'Enter the Dark Dimension to defeat a supernatural tyrant with four extraordinary sorceresses in this exhilarating mystical adventure from Marvel Untold
'Deep in the Dark Dimension, the tyrant Umar the Unrelenting craves the Power Cosmic to expand her realm into new dimensions. When she kidnaps the cosmic being Ardina to make a grim battery of her powers, she draws the attention of Clea, her estranged daughter and mighty user of the mystic arts. Clea knows her mother will stop at nothing to conquer the whole of the Splinter Realms, imperilling all of reality. To defeat her, Clea must ally herself with three powerful sorceresses, each with their own unique powers, traverse dimensions, and free Ardina and the entire Archipelago of Anguish and Redemption before Umar consumes it all.'
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.
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