Great fun and fast read. Though the subject matter could have been covered with a too heavy hand, but the author keeps the story humming and the characters are well done. ( )

Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers, is on a break when a dimensional rift opens up and delivers a spaceship and a girl who begs her to help her people be free and particular the women on her new world. In this world women are enslaved by the men and forced to be bascially slaves. There are no women with power because they were all killed so that the ruling men could have power.
A bit simplistic on the society created but a load of fun to read. ( )

I fell in love with Carol Danvers during Kelly Sue DeConnick’s redefining run. I liked her new costume, her new outlook and her unabashed joy of flying. Marvel had finally delivered a superheroine as powerful (if not more so) than Wonder Woman, who was also full of hope and love. This is one of the first YA novels to come from Marvel’s new deal with Titan Books. Even though it is timed to coincide with Captain Marvel’s film debut, this book is adapted from the comic universe. Carol is the main character, but we also meet many characters from the comics: the Inhuman Queen Medusa, Cassie Lang and Ant-Man, Mantis, the totally awesome Hulk, Amadeus Cho, and a new-to-me character, Hepzibah.

Rhi, a young Inhuman woman, crashes on Earth looking for help. Her people have been enslaved on the world of Damaria. These Inhuman settlers left Earth to find a new home, but instead found a prison where woman are property and their powers carefully controlled or suppressed. If this sounds a lot like The Handmaid’s Tale, Scott Lang agrees with you – as he specifically says so when Carol recruits him for the mission! Carol seems surprised he knew the book, and he explains that he read it to keep up with and understand his teen daughter Cassie. That candid revelation helps ground these extraordinary heroes in “our” world. There’s a certain segment of readers who will probably be turned off by this unabashedly feminist story, but many more will embrace a more fully developed heroine. Carol is confident and powerful, but that doesn’t mean life has been/is always easy. She had to fight for a place in a male-dominated field. She has experienced sexual harassment and knows other women still do. So when she gets to Damaria, her rage at the oppression there is understandable, and readers will be happy to see her unleashed.

In addition to a great story, with lots of inventive action sequences, I love the team Carol put together: Scott, who has a daughter facing a world that still struggles with inequality; Mantis (not at all like the film version), whose incredible empathic power nearly cripples her when the pain of an entire planet of oppressed women hits her; Amadeus, a young genius bursting to prove himself and help a new friend; and Hepzibah, a warrior who refuses to be humble when her skills are so obviously superior. And finally, there is Rhi, who risked everything to escape the horror and is brave enough to go back for her sisters. The interactions among this group are riveting, and I was surprised at how much character development the author squeezed into the book for all of them. Naturally, the team encounters many obstacles on their mission, including a power dampener that blocks Carol’s flight ability, so they have to use their minds as much as their powers to overcome.

This being a YA superhero novel, readers get an ending that The Handmaid’s Tale couldn’t provide. This story has a lot of action, a lot of heart and a great young protagonist; it was so good I read it straight through in one day. Highly recommended! ( )

When a portal opens over New York City, Captain Marvel barely manages to keep an alien ship from crashing into the city. Carol Danvers, on leave from Alpha Flight, finds an unconscious Inhuman teen on board. Exiled from Attilan and searching for help from the alien race that enslaved the Inhumans, Rhi finds the perfect hero to lead this rescue mission. Leading a team comprised of Mantis, Brawn, and Ant-Man, Captain Marvel is determined to save everyone.

Written with an eye more towards comics readers than viewers of the various MCU movies (Brawn, for example, plays a large role in the book), this is still a highly entertaining read for any fan of Carol Danvers. The characterizations feel spot on, and the action is perfectly paced. If you're jonesing for more CaptainMarvel content until you can watch the movie (again), check out this book! ( )