HUGE Marvel comics fan - I don’t know what I’d do without my Marvel Unlimited subscription! So imagine how happy I was when I found out that they are cooperating with Aconyte Books, letting some of my favorite characters shine in their own prose novels. I love that they’re especially highlighting female heroes - from mainstays such as Rogue to more cult classic Elsa Bloodstone, there’s something for every taste. Sound of Light by Amanda Bridgeman stars no other than everyone’s favorite light-emitting, rollerblading 70s disco-pop icon, Alison Blaire aka Dazzler.
Comics continuity-wise, Sound of Light is set roughly after the Avengers vs X-Men period, with the X-Men being split in two factions. Dazzler is the frontwoman of a rock band, with her mutant identity only being known to few. That is until suddenly MGH - mutant growth hormone, a drug derived from her own DNA, granting users special powers for a time - is linked to the disappearances of prominent mutants Cyclops and Magneto, as well as Dazzler’s own father. S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts her to investigate, and quickly, a team is assembled to stop the distribution of MGH and recover the missing persons. Dazzler steps up as leader, and is joined by Rachel Summers, Emma Frost, Sage and Polaris.
S.H.I.E.L.D, Cyclops’ school, Wolverine’s school and Dazzler in the midst of it all - with so many fractions, loyalty and trust are hard to come by at first. The group of mutants spends a fair amount of time bickering and mistrusting each other at first, but during their international - even galaxy-spanning - adventures, they quickly realize how well they work as a team.
Dazzler gets plenty of time to shine in this novel. In the past, I felt like many comic writers didn’t really know what to do with her, but by giving her a gentle modernization, Alison’s personality feels so much more fleshed-out. She feels more confident and less „gimmicky“ as a rock musician, and I also really liked what Bridgeman did with her power set - she found lots of creative ways to use it, and I don’t recall seeing anything similar done in comics of the past years.
However, I did have a few problems with some of the team members’ characterizations. My biggest issue was probably with Emma - she has so much personality in the comics, but I felt like barely anything of that was shown in the novel. Also, regular readers are well aware that she cannot access her telepathy while using her secondary mutation, her diamond form, which was sadly disregarded in the novel. Furthermore, Polaris and Rachel Grey seemed quite weak - however, this can possibly be explained by their powers being influenced by the fallout of M-Day and AvX.
Overall, I had a great time with this mutant murder mystery! I loved seeing so much of Dazzler and her entirely female team of such diverse mutants. With many references to comic continuity and quite a few cameo appearances by both famous and niche characters, I’m sure this is the perfect read for any X-Men fan.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
February 16, 2024
As a fan of Marvel universe , I’m absolutely loving the prose novels that have been coming out over the last few years. They give us a chance to get a deeper look at some of our favorite heroes and villains as well as giving some lesser known characters a chance for the spotlight they aren’t likely to get in the movies or TV shows. In this book, Sound of Light, author Amanda Bridgeman gives mutant rocker Alison Blaire aka Dazzler a chance to shine in this trans-dimensional team up adventure.
Imagine a mutant who can convert sound energy into light energy. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect power for a rockstar? Marvel thought so too and Dazzler was born. But Dazzler isn’t interested in being an X-man or working for S.H.I.E.L.D., she just wants to sing.
But now she’s being pulled back. Her father is missing and it’s related to her past. She hasn’t spoken to him in years but she can’t abandon him. Besides, he’s not the only father who’s gone missing. And the real plot is much more sinister than absent fathers. Can Dazzler save her father with the help of some fellow mutants with as many daddy issues as she has? Will they be enough to discover and stop the bigger plot behind these disappearing daddies? Let’s explore what Amanda Bridgeman brings in the Sound of Light
The spotlight might seem like an odd place to try and hide but that’s exactly how Dazzler does it. She tried to be the perfect daughter and pursue law as her father wanted. And she tried to be a perfect mutant and attend the Charles Xavier School. But the call of the stage was too strong so she disappointed her father and mutants alike by pursuing those lights.
That is until the night a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent cornered her after a show. She tells him to get lost but he tells her that her father is missing and she can’t walk away from that. Once he has her attention, he briefs her that Magneto and Cyclops are also missing. All the disappearances seem to be connected to a substance, MGH. MGH or Mutant Growth Hormone is a substance that was derived from Dazzler’s blood (against her will) that enhances mutant powers and gives humans boosted strength and speed. Between her anger and guilt over MGH, her karmic debts to Magneto and Cyclops, and her father in danger, Dazzler has no choice. She agrees to help S.H.I.E.L.D. with the case.
Even though Dazzler agrees to help S.H.I.E.L.D., she doesn’t trust them. She does everything she can to escape their scrutiny and turns to the Charles Xavier School for help. There she encounters Emma Frost, a mutant with mind manipulation powers and the head of the school in Magneto’s absence. The two women have no trust or love for each other but they put their differences aside enough to work together for the sake of mutant kind. Emma Frost refuses to leave the school unguarded at such a dangerous time but she sends along Sage, a mutant with a “really good memory” to help Dazzler.
Frost also reaches out to Wolverine at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning (a rival mutant school) for help. He brings Polaris and Rachel Grey, the daughters of Magneto and Cyclops respectively, to aid Dazzler and Sage. The girls have their own daddy issues they are trying to work through. Like Dazzler, neither is close to their father but also like Dazzler, neither wants their father to be hurt or killed. They agree to help, if somewhat reluctantly and the four women start pursuing leads.
They are handicapped by their lack of trust though. Dazzler trusts no one, Polaris and Rachel don’t trust Dazzler and Sage, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t trust Dazzler, Frost only trusts Sage, you get the picture. Because no one trusts anyone else, information isn’t being shared and the women walk into some dangerous situations as they work through their investigations. As they uncover a far bigger and more dangerous plot than anyone had thought was in motion they will need to learn to trust each other if they want to survive.
Broken protagonists are becoming more and more popular. Authors have come to realize that people like seeing heroes that are a little less than perfect. It gives us hope for ourselves. It’s the reason Batman remains far more popular than Superman. Perfection is great but unattainable. A hero with problems we can see ourselves in.
In Sound of Light, Amanda Bridgeman gives us not one but five strong women that are very capable of saving the day. The beauty is that all five save the day without being perfect. They all have their flaws. Most are some version of trust issues and all are very well deserved. But as deep as their issues are, they find a way to overcome them. Together they reach out and learn to trust again and it was very inspirational.
As great as the group was and as strong as they end up becoming, Dazzler has a very one-track mind. She just wants to get it over with so she can get back to her band. She’s been hiding from responsibility in music for a long time, ever since her father wanted her to become a lawyer and she balked.
Her mindset of rock and roll all night, and partying every day, would be perfectly placed in a teenage mutant just coming into her powers. But, while a specific age is never given, Dazzler has to be at least 30 based on the amount of back-story that is brought up. By thirty, she should be seeing a broader view of the world than just the selfish rockstar life. She does the right thing when pushed but she whines the whole time about how she just wants to be left alone and it gets a little annoying.
Dazzler does work through some of her trust issues by the end of the book. She manages to work well in a team and even seems to have made some lasting connections with the people she worked with but she still can’t wait to hurry back to her band at the end and it feels like she hasn’t grown at all on that front, which was a little sad.
Despite Dazzler’s character flaws, Bridgeman offers a nice story in Sound of Light. Sage is a really awesome powerhouse of ability and confidence that works as a nice foil to Dazzler, Polaris, and Rachel’s inexperience. The four start off bumpy, as you would expect four powerful people suddenly thrown together too, but they manage to come together nicely for some really great team-ups by the end. The women saving the men is a fun twist on a common trope that I greatly enjoyed. Anyone looking for a fun time with some powerful women is going to love this book.
Imagine a mutant who can convert sound energy into light energy. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect power for a rockstar? Marvel thought so too and Dazzler was born. But Dazzler isn’t interested in being an X-man or working for S.H.I.E.L.D., she just wants to sing.
But now she’s being pulled back. Her father is missing and it’s related to her past. She hasn’t spoken to him in years but she can’t abandon him. Besides, he’s not the only father who’s gone missing. And the real plot is much more sinister than absent fathers. Can Dazzler save her father with the help of some fellow mutants with as many daddy issues as she has? Will they be enough to discover and stop the bigger plot behind these disappearing daddies? Let’s explore what Amanda Bridgeman brings in the Sound of Light
The spotlight might seem like an odd place to try and hide but that’s exactly how Dazzler does it. She tried to be the perfect daughter and pursue law as her father wanted. And she tried to be a perfect mutant and attend the Charles Xavier School. But the call of the stage was too strong so she disappointed her father and mutants alike by pursuing those lights.
That is until the night a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent cornered her after a show. She tells him to get lost but he tells her that her father is missing and she can’t walk away from that. Once he has her attention, he briefs her that Magneto and Cyclops are also missing. All the disappearances seem to be connected to a substance, MGH. MGH or Mutant Growth Hormone is a substance that was derived from Dazzler’s blood (against her will) that enhances mutant powers and gives humans boosted strength and speed. Between her anger and guilt over MGH, her karmic debts to Magneto and Cyclops, and her father in danger, Dazzler has no choice. She agrees to help S.H.I.E.L.D. with the case.
Even though Dazzler agrees to help S.H.I.E.L.D., she doesn’t trust them. She does everything she can to escape their scrutiny and turns to the Charles Xavier School for help. There she encounters Emma Frost, a mutant with mind manipulation powers and the head of the school in Magneto’s absence. The two women have no trust or love for each other but they put their differences aside enough to work together for the sake of mutant kind. Emma Frost refuses to leave the school unguarded at such a dangerous time but she sends along Sage, a mutant with a “really good memory” to help Dazzler.
Frost also reaches out to Wolverine at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning (a rival mutant school) for help. He brings Polaris and Rachel Grey, the daughters of Magneto and Cyclops respectively, to aid Dazzler and Sage. The girls have their own daddy issues they are trying to work through. Like Dazzler, neither is close to their father but also like Dazzler, neither wants their father to be hurt or killed. They agree to help, if somewhat reluctantly and the four women start pursuing leads.
They are handicapped by their lack of trust though. Dazzler trusts no one, Polaris and Rachel don’t trust Dazzler and Sage, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t trust Dazzler, Frost only trusts Sage, you get the picture. Because no one trusts anyone else, information isn’t being shared and the women walk into some dangerous situations as they work through their investigations. As they uncover a far bigger and more dangerous plot than anyone had thought was in motion they will need to learn to trust each other if they want to survive.
Broken protagonists are becoming more and more popular. Authors have come to realize that people like seeing heroes that are a little less than perfect. It gives us hope for ourselves. It’s the reason Batman remains far more popular than Superman. Perfection is great but unattainable. A hero with problems we can see ourselves in.
In Sound of Light, Amanda Bridgeman gives us not one but five strong women that are very capable of saving the day. The beauty is that all five save the day without being perfect. They all have their flaws. Most are some version of trust issues and all are very well deserved. But as deep as their issues are, they find a way to overcome them. Together they reach out and learn to trust again and it was very inspirational.
As great as the group was and as strong as they end up becoming, Dazzler has a very one-track mind. She just wants to get it over with so she can get back to her band. She’s been hiding from responsibility in music for a long time, ever since her father wanted her to become a lawyer and she balked.
Her mindset of rock and roll all night, and partying every day, would be perfectly placed in a teenage mutant just coming into her powers. But, while a specific age is never given, Dazzler has to be at least 30 based on the amount of back-story that is brought up. By thirty, she should be seeing a broader view of the world than just the selfish rockstar life. She does the right thing when pushed but she whines the whole time about how she just wants to be left alone and it gets a little annoying.
Dazzler does work through some of her trust issues by the end of the book. She manages to work well in a team and even seems to have made some lasting connections with the people she worked with but she still can’t wait to hurry back to her band at the end and it feels like she hasn’t grown at all on that front, which was a little sad.
Despite Dazzler’s character flaws, Bridgeman offers a nice story in Sound of Light. Sage is a really awesome powerhouse of ability and confidence that works as a nice foil to Dazzler, Polaris, and Rachel’s inexperience. The four start off bumpy, as you would expect four powerful people suddenly thrown together too, but they manage to come together nicely for some really great team-ups by the end. The women saving the men is a fun twist on a common trope that I greatly enjoyed. Anyone looking for a fun time with some powerful women is going to love this book.
October 29, 2022
As always I want to start by saying that I was given a copy for part of the Book Network book Tour and netgalley. My review is honest and left voluntarily and avoids spoilers. #AconyteBooks #Marvel #MarvelEnt #BookTour #Gifted #BookNetwork #MarvelSchoolofX #SoundofLight #AmandaBridgeman #NetGalley #NetGalleyUK
I am going to be completely honest Magneto and his rather large brood of children are usually my ultimate favourite X-men. If a story be it comic, movie or prose based has any of them in I am one going to read it and two ultimately (hopefully) enjoy it so when I learned that Polaris was going to be featuring in the Sound of Light I was more than a little excited. Add to the mix Sage, Dazzler, Rachel Summers/Grey, Emma Frost, Magneto and numerous others and I had high hopes. I am happy to say I was not let down.
Sound of Light follows Dazzler who reluctantly decides to join up with S.H.I.E.L.D. in hopes of stopping the Mutant Growth Hormone – a dangerous biochemical created from her own DNA to the disappearance of Magneto and Cyclops. The case is greater than Dazzler could have imagined and soon she finds she needs the help of an extraordinary team of mutants including Polaris, Emma Frost and Rachel Grey to stop a plan that aims to remove mutant kind forever!
As with a lot of the fantastic Marvel tie-ins Aconyte this reads a lot like a comic which is in no way a bad thing. What I mean is it blends action and adventure well and paints a vivid picture for the reader and one extra thing I adore is we get even more insight into the characters! As I already confessed I adore Polaris so it was wonderful to see her relationship with her father and fellow mutants explored (along with the other super powered heroines of course!). Amanda Bridgeman gives you the feeling that she knows and cares for these characters all of them keep true to their comic book roots and personalities we have come to love, which again aids to the feel of reading a comic.
The storyline itself is tightly woven and it kept me guessing. As always no spoilers but I adored the ‘main’ baddie reveal again it was clear that Bridgeman knows their source material and used it to create a brilliant story. My only complaint would be that it was too short! But in all seriousness I really hope that we get to see the team and Dazzler in the future and more of Bridgeman’s work. It was a perfect tale with brilliant characters and fit the X-men canon and of course bonus points for doing justice to some of my favourite X-men and what’s more making a badass female lead team!
If you love X-men, kickass heroines, Action and Adventure, space and Marvel in general you will love the Sound of Light.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
I am going to be completely honest Magneto and his rather large brood of children are usually my ultimate favourite X-men. If a story be it comic, movie or prose based has any of them in I am one going to read it and two ultimately (hopefully) enjoy it so when I learned that Polaris was going to be featuring in the Sound of Light I was more than a little excited. Add to the mix Sage, Dazzler, Rachel Summers/Grey, Emma Frost, Magneto and numerous others and I had high hopes. I am happy to say I was not let down.
Sound of Light follows Dazzler who reluctantly decides to join up with S.H.I.E.L.D. in hopes of stopping the Mutant Growth Hormone – a dangerous biochemical created from her own DNA to the disappearance of Magneto and Cyclops. The case is greater than Dazzler could have imagined and soon she finds she needs the help of an extraordinary team of mutants including Polaris, Emma Frost and Rachel Grey to stop a plan that aims to remove mutant kind forever!
As with a lot of the fantastic Marvel tie-ins Aconyte this reads a lot like a comic which is in no way a bad thing. What I mean is it blends action and adventure well and paints a vivid picture for the reader and one extra thing I adore is we get even more insight into the characters! As I already confessed I adore Polaris so it was wonderful to see her relationship with her father and fellow mutants explored (along with the other super powered heroines of course!). Amanda Bridgeman gives you the feeling that she knows and cares for these characters all of them keep true to their comic book roots and personalities we have come to love, which again aids to the feel of reading a comic.
The storyline itself is tightly woven and it kept me guessing. As always no spoilers but I adored the ‘main’ baddie reveal again it was clear that Bridgeman knows their source material and used it to create a brilliant story. My only complaint would be that it was too short! But in all seriousness I really hope that we get to see the team and Dazzler in the future and more of Bridgeman’s work. It was a perfect tale with brilliant characters and fit the X-men canon and of course bonus points for doing justice to some of my favourite X-men and what’s more making a badass female lead team!
If you love X-men, kickass heroines, Action and Adventure, space and Marvel in general you will love the Sound of Light.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
November 6, 2022
Our favorite band of rag-tag mutants is done right! An exceptional entry to the X-Men franchise that hits just the right spot for old-school comic fans.
As a child, this band of merry mutants was almost a second family. I remember weekends spent watching the X-Men cartoons, cinema trips to see the new movies, and spending hours in the garden trying to conjure my own storm. Sound of Light has been the welcome home embrace that has enveloped me in its warmth and reignited a love within me for a franchise I had long since shelved.
Sound of Light picks up after the explosive events of M Day. Scarlet Witch has uttered the words “no more mutants” and the decimation of mutant genes has ripped through the world.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has been disbanded and the mutants who survived M Day are in hiding, rebuilding their lives and strength.
We follow Alison Blaire (AKA Dazzler), our resident rock star, as she is once again called into action to assist with a critical mission to locate the manufacturers and dealers of MGH (MUTANT GROWTH HORMONE) which has resurfaced on the streets and is beginning to infiltrate both the Charles Xavier and the Jean Grey schools. This MGH has also been linked to the disappearance of some high-profile individuals – Omega-level mutants Magneto and Scott Summers, & Dazzler’s own father. Dazzler must work together with both a group of mutants and a revived team of S.H.I.E.L.D agents, albeit reluctantly.
Dazzler very much likes to keep herself to herself. She is incredibly mistrusting of everybody around her. She second-guesses every decision, every thought. A lot of this stems from past trauma and the links between herself and MGH and this brings its own difficulties when teaming up with a group of strong females on the path to taking down the big bad behind the operation. Our mutant hero group consists of Dazzler, Sage, Polaris, Rachel & Frost.
Sage: a mutant whose brain functions operate similarly to a computer, granting her perfect memory and rapid analytical abilities
Polaris: the daughter of the infamous Magneto who has inherited her father’s mutant abilities of magnetism
Rachel: the mutant daughter of Scott Summers and Phoenix (Jean Grey-Summers)
Frost: a powerful and influential mutant telepath
I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between our leading ladies. Their biting wit and banter were delicious at times and it was also great to see more vulnerable sides to them as well. This was especially evident when discussing their missing fathers, as this was something they could bond over despite their differences. We have some wonderful scenes of self-discovery and growth as our leads rebuild their mutant strength/powers and a strong bond of sisterhood forms which is beautiful to read.
One thing I absolutely loved about this book was that whilst we did have throwbacks to some hugely well-known characters within the franchise (I won’t spoil them, you’ll have to read to see who makes an appearance 😉) the story did not rely on them to build momentum and hold attention. Our unassuming heroines capture your attention and heart by themselves and keep you rooting for them from start to end.
This is actually the first novel I have read within this franchise as i’ve only ever approached the comic books / graphic novels and I was a bit worried that without the comic aspect I’d struggle to picture what was happening and how mutant powers were working. Well, I needn’t have worried! Amanda does an absolutely fantastic job at painting a vivid picture, it almost feels like you’ve read a comic book! I enjoyed it so much i’ve added Eye of the Storm to my TBR pile!!
All in all, Sound of Light is a well-rounded story that is utterly addicting to read. I couldn’t put it down and am so beyond thrilled to have been asked to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I just want to say a huge thank you to The Book Network, Aconyte Books, Netgalley, and the wonderful Amanda Bridgeman herself for this amazing opportunity.
If you are a fan of the X Men universe – whether your introduction was movie, cartoon or comic – you absolutely do not want to miss this stand out
As a child, this band of merry mutants was almost a second family. I remember weekends spent watching the X-Men cartoons, cinema trips to see the new movies, and spending hours in the garden trying to conjure my own storm. Sound of Light has been the welcome home embrace that has enveloped me in its warmth and reignited a love within me for a franchise I had long since shelved.
Sound of Light picks up after the explosive events of M Day. Scarlet Witch has uttered the words “no more mutants” and the decimation of mutant genes has ripped through the world.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has been disbanded and the mutants who survived M Day are in hiding, rebuilding their lives and strength.
We follow Alison Blaire (AKA Dazzler), our resident rock star, as she is once again called into action to assist with a critical mission to locate the manufacturers and dealers of MGH (MUTANT GROWTH HORMONE) which has resurfaced on the streets and is beginning to infiltrate both the Charles Xavier and the Jean Grey schools. This MGH has also been linked to the disappearance of some high-profile individuals – Omega-level mutants Magneto and Scott Summers, & Dazzler’s own father. Dazzler must work together with both a group of mutants and a revived team of S.H.I.E.L.D agents, albeit reluctantly.
Dazzler very much likes to keep herself to herself. She is incredibly mistrusting of everybody around her. She second-guesses every decision, every thought. A lot of this stems from past trauma and the links between herself and MGH and this brings its own difficulties when teaming up with a group of strong females on the path to taking down the big bad behind the operation. Our mutant hero group consists of Dazzler, Sage, Polaris, Rachel & Frost.
Sage: a mutant whose brain functions operate similarly to a computer, granting her perfect memory and rapid analytical abilities
Polaris: the daughter of the infamous Magneto who has inherited her father’s mutant abilities of magnetism
Rachel: the mutant daughter of Scott Summers and Phoenix (Jean Grey-Summers)
Frost: a powerful and influential mutant telepath
I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between our leading ladies. Their biting wit and banter were delicious at times and it was also great to see more vulnerable sides to them as well. This was especially evident when discussing their missing fathers, as this was something they could bond over despite their differences. We have some wonderful scenes of self-discovery and growth as our leads rebuild their mutant strength/powers and a strong bond of sisterhood forms which is beautiful to read.
One thing I absolutely loved about this book was that whilst we did have throwbacks to some hugely well-known characters within the franchise (I won’t spoil them, you’ll have to read to see who makes an appearance 😉) the story did not rely on them to build momentum and hold attention. Our unassuming heroines capture your attention and heart by themselves and keep you rooting for them from start to end.
This is actually the first novel I have read within this franchise as i’ve only ever approached the comic books / graphic novels and I was a bit worried that without the comic aspect I’d struggle to picture what was happening and how mutant powers were working. Well, I needn’t have worried! Amanda does an absolutely fantastic job at painting a vivid picture, it almost feels like you’ve read a comic book! I enjoyed it so much i’ve added Eye of the Storm to my TBR pile!!
All in all, Sound of Light is a well-rounded story that is utterly addicting to read. I couldn’t put it down and am so beyond thrilled to have been asked to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I just want to say a huge thank you to The Book Network, Aconyte Books, Netgalley, and the wonderful Amanda Bridgeman herself for this amazing opportunity.
If you are a fan of the X Men universe – whether your introduction was movie, cartoon or comic – you absolutely do not want to miss this stand out
October 31, 2022
I have been following MCU as a fan for years, I think I got hooked by those movies when they were first aired on tv or in cinema. And now we can get more insight into characters that were hinted at in well-known movies. Right now Aconyte Books is bringing us books about what is going on in the X-Men part of MCU. I'm happy that (as I checked on Goodreads) we get mostly female-centered novels. As comics are not exactly available in my country so I'm only following what I can get here, and this book showed me something I was not aware of (yet).
Dazzler, our main heroine, is the lead singer of the pop-rock band and just wants to live her life, but it's not that easy when you are the daughter of a senator and... a mutant! So she has to hide who she truly is, and keep herself to a nick she goes by. A drug is once again on the streets - MGH (mutant growth hormone) - which comes from her DNA when she heard her father has gone missing, and he is not the only one, as also Magneto and Cyclops disappeared - she decided to help newly (and secretly) restored S.H.I.E.L.D. And now she has to lead the group to rescue them.. will she Rachel Summers, Polaris, and Sage manage to stop what is happening?
I really liked how our girl managed to shine here and how her powers with not being out-shined by their dads on missions on their own. This will show also how they will have to learn to cooperate with each other and get some girl-power action! I know there are some inaccuracies in this story (reason for 4 stars), but overall I have read this story really fast and enjoyed getting into MCU and X-Men work once again. I recommend this story to MCU fans!
The book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
Dazzler, our main heroine, is the lead singer of the pop-rock band and just wants to live her life, but it's not that easy when you are the daughter of a senator and... a mutant! So she has to hide who she truly is, and keep herself to a nick she goes by. A drug is once again on the streets - MGH (mutant growth hormone) - which comes from her DNA when she heard her father has gone missing, and he is not the only one, as also Magneto and Cyclops disappeared - she decided to help newly (and secretly) restored S.H.I.E.L.D. And now she has to lead the group to rescue them.. will she Rachel Summers, Polaris, and Sage manage to stop what is happening?
I really liked how our girl managed to shine here and how her powers with not being out-shined by their dads on missions on their own. This will show also how they will have to learn to cooperate with each other and get some girl-power action! I know there are some inaccuracies in this story (reason for 4 stars), but overall I have read this story really fast and enjoyed getting into MCU and X-Men work once again. I recommend this story to MCU fans!
The book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
November 1, 2022
◦ I've received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ◦
⮞ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ⮜
This story follows Dazzler who as much as she tries to escape the mutant life and stick up to her band, things don't go as planned especially when her father disappeared and MGH is back on the streets.
⮞ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 ⮜
There are a couple of characters, but only 4 are actually driving the story more and those are Dazzler, Sage, Polaris, and Rachel. Each one of these girls is so unique and interesting. They're all mutants but each one of them got amazing powers, so interesting and so powerful. I loved how at the beginning they weren't the greatest of friends and mistrust was flowing between them, but page by page they became so close and they worked so well together, especially once they started trusting each other.
⮞ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 ⮜
Most of the events happen in our world but a couple of the events happen in outer space and in another dimension which blew my mind. The details, the way they were traveling, and the tech was really amazing and made you feel you are in there on the scene with the characters.
⮞ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 ⮜
Loved the characters. They were so easy to love and get connected with them. The world-building and being out there in the space was phenomenal, especially when they traveled from one dimension to another, such a great experience. The tech was a bit hard for me to imagine, at least some of them but the tech they used, in general, was definitely very simple thought so you don't struggle with how they worked. You've also received information at the right moment so you don't feel confused or feel it like an info dump. Overall it's been an interesting story to follow and reminded me of the Marvel movies/series I used to watch.
⮞ 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 ⮜
There is no spice in the book. The book doesn't even contain romance, is full-on action and interesting events.
Follow me on my social media for more than just reviews:
Instagram
BookBub
Blog
Facebook
⮞ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ⮜
This story follows Dazzler who as much as she tries to escape the mutant life and stick up to her band, things don't go as planned especially when her father disappeared and MGH is back on the streets.
⮞ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 ⮜
There are a couple of characters, but only 4 are actually driving the story more and those are Dazzler, Sage, Polaris, and Rachel. Each one of these girls is so unique and interesting. They're all mutants but each one of them got amazing powers, so interesting and so powerful. I loved how at the beginning they weren't the greatest of friends and mistrust was flowing between them, but page by page they became so close and they worked so well together, especially once they started trusting each other.
⮞ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 ⮜
Most of the events happen in our world but a couple of the events happen in outer space and in another dimension which blew my mind. The details, the way they were traveling, and the tech was really amazing and made you feel you are in there on the scene with the characters.
⮞ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 ⮜
Loved the characters. They were so easy to love and get connected with them. The world-building and being out there in the space was phenomenal, especially when they traveled from one dimension to another, such a great experience. The tech was a bit hard for me to imagine, at least some of them but the tech they used, in general, was definitely very simple thought so you don't struggle with how they worked. You've also received information at the right moment so you don't feel confused or feel it like an info dump. Overall it's been an interesting story to follow and reminded me of the Marvel movies/series I used to watch.
⮞ 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 ⮜
There is no spice in the book. The book doesn't even contain romance, is full-on action and interesting events.
Follow me on my social media for more than just reviews:
BookBub
Blog
October 30, 2022
This was avery good read. I really enjoyed the storyline of this book, it was so much fun to read. This was my first school of x book that I have read and it was great. It was well wrote and very interesting. I just had to finish this book in one day. I really struggled to put it down. It was a unique story line and nothing like I had read before. Who wouldn't like a rock singing mutant right! I loved the variety of mutant all children of the famous x men characters. Some of the original characters pop in to help or offer advice like wolverine. If you love the x men films then I'm sure you will love this book. I loved dazzler and how well she worked with others to stop the use and distribution of a dangerous mutant power enhancing hormone being used. I love how it was a group of mutant women who fought together to save the mutant population. Yeah girl power. It was an excellent read that progressed well. I am not familiar with the characters as I couldn't read comics when I was younger but I felt like I connected with them well and enjoyed this story. For me this book lacked some atmosphere and tension to get that 5th star but it is still a great book. I definitely became emotionally involved with this story and loved how they managed to solve and deal with their dilemma. If you love x men books then I definitely recommend you give this book a go. If your not sure you can always try a sample of this book to see if it is your perfect book.
Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this great story that I really enjoyed reading. I can't wait to read the next instalment of school of x.
Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this great story that I really enjoyed reading. I can't wait to read the next instalment of school of x.
September 11, 2022
This was another NetGalley find, free copy for an honest review.
As a long-time X-Men fan, this was a lot of fun. I haven't spent a ton of time in Dazzler's head since her solo series ended in 1985 so it was interesting to hear what she was thinking and feeling. Comic tie-in novels often have to straddle an awkward continuity point as they have to ignore or explain away the thousands of issues the characters have appeared in. This one did a great job of managing this, mostly centering around the events of the 2012 run of Uncanny X-Men and following up on Dazzler's time as an Agent of SHIELD.
I found some of the characterisation a little off, Rachel Grey/Summers seemed very weak (though this is post-Phoenix and everyone's powers are a little wonky) and Polaris spent a lot of time mentioning being Magneto's daughter while not wanting to talk about it at all.
It's a very continuity-rich story, written by an obvious long-term fan with deep cuts like SHIELD's spin-off organisations SWORD and ARMOR. There were also some continuity references I was less familiar with like Tempus and Triage from All-New X-Men so I'm off to discover more!
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
As a long-time X-Men fan, this was a lot of fun. I haven't spent a ton of time in Dazzler's head since her solo series ended in 1985 so it was interesting to hear what she was thinking and feeling. Comic tie-in novels often have to straddle an awkward continuity point as they have to ignore or explain away the thousands of issues the characters have appeared in. This one did a great job of managing this, mostly centering around the events of the 2012 run of Uncanny X-Men and following up on Dazzler's time as an Agent of SHIELD.
I found some of the characterisation a little off, Rachel Grey/Summers seemed very weak (though this is post-Phoenix and everyone's powers are a little wonky) and Polaris spent a lot of time mentioning being Magneto's daughter while not wanting to talk about it at all.
It's a very continuity-rich story, written by an obvious long-term fan with deep cuts like SHIELD's spin-off organisations SWORD and ARMOR. There were also some continuity references I was less familiar with like Tempus and Triage from All-New X-Men so I'm off to discover more!
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
September 22, 2022
I wasn’t really hoping to love this book, but sadly, I didn’t. But I didn’t hate it, either. I think the writing just wasn’t for me. That’s the biggest part. Though short chapters made this a very quick read once you got into it.
I loved the characters together. As a team, Dazzler, Sage, Polaris, and Rachel really worked well——once they figured out how to. With a lot of mistrust and arguments throughout the book, the women finally learning how to work together was like a breath of fresh air for me.
I’ve never read X-Men comics, and the only movie I’ve seen is Wolverine: Origins because an actor I like was in it, but after this I am interested in checking out more of Polaris, as well as Emma Frost. These two were definitely my favorites throughout the novel. While Emma wasn’t a main focus, she owned every scene she was in.
I’d like to give a massive thanks to NetGalley and Aconyte Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
I loved the characters together. As a team, Dazzler, Sage, Polaris, and Rachel really worked well——once they figured out how to. With a lot of mistrust and arguments throughout the book, the women finally learning how to work together was like a breath of fresh air for me.
I’ve never read X-Men comics, and the only movie I’ve seen is Wolverine: Origins because an actor I like was in it, but after this I am interested in checking out more of Polaris, as well as Emma Frost. These two were definitely my favorites throughout the novel. While Emma wasn’t a main focus, she owned every scene she was in.
I’d like to give a massive thanks to NetGalley and Aconyte Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
January 13, 2025
This is everything you could want from a X-Men novel. Great action, compelling emotional hooks, concepts that keeping you thinking long after you stop turning the pages and bright sparkly mutants trying to exist in a world that doesn't want them. And this one has music. I almost wanted a soundtrack to go with this novel as I could hear a beat and music in my head at every turn. A fast paced, easy read - I finished it in two days. As always with Amanda Bridgeman's novels, concepts of biochemical manipulation are explored in very human ways but with an underlying horror of "what if". Of course, with any X-Men novel - explorations of who we are and who we should be proud to be are front of mind. Identity, politics, female friendships and relationships with father figures are all explored and Amanda Bridgeman handles it all with great aplomb. This has an all star female cast and the connections and interactions between the women are thought provoking as well as a joy to read - exploring age, gender, relation to family, politics, leadership, bias, power, control, and the subtleties between the various personalities, and their drives and desires are deftly woven into the plot. I love being able to delve deeper into the lives of "ordinary mutants" and the novel form gives us more time to spend with the primary characters, telling us "their" story. A terrific novel about Dazzler. A must read in the School of X 'verse.
October 30, 2022
I had a bit of difficulty starting out with the book, as the focus is largely on characters I have little prior connection to in the X-Men universe, but once you get into it, it's an engaging read. The characters are well-written. Most of it is written from Dazzler's perspective, but significant parts are written from Frost's.
A huge focus of the book is on trust. The predominantly female cast in the story all have been afflicted by various traumas, both real world and supernatural in nature. Multiple factions are involved in the story, and it's hard to discern who and who isn't on the up and up through the entire book. Trying to determine who was concealing what for what reasons was an entertaining process throughout the book. Though some of the trust questions felt rehashed a few more times than necessary, it mirrored the thought process one might naturally process those questions, and it felt like you were in Dazzler's head for much of the story.
I found one duplicated line (on page 442) that seemed like an editing mistake in my review copy, but the book was well-crafted, well-edited, and was just about the right length to tell the story without overstaying it's welcome.
A huge focus of the book is on trust. The predominantly female cast in the story all have been afflicted by various traumas, both real world and supernatural in nature. Multiple factions are involved in the story, and it's hard to discern who and who isn't on the up and up through the entire book. Trying to determine who was concealing what for what reasons was an entertaining process throughout the book. Though some of the trust questions felt rehashed a few more times than necessary, it mirrored the thought process one might naturally process those questions, and it felt like you were in Dazzler's head for much of the story.
I found one duplicated line (on page 442) that seemed like an editing mistake in my review copy, but the book was well-crafted, well-edited, and was just about the right length to tell the story without overstaying it's welcome.
November 6, 2022
4th of October was my spot on BookNetwork blog tour for Sound of Light by Amanda Bridgerman. I read this Marvel comics novel as an ebook for this tour. This novel was full of action and very fast-paced. I liked Dazzler, the main character of this novel; she was a feisty, strong and independent leading lady character and her team of 3 mutants with differing abilities and super powers who were also strong, independent female main characters, and I think these kind of heroines make great role models especially for the younger readers.
This Marvel adventure mentions all X-Men universes biggest heroes and some villains too, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, Cyclops and Magneto. It is a great journey to discover where a dangerous mutant steroid is coming from and to save mutant heroines’ fathers and the entire mutant population from an evil plot to destroy them all. I liked this story as I am a fan of Marvel and X-Men universe’s comics and films.
I found this novel thrilling and an exciting read. It was a great standalone story and perfect for fans of X-Men and Marvek stories. I’m giving it 4 stars.
This Marvel adventure mentions all X-Men universes biggest heroes and some villains too, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, Cyclops and Magneto. It is a great journey to discover where a dangerous mutant steroid is coming from and to save mutant heroines’ fathers and the entire mutant population from an evil plot to destroy them all. I liked this story as I am a fan of Marvel and X-Men universe’s comics and films.
I found this novel thrilling and an exciting read. It was a great standalone story and perfect for fans of X-Men and Marvek stories. I’m giving it 4 stars.
March 29, 2023
I took a chance on this book, based on the other Marvel Heroines titles being so strong. I'm glad I did.
I didn't know Dazzler at all as a character, and she sounded interesting. It turns out that she's a much-overlooked member of the Marvel canon, and I'm pleased that she's getting to sing again here.
Together with other fantastic superheroines from the Marvel Multiverse, she sets off on an adventure to find more 'famous' characters, thus settling us in nicely if we've any awareness of the traditional (and movie) X-Men.
As with other new-to-me Marvel stars, this book made me seek out the characters via their comic-book backstory, and I do hope they inspire others in a similar way. They're much more than two-dimensional superheroes - they're people, strong women with excellent and well-realized relationships and backstories. It's wonderful to see them kicking ass and proving their worth in an adventure that absolutely ties in to those of the 'classic' X-Men universe (issues of discrimination, family problems, control of powers, and so on).
Don't be afraid - take a journey in these pages and be Dazzled.
I didn't know Dazzler at all as a character, and she sounded interesting. It turns out that she's a much-overlooked member of the Marvel canon, and I'm pleased that she's getting to sing again here.
Together with other fantastic superheroines from the Marvel Multiverse, she sets off on an adventure to find more 'famous' characters, thus settling us in nicely if we've any awareness of the traditional (and movie) X-Men.
As with other new-to-me Marvel stars, this book made me seek out the characters via their comic-book backstory, and I do hope they inspire others in a similar way. They're much more than two-dimensional superheroes - they're people, strong women with excellent and well-realized relationships and backstories. It's wonderful to see them kicking ass and proving their worth in an adventure that absolutely ties in to those of the 'classic' X-Men universe (issues of discrimination, family problems, control of powers, and so on).
Don't be afraid - take a journey in these pages and be Dazzled.
March 20, 2023
*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
I always thought that Sazzler was very underutilized in the X-men comics, and although I've lost touch with the comic world I was so happy to see a book dedicated to our rock princess. Even if you aren't a big fan of Marvel, in particular X-men, that doesn't mean you can't read this. Bridgemand does an amazing job of not only filling you in on who Dazzler is but also on important events from the comics. If you an X-men fan a lot of big-name players make appearances, some even team up with Dazzler. I will say that this book shouldn't be your introduction to the marvel universe, as you do need to have some familiarity, even with Bridgeman filling in the gaps, for each character to really shine. As the X-men's world is just too vast and convoluted. One of the cons of this book was characterization problems, not with Dazzler,m as I felt she was pretty spot on, but definitely with some of the other side characters.
Overall, a must-read for any marvel fan.
I always thought that Sazzler was very underutilized in the X-men comics, and although I've lost touch with the comic world I was so happy to see a book dedicated to our rock princess. Even if you aren't a big fan of Marvel, in particular X-men, that doesn't mean you can't read this. Bridgemand does an amazing job of not only filling you in on who Dazzler is but also on important events from the comics. If you an X-men fan a lot of big-name players make appearances, some even team up with Dazzler. I will say that this book shouldn't be your introduction to the marvel universe, as you do need to have some familiarity, even with Bridgeman filling in the gaps, for each character to really shine. As the X-men's world is just too vast and convoluted. One of the cons of this book was characterization problems, not with Dazzler,m as I felt she was pretty spot on, but definitely with some of the other side characters.
Overall, a must-read for any marvel fan.
December 26, 2022
This is one book I was excited for since Dazzler has always been one of my favorite X characters. I hope the other Marvel books are written as well as this one. I liked Amanda Bridgeman’s ability to keep the story moving forward, give you all the information you need to understand past relationships and incidents, without having to stop and over-explain everything.
I do wish someone had come up with a more interesting title like Sins of the Fathers, the MGH Agenda, or anything other than the lackluster Sound of Light.
I would like to see notes in the back of the books about past storylines that tie in to the story. For example: this book mentions the Phoenix Incident, the House of M, the MGH storyline, as well as Emma Frost's days in the Hellfire club. Some notes indicating where to find these storylines either in individual comic format or trade paperback would be helpful for anyone wanting to do further reading.
I do wish someone had come up with a more interesting title like Sins of the Fathers, the MGH Agenda, or anything other than the lackluster Sound of Light.
I would like to see notes in the back of the books about past storylines that tie in to the story. For example: this book mentions the Phoenix Incident, the House of M, the MGH storyline, as well as Emma Frost's days in the Hellfire club. Some notes indicating where to find these storylines either in individual comic format or trade paperback would be helpful for anyone wanting to do further reading.
January 10, 2023
I loved this so much, took me right back to my childhood, when I used to read my brothers old x-men in the late 80s and my favourite couple were dazzler and longshot, although showing how old I am here ! Anyone who doesn’t know Dazzler (Alison Blaire) think 70s roller disco with a light show and you’ll get her character. She gets modernised in this book but it’s done sympathetically, we still get our girl but without being dated or too cliché. I loved getting to know her again, the female centric team and adventure/mystery. You don’t need to have read the comics to enjoy the books as the author gives you enough background so you won’t be lost and if you have read them, you get lots of great cameos and appearances from favourites. I love so much that Marvel/Disney are working with Aconyte Books to create these wonderful books and I’m desperate to read so many more of my favourite characters
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
October 27, 2022
A fun story about Dazzler laced with lots of rich material from the Marvel setting and formed an interesting conflicted team, exploring the characters though their flaws.
Dazzler, RachelSummers Grey, Polaris, and Sage are on a mission to find missing dads!
In “Sound of Light” Magneto and Cyclops have gone missing when looking into the source of the recent production of Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH). Since Dazzler was used as a source of MGH production against her will by Mystique AND her dad is also missing, she is contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. to find out what’s going on.
To help Dazzler, Emma Frost signs up Sage from the Xavier School and Logan has Rachel and Polaris join form the Jean Grey School. Shenanigans ensue when none of them can get along nor trust each other (it’s a SHIELD Grey Xavier mixer yo!). They constantly bicker, are paranoid of everyone, especially each other, and stumble into leads throughout most of the book until they become BFFs and save the day!
I’m a big fan of Aconyte Books and really want to support them. This is the first of their Marvel books I’ve read and hope to read more from their catalog (there’s a checklist in this book and I’m dying to put more checks). Also, this author wrote a fun story about Dazzler laced with lots of rich material from the Marvel setting and formed an interesting conflicted team, exploring the characters though their flaws, which is pretty impressive.
It just took too long to get not very far. Firstly, Dazzler was repelling and arrogant character throughout most of the book. You want to empathize with her because of this traumatic experience she had, but she gives us nothing to like about her. Right in the beginning, first chapter, she’s already turning down drinks with her bandmates to “be alone.” At first, that wasn’t a big deal to me, but when I’m hitting 45% and she’s still has done nothing but push everyone away from her I find myself not enjoying being with her either. There were times that I put the story down for felt like not coming back, it was such a drag and very little was happening.
I kept at it, though, thinking it had to go somewhere, and at about 60% though the characters finally start warming up to each other and the story finally starts to do something. Then they just smash and flash their way to the end of the story.
To be honest, the story is more about the characters learning to trust others after dealing with past trauma. The mission is just the thing that forces the characters to be together and deal with these issues. This wasn’t apparent to me in the beginning which could have been why I felt that the story wasn’t really going anywhere. But having finished, this book is definitely more focused on an exploration of characters rather than just an adventure story. Maybe going in with that knowledge beforehand can certainly help you approach the story from the right direction.
Overall, it was okay (which is 2 stars from me). I’m not sure if reading other books from the “School of X” line would have helped me get more into the book but I don’t think I’d recommend this as a first pick for people just hopping into Aconyte Books. And even though this is my first Marvel novel from them, I think other stories might be better to start with. However, if you’re like me and want to hit up that “World Expanding Fiction” checklist, better to hit this one sooner than later, otherwise you might keep putting off “Sound of Light.”
Thank you Aconyte Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a honest review.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
Dazzler, Rachel
In “Sound of Light” Magneto and Cyclops have gone missing when looking into the source of the recent production of Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH). Since Dazzler was used as a source of MGH production against her will by Mystique AND her dad is also missing, she is contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. to find out what’s going on.
To help Dazzler, Emma Frost signs up Sage from the Xavier School and Logan has Rachel and Polaris join form the Jean Grey School. Shenanigans ensue when none of them can get along nor trust each other (it’s a SHIELD Grey Xavier mixer yo!). They constantly bicker, are paranoid of everyone, especially each other, and stumble into leads throughout most of the book until they become BFFs and save the day!
I’m a big fan of Aconyte Books and really want to support them. This is the first of their Marvel books I’ve read and hope to read more from their catalog (there’s a checklist in this book and I’m dying to put more checks). Also, this author wrote a fun story about Dazzler laced with lots of rich material from the Marvel setting and formed an interesting conflicted team, exploring the characters though their flaws, which is pretty impressive.
It just took too long to get not very far. Firstly, Dazzler was repelling and arrogant character throughout most of the book. You want to empathize with her because of this traumatic experience she had, but she gives us nothing to like about her. Right in the beginning, first chapter, she’s already turning down drinks with her bandmates to “be alone.” At first, that wasn’t a big deal to me, but when I’m hitting 45% and she’s still has done nothing but push everyone away from her I find myself not enjoying being with her either. There were times that I put the story down for felt like not coming back, it was such a drag and very little was happening.
I kept at it, though, thinking it had to go somewhere, and at about 60% though the characters finally start warming up to each other and the story finally starts to do something. Then they just smash and flash their way to the end of the story.
To be honest, the story is more about the characters learning to trust others after dealing with past trauma. The mission is just the thing that forces the characters to be together and deal with these issues. This wasn’t apparent to me in the beginning which could have been why I felt that the story wasn’t really going anywhere. But having finished, this book is definitely more focused on an exploration of characters rather than just an adventure story. Maybe going in with that knowledge beforehand can certainly help you approach the story from the right direction.
Overall, it was okay (which is 2 stars from me). I’m not sure if reading other books from the “School of X” line would have helped me get more into the book but I don’t think I’d recommend this as a first pick for people just hopping into Aconyte Books. And even though this is my first Marvel novel from them, I think other stories might be better to start with. However, if you’re like me and want to hit up that “World Expanding Fiction” checklist, better to hit this one sooner than later, otherwise you might keep putting off “Sound of Light.”
Thank you Aconyte Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for a honest review.
#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL
September 23, 2022
I’m very middle of the board on this book. I was engaged enough to finish it. I would probably only recommend this book to people who like marvel novels and especially like the X-Men.
I am a very casual x-men fan so this is normally not the marvel novel that I would pick up I did enjoy the story I did like the references to the X-Men timelines from the comic.
The story was engaging I did like the team of characters that was created. I just feel like I would’ve enjoyed this morph I was a bigger fan of X-Men and dazzler it was still very good.
Thank you NetGalley and Aconyte books for trusting me with this arc.
I am a very casual x-men fan so this is normally not the marvel novel that I would pick up I did enjoy the story I did like the references to the X-Men timelines from the comic.
The story was engaging I did like the team of characters that was created. I just feel like I would’ve enjoyed this morph I was a bigger fan of X-Men and dazzler it was still very good.
Thank you NetGalley and Aconyte books for trusting me with this arc.
October 21, 2022
This book was amazing! I was absolutely captivated by the storyline and Dazzler's life. I could not put this book down.
I loved the storyline of this book, the characters, the plot and the overall mission of this book. I loved Sage, Polaris and Rachel. They are such badass characters! The imagery in this book was amazing and I could actually imagine myself being within this book as the events was unfolding.
I love every aspect of the Marvel storyline and how the characters are people you remember from the original X men series such as Magneto and Scott Summers.
I cannot wait to see where this series goes! I will definitely be reading the next book in this series sometime soon.
I loved the storyline of this book, the characters, the plot and the overall mission of this book. I loved Sage, Polaris and Rachel. They are such badass characters! The imagery in this book was amazing and I could actually imagine myself being within this book as the events was unfolding.
I love every aspect of the Marvel storyline and how the characters are people you remember from the original X men series such as Magneto and Scott Summers.
I cannot wait to see where this series goes! I will definitely be reading the next book in this series sometime soon.
October 31, 2022
I really enjoyed this book, it hooked me straight from the start and I couldn't put it down. I was completely riveted.
I really liked the writing style of the book and I found the storyline absolutely compelling and at this point the characters were just a bonus, but, even they were incredibly well developed and some well known and loved characters were also featured which I adored. The book is also full of such vivid imagery that i just wanted to jump into the Marvel universe with them.
I really enjoyed it and I cannot wait to read more both in this series and by the author generally.
I really liked the writing style of the book and I found the storyline absolutely compelling and at this point the characters were just a bonus, but, even they were incredibly well developed and some well known and loved characters were also featured which I adored. The book is also full of such vivid imagery that i just wanted to jump into the Marvel universe with them.
I really enjoyed it and I cannot wait to read more both in this series and by the author generally.
November 2, 2022
*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Science Fiction
*Rating* 3.5-4
*Thoughts*
Amanda Bridgeman's Sound of Light is part of Marvel's School of X series. When rock star Dazzler aka Alison Blaire walked out on S.H.I.E.L.D., she hoped she’d seen the last of the clandestine organization. She's the lead singer of Dazzler and The Casablanca's, she seems to be heading in the right direction after nearly having her life ruined by Mystique. But when a agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. drops in after a sold-out gig, she must decide whether to work with them again or stick to her solo career.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
*Genre* Science Fiction
*Rating* 3.5-4
*Thoughts*
Amanda Bridgeman's Sound of Light is part of Marvel's School of X series. When rock star Dazzler aka Alison Blaire walked out on S.H.I.E.L.D., she hoped she’d seen the last of the clandestine organization. She's the lead singer of Dazzler and The Casablanca's, she seems to be heading in the right direction after nearly having her life ruined by Mystique. But when a agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. drops in after a sold-out gig, she must decide whether to work with them again or stick to her solo career.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
January 16, 2023
Dazzler is one of those characters that I've always been aware of, but don't think I've ever actually read anything with them in. Perhaps she appeared briefly in a panel of two of a book where mutants as a whole were the focus, but other than that I came to Sound of Light completely new when it came to the character. Knowing how comics work, there was the possibility that I could end up completely lost, that there'd be so much history and backstory to the character that I'd find it impossible to get on. But, this is an Aconyte produced Marvel novel, and I know from experience that the people who write for them always go out of their way to make their novels accessible to all; and this novel is no exception. Amanda Bridgeman does such a good job here that not only did I thoroughly enjoy the book, but I came away feeling like I really knew who the character was.
Sound of Light begins by introducing us to Dazzler in her civilian life, as the musician Alison Blaire. Dazzler is the lead singer of a small band that's enjoying playing gigs and entertaining their fans; but her life gets thrown upside down when she's approached by the secretive law enforcement organisation SHIELD, a group that's supposed to have been disbanded.
SHIELD, who Dazzler once worked with in the past, tells her that Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH), a chemical that increases the powers of mutants, and gives humans powers, is hitting the streets once again. Dazzler has an interest in MGH, as the original drug was made from her when she was held captive by the mutant criminal Mystique. Dazzler tells SHIELD that this isn't her problem, and that she doesn't want to be involved; but then she finds out that her father has gone missing, and might be connected somehow.
Drawn back into her old life, Dazzler is armed with a SHIELD badge and the clue that mutant heroes Cyclops and Magneto have gone missing looking into the very same case. After investigating at the New Charles Xavier School, she gets some help in the form of Rachel Grey, the daughter of Cyclops, and Polaris, the daughter of Magneto; along with the mutant spy and specialist tactician Sage. Together, the four women set out to track down their missing father, find out where the MGH is coming from, and put an end to it.
Despite being a mutant story filled with super powered beings, Sound of Light reads a lot more like a mystery story. The characters have a mission, and spend most of their time tracking down leads, breaking into places to hunt for clues, and using their abilities to try and question suspects. With a few tweaks this story would work as a non-Marvel tale; and I think that part of that is why it works so well. Some people talk about superhero fatigue, mostly in reference to the large number of comic inspired film and TV, and whilst I agree that there is a lot of comic content out there, I don't think that it's really inspiring fatigue. What can, however, is stories that don't try anything different.
Using the MCU as an example, some of the more popular entries in the franchise are the ones that play around with different genres, such as how Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a spy thriller, or Guardians of the Galaxy is a sci-fi comedy. And this works in comics too, with some of the more well loved and best remembered arcs and series doing something that isn't just 'costumed villain turns up with a scheme and the hero beats them'. Superhero stories are incredibly versatile, and mixing them up with other genres makes them feel fresh and exciting; and that's what Amanda Bridgeman does here.
There are times reading Sound of Light that I'd forget that this was a superhero story, where one of the character would suddenly start using their powers and I'd be reminded that they could do that. For the most part its a very grounded story, following these four women as they look for answers and try to find the people that are important to them. Much of the drama and tension stems from the fact that their fathers are missing, and the various issue that the three of them have with their father and their relationships to them. There's tension and drama when the team thinks that their could be a traitor amongst them, and they turn on each other. These are all things that can happen with any group of people, and it helps to humanise these larger than life characters, to show them as real people, and it honestly makes them all the more enjoyable.
Of course, there are super powers and battles against villains throughout the book too, and if you're coming to this as a comic fan there's going to be a lot here to enjoy. Especially the history. As I said at the start, I knew next to nothing abut Dazzler going into this, but the book went through her history so well, introducing elements for the comics and catching up new readers that I never felt lost or overwhelmed. And the book does this for other characters throughout. It very much feels like you can come to this with next to no knowledge and have a great time learning those parts in organic and interesting ways throughout the book.
Sound of Light in a great read, one that takes some of the lesser known characters who normally get supporting roles in other stories and puts them in the spotlight. Everyone is given a moment shine, and gets to do some great things in a genuinely interesting and intriguing story that keeps plenty of mystery going throughout. Whether you're a fan of the X-Men, and these characters, or not, this book is sure to keep you hooked throughout.
Sound of Light begins by introducing us to Dazzler in her civilian life, as the musician Alison Blaire. Dazzler is the lead singer of a small band that's enjoying playing gigs and entertaining their fans; but her life gets thrown upside down when she's approached by the secretive law enforcement organisation SHIELD, a group that's supposed to have been disbanded.
SHIELD, who Dazzler once worked with in the past, tells her that Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH), a chemical that increases the powers of mutants, and gives humans powers, is hitting the streets once again. Dazzler has an interest in MGH, as the original drug was made from her when she was held captive by the mutant criminal Mystique. Dazzler tells SHIELD that this isn't her problem, and that she doesn't want to be involved; but then she finds out that her father has gone missing, and might be connected somehow.
Drawn back into her old life, Dazzler is armed with a SHIELD badge and the clue that mutant heroes Cyclops and Magneto have gone missing looking into the very same case. After investigating at the New Charles Xavier School, she gets some help in the form of Rachel Grey, the daughter of Cyclops, and Polaris, the daughter of Magneto; along with the mutant spy and specialist tactician Sage. Together, the four women set out to track down their missing father, find out where the MGH is coming from, and put an end to it.
Despite being a mutant story filled with super powered beings, Sound of Light reads a lot more like a mystery story. The characters have a mission, and spend most of their time tracking down leads, breaking into places to hunt for clues, and using their abilities to try and question suspects. With a few tweaks this story would work as a non-Marvel tale; and I think that part of that is why it works so well. Some people talk about superhero fatigue, mostly in reference to the large number of comic inspired film and TV, and whilst I agree that there is a lot of comic content out there, I don't think that it's really inspiring fatigue. What can, however, is stories that don't try anything different.
Using the MCU as an example, some of the more popular entries in the franchise are the ones that play around with different genres, such as how Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a spy thriller, or Guardians of the Galaxy is a sci-fi comedy. And this works in comics too, with some of the more well loved and best remembered arcs and series doing something that isn't just 'costumed villain turns up with a scheme and the hero beats them'. Superhero stories are incredibly versatile, and mixing them up with other genres makes them feel fresh and exciting; and that's what Amanda Bridgeman does here.
There are times reading Sound of Light that I'd forget that this was a superhero story, where one of the character would suddenly start using their powers and I'd be reminded that they could do that. For the most part its a very grounded story, following these four women as they look for answers and try to find the people that are important to them. Much of the drama and tension stems from the fact that their fathers are missing, and the various issue that the three of them have with their father and their relationships to them. There's tension and drama when the team thinks that their could be a traitor amongst them, and they turn on each other. These are all things that can happen with any group of people, and it helps to humanise these larger than life characters, to show them as real people, and it honestly makes them all the more enjoyable.
Of course, there are super powers and battles against villains throughout the book too, and if you're coming to this as a comic fan there's going to be a lot here to enjoy. Especially the history. As I said at the start, I knew next to nothing abut Dazzler going into this, but the book went through her history so well, introducing elements for the comics and catching up new readers that I never felt lost or overwhelmed. And the book does this for other characters throughout. It very much feels like you can come to this with next to no knowledge and have a great time learning those parts in organic and interesting ways throughout the book.
Sound of Light in a great read, one that takes some of the lesser known characters who normally get supporting roles in other stories and puts them in the spotlight. Everyone is given a moment shine, and gets to do some great things in a genuinely interesting and intriguing story that keeps plenty of mystery going throughout. Whether you're a fan of the X-Men, and these characters, or not, this book is sure to keep you hooked throughout.
July 17, 2025
Fantastic read! This book takes place in a very specific point in time for Dazzler; and is set in a slightly alternate timeline (Earth 618 perhaps). I love the focus on character development and worling through trauma while building trust and skillfully saving the day. The plot is strong and specific; other characters being brought in (Rachel, Lorna, etc.) have very specific reasons for joining the mission.
If only Marvel comics woukd take this type of deep dive into the character of Alison Blaire, who always perseveres.
Read this book! Highly recommended!
If only Marvel comics woukd take this type of deep dive into the character of Alison Blaire, who always perseveres.
Read this book! Highly recommended!
December 1, 2022
Liked this, but didn't love it - the characterizations felt off from what I'm comics-used to, and there was a lot of infighting amongst the characters and I could have done with a lot less of that, too. Otherwise, I liked the overarcing plot and action sequences, and it did an excellent job of maintaining the in-MCU feel. I think a non-YA version of this would be good, but I bet that's a stretch for these series.
July 20, 2024
Wowwee.. I've never read a marvel book before but was this really good or what? Yes, it was! Dazzler along with a crew of other mutants, seek out to find their fathers who have disappeared. It was non stop action from the start. I can't even tell you in words how much I loved this book. If you are looking for a great book and adventure, read this one. So good!!!
May 29, 2023
Great story
Great story well written love the characters I've always known about dazzler Didn't know too much about her No I got a good sense of the character not to mention a couple others really really well written
Great story well written love the characters I've always known about dazzler Didn't know too much about her No I got a good sense of the character not to mention a couple others really really well written
July 15, 2023
Awesome!
Perfect story from a dark time in XMen history. The character development is spot on. There were a few character age issues but the story makes them ok. @Marvel. This needs to be a comic book or graphic novel with Byrne as the artist.
Perfect story from a dark time in XMen history. The character development is spot on. There were a few character age issues but the story makes them ok. @Marvel. This needs to be a comic book or graphic novel with Byrne as the artist.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews