Iron Man: The Gauntlet

By: Eoin Colfer

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

Tony Stark is known throughout the world as many things: billionaire, inventor, Avenger. But mainly for being the invincible Iron Man. 

Just when Tony is about to add his pizzazz to an international eco-summit in Ireland, someone close to him forces him to question his role in making the world a more dangerous place with his high-tech weaponry. But Stark doesn't have much time to reflect before an old enemy presents him with an even greater challenge: the assassination of all the eco-ministers, and Iron Man himself. Just how invincible Iron Man is when he is stripped of everything remains to be seen in this breathless adventure by the best-selling author of Artemis Fowl. 

©2016 Eoin Colfer (P)2016 Listening Library

love the narrating and the story itself amazing

loved it kept locked into it and the narrating was superb great job by every one involved

All the best of Tony, with a heavy dose of Ireland

Usually licensed spin-off material isn't anywhere near the quality of the source material, especially when it comes to novels (looking at you, Star Trek and even some Star Wars novels). But this one really surprised me with the zip and quality of the writing. (And small wonder, it's Artemis Fowl's Eoin Colfer at the helm.) The initial flashback to Tony's teen years with his father really hooked me; the understanding of what makes Tony Tony is wonderfully spot-on, and in the course of the novel we get everything we expect from a Tony Stark tale: guilt, daddy issues, brilliant tech, self-inflicted injuries, abduction, righteous anger, the Mandarin, old flames. Plus a couple really cool innovations like the Prototony, a body double/IM suit/AI which embodies only Tony's celebrity personality. The banter between Tony (aka, T-Star) and Prototony (aka, P-Tone) is absolutely hilarious—and frighteningly self-revelatory to Tony himself!

Colfer's major innovation here is taking Iron Man to the Emerald Isle, Colfer's own home, and I adore the influx of shameless Irishness Tony has to face. The sarcasm, wit, and panache of both Ireland and Tony Stark is a surprisingly complementary and entertaining mix. Plus, his repertoire with Irish genius Saoirse Tory is glorious (imagine if Tony had a teenage daughter as much of a smartass as he is!).

Ari Fliakos does an absolutely brilliant job with the voices and accents (Irish to Ukrainian). The difference between Tony and Prototony's voices make the conversations all the more perfect.

Great Story

this was a great story playing off the iron Man character so much better than the movie I almost wish the movie was closer to this story than it was to the actual movie The Mandarin in this story was more ominous and cunning than in the movie what a great story thank you

Great Story and a Wee Bonnie Performance

This story captured the essence of Tony Stark in its fullest. Yes, Tony is an unparalleled engineering genius, but that doesn't always make him the smartest person in the room.

The performance was really well done and made the characters feel even more real. Diavolo ia possibly the best side character ever.

good story

The story was good, it should have been iron Man 3. The main villain of the story was much better compared to iron Man 3.

Fun book!

Voice acting is great at capturing the snarky personality of Tony Stark in an easy to follow plot featuring cool Iron Man tech, clever back stories of the characters and classic comic book action.

My 10 y.o. Twins loved this book

This book had equally excellent performance and storyline. My boys put this in their top 10 reads of the year which say a lot.

Should be longer!

Any additional comments?

This was a great Iron Man story, especially considering how short it was. As others have said, it's the story that the third Iron Man movie should have been. It's also pleasantly distinct from various other Marvel book productions which try to pass off a young adult novel as a superhero story. This book does have a teen sidekick, but she does not get disproportionate focus or upstage Tony Stark.

Interesting story and great audio

I love all things iron man and Eoin Colfer. It was a fun story, I liked the references of where the story was taking place in the rest of the mcu. The plot was nice, and just enjoyable all the way around. The narrator, Ari Fliakos was wonderful with his accents, and gave life to each character. I really enjoyed his voice. Very glad I listened.

Surprisingly awesome

I don't know why I was surprised this was so entertaining. Eoin Colfer is an excellent writer. He knows how to tell a great story and it's made even better with the superb narration of Ari Fliakos.

The Gauntlet is smart with engaging characters, wry wit, lively dialog and dry humor throughout. Too bad it's listed in the children category, because of the comic book subject matter. Many children's stories are geared for a younger audience's comprehension level, but that's not the case here. The Gauntlet is definitely an adult listen with an intelligent storyline, inside jokes, snappy one liners, ironic personal observations and laugh out loud moments. If you liked the first Iron Man movie, this story is another adventure going forward in Tony Stark's life.

Ari Fliakos' narration is superb. His wide range and many accents along with his perfect timing and delivery of the dialog as well as his emoting skills makes for a vivid, highly entertaining listening experience.

The Gauntlet is in the 'gem' category in my library to be listened to again and again.

Well worth the credit.