A Review of Stan Lee’s “Alliances: A Trick of Light”

When I heard about Alliances: A Trick of Light, I was inordinately excited. I had no idea that Stan Lee had collaborated on this project before he left us (far too soon)…in fact, this could be the last project upon which he worked. Listening to his forward was haunting, in a way, taking me back to all of those animated programs upon which I heard his prefaces and conclusions as I grew up. Stan Lee gave us such amazing stories…I couldn’t wait to dive into one last adventure.

Alliances is exclusively an audiobook, but don’t let that deter you if it’s not normally the way that you read. I say that partially because this project was written specifically for an audio performance, complete with musical scores and sound effects throughout, augmenting the actor’s already superb performance.

True to our expectations of what a final project from Stan Lee would look like, this is a comic book story arc in its truest form, yet with a substance in which a prose narrative is more fitting. We dig deeply into our protagonists’ lives, growing to know the characters at a remarkably intimate level given the pacing of the story. I give this caveat about the pacing because the authors spare no time in getting to the action. Our characters include a cyberkinetic, an alien predator, and…some surprises that I won’t give away.

I was taken a bit by surprise with the fact that this novel flirts with being YA, which honestly would have been a huge detractor for me (no offense to the genre, it just isn’t one that I particularly enjoy), but it avoids landing in that category. This does have components of a coming-of-age story, but you shouldn’t expect that sort of plot because it departs from it quickly. The convention is more of a device, a means to an end to get us to where the story needs to go.

There are twists here that drive the intensity of the narrative, and that I definitely didn’t see coming. When we discover the nature of one character’s identity, I had to pause the book and spend the better part of an hour digesting what had just happened. This is the clever, compelling sort of adventure that comic readers love.

I have to admit, though, that I’m left digging for what the authors are trying to say. Lee gives us cryptic hints in his preface, and I get the obvious: loyalty, a desire to belong…honestly the sorts of themes that I would expect to find in a YA novel now that I think about it…but nothing stands out. There are also timely references to our political climate that feel forced at times, but are at other times eloquent in their succinctness. Ultimately, what I think is valuable is that there is a true exploration of heroism here, as the characters explore what it means to act heroically to the world, and to each other, with all of the sacrifices that, while not initially obvious, are always necessary in the end.

Alliances is a great read for fans of Stan Lee’s work, or fans of comic books or superhero fiction in general. Currently, it’s exclusive to Audible, which presents an unfortunate barrier. You can, however, sign up for a free trial and keep the audiobook if you cancel. That’s a worthwhile workaround if you don’t want to subscribe, as this is truly worth the read.