Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons series)

Bought for fiance and she is happy with it

Batman Nightwalker by Marie Lu is the second book in a collaborative series that goes by DC Icons. Many months ago I reviewed the first installment which was Wonder Woman Warbringer which was written by the talented Leigh Bardugo. A few authors have teamed up to tackle on DC Superheroes and put their own fictional flare on their selected hero. I absolutely loved Bardugo's Wonder Woman rendition. It was fresh, fun, and brought something new to the lore of Wonder Woman. Marie Lu continues that momentum and puts her own creative twists on things.Marie Lu takes us to Batman's origins with Batman Nightwalker. We get to see the character before he became the infamous Batman, when he was the young 18 year old Bruce Wayne who has just come into his inheritance. A lot of people have felt Lu's rendition is underwhelming, especially when compared to Bardugo's Wonder Woman's installment. All my readers know I love to acknowledge criticisms and either agree or disagree with them. Here, I 100% disagree with many critics. Many people thought going into the story they would see Batman, not Bruce Wayne on the rise to becoming Batman. Their mistake really. Bruce Wayne is dealing with the loss of his parents, raised by his now guardian Alred, and is thrust into Corporate Gotham and his riches. This is a lot to deal with at the age of 18, yet Bruce Wayne navigates these various realms of reality with an intelligent mind and an admirable heart. Bruce encounters various hurdles within the story and his yearning to stop the crime and violence in his city is almost insatiable. As a young adult, we see his head is filled with fanciful yet naive ideals of the world, chock full of ambition and wonderment. Marie Lu does an amazing job capturing a young Bruce Wayne, who is very much flawed but does what he thinks is right and stands by his beliefs.His ambitions for a better Gotham land him in some trouble with authorities and he is sentenced to community service in one of the worse places in Gotham---- Arkham Asylum. The infamous asylum houses the deadliest and the most cunning criminals known to Gotham. As any 18 year old would feel, Bruce is nervous. However, his run-in with the Nightwalkers which landed him in Arkham plagues his mind. This interest turns into an obsession once he meets the enigmatic and cunning Madeleine.  She was by far my most favorite thing in the story. Many have criticized that as well, due to the fact that this story is about Bruce. I say HOOPLAH! Madeleine is the kind of cunning young mind that is fit for criminal activity. She reads Bruce like a handbook and keeps him guessing every step of the way, which of course keeps us guessing too as the reader. She's Bruce's only hope to cracking the Nightwalkers and she will only speak to Bruce, no one else.The best thing Marie Lu did was her character building. The development of Bruce and Madeleine were amazing. Bruce's changes were more subtle which is due in part by him being kind of set his ways already. Madeleine's character however unravels and with each thread that Lu allows us to see, leaves us with more questions than answers. Her character alone will have you turning the pages so you can see how her individual story will end. I won't give any spoilers but I will say I didn't expect the ending Lu decided for our dear Madeleine. I still have mixed feelings about it.Batman Nightwalker simmers with intrigue with a high potency. The most challenging thing when embarking on a writing project in the world of Batman is capturing the mind of Bruce Wayne. He's one of the most intellectual minds of all of DC, and seeing that intelligence blossom while young was definitely executed in a well thought out manner by Marie Lu. Lu stays true to the world of Gotham with high action-packed scenes filled with fancy tech gadgets which makes this story appeal to all ages. The story was fast, fun, deeply thought out, but most importantly paid homage to the Batman lore. Be sure to pick up this book as well as Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman novel. To my knowledge the talented Sarah J. Maas' book for Catwoman called Catwoman Soulstealer is next in the DC Icons series. Sarah is my favorite author out of the holy trinity of authors which entail Sarah, Leigh, and Marie, so I'm super-stoked for the Catwoman rendition. Marie Lu's book has the first chapters for both Sarah's Catwoman story as well as Leigh's Wonder Woman story. Definitely check them out and be on the look out for the rest of the series going forward.

Sono davvero rimasta piacevolmente stupita da questo libro dato che in tanti non ne avevano parlato benissimo, è stato estremamente scorrevole e incalzante e ho quasi fatto fatica a trattenermi per non finirlo in una giornata 😱Personalmente l'ho trovato davvero molto valido sotto molti punti di vista.In primis, questo Bruce ancora adolescente che in tanti hanno criticato, l'ho trovato molto in linea con quello che è il Batman classico dei fumetti.Tutta la parte relativa alla sua giovinezza è praticamente un mistero, ma qui lo troviamo già deciso a fare la cosa giusta, intelligente, solitario (anche in questo libro infatti agisce principalmente da solo) e un po rabbioso data la profonda perdita che ha subito da bambino.Sono tutte caratteristiche che rappresentano una parte fondamentale del personaggio storico di Bruce Wayne e che ovviamente nei fumetti sono accentuate dall'età e dalla maggiore esperienza sia emotiva che "sul campo".Ho adorato il fatto che, come succede spesso nell'originale, il nemico sia un'organizzazione che vuole colpire la città di Gotham e che Bruce si batta per la propria città.Devo dire che sono rimasta molto colpita dalla scelta di un amico di Bruce in particolare, più che altro per la sua identità che però non voglio svelarvi 🙈Ho amato Alfred ma non penso ci sia bisogno di dirlo ❤E ho apprezzato anche il piccolo cameo finale di un altro personaggio dell'universo di Batman a cui sono molto affezionata ♡ Per quanto riguarda la fine, appunto, mi è sembrata perfetta e mi ha dato veramente l'idea di stare leggendo qualcosa che riguardava Batman.È un personaggio che amo veramente con tutto il cuore e mi è sembrato che l'autrice sapesse davvero come trattare anche i minimi particolari in modo da mettere in scena qualcosa di fedele al fumetto e alla filosofia che si trova dietro Batman e agli altri personaggi. So che sarà difficile ma spero tantissimo in un seguito.Che anche lei sia una fan?😎🦇

It was a good book. It contains of about 26 chapters and excerpt from wonderwoman and carwoman. The story was also excellent. Everything was explained clearly but the story got boring by the last. At the end, it only seems that the author was too fed up by writing the story. The story was 5 star one in the beginning and got to 3 star one till the end. Overall the story was good but the reviving of Madeleine brother did not made any sense, since he had died . Instead there should be anybody else in the story. Overall, it was worth a read.

The book was really Pretty when it arrived! Im so happy with it!