Guardians of the Galaxy - Annihilation: Conquest

by Brendan Deneen (Producer)

Fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy, those interested in Marvel's cosmic heroes and villains, and readers of space opera.

The Kree Empire is knocked back on its heels when the Phalanx, a cybernetic race that converts hosts using a techno-organic virus, seizes control of Hala, the Kree homeworld. The person who accidentally brought the Phalanx right to the heart of the Kree Empire? Peter Quill, otherwise known as Star-Lord.

The remnants of the Kree are in utter disarray, their massive technologically advanced fleets totally susceptible to Phalanx control. Eager to make up for his genuine mistake (and without much choice), Star-Lord and a rag-tag team (Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis) are drafted into service to help turn the tide. Can a small group of poorly equipped mercenaries and misfits defeat the Phalanx before they consume the known universe?

Outgunned and outmatched, the Guardians of the Galaxy race to find anything or anyone who could hold the secret to stopping the Phalanx, a quest that will take them to the fringes of intergalactic civilization, and a shocking foe at the heart of the threat.

Genres: Science Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published July 11, 2023

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an amusing-enough time-waster featuring an enormous array of Marvel Cosmic characters plus juuuust enough appearances by- and mentions of more conventional Earthbound characters to make it less impenetrable for the casual listener.


Just reviewing the book, bro.

The narrator did a great job giving distinct voices and personality to the various Guardians, particularly Rocket who if anything is even more irascible and endearing in this version than the Bradley Cooper version for the big screen.


BTW author and Marvel editorial, I know Rocket always says he's not a raccoon but even if he were raccoons are not rodents, it's common knowledge.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you enjoy novelizations of what we think of as comic book (or graphic novel) or cartoon or, these days, movie superheroes, I'd say this one is relatively true to form. Definitely not one of the very best, but by no means one of the worst. Plenty of creative character development, while (to my mind) stronger on the action than the prose or literary elements.

Full disclosure: I've seen and enjoyed all of the Guardians movies (including the Xmas riff); this isn't my first Guardians novelization; with the exceptions of the best/most creative stuff, I prefer a novelization to a comic book/graphic novel; and, once you've read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, the who superhero genre requires much less will suspension of disbelief.

A fast, fun, entertaining diversion.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent origin story for the Marvel "616" version of the current iteration of the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Taking place during the ANNIHILATION time frame in the comics, the author spins his own take and veers away from slavishly following the comics exactly and that is to this story's benefit. I loved how well he captured the voices of the characters as they are now so well known by the actors who portray them in the films. So, even though their origins and backgrounds are comic accurate, they evoke the personalities that we now associate with each character.

I appreciated the sidebar moments of exposition to give the reader, who is probably unfamiliar with the precedent comics, the background they need to understand where these versions diverge from the film versions.

Overall, it's a rollicking old school space adventure and I loved it. And it leaves me once again wondering why Nova (Richard Rider) isn't ALREADY an active part of the MCU.

His strong appearance in this novel drives home that missed opportunity.

[Elizabeth Yeserski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Brendan’s fresh takes and insights. Always takes us to places we didn’t expect; always an exhilarating ride.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novelization mostly based on the Annihilation: Conquest comics that led to the formation of a team of "present-day" (2008 or so) Guardians of the Galaxy, after several iterations of a team from the 31st century appeared here and there from the late 1960s and into the 1990s. But the source material is heavily filtered through the knowledge base that a Marvel movie-watching fan could draw on about characters and events.

In the Star-Lord Annihilation: Conquest limited series, Peter Quill does lead a team of prisoners of the Kree to try to free the Kree home world of Hala from Phalanx control. Three of the characters on that team are skipped in the novelization, but they're from parts of the Marvel comics universe that haven't been explained in the movies.

I was glad that Richard Rider was included in this, since he was a major character in the original Annihilation event and one of the main characters in Annihilation: Conquest, too. I was also glad that Moondragon and Phyla-Vell were included, and that Moondragon and Drax have their comic book origins. Some of what happens with the High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock is pretty true to the comics. There's a lot from the source material that is simplified, but in ways that were logical enough to me, and didn't add many pages of introducing new characters that haven't had their silver screen time.

In the comics, Nova (Richard Rider) had come back to Earth after the Annihilation War only to have to deal with the Civil War registration act. He's horrified at what his fellow Earthlings have been doing while he's been fighting to stop Annihilus, and especially with what's happened to the character formerly known as Speedball, Robbie Baldwin. Rich's "Okay, leaving now" message to his parents is more abrupt. And the original Annihilation War is when he met Peter Quill and Gamora, and got to know them.

As for the ways in which Richie has gotten to know Gamora and Star-Lord at that time: Rich tries to leave the bed without waking Gamora, unsuccessfully. He explains that he wants to go talk to Peter Quill. "Should I be jealous?" Gamora asks. This is much funnier in retrospect. Rich wants the perspective of another Terran, he explains. The half-human Star-Lord spent some formative years on Earth and understands Earth references that are lost on aliens.

When Pete realizes that Nova has come from being in bed with Gamora to talk to him instead, he says, "One word. Priorities."

Gamora and Drax are not in jail with the others at the start of the Phalanx invasion. But I can understand why it's easier for the novel's plot if they are. The planet Kvch is included, but the Warlock (different Warlock -- New Mutant Warlock) and Tyro encounters and plot are left out. Which, I can understand the possible confusion. I'd read all of New Mutants, though, and having two Warlocks was much less confusing visually than it would be if it were purely in prose. And the Super-Skrull doesn't have much to do.

But this was a pretty clever adaptation mix of comic books and movies.

More thoughts: Rocket gets his comic book origin story here, of coming from Halfworld. That worked well for this book as far as keeping consistent with the Marvel comic universe. I thought that his origin as given in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 movie was good also.

Things happen differently with Wraith, and that simplification didn't make for very good writing. Those changes dumb things down. So do the characterizations of Peter Quill and Ronan at the end of the novel. They were uncharacteristic not only for the characters as usually depicted, but Peter's thought process is completely different than it was at the beginning of the novel. Nova's characterization was considerably better than Star-Lord's in this. "Yes, I am known to speed headlong and halfcocked into situations, and it's weird that I'm the one suggesting we go more slowly..." (paraphrasing, and also ROTFL!) Self-knowledge for the win.

[Megan Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive a review copy ahead of the releases of this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! A great new origin story of how the Guardians came to be a rag-tag team of space heroes. The story is a great introduction to the characters featured in the MCU version of the group, while also giving the story a new life.

Can this outgunned, out planned, and outmatched group of misfits help save the universe before it is entirely destroyed by the Phalanx? Can the MCU finally add Nova into the story? You’ll have to wait and see

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll figure out the rating after I finish my review. I enjoyed this novelization based on the "sequel" event to the smash-hit Annihilation storyline (in which the Marvel U-616 is invaded by an army from the Negative Zone). The author follows most of the storyline in the comics, but he also makes changes in the novelization and makes it his own story in the process while remaining fairly true to the core of the original story (the original story had a much larger caste of characters and covered a wider breadth of stories/adventures than the book did, which might have been a good thing, overall). The author intermixes the movies with the comics storyline, giving the characters in the book the personalities of the characters in the movies, and that threw me a little bit as well, but I got used to it as I continued reading the book.

The changes the author made threw me a little bit at first because I was (foolishly, I suppose) expecting the Guardians team to start out like it did in the comics before Drax and Gamora join the team; instead, the author has Drax and Gamora join the team of misfits right away (in the original series, it was Terran Gabriel Vargas aka Captain Universe, Bug (formerly of the Micronauts but would have adventures of his own in the Marvel U after those series ended), and Deathcry, a Shi'ar warrior and former member of the Avengers). I know I said I got used to the changes, but it was still odd to see Star-Lord and Gamora "developing feelings for each other" and her not having any feelings for Richard Rider (Nova) and vice-versa considering she and Nova were lovers during the initial Annihilation Wave event, and yet references were made to the Annihilation Wave throughout the novel (mostly with Richard Rider because he was on Xandar when the planetary system and Nova Corps were destroyed). It also created an odd moment because Drax and Rider recognize each other and greet each other as somewhat close friends, then moments later on the High Evolutionary's space station the author describes them in such a way to imply they are not friends and really do not know each other; that is the problem with Drax alternating between his comic-book "identity/personality" and his "movie character/personality" - it creates discrepancies in how the character acts in the novelization. In the comics, he is a human who was transformed by alien science into a being whose goal is to hunt down and kill Thanos because Thanos murdered his wife and daughter Heather (or so he believed at the time); the author explains this in the book. Yet, in the movies, Drax is clearly an alien and no human and would not refer to Heather as his daughter. Drax and Rider also fought together during the Annihilation Wave, and this is implied to have been the case in the book as well, yet Rider makes no mention of any changes in Drax's behavior and thought processes.

I liked that the author did include Phyla-Vel, Moondragon, Wraith, Adam Warlock, and Richard Rider (Nova) in the story as well. I really do not think the novelization would have worked out as well as it did had the author not included these characters in it (who were integral to the plot in the comics as well). I had also forgotten that Wendell Vaughn (the "original" Quasar) had been killed by Annihilus in battle in the Nova four-issue mini-series; Phyla mentions how she tries to honor his memory while wearing the Quantum Bands in this book. The scope of the story was a little too big for just the six members of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

I was a little ambivalent about Blastaar and Kl'rt being in the book. I could not decide if Blastaar was under the control of the Phalanx or not because when he appears, his eyes are glowing but they are not silver or "covered in silver" like those who had been absorbed into the Phalanx. In any case, I did not feel like his presence was needed to move the story along because it served no real purpose other than to have Drax fight a powerful character and their ship being damaged in the process. Their ship could just as easily landed on the Phalanx's home planet and still had the same result in terms of the team fighting a bunch of robots before being captured.

Kl'rt was a bit of a disappointment as I remembered him playing a bit of a bigger role in this series, for some reason. He, too, only showed up long enough to get into a fight with some members of the team before being knocked unconscious. Well, not so much "knocked" as in . . . choked? . . . asphyxiated? Wraith used his whip to cut off Kl'rt's ability to breathe, and that knocked him unconscious. Actually, he played a bigger role in the novel than Blastaar did. Kl'rt punched Wraith so hard that his blows damaged the "neuron inhibitor" (or whatever the collar/neckbrace was called) that Wraith was forced to wear after being captured. It allowed his powers to come back and ensured Wraith would be a deadly opponent for the Phalanx. Still, though, Kl'rt was also very important in terms of helping save the galaxy against the Annihilation Wave, and I could easily see him joining the Guardians in their fight against Ultron and the Phalanx because he would hate to be used as anyone's puppet. That, and Ultron had been torturing him while trying to gain control of Kl'rt, so I could also see Kl'rt wanting to see revenge against Ultron. Sadly, Kl'rt joining "the Krew" did not come to pass.

I was surprised that Wraith was killed in the book. He survived in the comic book event, but he gives up his life to ensure Ultron's death in the book (well, the death of this version of Ultron). Overall, I liked his characterization in the book. I also liked the moment that Wraith and Drax share earlier in the book. Wraith is sitting in a compartment by himself in the dark when Drax walks in. Drax apologizes and offers to leave but Wraith asks him to stay for a time. The two quietly sit in the room (compartment) for however long they sit there before it is time for them to return to the bridge. It was a . . . "nice" (cool) moment for these two characters, in my opinion, and helped forge a bond of friendship between the two men (that Drax would later honor by killing the man who killed Wraith's parents).

I also liked a moment where the team that Richard Rider is a part of wants to go off halfcocked without thinking their plan through all the way and he turns out to be the one cautioning against losing their cool and letting their emotions control them instead of using their minds, instead of using reason, to think through the situation. He has a moment where he is, "usually I'm the emotional one who runs around halfcocked and has to be calmed down", so it was an interesting moment of character development for Richard Rider and I loved it. It was a pretty cool moment.

I enjoyed this novelization. It was a pretty fast read, overall, and it held my interest throughout. I think one of the weakest parts (if not the weakest, on the one hand) is how the characters who were integral to defeating Annihilus's army in the Annihilation Wave do not make any reference to their experiences in that initial invasion. Drax plays an important role in that storyline, yet never references it. Richard Rider and Phyla-Vell make some oblique references to it, but not direct enough to let the reader know why those memories, those experiences are (or were) important. Same with Gamora and Star Lord - they were instrumental in defeating Annihilus's forces and yet no real mention is made of this in this book. I know the focus of this book is different, but the author should probably have left out the events of the Annihilation Wave to tell this story (which would have been hard because of how the Nova Corp died, but he could have gotten around that by having the Nova Corp be defeated by Thanos when the Mad Titan attacked Xandar to get the Infinity Stone left there for safekeeping in the 1st Guardians of the Galaxy movie). In any case, I felt the author did a decent job of blending the characters in the movies with the characters in the original comic book storyline. I would probably rate it 3.3-3.5 stars but will generously round it up to four stars. I could see myself rereading this at a later point in time, and I am glad that I read this book.






























I'll have to go back and reread the series, maybe, because I do not remember Ultron taking over Adam Warlock's body like he does in this book. It has been a while since I read the original series, and I know there has been a lot I have forgotten - I would put the book down and thumb through my compilations of the series to remind myself what originally happened. Regardless, I thought the author did an excellent job of describing Ultron's "emotions" and feelings after he transferred his mind/consciousness into Adam's mind and body. Granted, I do not remember Wraith taking Warlock's place by having Mantis and Moondragon force Ulton's consciousness to transfer into Wraith's mind, but I am pretty sure that is a "major" change made for the story and not part of the comics as I seem to remember Wraith using his Exolons to lock Ulton into a body to prevent him from fleeing to a new "host body" which allowed Phyla-Vel to kill that iteration of the monstrous living artificial intelligence.

[Max Millward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Valerio Pastore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mind me, it is not a bad novelization-cum-rewriting of the modern Guardians' origins: it just fails to deliver in terms of emotions.
I mean, I am in the process of rereading everything Rocket Raccoon & Guardians, and the Annihilation: Conquest comic book saga still delivers a better punch, in terms of writing. The author of this novel played it right: Rather than copying the comic books events, he decided to skip something, rewrite some parts, make this book a new and yet familiar ground.
BUT, far as emotions goes, it gets boring at times. If this was a movie, you could see the actors playing without putting their hearts in it.

[Thomas Sauceda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deenan does what he’s continued to do throughout all his previous work and that’s honoring the source material laid out in the comics and still providing his personal flair to the story he is laying out.

He embodied each character perfectly through his writing and manages to deliver a captivating and exciting narrative featuring our favorite ragtag group of cosmic superheroes. This is yet another entry in the corner of the Marvel Universe that elevates some of our favorite characters.

[emnello · Rating 1 out of 5]

A super clumsy attempt at synergising the fan-favourite ‘Annihilation: Conquest’ Guardians of the Galaxy storyline with the movie lineup of characters (Gamora and Drax are forced into this novelisation). Rich’s fraught relationship with his family is completely watered down here and the writing itself is stilted and awkward.

Just read the original graphic novel.

[Ed Cho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book! Just like reading a movie script. Brendan captures the essence of the characters we know and love from the movies, and gives them a whole new adventure. Expect some good laughs and well paced action. If you know the movies, you'll feel right at home (though this is separate from the movies), but even if you don't it's easy to read and enjoy.

[nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What an incredible read. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this book by the always incredible Brendan Deneen. If you are a Guardians fan like myself, this is an absolute MUST READ NOW!!!! I can't wait to see what else Mr. Deneen does with Guardians of the Galaxy next!

[Michael Neff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this version of GOTG! Deneen knows how to choreograph his own unique word cinema on the page. The characters wriggle and burst to life, scene by scene as the plot engine revs hotter.

IMO this author should be put in charge of the whole franchise.

Recommend!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun origin story of The Guardians that's different from the MCU movie version in which they join together to battle the Phalanx, a technology based life form that infects living beings. Austin Rising did a great job narrating and doing the voices of the many characters.

[Christopher Cosmos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great writer, great person, great and fun story and book - highly recommend!

[Thomas Fried · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son enjoyed this read so much!

[Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish GA would do this one. It's a pretty good and different story. Wish there were move novels of the Guardians.

[Roy Van Den Brande · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a MCU movie: it's just entertaining, and sometimes that's more than enough.

[Pete Goodchild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic take on how this cast of gardians got together. A brilliant novel

[James Biser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining adventure of the Guardians of the Galaxy. They help some aliens and gone to know each other better.

[Harley Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun and included much of what you see in the movies but has an original storyline and new characters. It was a blast to read.