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The Avengers

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Gathered together by S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye must protect the world from ultimate destruction. Readers can join the action as these Super Heroes battle against Loki and his army for the fate of mankind.

240 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2015

32 people are currently reading
234 people want to read

About the author

Alexander C. Irvine

189 books199 followers
Alexander C. Irvine is an American fantasist and science fiction writer. He also writes under the pseudonym Alex Irvine. He first gained attention with his novel A Scattering of Jades and the stories that would form the collection Unintended Consequences. He has also published the Grail quest novel One King, One Soldier, and the World War II-era historical fantasy The Narrows.

In addition to his original works, Irvine has published Have Robot, Will Travel, a novel set in Isaac Asimov's positronic robot milieu; and Batman: Inferno, about the DC Comics superhero.

His academic background includes an M.A. in English from the University of Maine and a PhD from the University of Denver. He is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maine. He also worked for a time as a reporter at the Portland Phoenix.

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5 stars
76 (38%)
4 stars
78 (40%)
3 stars
30 (15%)
2 stars
9 (4%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Ellen.
330 reviews3 followers
March 4, 2018
It does a good job of capturing the humor of the movie. It even mentions the mysterious Betty Ross, although it's ambiguous about her status. Just that she existed and was important to Bruce. Reminded me how much I liked the movie!
Profile Image for Diego S.
7 reviews4 followers
Read
May 2, 2016
The Avengers by Alex Irvine was a great book. I liked the book because it explains how the Avengers formed better than the movie. The conflict is that Loki takes the Tesseract and takes Dr. Selvig and Hawkeye and are under Loki’s control. So S.H.I.E.L.D assembles the best heroes to defeat Loki. I would recommend this book who love action.
Profile Image for Richard Dominguez.
958 reviews127 followers
January 24, 2023
I thought this was even better than the Avengers movie. What I really liked about this (having seen the movie) is that the story does one thing the movie can't, it gives us the character's thoughts. There are many times where the book goes to the exact moment the movie does and then stops and we can read what the character is thinking and those were very funny, sometimes painful, other times pensive and all of them added brilliantly to the story.
Being a YA book the reading is easy and well paced with all the action included in the movie. Hence nothing was left out and much was added.
This is a very very easy recommendation for readers of all types.
Profile Image for Allysa.
1 review
January 3, 2023
This was amazing! Quite literally the movie in book form! I could hear the actors’ voice while reading the dialogue. It was like the movie playing in my mind. Amazing!
Profile Image for Nadine Keels.
Author 46 books246 followers
May 4, 2018
With the help of his extraterrestrial army, Loki means to conquer and enslave planet Earth. It'll take the superheroes gathered by Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., to thwart Loki's plans. But Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye must discover something about themselves first in The Avengers, adapted by Alex Irvine.

So as not to break the chronological flow in my progress as I go back and watch some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, I'm reading certain books written from the screenplays. Doesn't matter that the books are targeted at kids, since I do enjoy middle grade reads from time to time.

Having previously read Captain America: The First Avenger, also adapted by this author, I was ready for the flow, tone, and even the occasional corn in this book. It's all fitting.

The story is good, meaningful fun, with parts that got me laughing and other parts where I felt for the characters. Sure, you can tell some of the content is toned down for young readers (I even would've liked a little of the language toned down a smidge more, though there's no profanity), but this isn't an oversimplified, pat-on-the-head adaptation. The adventure isn't too complicated, but there's still enough depth and intrigue to keep it interesting.

I guess, apart from The Incredibles, I didn't imagine before this year how much heart and life-affirmation I might find in action/superhero stories. This one has got some great moments. And I'll admit that seeing the Avengers eventually become, you know, The Avengers--yeah, that got me pumped.
Profile Image for Andrew Sammut.
594 reviews24 followers
March 9, 2024
There is a Stark difference between when people tell you that reading is like watching a movie in your head and when you're reading the actual movie and imagining it with a preconceived notion of what it's meant to look like. I must admit that this was quite a solid read, it did the movie justice however the comedy didn't come across as well and in certain parts the way the story was narrated, or some details not from the movie were added, got on my nerves.

Tony of course remains my favourite character and I know that this might be a bit of an unpopular opinion but I really dislike Loki's character. It seems to me as though he doesn't add much to the point, he's always peripheral and that bothers me about him although I understand that he's the god of mischief. I haven't yet watched season 2 btw By now I know the story of the avengers by heart and hence why Irvine's unnecessary commentary ticked me off so much especially where the funny parts were concerned. The movie just did them better. At some points it felt like messaging a friend without using emojis. No inflection whatsoever which made me cringe. The Avengers coming together for the first time will never not be awesome.

I will be making a video about whether books are always better than the movies once I'm done with the Star Wars one. I'll be sure to include this series.
Profile Image for J'aime.
812 reviews29 followers
August 1, 2017
Movie novelizations are usually hit or miss for me, and I tend to avoid them because of that. When I saw this young adult novelization, I decided to gamble. I loved The Avengers, it's one of my favorite films, so I thought why not?

The book is very close to the film, almost verbatim with the script. But, it also fleshes out a little bit by giving readers a glimpse into the thoughts of characters during pivotal scenes. The character who gets the most from this is Loki - since he is seen the least during the film. What was he thinking when Black Widow interrogated him? How did he feel during his fight with Thor on Stark Tower? After Hulk smashed him? This book answers those questions.

The book also tones the violence down in a subtle way. It's absolutely appropriate for the target age group, but an adult can also enjoy reading it to someone. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Chelsea.
2,095 reviews63 followers
February 17, 2018
It's not that Alex Irvine is a bad writer, he actually has a good grasp on these characters and their personas. I just don't think these stories were ever meant to be novels. Super heroes work as comics or movies when they have the visuals to back the action. It's not as exciting to read about alien butt getting kicked as it was to see it. The target audience for these books are children, however so perhaps they'd enjoy it more than I have? I mean, the Avengers is a long movie. At the halfway point of this fairly short novel, the team was just apprehending Loki. Banner and Stark's back and forth wasn't as witty in text as screen. I'd definitely let younger fans try these books out, but older audiences should probably pass.
Profile Image for onceuponamon.
165 reviews1 follower
December 24, 2024
The Avengers
🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️
Rating: 🍄🍄🍄🍄1/2
189 in TBR List
37/40 in 2024
Pages: 225
Days to read: 105
Song to go with: "The Avengers" by Alan Silvester

Vibes: Adventure, unlikely heroes, magic, action, found family, fast paced, middle grade, superheroes, world war, movie to book, escapism, secret agency, soldiers, super villains, spy stuff, futuristic

Review: This is one of the movies that got me into the franchise. One of my favourite movies of all time. The characters, the action, the team work, the found family. A series of characters thrown together, unlikely heroes becoming more than they are when they work together. And the best villain in a generation. It's fast-paced, action-packed and thrilling. So good!
Profile Image for Tracey.
2,032 reviews60 followers
July 27, 2017
Picked this up for half-price at a Book Warehouse. I'm a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was curious to see how well/poorly the story would adapt to a junior novelization.

It's really not bad at all - the majority of the film is covered, with good chunks of dialog remaining intact. Notable exceptions [for obvious reasons]: Loki's "mewling quim" and Tony Stark's "performance issues" comments.

It didn't feel "dumbed down", and there were a few nice bits of interior dialog that Irvine extrapolated from the script. I'd recommend it as a library read if you're a fan of the film and/or characters.
Profile Image for Frannie.
268 reviews
December 4, 2021
To be honest. I absolutely loved this book! It goes along with the storyline of the movie. It's amazing since it's not that long, but still very good detailed and it's an amazing extra to know scenes from a different perspective. I absolutely absolutely love it. For an example the part between Loki and Natasha, what Loki thought when he was threatening Nat and she seemed to break but ofc didn't. It's amazing and I absolutely can't wait to start reading the next one. I also watched the movie again after reading this book and the story line goes amazingly along with the movie!
Profile Image for Brooke.
668 reviews37 followers
August 20, 2020
I've been pretty consistently bored with these middle-grade novels adapted from the films. (I'm reading them with my 11yo.) But this one was delightful. I don't know if it's because my brain just CANNOT ANYMORE. Or maybe because Avengers is one of my top 5 MCU films. Dunno. Fun stuff.

(quarantine book #72; read three books by the same author)
Profile Image for Elysse Power.
24 reviews2 followers
June 12, 2015
A simple read. Geared for younger audiences. Interesting to see how they stuck to the movie, how they added some back story details, etc. Might be something one of my students might pick up to read for fun (hopefully). :-)
Profile Image for Stephen Snyder.
670 reviews21 followers
July 17, 2020
An epic novel! A must read for any Avengers fan!

I haven't seen the movie yet, but as I read this novel, I felt like I was in the movie theater.

Thank you for the loan Franklin Public Library!
Profile Image for The Brothers.
4,118 reviews24 followers
February 19, 2016
Asher (9yo) read. "Very funny. Liked the part And when Hulk said to Loki, 'Puny god!'"
2,065 reviews19 followers
January 4, 2017
This is a great series for Jake!...krb 1/2/17
Profile Image for Nick.
964 reviews19 followers
September 11, 2017
Fun little tale that seemed a bit more complete than some others in the series so far. The story and action were good and it was an enjoyable if still short read.
1 review
November 27, 2019
It was pretty fun just because the book is based on the move The Avengers.
161 reviews
July 30, 2022
I never expected to find a novelization of any MCU film, but here it is. An absolutely enjoyable read.
1 review
Read
August 26, 2024
The book, Marvel's The Avengers offers an exciting and detailed story that captivates the readers. It is very interesting as it shows the different perspectives of the hero's coming together and defending the planet from Loki using the power of the tesseract to open a portal leading to an army in space.
Profile Image for Jessi.
575 reviews29 followers
December 27, 2024
Cute quick read. Fun movie fun book. It was funny how they had to change some of the dialogue to be children appropriate.
307 reviews
August 30, 2023
This was a nearly word-for-word retelling of the movie The Avengers. I love that movie. It's entertaining and a genuine classic. This book brought me back into that story which was lots of fun, though sometimes hard to picture based on the descriptions. Overall, not bad. I'd be interested in reading other books in this series to see how they compare. It's definitely written more on a middle-grade reader level, whereas the book of Infinity War that I read was more detailed and exact to the film.
Profile Image for Samantha Glass.
1,132 reviews6 followers
October 13, 2018
Kiddo’s call 3.5 stars. Fun and follows the movie dialogue well. (As he’d shout appropriate lines before we got to them in the book—ha). Fun read.
Profile Image for Eli Lantsov.
75 reviews2 followers
April 14, 2022
This is one of my favoritr marvel movies of all. So ofc i loved this.
Litteraly my comfort movie<33 could watch it over and over (but thats true with any mcu movie, expecially the avengers ones)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

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