Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I absolutely adored this book.   Just loved the hell out of it, in fact.   I've actually enjoyed all of the latest Marvel prose novels, and so due to that - and due to me just truly enjoying this novel - I'm going to get Alex Irvine's Days of Future Past novel tomorrow.  

Also, I want to read more of Dan Abnett's work now!  So first of all, the majority of the novels - if not all of them in this line - are based off graphic novels.   Extremis, Gifted, etc, they're all just adaptations of graphic novels.   It's really nice to see more in depth what the characters are thinking, and there are funny moments, but it's nice to have this, original novel.   It's set in the Marvel universe, yes and coming out now due to the Guardians of the Galaxy - Rocket and Groot are two of the Guardians - but the story is new.   And while Gamora, one of their Guardian cohorts, does play a part, and while the narrator is a robot - mmm, robots! - Rocket and Groot steal not only the universe but the show.   Given that Groot only says, "I am Groot," at least as far as most people understand, this means that Rocket really stole the show for me.   Groot was pretty awesome most of the time, but I just loved Rocket!

As much as Rocket loves him some guns, it's really Groot, who is described multiple times as a walking tree, who is the muscle.   At least when they have no guns.   The robot aspect not only tied in quite nicely to the overall story but also added a nice way to break the fourth wall, which this novel does quite often, and in quite a clever way.   Even the chapter titles get in on this breaking the fourth wall action. 

But it's not just a superhero adventure story.   It's not just a neat reason to break the fourth wall.   It also has some clever satire that I didn't expect, like the poke at corporate espionage, and warfare in the office, and the use of made up words like 'solutionize' that mock business buzz words that can be rather meaningless, but are bandied around boardrooms and executive meetings nonetheless.  

It was unexpected, appreciated, and elevated this from a mindless Guardians of the Galaxy tie-in (which if done well probably would have been a four or four and a half stars) to a five star book worthy of a reread. 

I'm more eager than ever to see the GotG movie now :D