Marvel's SPIDER-MAN: Hostile Takeover

Like most who read this book, I read it in anticipation for the upcoming PS4 release, since it is an official prequel novel. And while the aim of the book is to generate excitement for the game, I think it stands on its own fairly well too. One thing to note is that while the book does fill you in on a lot of the basics of the characters, if you had 0 knowledge of Spider-Man lore before reading, you might be a bit lost. This book begins 8 years into Spider-Man's adventures. He's finished high school and college, and now works while being Spider-Man. It very briefly touches on the origins, but thankfully we don't have to go through Uncle Ben dying for the umpteenth time. We see some appearances from various villains, but the main villain is Wilson Fisk, and to a lesser extent a Spider-Man copy cat. That's all I'll say there, because I don't want to give too much away. One thing that I really liked about the book is the fact that it's not completely from Spider-Man's point of view. There are quite a few chapters dedicated to Fisk and the copycat, and being able to see things from their heads really fleshed them out as characters. Don't get me wrong, they're still villains through and through. But this aspect at least helps you understand and empathize with them ever so slightly instead of "hey I'm a villain doing villainy things because I'm the villain". As I mentioned before, the obvious intent of this book is to generate hype for the upcoming game, which I feel it does very well. It gives us a great introduction to characters like Peter, MJ and Fisk and sets up a lot of exciting things. That being said, I do feel that it being a prequel to the game does also hurt it a little bit. Allegedly the game picks up right where the novel ends, and I think it ends in a very blatant "you'll have to buy the game to see what happens next!" type of way. There's a "plot" between some characters that is hinted at a few times but is never resolved, so you know that it will come up in the game. Also, while we get some great "screen time" for characters like Peter and Fisk, there are some characters that only get a page or two in the whole book and you wonder why they're even mentioned at all. This includes characters like Aunt May, or Harry Osborn. I feel that they're mentioned because they'll have a part to play in the game, but in the novel they serve almost no purpose. Is the book perfect? No. Is the book there to sell copies of the game? As mentioned plenty of times, yes. But despite its issues, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it, especially only at ~$6. While it's an obvious set up, it does have a satisfying enough story on its own and if you're any sort of Spider-Man I'd definitely recommend giving it a shot.

This is a prequel to the PlayStation 4 Exclusive Marvel Spider-Man video game. It takes place weeks/months before the game and is not an origin story of this new Spider-Man PS4 Gameverse (universe). We’ve had many incarnations of Spidey and I appreciated just being thrown into a new story. Peter has been doing it for 8 years now. David Liss (author) does a great job in weaving the narrative and flow of multiple characters. This book is in 3rd person with multiple points of view. That is pretty hard to accomplish but David succeeds in dialogue and book signifiers (chapters and dividers) to convey this story and it’s flashbacks. Each character is fleshed out and is given quality time. Peter, Mary Jane, & Kingpin are just some of the characters we spent experiencing. Others would be spoilers. There’s sufficient world building and enough cute Easter eggs to other Marvel properties. This book is an excellent hype generator to devour before the video game. Publishers should note this and release prequel novels before the property it’s based on actually releases. It really is a treat to sink into a universe and bring you closer to it, if done right and with care. How does it work for a newcomer? If you know nothing about Spider-Man, it’s not a great novel to jump into. You need context to the established world. To a medium Spidey fan they can enjoy this as an alternate world with characters they know and cherish with slight differences to them. (I especially love how Mary Jane is portrayed in this). I can not yet tell you if reading this after the video game is out and been played if it coincides with events established in the video game. (As of this review, the game has not released). Overall, I had a blast and enjoyed my time with this adventure. It makes me feel closer to the video game world created by the team at insomniac games. The hype is real!

Overall, this is a good Spider-Man novel. It seems to line up pretty well with the first game, too. The only thing I would change is taking out the swear words and blasphemy (thankfully, there isn't much.) Good books don't need that, and they're much better without it. Either way, I would still recommend it to anyone who is a Spider-Man fan.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Honestly, I was excited to read it even if it wasn't great, due to the fact that my hype is through the roof for the PS4 game. In preparation for release, I've been reading, watching, and playing everything Spider-man and this wasn't at the top of my list. But after checking out the first few chapters, I was hooked. This is a GREAT Spider-man story through and through. Partly due to the fact that Insomniac Game's story group has crafted a very interesting original Peter Parker, and if not more interesting, the characters that inhabit his world. Mary Jane especially has, in my opinion, a very fulfilling role in the story, unlike others. Without spoiling anything, she has an importance to the story and the world that was great/refreshing to read. The villain(s) are fantastic. You can tell Insomniac sat down and really expanded upon everyone in Spider-man's crazy world, giving them more complex motives and less of a black and white, evil and good, approach. David Liss, the author of the story, does a great job of weaving together a story for Peter even with a predetermined beginning and end. (caused by this being based right before the game). The story has some twists and turns and it leaves you VERY excited for what's to come next in Peter's life. "It couldn't get any crazier, right?" (If you're holding back on reading because of spoilers, don't worry, nothing in this book spoils anything in the game. They've purposely left out certain names, (Like using "The Boss", "The Director", etc.) to avoid messing anything up. )

Marvel's Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover is a thrilling read from start to finish and a great prologue to the currently upcoming PS4 video game. What starts as a rather odd snake robbery, yeah, it's as weird as that sounds, turns into a sprawling plot involving the Kingpin's attempt to takeover New York City. And, of course, Spider-Man is left to tackle Wilson Fisk and his devious plans. This novel is a great way to tide you over until the new game releases and if you read carefully, you'll pick up on some interesting new details about this interpretation of Spider-Man prior to the game's release. I wholeheartedly recommend this novel for any fans of Spider-Man or anybody that is planning on purchasing the game. This will kickstart your experience in Insomniac's world and offers you plenty of backstory on the characters you will be encountering in the game.

This book was a blast to read. The story is simple and I really enjoyed this version of the Spider-Man universe. It is much more mature and definitely captures the essence of Peter Parker. I couldn’t put the book down due to its fast paced writing. The author did a phenomenal job making the story concise and I loved the parts between Peter Parker and Mary Jane. There was a great balance between Peter and Spider-Man. For any Spider-Man fan I highly recommend this book! I can’t wait to play the game which will be released in two weeks! I’m glad that this is a stand-alone story so many people won’t have to worry about getting spoiled prior to the video game.

"Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover" is pretty much your standard-issue videogame tie-in novel, to a tee: the writing is crisp, while also not altogether memorable, the tie-ins to the main property are plentiful (if not hugely interesting), and the core story itself is just compelling enough to make you want to see where it goes, while also never quite managing to fully rise up to page-turning status. What does help to elevate "Hostile Takeover" – even just slightly – is the fact that it’s such a quick read: at a brief 264 pages, Liss’ novel – or is it novella? – does what most tie-in novels do, but in a far more streamlined way. That’s appreciated, and honestly makes me wish MORE tie-in novels would adapt the in-and-out-quick approach to their storytelling - why linger longer than necessary, if the core story doesn't support that length? There’s probably not much here that’s going to blow anyone away – even for the most ardent of Spidey fans, this is pretty familiar stuff – but as a quick additional tale that’s set within the world of the (excellent) video game, it does what it needs to.

Dug into some characters that you don't see that often honestly which is pretty cool. The ending twists were handled pretty well and it's a solid tie-in.