Sentinels

When Strikes the Warlord, Volume 1

By: Van Allen Plexico

Narrated by: Pete Milan

Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

The greatest superhero audiobook saga of all begins here, with Volume 1 of the Sentinels saga! The power-mad Warlord stands poised to conquer - or destroy - the universe itself. Can anyone stand in his way? Enter the Sentinels: College student, Lyn Li - brilliant inventor, and total jerk, Esro Brachis - beloved national hero, (and amnesiac!), Ultraa, flamboyant showman, Damon Sinclair, and mysterious alien cyborg, Vanadium. When at last they all clash atop the Warlord's floating city, can the world itself survive?

©2011 Van Allen Plexico (P)2017 Van Allen Plexico

Fun Old School Superhero Story

No anti-heroes. No sexuality. No cussing. No vulgarity. Just an old school, clean, fun superhero story. A throw back. It was enjoyable enough. I'll most likely listen to the next couple books in the series.

Right from the Silver Age!

That headline is a compliment. The Golden Age of comics was a time of introduction and establishment of characters. The Silver Age is when they became innovative and experimental with characters and storylines. This novel feels like it is set in that era, a time when comics were fun and exciting, the art was fresh and experimental, and the characters weren't always heroes. Plexico has captured that sensibility and poured it into this book. The ride is fun, exciting, and fresh, even though it is nostalgic as all get out.

This is a real David vs Goliath story, as we are introduced to the Warlord; a mindbending ruler who has decided to enslave the populace of Earth. Who steps in? Some newbie heroes who really are still wet behind the ears but have high ideals and the belief that they need to stop the Warlord no matter the cost.

The heroes are fun and they do take you back to a point where you feel like you are seeing the Avengers or Justice League form. One really great thing is that you never really feel like the heroes have their win in the bag, and it really is possible that the bad guy can win. This isn't Marvel or DC after all. This is a free range universe in which anything can happen, anyone can live and anyone can die.

Pete Milan is ok as the narrator. There were a few points tha the seemed to slightly pause mid-sentence, but otherwise he was highly enjoyable. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If you are a fan of comic books, or have just jumped onto the superhero movie bandwagon, then this is a a book you will cherish!!!! I cannot wait to see what happenes next, and I know that you will too. Get this book and relive your childhood, or at the very least have one heck of a time with this band of Supers as they struggle against an overlord that they really have no right to be fighting.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

Not as Campy as I Expected

I received a review copy of this audiobook.

Honestly, based on the full title “Sentinels: When Strikes the Warlord” I was expecting more of a tongue-in-cheek cheesy romp in the vein of old radio dramas. This book surprised me. While it is certainly not without its flaws, I enjoyed its description and dialog nine times out of ten. The story isn’t the most original, but neither is it trite. I wish it had been handled with more subtlety at times, and there were a couple choices of the author with which I outright disagreed, but I’m legitimately looking forward to the sequel, which I have already downloaded.

The narrator did a fine job overall, but assigned accents to two of the characters that seemed totally off. This was exacerbated by other characters with actual accents mentioned in the narration.