Captain Marvel: Shadow Code

by Gilly Segal

Marvel’s most powerful Super Hero, Captain Marvel, must battle an old enemy in this brand-new original novel with help from her friends Tony Stark, Spectrum, Hazmat and Spider-woman!

CAPTAIN MARVEL IS ASKED FOR A SIMPLE FAVOR, BUT SHE SOON MEETS AN ADVERSARY WITH UNPARALLELED POWER.

Tony Stark wants Carol to keep an eye on brilliant grad student Mara Melamed, who is struggling to find her feet at Empire State University. Although reluctant at first, Carol meets Mara and is soon impressed by the young woman.

But trouble quickly finds Captain Marvel in the form of a controversial operating system from DigiTech—whose mysterious CEO only appears as a hologram. To make matters worse, one of Carol’s closest friends has been framed for murder. And Mara Melamed is at the tangled center of it all.

Carol is driven to her darkest edge as she questions her identity and sense of belonging in the world. With her allies at her side, Carol must face her self-doubt and protect the world from impending doom.

Genres: Marvel

272 pages, Hardcover

Published October 17, 2023

About the author

Gilly grew up in Florida, came of age in Israel, where she served in the IDF and graduated from Hebrew University, and finally decided to call Decatur, Georgia home. By day, she’s a lawyer for an advertising agency. By night, she is a caped crusader! No, just kidding (she wishes). Her real not-actually-secret identity is writer. She’s been writing in one form or another since she wrote her first young adult novel – a Sunfire YA romance fanfic – typed out on an electric typewriter. Although she will confess it was titled CLAUDIA, she will neither confirm nor deny that any copies still exist. Whatever you do, don’t ask her mom if it’s in those boxes still stored in the closet of her childhood room.

When Gilly’s not reading and writing, she can be found exploring Decatur with her three kids and searching bakeries the world over for the perfect French macaron. Her favorite so far is rose lychee.

Her debut young adult novel, I’m Not Dying With You Tonight, co-written with Kimberly Jones, will be published by Sourcebooks Fire, with an anticipated release date of October 1, 2019. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.

Reviews

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

Captain Marvel is a character that’s had a lot of cosmic adventures of the years, no matter which character is wearing the title. Most recently Carol Danvers has appeared in a major movie that saw her fighting aliens in space, but Captain Marvel: Shadow Code subverts things quite delightfully, by bringing Carol to Earth for a more grounded adventure. The book even begins with her heading off into space before being called back to the planet by Iron-Man to help a young grad student who believes her family have been caught up in a conspiracy by a tech giant.

One of the best things about the book is that Carol isn’t alone, and Segal brings a host of other familiar faces along to help out along the way. Early on in the book we spend time seeing Carol’s relationship with fellow Avenger Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, and it’s rather delightful. The book slows down to show a more familial situation, complete with Jessica’s kid, and it’s something comics don’t often have time to do. And this is one of the best things about this book being brand new, and not based off an existing story, it’s able to take its time.

There are a lot of conventions and expectations when it comes to comic writing. For example, it’s expected that you need to have some kind of action each issue. But as this story is created for the prose form that’s not a consideration, and as such we’re able to take a slower start to things, we’re able to lay the groundwork for the mission, and can have a chapter where Carol is just investigating with her friend and her kid, eating pastries and chilling on the sofa. It’s a nice change of pace to how you expect these stories to play out.

Segal does include plenty of action for those who like it though, and there are some very cool moments across the course of the book that you can’t help but think ‘I’d love to see that drawn on a comic page’. It makes the most of this medium, whilst still appealing to fans of the other. But most of all, Segal captures Carol’s character well, and for a story where you’re almost constantly with the hero that’s perhaps the most important thing. If you’ve just watched The Marvels and are looking for more from Carol Danvers this is a book you’re going to want to pick up.

[Martin Maenza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captain Marvel: Shadow Code by Gilly Segal will be published October 17, 2023. Titan Books provided an early galley for review.

I go a long way back with Carol Danvers (almost to her debut in the 70's). When I think of her, I think of big cosmic adventures. Segal, however, chooses to go a bit of a different route and puts the heroine into a world of corporate espionage (one which might be better suited for a character like Black Widow instead). Adding the personal connection for Carol only further ups the ante.

The author brings in a lot of Marvel characters to support Carol as well as challenge her. It shows how connected the Marvel universe can be. The key with that aspect, though, is to make sure the usage is meanful and not just a way to cover areas where the lead character is less skilled.

This appears to be the author's first solo outing (her first two young adult novels were with a co-author) and dip into the science fiction/super-hero realm. For that, I think she did pretty well. Clearly she did her homework when it came to Marvel details, and the story overall had a logical flow. For me, there were a few spots where the structure was clunky (too much narration breaking up dialogue exchanges, for example), but these are things she'll get better at over time as she gets more writing under her belt.

[Runalong · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve usually enjoyed these Marvel prose novels but this felt a bit clunky with its approach and fairly mechanical

Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...

[Nicholas (was Allison) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.4 Stars
Notes: As someone who really paid attention to the movie The Marvels, I will add in immediately that this book is an entirely different, uniquely written story. I read this over several weeks, so I could understand as much of it as I possibly could. To explain this further, this is a very complex storyline with several various different plot lines.

From being a major MCU fan in the past, I would suggest rewatching some movies if you aren’t already familiar with some of the characters. As someone who has researched marvel comics characters for over a decade, I found a lot of enjoyment from this story.

However, I will also note that you need to be psychologically ok before reading this story, as it may contain some content that may affect others’ anxiety. Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel has an extremely difficult job, and as someone who understands and has done research to the effect of the amount of pressure that that job has, you have to really, really admire her character. As someone who has done research into effects of ptsd because I had to, you will have to argue with me about that.

I will be remembering this story for a really, really long time, from how good the reading experience was.

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carol Danvers is out of her depth, she should never have said to Tony Stark that she would help him. Thrust into a mission that needs a different approach than her standard strategies, this mission needs more than she can give,

A novel featuring one of my favourite Marvel characters was always going to catch my attention. This is a fun story, taking the characters and the readers on a different but captivating ride. Not only does it have exciting chase sequences, but dramatic introspective turns for a character trying to find out who she really is.

For Marvel fans, pick this book up, and it will entertain your wee geeky soul.

I received an early copy from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

[V. Arrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read, if a bit slower paced. It was interesting to see which characters were allied with Carol since she IS often more of a loner within the comics universe -- seeing Jessica Drew, Monica, and Jen Takeda was an interesting choice for her girl crew. I think this will be a reread at some point but it doesn't leave me champing at the bit like some other Marvel novels (Hawkeye: Bishop Takes King, The Unstoppable Wasp, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl). Still, recommend highly.

[Derrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the movie, but just haven't enjoyed the books. This was just an ok story, different, but hopefully you enjoy iron man, captiain marvel and spiderwoman.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel seems to not know what to do with Captain Marvel. On her own she is seemingly an invincible super woman but boring. With a team of other super ladies, she is a leader always focused on saving the day. I get she is a living symbol for girl power. But her fighting drones and trying to fix a threat to a digital platform (think facebook+google going evil) is not the right villian. The whole time i was hoping the big bad would be Ultron with a Skynet scenerio. But nope big nope on that front. "The Marvels" was a better romp than this teamup story.

[crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author did a fantastic job with Carol's characterization in this book. Her inner voice felt very natural to her. Her friendships with Jess, Tony, and Monica felt so natural and true to character. This could have seamlessly been an arc in Kelly Thompson's 2019 Captain Marvel run.

The main thing I disliked was the original characters. I didn't feel an attachment to them and felt a little bored when learning about their family history. I felt that time could have been spent on the already existing supporting cast. But overall, if you're a Captain Marvel fan, it's a good read.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun with this. There were some characters that don't get a lot of page time or screen time, and that was cool to see, and I thought Segal had a good grasp on Carol's character: someone who is used to sort of going out on her own protecting others, for better or worse. I do think the plot is a little clunky and the dialog repetitious, but this was fun and easy to read so I'm not mad at it.

[Jon Von · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up for girl power. Was really hoping for some action but this book is ninety-percent young women talking about college, their reputations, their families, and social media. Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel herself. NOT Ms Marvel, that's someone else) is described as someone who isn't comfortable with problems she can't punch her way out of but proceeds to punch nothing and act like a cool aunt for the central trio of girlies for the entire book. Tony Stark shows up periodically to act as an ally and/or academic advisor. It's a relatively pleasant YA book that shows its heroines standing up for themselves, becoming their own women, and making serious plans for grad school all while fostering a healthy distrust of social media. But there's almost zero action because it's a boring techno-thriller at heart. Maybe this wasn't the best fit for its hero. Similar in some ways to another YA book, Harley Quinn: Reckoning by Rachel Allen.