Speak Now Storyteller

Summary: Two years before the events of Stranger Things Season 4, Eddie Munson—Hellfire Club leader, metalhead, and Hawkins outcast—has one shot to make it big.

Minor spoilers lol. But also, a short review.

Normally, I would do a review where I break down my pros and cons but I had a tough time doing that for this book so this is the best way I can do a review.

Flight of Icarus is set two years before the events of ST4 where fans are introduced to Eddie Munson. It’s 1984 and Eddie should be graduating this year along with his two best friends Ronnie and Dougie, but he only cares about Hellfire when it comes to school. Along with that, Eddie has his band Corroded Coffin that sometimes plays in a disgusting dive bar where Eddie also works. While playing a gig, Eddie notices that someone is interested in their music: Paige, a junior scout who’s back in Hawkins for a death in her family.

This is ultimately where our story begins.

While Eddie and his friends have the opportunity of a lifetime to make a demo for a record company, Eddie’s estranged father has returned and looking to coerce Eddie into teaming up with him.

I liked the moments where Eddie was interacting with his friends in Hellfire and in the band. I wish the book would have focused on his time in school specifically, and maybe even ventured into his second year as a Senior. I liked his friendship with Ronnie and Gareth as they are the connections we see him have the most. The friendship Eddie has with Ronnie is nice. They’ve been friends for a long time, and they even had a moment where Eddie wasn’t sure if he liked her romantically or not and how that didn’t stutter their friendship at all. I liked how he trusted her wholeheartedly and she knew a lot of his weak moments, so he could be vulnerable with her and vice versa. When it came to Gareth, he’s a freshman and new to Hellfire, so Eddie has to navigate how to handle a newbie to Dungeons and Dragons. Their friendship grows strong enough that Gareth even attempts to help Eddie with some bullies after Eddie helps him with the same bullies.

Because Eddie’s father is a big part of a plot, we get to see him and Eddie interact a lot as well. I didn’t mind some of these moments, particularly the ones where they’re talking about themselves and not Al’s scheme. I love Wayne Munson, and I think it’s a travesty that we didn’t get to see him and Eddie interact at all in the show, so I’m always pleased to read something where he’s present. Whenever Eddie was talking to Wayne, I always perked up more, I thought those were good moments. I would have liked to see the three of them interact more.

We do see a romance develop between Eddie and Paige throughout the story and I didn’t mind that. Her place in the story is intertwined with the band and his love for music. I liked her fine and I thought they were cute. There were some strong moments that stood out to me. The sequence in the studio, where she asks him why he likes this kind of music, and he becomes very vulnerable, and we learn more about his love for music and his mom. I think Eddie is a very vulnerable character so the moments when he gets to show that, I really liked it.

I think there was potential for the scheme with his dad to be interesting, but it wasn’t, I fear. For one, I don’t think Eddie would have gone along with it. I also think it wasn’t a smart scheme either and maybe that was the point, but I think there was an opportunity for Eddie to get mixed up with his dad’s shenanigans in a different way. As for the music plot, it was overall fine. Music is clearly important to Eddie but the way he handled things, I don’t think he would have handled them that way. I don’t even know if I believe that he would have been interested in a record deal.

My biggest issue with the book, outside of feeling like it could have been much better, is that this doesn’t feel like Eddie a lot of the time. There were a few times throughout the book where I thought I wasn’t reading a book about Eddie Munson because it didn’t feel or sound like him. Obviously, I am just a fan and not the originator of the character, writing or acting wise, but I think there was a clear voice created for him that this book just doesn’t successfully capture. There was a moment specifically where I said aloud “I don’t think this sounds like Eddie”. Maybe this being told in first person wasn’t the smartest choice because Caitlin Schneiderhan had to be on it 100% of the time and she wasn’t unfortunately.

As I mentioned before, I think the book should have focused on Eddie’s relationship with the town and Hellfire instead of the record deal and his dad’s scheme. I feel like that would have felt like a more personal story to the Eddie we saw in the show. I don’t mind the romance overall, I wouldn’t have hated it even if the record deal wasn’t part of it because the moments at the end where they argued due to Eddie’s defensiveness, or even a crucial moment in their relationship and his nature of always being ready to defend himself reared, I really liked that that was a part of him that he needed to unlearn. I think it worked fine.

Overall, I think the book is fine. This is only the second of the Stranger Things novels I’ve read so far and I think Lucas on the Line is the best so far lol. I think if this book was told in third person, it might have worked better in terms of Eddie’s voice.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

I recommend this book if you’re a fan of Stranger Things and would like to know just a bit more about Eddie Munson. Just remember, whatever image you’ve created in your mind may not align so be open minded lol.