Title: Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (novel)
Author: Daniel Josephs
Literary level: Intermediate
Rating: 2.5/5
Published a month before the movie in 2007. The novelization of Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer tells a very accurate version of what happened in the movie. It begins with Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Susan Storm (Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (Human Torch), and Ben Grimm (The Thing) doing their best to finally have a decent wedding for Reed and Susan. This is the 5th attempt, thanks to Susan being the most beautiful woman and Reed being the smartest man in the world, as well as them being heroes, the media would never miss a chance like this one. At the same time, anomalies are occurring around the world and the government needs Reed’s help to figure out what is happening. Trouble occurs when a metallic humanoid alien obstructs their attempt at another wedding. Several intents of capturing later, it is questioned its purpose, that being, to bring upon this world’s destruction. Tasked to save the Earth, yet again, the Fantastic 4 embark on a battle, more difficult than they could have imagined. To make the odds worse, their archrival, Victor Von Doom, still lives and is looking for revenge.
Review: There isn’t much to say, since it’s a word-for-word telling of the movie. I’d say the writing is on par with the
screenplay, it was described well enough to understand the scene and ambiance. Regarding
the plot, the stereotypical hero action movie/book/comic, where the evil always
loses, the good guys win, and the morally ambiguous character turns to the good
side thanks to emotions. All in all, not a great book, but not a terrible one
either, could be enjoyed depending on the reader. Would I recommend it? No. Go
watch the movie or read the comics instead.