MARVEL'S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: THE COSMIC QUEST: VOLUME 1: BEGINNING (audiobook) by Brandon T. Snider

Published by Disney in May of 2018.
Read by Tom Taylorson.
Duration: 4 hours, 4 minutes.
Unabridged.

Brandon T. Snider was stuck in a hard place when he was picked to write this book. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) had just released Infinity War and there was no way that Snider was going to be allowed to release any spoilers for Endgame. In fact, there was really no way that he was going to be allowed to move anything forward in any meaningful way. The ABC TV show AGENTS of SHIELD has been dealing with this problem for years - how do you tell an interesting story when you are so constricted in what you can write about?

Well, in this case, he pretty much failed.

The story centers around two brothers who are MCU characters. No, not Loki and Thor. They are the Collector (featured in the first Guardians of the Galaxy
movie and played by Benicio del Toro) and the Grandmaster (featured in Thor: Ragnarok and played by Jeff Goldblum).

The book is set after Thor: Ragnarok and before Infinity War. The Collector is re-building after the disaster that happened when he was visited by the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Grandmaster has lost everything and is trying to start over again without letting his brother know how far he has fallen.

They decide that their best bet is to look for the Infinity Stones themselves. As they search, they are told the plots of the movies The Avengers, The Age of Ultron and The Guardians of the Galaxy. Of course, the Grandmaster refers to the plot of Thor: Ragnarok. 

Sadly, these interludes are the best part of the book. Most of the rest of the book consists of the two brothers visiting one seedy location after another on the planetoid Nowhere and doing nothing much. They talk to each other in a passive-aggressive manner, they unite to argue with other people and they are forced to move on.

So, in summary, the best part of this book are the various re-tellings of MCU movies that you have undoubtedly seen. It is pretty clear that this book was a cash grab by Disney for fans desperate for anything Marvel related that might offer a clue to what happened after the events of Infinity War. Don't fall for it.

The audiobook was read by Tom Taylorson who had the unenviable task of trying to play a character played by Jeff Goldblum. Taylorson did a good job of catching the quirkiness of the Grandmaster but only Jeff Goldblum can capture the true spirit of Jeff Goldblum.

I rate this audiobook 1 star out of 5.  It can be found on Amazon.com here: MARVEL'S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: THE COSMIC QUEST: VOLUME 1: BEGINNING.

BIG HERO 6: THE JUNIOR NOVELIZATION by Irene Trimble

Published by Disney and Blackstone Audio in October of 2014
Read by MacLeod Andrews
Duration: 2 hours, 18 minutes
Unabridged

Big Hero 6 is, in my mind, one of the best superhero movies that has been made in this time of the renaissance of the superhero movie. It is fun and colorful, but it also has loss and shows the power of friendship and love. It also demonstrates how love can be twisted into something evil.

Hiro Hamada is a teenaged robot-building prodigy who competes in robot fighting contests. His brother attends the local university in the future city of San Fransokyo and also builds robots in a high-tech lab in the school with several other talented young engineers. When his brother dies in a horrible explosion at the lab, Hiro is thrown into a profound depression.

He re-discovers Baymax, a health care robot built by his brother, and he and Baymax discover clues that his brother wasn't killed in an accident, but was murdered instead. Baymax, Hiro and his brother's friends from the laboratory use their skills to create the tools they need to confront the villain.

This book closely follows the movie. It does add a few lines and take away a few lines here and there to make the book format work smoothly but it is very faithful to the movie. It perfectly captures the relationship between Baymax and Hiro and the narrator. MacLeod Andrews, absolutely nails the voice of Baymax, which I think was essential to the success of the audiobook.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

You can buy this audiobook on Amazon.com here: BIG HERO 6: THE JUNIOR NOVELIZATION.