The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

by Kevin J. Anderson

London, 1899. As the British Empire lies in mortal jeopardy, a top-secret initiative unites several of the most illustrious (and sometimes infamous) personages of the Allan Quartermain, famed explorer and adventurer; Captain Nemo, master of the undersea submersible Nautilus; Dr. Henry Jekyll, and his brutish alter ego, Mr. Hyde; Rodney Skinner, the Invisible Man; Dorian Gray, the ageless subject of a diabolical portrait; Mina Harker, surviving victim of the late Count Dracula; and a scrappy American secret agent named Tom Sawyer. Together, they form... LXG When a criminal mastermind known only as "The Fantom" plots to hurl the world into war, the League must race across the globe to foil the masked madman's insidious scheme. But they may not have reckoned with the traitor in their midst...!

Genres: Fantasy, Steampunk, Fiction, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Historical

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 6, 2003

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the original comic by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill very much but was quite disappointed by the film written by James Dale Robinson. There were many changes made to the story by the film, and I made a point to pick up Anderson's novelization in hopes that it would explain the purpose of some of those changes. Why did we need Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray and why did the leadership switch and wasn't the submarine a little too long to make sharp turns underneath that city and... well, you get the idea, there was a -lot-. Anderson did what he was hired to do; he wrote a literate adaptation of the script and did in fact go into some detail and background that made some of it make a little more sense. So, I thought he did a good job with what he was given to work, but I still wish I'd've devoted the time it took to read this to his Climbing Olympus or one of his collaborations with Doug Beason or...

[Viola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jālasa tikai tiem, kas nav redzējuši filmu! Savādāk pa galvu jaucas filmas ainas.

[Sarah Quilt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This movie is one of my guilty pleasures, I know it's not good but I enjoyed it. This novelization is a thousand times better. I love this book. I've read it twice.

[Brett C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sooooooo....I've never seen the movie or read the graphic novel. I really enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Don't expect anything mind blowing nor earth shattering. But you can a simple, well-written, and entertaining story. Also it helps if you've read 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula (or the movie), Invisible Man (the H.G. Wells story), Portrait of Dorian Gray, and know Tom Sawyer (not the Rush song).

[Andre · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novelization of the film of the same name was a nice little read. It was an ok book, fitting if you want to relax and not think about something too much without running the risk to be infuriated by bad writing. It is not a book I would say you need to read but its also not something that would be a waste of time in my eyes. Actually I think it works much better than the film and while Minar Harper does not use her vampirism often it at least is used much better than I had seen in many later instances of vampirism in fiction. The book simply has more room to explain things and give us some more background and depth to the characters. Also there is the thing that some things simply do not work well on the screen.
If the book has a big flaw I think it is that there are so many characters from so many different authors. You see characters from the works of Bram Stoker, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain - for a start - there are much more and I think even references to H.G. Wells. For me this was no problem since I knew who they are and also it explains certain actions of the characters, but when you have no idea who those characters are and what their history is, you might have a problem, e.g. when you do not know of the relationship between Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn you probably have no idea why Sawyer seems so driven to catch Moriarty (yes, THE Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes novels).

[Mina]

This was so completely awful and terrible I can't believe I finished it. Commitment to the cause is what kept me going.

[Steven "Steve" · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I was a huge fan of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics series and also enjoyed the movie. When I picked up this book on a lark I thought it would be fun to give it a go when I needed a break from heavier reading. It was really well written, and the structure of the plot, while a little lacking, gives the characters plenty of room to play which makes for a fun read.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the film, this book may not be high art but my goodness is it fun.

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG were do I begin!
In this book the author brings many of the charectors we have read about, for example. Dorian Gray, the invisable man, Sherlock Holmes, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Dracula,Nemo and many more. A group of herions with special skills group uo to stop the Fantom from bringing the world to an end as we know it. Many of our favorite charectors come back to life and take us on another great adventure.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphic novel by Alan Moore (Watchmen) was better. The novelization and movie changed the story quite a bit. The villains were different and the characters of Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray were added for the movie. Alan Quartermain was not the leader of the group, Mia was, and she was not a vampire in the original story.
The second graphic novel has The League involved in The War of the Worlds. Check it out.

[Paul Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK as a film novalisation, and possibly a bit better than the film, though still not as good as the original graphic novel, and to be honest it;s not a great novel in its own right.

But I'm a sucker for stories using characters from other stories, always have liked them - just wish there'd been more flesh on the bones to this.

[Jay Maharaul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple yet enjoyable read. Nothing to work your brain over. Good when you don't want to think to much. This is an essential popcorn novel. Good enough to keep you engrossed but not good enough to say it is worth a read.

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this novelization because it gives you the movie, but with more details and specifics of the characters and emotions involved.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

I'm finally going through my tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.

I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)

First time read the author's work?: Yes

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Pappy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining and enjoyable book I’d say. The movie came out years ok and I found it to be a pretty good one. This novelization was quite a bit better for me. I really enjoyed it all the way through.

[Tonya Mathis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like the movie, I loved this book.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm probably against the grain of opinion here, but I liked the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. Though I would have preferred they did a more accurate adaption of the graphic novel (and hold out hope that someone might in the future.), I liked the idea of throwing all of these characters from literature and pulp fiction together as a sort of superhero group. Shortly after discovering the comic, I soon was hunting down and reading (or re-reading) Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard, H.G. Wells, Sax Rohmer among others.
This book is a novelization of the movie and follows it fairly closely. From time to time, the book adds a little insight to the characters - such as why Tom Sawyer grew to become a secret agent (probably one of the digressions most people hated, however I liked it.) There were occasional flashbacks to Quatermain's adventures, more info on Mina Harker's life, post-"Dracula" and her relationship with Dorian Grey. (Fun Fact: Bram Stoker's wife had a brief relationship with Oscar Wilde when they were teenagers, obviously the base for this inclusion.) It was little touches like this that I was hoping for and that helped to pull me along.
Probably the thing I liked the least was the style in which the book was written. Each paragraph was the same - Description then dialogue. Description then dialogue. Over and over and over again. It really made it seem that the dialogue was just cut-and-pasted into a description of what was happening. Was this how the book was written? No idea but it really did put me off.
So now I think I'm going to dig back into my LoEG comics.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty true to the movie.


Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite what others think, I always loved the movie and so I was very excited when I found that there was a novelization of said movie. I read the graphic novels first and I must say that I loved this version much more than the original.
It was just so much more interesting with Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer and I like Skinner better than Griffin because he's not a backstabbing cowardly shit who betrays the League to Martians.
The book is almost identical to the film with a few little additions: some new and removed dialogue and added parts of the world leaders and a few new parts about M that weren't in the movie for obvious reasons. I didn't think that the sections about the world leaders did anything for the book. The movie was fine without and I think the book would have been as well because for the most part they just argued and nothing was accomplished.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this, I kind of want to read the source material for the characters. While this and the film are essentially the same thing, just different format, it would be nice to read the original graphic novel as well.
Anyway, I digress. This as a book is a short, entertaining read for those who enjoy a decent adventure novel now and then, and don't necessarily want to know the entire back story of each character to get to the action. This book does a good job of giving enough character information for the story to work, without using half of the book bogged down with background that may end up being forgotten later.
Probably would read again if ever bored between books, though would not recommend to those looking for a book that makes you think/use your brain at all.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the novelisation of the recent movie. Set in 1899, this tells the story of a secret agency set up to combat the elusive 'Fantom', who is plotting to throw the world into war. The agency recruits the best. Allan Quartermain, Africa adventurer; Captain Nemo, Captain of the Nautilus; Henry Jekell and his alter ego Mr Hyde; Rodey Skinner, the Invisible Man; Dorian Gray, the indestructible; Mina Harker, beautiful survivor of the Dracula; and Tom Sawyer, the young American secret agent. But can their special powers be enough to combat the criminal mastermind? The novel hasn't got the depth and colour of the film, the characters a bit 2d, but still a good adventure read.

[Tom Lyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

A novel, based on a film, based on a graphic novel? Why not just read the graphic novel?

Like the atrociously bad film adaptation, this book has virtually nothing to do with the plot of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen outside of certain members of the cast. It has the same plotholes and the pointless additions of Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer to the main cast, but the author at least makes some effort to let the characters actually somewhat resemble their comic book counterparts, though the film screenplay's offensive portrayal of Mina Murray still leaks through and the transparency of the "traitor" is there.

[Rex Libris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite a lametastick book. Highly don't recommend it. The original graphic novel was a very interesting treatment of this concept. Take a pack of literary characters and throw them together and battle the bad guys. The novelization of the movie (and I am assuming the movie itself) went in the wrong direction. The original "cast" in the graphic novels was Alan Quartermain, Mina Harker, Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, and the Invisible Man. The movie version throws in in Dorian Gray and Tom Sawyer. If you want to see this concept done right, read the raphic novles and skip the movie.

[Vasco Ribeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

O livro é a romanceação do guião do filme (que tive o cuidado de ver simultaneamente, mas sem legendas em Português). Por isso o livro foi-me um precioso auxílio para perceber aquilo que não tinha apanhado nas falas do filme.
A acção tem o ritmo do filme, consegue reproduzir as piadas da coloquialidade e, no género, parece-me muito bom.
O que achei estranho foi não acabar da mesma forma, ou seja, o filme abre a porta a uma sequela, ao contrário do livro em que tudo parece terminar quando os heróis da Liga destroem M na mongólia.

[Richp · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are books so bad they are almost good, but that takes a little more humor whether intentional or otherwise. In this case, the humor was limited and very late to appear.

Normally, I reserve a one star rating for books that encourage evil, but then I realized the "hero" nations behind the LXG are presented here as good guys, when they were far from it at the time this novelization was set, and the time the comics, movie, and novelization were created and published. It normally strikes me earlier, but this is so ridiculous the details took over for awhile.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I'm one of the eight people who liked the movie. I love the LoEG comic, but lets face it, Moore tends to revel in the grim and distasteful details and his Quartermain could be a bit of a wuss.
This was one of the better adaptions as it fleshes out some vague/weak bits in the movie and fixes a couple that seemed too short or clunky, as well as smoothing some of the hard edges of the heroes.
Fun read.

Basically, if you liked the movie, you'll like the book.

[Martina Sanjaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started alright. But the soul of each character became shallower as the story goes. I know the author really tried to make the best of them all, but I've read most of the characters in its original book, and felt the emptiness more and more keenly. By the end of this book, I was thoroughly disgusted.
Those 2 stars are for the not-so-bad plot and the way the story goes. Those qualities were the only ones that made me possible to finish reading. If only the author use his own characters...

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It followed the movie very closely, but didn't give me the depth and build up of suspense I expect from a book. I know the movie was made from the graphic novel, and this book was made from the movie. I've heard good things about the graphic novel, so I'm going to give that a go next.

[Vassia Dimokosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the movie, I adored the book. It has several scenes that were not in the movie, and reading this, it was like I was watching the movie in my mind, and those extra scenes made it so much better!

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book version of the movie, not vice versa. So really it's just like watching the movie with a little extra insight in the character's thoughts.