If you'd asked me to guess which Marvel superhero Diane Duane would be asked to write for, I'd've guessed the Fantastic Four, whose fantastic cosmic adventures seem like a good fit for the style of writing Duane demonstrated in Star Trek novels like The Wounded Sky, or in some of the more cosmic Young Wizards books. But when reading The Lizard Sanction I grokked why Duane is a good fit for Spider-Man (other than her love for New York City, where this book doesn't take place): it's because she believes in niceness so damn much. Like, in one of her Star Trek novels (Dark Mirror) she even posits that morality levels are fundamental factors of different universes! So of course she's a good fit for Spider-Man, because not only is Peter Parker nice (the best parts of this book are probably when he goes to visit the family of the Lizard in both his identities, I mean how often do people think of the family members of supervillains unless one of them is about to descend into supervillainy themselves?), but everyone is nice. He bumps into cops and investigators, and they're all, "how can we help?" This wasn't a gripping novel (I had a hard time investing in the plot), but it was a diverting one, and its sort of casually optimistic tone was its best part.

A decently done Spider-Man novel, this one a sequel to Duane's Spider-Man Venom Factor. ( )

Diane Duane sends Spidey and MJ to Florida in Spider-Man: The Lizard Sanction. There, Spider-Man/Peter Parker investigates the Lizard's role in the movement of radioactive materials and how it might be tied to an upcoming space shuttle launch. Along the way, he must contend with Venom who plans on putting the Lizard down for good. An entertaining novel, though many of its cultural references will now seem dated. Duane perfectly captures the spirit of the various Spider-Man comics from the 1990s and Darick Robertson's artwork works well as chapter headers. This book takes place second in a series following Duane's Spider-Man: The Venom Factor (published the previous year). ( )

I have never read a novelization of Spider Man prior to this, so I was not sure what to expect. What I found is that Diane Donald proved to be a very competent writer. She handled the novel professionally, and as a fellow writer, I can certainly appreciate that. The story itself was interesting, but I found the scope to be a little small in nature. Perhaps that was just an exposure to some of the movies, which have a much larger scope. Of the characters, I found Venom to be the most interesting. The Lizard sanction gave a different side of him, which I enjoyed reading. The Lizard, on the other hand, I found to be less developed, even though he was the title character in the novel.

In the Lizard sanction, Spider Man is on assignment. While on assignment, he is tracking the Lizard, who has fallen in with some baddies, in the form of the stereotypical evil corporation. Dr. Curt Connors is working for these goons, while trying to figure out how to revert back to his normal form on a permanent basis. This leads to rivals, Spidey and Venom to work together to control the Lizard and beat down the shadowy, evil corporation. You can probably tell by the tone of this review that I find the corporation as the evil entity responsible for the world's woes to be overdone and ineffective. A little creativity on the part of these writers would be nice. Despite that, the action was good and the plot reasonable. In all, the novel was solid and entertaining but unspectacular.

Carl Alves - author of Blood Street ( )

Diane Duane's Spider-Man novels are some of my favorites. I've read all her Spider-Man novels numerous times. Lizard isn't my favorite villain but a fun read anyway. A great plot and I think she hits the character's personalities right on! Good book! ( )