Carrie Harris’ Liberty & Justice For All kicks off the new series of Marvel: Xavier’s Institute novels with an action-packed adventure featuring a pair of young mutants determined to prove themselves as X-Men. For Tempus and Triage, otherwise known as Eva and Christopher, life as trainee X-Men isn’t quite what they expected. When they set out together in the X-Copter for their first solo flight, their delight at simply getting out of the school and away from their instructors quickly fades when they receive an SOS call from Sabretooth of all people. What they think will be a straightforward pickup, and a good opportunity to give their powers a quick workout, ends up becoming a battle that tests them beyond what they could have expected.
Opening with Christopher and Eva still getting used to the realities of life at the school – which is nothing like the Xavier’s Institute of the movies – it quickly becomes clear that this is going to focus on the youthful priorities of life behind the superhero scenes. As they grumble about the standard of food on offer and the unorthodox approach of their teachers, then go on to form an uneasy alliance with Sabretooth and his unlikely companion (no spoilers), the underlying themes are of building friendships and confidence, and figuring out who they want to be. There are plenty of opportunities for the exercising of cool mutant abilities as the motley group face suspicious cops, robot Sentinels, magically-animated creatures and the anti-mutant prejudices of the general population, but the focus throughout remains on Eva and Christopher learning to trust themselves and each other.
Harris puts a lot of work into showing the two main protagonists as relatable, human characters, and crucially they both come across as people first and mutants second. Worries over whether their powers (time bubbles and healing, respectively) are flashy enough to make them ‘real’ superheroes, or the difficulties of dealing with hate simply by virtue of being born different, are instantly relatable, and likewise their struggles to figure out how to fit in. Sabretooth makes a great foil for them, almost stealing the show with his insouciant sense of humour and casual disregard for pretty much anything that stands in his way, offering up an interesting (and, frankly, more fun) alternative to the stiff and rule-bound instructors back at the school. He plays a key part in the story, and while knowledgeable X-Men fans may recognise his role in the plot alongside that of his companion, for anyone coming into this without in-depth knowledge of the canon it’s interesting to see his relationship with the youngsters develop.
While not exactly a Young Adult novel (Eva and Christopher come across as young, but they’re in their early 20s rather than their teens), this definitely leans a little more towards that end of the fiction spectrum. Harris’ writing is clear, straightforward and to the point, with little extraneous detail or description, and alongside the ‘coming of age’ angle and the protagonists’ somewhat insular worldviews this lends proceedings a pace and perspective that should definitely suit younger readers. That’s not to say this will only appeal to a younger audience however, but the great thing about Aconyte’s growing range of Marvel novels is that there should be something for everyone! For anyone looking for a fun and relatively light tale of lesser-known X-Men finding their place within the team, this is definitely worth checking out.
Many thanks to Aconyte Books, Marvel and Carrie Harris for providing me with a review copy of Liberty & Justice For All, in exchange for my honest review.
See also: my Rapid Fire interview with Carrie Harris talking about Liberty & Justice For All
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