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Grant Morrison

Better than book 1, worse than book 2. The big twist came out of left field, seemingly in a bad way. It may take a reread to make a real decision on that. The big murder mystery basically just jumped to a new arc without any resolution. But I just enjoyed Planet X so much. And that was enough for me. The final arc felt like an indie film that was more about depth than story, but it just worked as a cherry on top. I’ll miss this run & I’m sure I’ll come back to visit in the years to come. I can see why it’s a necessary read for any X-Men fan.

Grant Morrison

What a massive improvement from vol. 1! (Once you get past the very forgettable Weapon XII story that made it hard to pick up for the first week or so.)The introduction of Kid Omega, decent Jean/Scott/Emma drama, & a murder mystery! The Kid Omega story arc felt like I was reading Deadly Class in the X-Men part of the 616. Big character work for Emma, Scott, Jean, Hank. Xorn has become a favorite of mine. The new students have even been fleshed out after a lackluster first volume for them. Especially Beak, Angel, & The Stepford Cuckoos. It was left on quite a cliffhanger, so I’ll be grabbing vol. 3 off my bookshelf as soon as I get home.

Grant Morrison

If I had a nickel for every time Scott Summers was kidnapped in this volume, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. I love X-Men. I enjoyed this book quite a bit.I know X-Men really benefits from a smaller team, but I just don’t think this team is my favorite lineup. Other than Cyclops & Beast, it’s a lot of take-it-or-leave-it characters for me. A lot of focus on telepathic battles with Cassandra Nova as the villain. I’m looking forward to the other volumes. This was a fun starting point for the run. We’ll see where Grant Morrison takes us from here!

Ryan Cahill

I’m giving this book a very high rating because I’m trying to judge it as a novella. I personally preferred Of Blood & Fire more. A lot more, but I love long books. And this novella was basically flawless. Split into four interconnected short stories, each one builds on the prior ones to draw you into the world, the characters, & the impact of all that is happening. By the end, I felt betrayed myself. In what way? I’m not exactly sure. But I was certainly betrayed! It was such a quick read & I was able to grasp it. I’m definitely in the school of thought that this should be read second, but I’m a character over worldbuilding guy. Speaking of worldbuilding, the contained story with one setting still managed to expand Epheria in new way. Cahill may be one of the giants of modern worldbuilding. Long story short: this was very good. I’ll be starting Of Darkness & Light tomorrow!

Ryan Cahill

This book felt so much like WoT to start that it put me in such a happy place from the beginning. The fact that it felt like a 400 pages prologue was exactly what I look for in books. We got to explore the characters, the world, & the systems around them. I guess my one complaint is that there were so many names that I struggled to keep them straight, but I actually really enjoy that in stories. The magic system is so interesting. I’m so intrigued to watch the characters learn more about it as the series goes along. So many threads left open. The last line of this book left a pit in my stomach. I’ll be thinking about it the entire time I’m reading The Fall. It’s hard to organize my thoughts. I’m so tired & I’m so ready to pick up the next one.