I am enjoying the Marvel books from Aconyte, from the Heroines series to the Untold range. This is one of the latter, but could easily fit into both categories - we have a book full of heroines and villainesses, battling in the Dark Dimension (and all badmouthing Dr Strange along the way!).

I did find this fun, but as with some others in the series, I wasn't familiar at all with the characters before picking the book up. The author does a good job with establishing who they are, but I had to take time with a Marvel Wiki to find out more, as a certain amount of background knowledge is really needed to understand who they are and why they act as they do.

It felt as if I was flung into action already in progress, with a lot of setup presumably being in the comic-books, and that was frustrating. I understand who the goodies and baddies are well enough, but it was hard to engage with so much happening to relative strangers. Maybe an introduction with some background would have been useful to include?

I did enjoy seeing the ladies of the mystic arts doing their thing, but it was also a bit of a battle for me to keep track. Not a bad book by any means, just confusing due to my own lack of knowledge.

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Marvel Untold book Sisters of Sorcery by Marsheila Rockwell and published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let these things cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

Also, I won’t lie, I have looked at other reviews to see what others think, so there may be some influences from them in this book review. If I am going to quote them, I will attribute them. But if I forget to, or something is highly influenced by them, and you think I ought to attribute someone, let me know so that I can.

What is Marvel
Look at this point I would bore you with a bit of background to the game/universe, but lets not, you all know the Marvel Universe, if you don’t have you been living under a rock.

This particular book focus on the character Clea, a character who was introduced to the Marvel universe in 1964, and is the Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension, and the wife of Doctor Strange.

She was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the post credits scenes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and played by Charlize Theron.

The Story
The book does a lot to explain the background of the characters, so I would say that you don’t need to know that much about the characters in advance, especially as they are mostly, side characters in many ways.

In this story, the Dark Dimension is currently ruled by the vile tyrant, Umar the Unrelenting, who just happens to be the mother of Clea, and she has kidnapped the cosmic being, Ardina, who as the female analog of the Silver Surfer is able to access the Power Cosmic.

Planning to use Ardina as a source of energy, Umar has made plans to conquer all of the splinter realms, but Clea becomes aware of her plans and gathers a team of powerful sorceresses, to travel to the Dark Dimension, join with Cleas rebels and stop Umar in her tracks.

Working with a ghostly Agatha Harkness, Clea recruits Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, the Talisman, Margali Szardos, the Sorcererses Supreme of The Winding Way and Agatha’s student and ward Holly LaDonna, but the quartet find themselves unable to travel directly to the Dark Dimension due to Umars use of the Power Cosmic to cast a spell to prevent teleportation to her realm.

So the team is forced to travel across various dimensions, facing family and rivals as they attempt to save all dimensions from the tyrant.

Conclusion
This book was fairly fast, it started fast and did not slow down or allow you any time to recover, which was good.

I am struggling to read at the minute due to headaches from my brain injury stopping me concentrating on text, but when I was able to read, I couldn’t put this book down.

We have four major characters here, although Clea is the clear focus, but they all got a good look in and were given a chance to shine, I wasn’t that familiar with some of them, the magical side of Marvel has never been my favourite, but I have come away and gone to Marvel Unlimited and downloaded a few issues featuring Margali and Talisman in particular to read a bit more of their stories.

I really enjoyed this book, I am not sure what else to say, but I really want to see more of Holly, she was very much my favourite character in the book, and she hasn’t featured much in the comics, but this version of her, was really cool.

This book gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars from me, and I strongly recommend you go buy it!

This was a super sweet read! I will take anything marvel especially with some strong women characters leading it! Very fun and I look forward to seeing more books like this come out!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

This is a fantastic graphic novel. It portrays the sisters of the marvel gang as the strong heroines they are.

This is a must-read. I found myself rereading this book and wondering where it’s been my whole life. I’m heavy into these types of fiction works and I would recommend

CLEA MY LOVE, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN'T DO?

Clea shined in Sisters of Sorcery, it's official. I'm so proud of her, and while I did mainly read this for her, I ended up with a new appreciation for Hellcat, Holly, Margali, Elizabeth and Agatha.

Of course, I love Ardina too, and I wish we saw more of her since the plot revolved around her. Next time? Fingers crossed.

The author did a really good job with making each witch distinct so even a nonfan won't mix them up while reading. And yes, this does read like a comic book AND I LOVE THAT.

NOW THE ACTION SCENES! The best parts of the book, honestly. There's action everywhere, and it's written so well. Normally I don't mind action scenes, but I can rarely say that I liked them. WELL, I liked them here, a lot.

If you love witches, GIRL POWER(!!!) and travelling to different dimensions in order to save a friend, then you should read this book.

*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL

I liked the idea of the book more then the actual book

I would of liked it better as a comic book I think.

The story was ok and definitely had potential but I found it was just to slow paced at times for me

majority of the characters just did nothing for me and they didn’t have enough development for me.

Arc provided by netgalley

I ended up liking this even more than I was hoping to! Clea is a character I’ve just recently started reading about in the comics, so having an entire novel focused on her was so exciting for me.

An entire cast of characters who were all witches had me nervous that I’d start mixing up who was who and who did what —— but they were all incredibly different, having their own voices and doubts and motivations that my worry was quickly gone.

The story starts at a very fast pace from the first few pages, and the rest of the novel keeps up with that.

I think even if someone doesn’t know much about the magic side of the Marvel universe, it’s still worth checking out. Going into this, the only characters I knew were Clea and Agatha (as well as Doctor Strange, who is mentioned throughout but isn’t actually in the story), but even if I hadn’t known who they were, I think I still would’ve gotten caught up with everything quickly. The characters are all introduced in a way that makes it quick and easy for those who do and don’t already know who’s who, which is appreciated when it comes to a book taking place in an already incredibly developed universe.

The final fight with Umar, which the entire book leads up to, is brutal and shows just how powerful she is. I was a bit worried it would be a quick one and done fight, but everyone felt the ramifications of the battle both physically and mentally with the help of an ‘ally’ of sorts of Umar’s playing mind games on our cast once they’ve entered the Dark Dimension.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Aconyte Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review

About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.
For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL

The writing style felt a little bland and the book read like it was a comic book without the pictures. The story is very interesting and felt grounded in the Marvel comics. I wish the author would have done more showing and less telling.

This was a great story. If you love fantasy books containing witches then this book is for you. I loved the way this book brought together a group of witches to work together against a common enemy. This was agreat medium paced book that brought together friends and family. But will it tear them apart? Will they succeed? Well I am not giving that away you will have to read the book. Unfortunately at times I lost a little concentration and found it skow to get back on track hence the loss of a star. It also wasn't my favourite marvel book I think I'm leaning more to the superheros I know as I don't really know much about these witches from the films and I never read the comics. I think these books are a great. It definitely took on a roller coaster ride and I found myself saying no way!! Out Loud lol. If you already know these witches then you will definitely love this book. If like me you Don't but love witches and fantasy try a sample of this book. You might just find a new world of fantasy books to love. 

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this enjoyable story line. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/sisters-of-sorcery-by-marsheila-rockwell-aconyte-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

I love reading these books and introducing myself to Marvel characters that I've not heard of. One of my favourite characters from the recent series' on Disney+ was Agatha Harkness and in this book she's back, but in ghost form.

The book is well written, fast paced and full of action from beginning to end. The characters familiar and new (to me) were complex and their personalities and traits complemented each other to maintain the flow of the story, sometimes you find too many characters just confuses the plot.

Great world building, which played out like a film in my head as I was reading.

A highly entertaining witchy read.

Many thanks to The Book Network for my tour spot.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

https://twitter.com/VonCorellon/status/1560681938347704320
CLEA IS GETTING THE COVEN BACK TOGETHER!
Marsheilla Rockwell’s Sisters of Sorcery is magically delicious!
Sisters of Sorcery by
@MarcyRockwell
- a new, 3 act novel from
@AconyteBooks

@Marvel
Untold series exploring 4 of the multiverse’s most powerful wielders of the mystic arts🧵

Thread on Twitter - reposted by author

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review

The story starts off with Black Cat on a vacation after the creation of Ardina. But no long, they are attacked by otherworldly creatures that end up kidnapping Ardina.

Black cat has no choice but to turn to her friend, Clea Strange, niece to Dormmamu, former ruler of the Dark Dimension and daughter to Umar the Unrelenting.

Clea immediately realises that Ardina has been taken to the Dark Dimension and who is behind her abduction. But to enter the Dark Dimension, she needs to align herself with even more powerful sorceresses.

After reading one of the Marvel Untold series, Witches Unleashed, I knew I had to read Sisters Of Sorcery.

The story started off fast, and doesn't lose it's pacing. Something I liked. And Marsheila Rockwell's writing is easy to follow, bringing you straight into the different dimensions the Witches travel through on their journey to the Dark Dimension.

I felt in all the characters we encountered in this book—Holly LaDonna, Margali, Magik, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, and even Agatha— Clea's personality didn't stand out for me. You could immediately feel Agatha from her humor and even Elizabeth Twoyoungmen who comes off as serious minded.

But I really wanted to know Clea through this story. It just didn't work out for me. Also Umar'd motivation for abducting Ardina wasn't clear to me or maybe I didn't follow through while reading.

In all, I enjoyed the way Marsheila introduced the different characters and how she was able to bring them to life on this story.

Thank you Aconyte Books and Marvel for this advanced reader's copy.

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years.

Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com

© 2020 MARVEL

I'll be honest, I've never been interested in the magic side of Marvel comics.
Other than the occasional Magick storyline via an X-Men title and my extreme dislike for The Scarlett Witch, my knowledge of magical characters and magic-related lore is extremely minimal.

When I started to read "Sisters of Sorcery", the only character that I recognised was Margali due to her relationship with Nightcrawler.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, I wasn't expecting to be drawn into the story as thoroughlyas I might a story about other Marvel characters.
So the fact that I enjoyed it as much as I did came as a total surprise to me!

I ended up reading it all in one sitting because I was really invested in seeing how things would end. More than that, I found myself genuinely invested in the friendships that were being forged between the main characters.
I don't tend to seek out stories about sisterhood and female solidarity but I have to say it's extremely refreshing to come across it in a Marvel setting. Usually when you have a cast of female leads there always has to be some sort of pettiness or jealousy or one of the other multitude of bad tropes regarding female friendships so it was really wonderful not to have to deal with that tripe in this story.

The characters are well-written and whilst they have their own complex personalities, they're all easy to respect in their own way.
The honest internal monologues and ernest intentions meant I came to know these characters in a really holistic way.

The story itself was interesting but I would caution that there is a lot of assumed knowledge in regards to Marvel world building so for someone totally new to Marvel comics, it might be difficult to follow along at times.

My one main complaint is how frequently Dr Strange was mentioned. I don't care that he is Clea's estranged husband. He didn't need to be mentioned so often, especially considering he isn't in the story at all. I understand that Clea's relationship with him is pivotal to her backstory and also her current uncertainty but it felt really inappropriate to place so much focus on him in a story that highlights the strength, intelligence, and capability of the female leads in a way that has nothing to do with their proximity to male characters. I'm not sure how to articulate my issue with it but it was really grating to read mentions of Strange by the end of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Aconyte Books, and Marsheila Rockwell for giving me a free digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

#Marvel #MarvelEnt #Aconytebooks #review #NetGalley #SistersofSorcery

••• ••• •••
About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL

I don't know a huge amount about the mystical side of the Marvel Universe, though I am familiar with a few characters even if just by reputation. Clea, the lead character of Sisters of Sorcery is one of these characters, and as such I was looking forward to seeing a bit of what she's about; along with meeting some other magic wielding folks. Sisters of Sorcery felt like a perfect jumping in point for both long time fans of these characters, as well as people looking for a fun introduction to them.

The novel begins with a slight flashback to something fans of the comic might be familiar with, the creation of Ardina as it appeared in the 2002 mini-series The Order. As someone who'd never heard of the character before this was a decent little introduction to the book, as it gave me some understanding about the character that would end up being at the centre of this entire story; along with why Clea feels an obligation to try and save her, other than just simple friendship.

After this we jump forward in time a little, and we get to see Ardina and Hellcat hanging out on a remote beach, simply taking it easy and resting up after their last super hero adventure. However, the peace is shattered when a portal to another world opens up, and a host of demons storm the beach. The creatures manage to take Ardina captive, and retreat back through the portal. Luckily, there was a clue as to where the creatures came from; they were being lead by a Mindless One, one of the soldiers from the Dark Dimension.

Knowing that Ardina has been taken to the Dark Dimension, the injured Hellcat reaches out to Clea, the Sorceress Supreme of that world, for help. Clea reveals that the dark dimension is no longer ruled by her uncle, Dormamu, but by her equally as evil mother, Umar. Knowing that Umar would only take Ardina for some awful purpose, and feeling indebted to the woman because she played a hand in her creation, Clea sets out to enter the Dark Dimension and save her. However, she knows that she can't do this alone, and begins to recruit a team of other magical women to help her.

In some ways Sisters of Sorcery feels a bit like a heist story. There's the thing that's being kept in a secure location that the main character wants, in this case it being Ardina, and in order to get it she needs to create a team of experts that can infiltrate, get past the defences, and get out again. And the book does kind of follow this sort of formula for the first section, as we get to follow Clea around as she assembles her team.






The team is an interesting group, and brings in some pretty obscure characters that longtime fans will get a kick out of. There's the ghost of the witch Agatha Harkness, who was recently killed by Wanda Maximoff (placing this story not too long after Avengers Disassembled), Holly LaDonna, who made a handful of appearances in Vision and the Scarlet Witch in the 1980's, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, the hero known as Talisman from the Alpha Flight series, and Margali Szardos, the green skinned sorceress best known for being Nightcrawler's adoptive mother.

As I said earlier, I'm not hugely knowledgeable about most of these characters, and other than Agatha Harkness every member of the team was new to me. These are characters that have some pretty deep and well established backstories, and jumping into a story like this could easily lead to you being left behind and confused; however, that never happened, and Marsheila Rockwell managed to make it so that you never felt like you were missing out if you don't have a huge amount of comic book knowledge.

The book is written in such a way that it feels dense at first glance, where it draws upon a lot of comic history and characters that have long, complex backstories; but it's also incredibly accessible to new readers. We get told the important parts of these characters histories, we very quickly come to understand what makes them tick and why they do the things that they do. Rockwell makes it easy to keep up with everything; and that's a hell of a thing for a story with as much history and lore as this.

Rockwell isn't just good at making a story that feels like a part of a bigger world though, as she also makes this about the characters and their relationships with each other. At the start of the book most of these characters don't know each other, or have stronger relationships with one, but nothing to do with the others. They come into this as a reluctant rescue team, but thanks to the trials that they face along the way and the things they go through you get to watch a very real friendship begin to form. And as the title suggests, a sisterhood grows before the end of the book.

Sisters of Sorcery gives readers some interesting insight into the Dark Dimension and how everything there all works, things that I wasn't completely aware of when I started this. I knew that Dormamu lived there and ruled the place, and that his minions were the mindless ones, but that was about all. But after reading this book I feel like I've come to understand a bit more about it, the weird geography, the politics, and the people that call it home.

I had a lot of fun with Sisters of Sorcery, it was an enjoyable adventure story with heist elements, tons of magic, and some great character bonding and growth. I came to this book knowing very little about this side of the Marvel Universe, but by the end I felt like I'd learnt a lot; and that I'd come away with some new favourite characters. Whether you're a longtime fan or someone with little experience Sisters of Sorcery is a fun, enjoyable book.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

A wonderful read with Marvel characters that I did not know existed but am happy for the introduction. Different origin stories and backgrounds, these sorcerers come together to banish a great evil. An exciting read that will leave you waiting and hoping for a Disney + series.

A fun enough read, but tying the book to extremely minor characters and events really isn't doing it any favors. Omega Flight gets name dropped. More than once.

As always I want to start by saying that I was given an e-ARC of this to review as part of a @thebooknetwork.co.uk book tour and on Netgalley. My review is honest and left voluntarily. Thank you as well to Aconyte Books and Marsheila Rockwell. Also while I will give a brief overview of the novel I will try to avoid spoilers beyond things that happen in the first few chapters to ensure enjoyment of potential readers.

Sisters of Sorcery is a story about sisterhood for want of a better word and the obstacles that can be overcome, even sometimes between each other, when working together. I am a tad biased to Marvel witches or sorceresses so I was more than a little excited when I saw the title alone. When I read the blurb I was a lot more excited, who doesn’t love Clea, but then when I got a few pages in I was in full fangirl mode. We have some stable sorceresses in here; Agatha Harkness (in spectral form but still powerful), her apprentice Holly LaDonna, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen ( The Talisman) and Margali Szardos. The only thing that could have made this perfect book any better was a cameo of Amora but that may have finished me off completely!

We enter the Dark Dimension with this cast of fantastic magical females to defeat a supernatural tyrant (who just so happens to be Clea’s mother) and save a being of Cosmic power, Ardina, before Umar the Unrelenting uses her prisoner to conquer the whole of the Splinter Realms not just the Dark Dimension.

As we already realised I am a massive fangirl for Marvel witches but even if I wasn’t this novel was top tier. It reads just like a comic but with the added extra of getting a deeper insight into the characters within. What I mean is we have amazing action scenes and adventure, fantastical and dark settings and even cameos along the way. It makes this almost impossible to put this down once you start. Even when it isn’t in your face action with demons and beings of the Splinter Realms the novel still keeps you hooked with learning more about the characters fears and desires, seeing them overcome their distrust or dislike of each other and ultimately seeing them finally form a sisterhood.

Rockwell manages to introduce each sorceress with such ease that even those who may not be familiar with the characters will quickly understand what makes them tick. I particularly loved Holly LaDonna, arguable the lynch pin that ended up tying the women together with her quirky humour and unwitting charm. I would actually love to read more about her and hope we may see her again in the future, bonus points if Elizabeth and Agatha are involved. Of course we have Clea who is, as always, perfect. Margali who’s sarcasm and animosity helped to create more problems for the women to deal with but ultimately helped. Elizabeth who is and was amazing. Again she brings her own brand of sarcasm and magic to the team. The sisterhood that she and Holly developed was also something I really enjoyed and hope is expanded on. On top of these amazing four we have the spectral form of Agatha Harkness, who while being killed by Scarlet Witch, is still there and arguably as powerful as ever. While not a main character on the adventure I adored her inclusion and how she managed to rub everyone up the wrong way. In short Rockwell mastered the characterisation of these powerful females and it made a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The setting of the novel was also amazing. The description of the dimensions visited really did evoke images as if you were there, as I said early like you were reading a comic and seeing the settings on the page. It was wonderful and refreshing to see other realms and the rulers of these. Each creating their own issues and problems the females have to face. Again I like to avoid spoilers but I will say I adored the inclusion of The Dreamqueen and how she affected the team.

Another refreshing aspect was that while dealing with this powerful sorceresses Rockwell manages to show their humanity or rather vulnerability both physical and mental. Our heroines suffer, they get hurt and bleed, they have to face their own fears and overcome these in order to continue on and complete their mission. I found this making me like them even more. Well it’s fun to have a strong and badass characters who seem to always win no matter the odds its always nice to see them struggle and fail. I find this makes them more human, easier to relate to and understand and creates a deeper bond between the protagonists and reader.

All in all I could not recommend this one enough. I knew I would love it but I didn’t know how much. I really hope we see these women back again in the future for more adventures, laughter, tears and struggles. Definitely one of my top ten of 2022. It just ticked all my boxes. A must read for fans of Marvels should it be cap m leading ladies, of mystical fantasy, Marvel fans, good fantasy adventures, and people overcoming differences to take down the big bad. You will not be disappointed.

I really enjoyed reading this book, I appreciated that Talisman from Alpha Flight got a chance to be apart of a novel. I appreciated that this book wasn't the typical Marvel witch characters being used in this novel, that was one of the reasons I was excited to read this book. I'm glad I was able to read this, it had what I wanted a magical quest. As I said I love Alpha Flight so I'm always glad to see characters be shown in any media. Marsheila Rockwell has a great writing style and I personally had a great time reading this, it felt like a Marvel story and could work as a comic book. Overall this was a great job and I enjoyed this adventure.

Couldn't really engage with this book. The story is good but the characters just didn't work for me. I feel like character development is lacking. Just not a book I enjoyed. Sorry. Thanks #netgalley and #AconyteBooks for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.