Book Review: Hurricane Fever by Tobias Buckell

Hurricane Fever by Tobias Buckell

Summary

Prudence “Roo” Jones is long retired from working in the Caribbean Intelligence Group, the Caribbean version of the CIA. But that doesn’t stop his old partner Zee from sending him one last voicemail. Zee is dead, and he’s got some information that will help Roo find Zee’s killers. Multiple ocean storms, the inability to decipher the meaning of Zee’s information, and the sudden appearance of Zee’s long hidden sister Kit spur Roo to action he doesn’t want to take. He’s retired, after all. But he can’t help getting drawn into a plot that could end up in a huge culling of the world population. And thanks to Zee, Roo is the only one with the information to stop it.

That's my summary. Here's the one I pulled from http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/

A storm is coming…

When former spy Roo Jones receives an unexpected package from a dead friend, he’s yanked out of a comfortable retirement and is suddenly embroiled in a global conspiracy involving a weapon that could change the face of the world forever.

But as one of the largest hurricanes to hit the Caribbean begins to sweep through the area, Roo just may find that time is running out – not just for himself, but the whole world…

Perfect for fans of action-packed espionage, Hurricane Fever is a kinetic techno-thriller for a new generation.

Context

Fans of spy novels, you’ve got a winner here. You get the gadgets and the fun, and for those of use who don’t live in the Caribbean, well there’s your exotic locales right there. We have a psychotic villain bent on changing the world to fit his own design.

I’ve got to say, I was at least a quarter of the way into the book before I realized it wasn’t actually set in the now. Hurricane Fever has a timeframe that’s hard to pin down. It could be an alternate present or a not-too-distant future. But it wasn’t a point of contention for me. It wasn’t something for me to dwell on. I just sank into it, enjoying coming across technology we don’t have. But I could accept the tech, especially the medical treatments, because they were just matter of course for Roo. It’s just the way that world is. Attention wasn’t brought to them as being odd, and I loved that about the setting. There was all this cool stuff, but it didn’t distract from the plot. They supported events.

I also didn’t realize until the afterword that Hurricane Fever isn’t the first book that Roo Jones appears in. You may want to check out Buckell’s other works. This is the first one that is starring Roo, though. He’s a very easy character to love. I didn’t feel left out by not having read any of Buckell’s other novels, but having read Hurricane Fever does make me eager to read more.

Style

Tobias Buckell has a writing style that is clean and easy to read. As I mentioned before, he knows how to offer details of setting without them drawing attention from what’s happening. He has a light hand when it comes to that information. It shows a masterful control of his material and the language he’s using to bring the reader to discover a detail of the world that you didn’t know before while still following the actual content of the sentence. I’m honestly in awe of his skill here. I do feel like his work in the action scenes was a little clipped. I wouldn’t have minded a little more detail when there was some real crap going down and the bullets were flying.

My Thoughts

I spent quite some time in my high school years reading all the James Bond novels I could get my hands on, and Buckell has brought me back to that love I used to have for the genre. In fact, if there are books out there like this, new spy novels of this caliber, then I need to reacquaint myself with this old flame. I admit I did have a little bit of culture shock or maybe geography shock from this being set wholly in the Caribbean, but it was so easy to sink into the characters that I got over that quickly. Buckell tugged at my emotions more than once. There were a few tidbits I wouldn’t have minded a little more information on, and in comparison to the Bond novels I was used to in this genre, this seemed short. I’m not saying it was uncomfortably short for a novel. It was a good solid length. I think my own expectations might be a tad biased toward the length and convolutions of Bond novels, though. I wasn’t unsatisfied with Hurricane Fever by any means. I think it’s my own inexperience with this particular genre that left me with furrowed brows at how quickly it ended.

Would I Recommend This Book? I definitely would! Hurricane Fever is an exciting, risky, emotional roller coaster of a novel. Buckell isn’t afraid to hurt his characters. This is a great read that will bring you flying into the Caribbean and won’t let go. Hurricane Fever gets a two-hulled 4 out of 5 stars.

For more on the author, visit http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/

Book Review: Discount Miracles by Brand Gamblin

Discount Miracles by Brand Gamblin

Summary

Jason Faught’s tiny crew, consisting of him, his engineer, his navigator, and a stowaway con-man wanted for more crimes than Jason cares to list, have crashed on a planet that’s both off the radar and centuries behind them technologically. With no way to communicate a distress signal, they’re effectively trapped. The people of this planet are more inclined to think of the crew as witches than as anything else, so how is Jason supposed to keep his crew alive while they try to find a way home? That’s easy. Sell their technological prowess and services as “magic” and perform miracles upon request. There are some who aren’t afraid to pay for the service of witches, after all. But when they’re hired to make a show of a certain ruler ascending to godhood, there’s a second request from the buyer. Get the ruler out of the way. Do miracles include kidnapping royalty? And what do they do with the prince once they’ve got him?

That's my summary. Here's the one I pulled from amazon.com

The crew of the space salvage ship JNE-0518 (the Jenny) have crashed on a planet that has lost its link to civilization. Surrounded by kingdoms stuck in the dark ages, the crew decides to hire themselves out as wizards, available to make any prophecy come true. But the latest job goes bad when they find themselves transporting a deified prince. Can the team get away from two different nations before they are caught and burned as royal kidnappers and witches? Even if they can escape the two armies, can they escape the iron grip of prophecy itself?

Context

Think about time travel for a second. Think how people from even a century or two ago would look at a computer, at an iPod, the internet, or any of a hundred other techno-gadget things we think of as commonplace today. They might think it’s magic, right? Now imagine if people from two centuries in the future came to visit us with their everyday tools that to us, look like something straight out of a sci-fi novel or movie. And they have a hundred more gadgets we’ve never conceived of and have no idea how they work. Would we not just deem it magic, since we don’t understand it? I’ve heard it said that magic is just science we don’t understand yet, and that science is just magic without the lies. It’s all about perspective. How quick are people to deem things magical just because we don’t quite get how they work? That’s the underling premise of this whole book. Gamblin has thrust technologically-savvy spacegoers into a world that likely once had science. There’s postulation that this planet was populated by a colony ship that crashed. It’s just been so long since the crash that generations have come and gone and forgotten how they got there. So now, LED lights, sound systems, jetpacks, and the other tools Captain Faught’s crew take for granted are centuries ahead of the civilizational development around them. What’s science to them is magic to the people around. Kind of makes you think.

Style

One thing I love about Gamblin’s writing is how simplistic it is without being over-simplified or condescending. This is the first of his books I’ve actually read. I’ve listened to another of his, and the same can be said about The Hidden Institute. The science-y elements are well-described; you don’t have to know the exact way the technology works to understand how the crew use it. The differences in the cultures on the planet are diverse but with those obvious ties and deep similarities you would see in people who, generations ago, were all one people. So they split and built their own cultures, traditions, and even religions and prophecies. They’re still, deep down, descendants of the same original group, and it shows in little ways. There is some great detail and some intriguing plot points scattered in this book. Even the people are real, even if some of them did come across as one- or two-dimensional. All in all, it’s still a great concept, and Gamblin pulls it off pretty well.

My Thoughts

I feel like the pacing of this book was a little off. Some of the same issues got hashed and rehashed at length, the same arguments between the crew that got to be a little draggy as time went on. Where you generally want to have a couple smaller peaks building up to a great climax at the end, I feel like the big climax was much earlier, before the halfway point of the book. That weakened the great bit that was supposed to be the final peak, the great climax at the end. And I think the final skirmish really ended too soon. There wasn’t a real feel of danger or threat, because so much happened so quickly and got resolved so fast. I don’t really feel like there was any threat, even when the crew split up to face down the leaders of a couple separate armies. It ended up too neat, and that bothered me. The epilogue, on the other hand, I did like, mostly because it added a new dimension to the planet and its goings-on, as well as to the prophecies the crew was working to make come true (or to prevent). But I admit I was a little disappointed with the second half of the book.

Would I Recommend This Book? Yeah, for the most part. It’s still a pretty good read, just on the principle of it, the idea behind the book. It’s pulled off kind of weakly, though. I give it a technologically advanced 3 out of 5 stars.

For more on the author, visit http://brandg.com/

Book Review: Invito Rex by Brand Gamblin

Invito Rex by Brand Gamblin

Summary

He's known as Dizzy, but Disraeli Augustus McCracken III isn't his real name. He calls on people as an Earl, but he isn't that either. He's nothing he says he is. And the police are on to him. But someone else is looking for him, someone who has very different plans than imprisoning him. Dizzy, it turns out, is the illegitimate half-brother of the king, and sadly, the king died without heir. Now Dizzy finds himself on the throne, finally one of the nobility he always pretends to be.

But he wasn't trained for this position. Every move he makes seems to tumble him further and further from kinghood. How long until he fatally missteps?

That's my summary. Here's the one I pulled from amazon.com

In a fantastic world not too far ahead of us, Victorian sensibilities have brought back the monarchy, with a caste system that is lethally enforced. Dizzy is a con man, a commoner who makes his living impersonating the nobility. But one wrong turn leaves him trapped in the most dangerous place of all, the palace of the king.

Context

This is the sequel to The Hidden Institute, and we see much more of the world in this novel. Where with The Hidden Institute, I would have called the world modernistic fantasy with a splash of steampunk, I really don't know how to classify Invito Rex. It's not really steampunk, because the year-setting is more sci-fi, being future. It's not modernistic, because it's again so futuristic. But it's not hard sci-fi. I've seen the term neo-Victorian applied to it, and I suppose that will have to. The world of this series is technologically parallel to ours in some ways, futuristic in others, and fancifully vintage, mostly thanks to the way his culture has developed in America. We see a strong caste system with clear lines between noble and commoner. While it can be hard to pin down the sort of what, where, and when of this novel, it's clearer to me than The Hidden Institute was. In this novel's predecessor, I had difficulty realizing it was set in America at all. Due to the nature of the subject matter and plot of this novel, that at least is far more clear. Limitations of technology seem somewhat arbitrary in this novel, and I'm not sure if that's a boon or a problem.

Style

At the very least, I do enjoy Gamblin's imagination. The characters and setting are fun, to say the very least, and I love that this sequel actually followed the story of Dizzy, a supporting character from The Hidden Institute, rather than Cliffy, who was our protagonist for that book. Dizzy intrigued me from the start of THI, and now I was rewarded with a novel centering on him.

My Thoughts

There was a sense of imbalance in this novel. I did listen to the audio version of it through iTunes, and I'm not sure if that really did justice to the book. Gamblin's voice is pleasant enough, and he does a decent job with most characters' voices, setting them apart. But there always seemed to be a sense of "I know something you don't know" from the author. Honestly, I believe that would apply to reading it as well. I just never seemed to get enough information, to really understand who was doing what and why. This might have been the intent of the author, to throw the reader as off balance as Dizzy himself is through the book, but on the whole, it left me uncomfortable the whole time I was listening.

Similarly, this lack of information left too many unanswered questions in the plot. I won't give any spoilers, but I felt like the rope of this novel's plot was fraying away as it went along. Add that to an ending that came out of nowhere far too quickly, and I was left highly unsatisfied with the entire experience. As much as I loved the book up to the last chapter (and even well into the last chapter), I was completely surprised by the fact that it ended when it did. Not HOW it did. WHEN. In my opinion, there was at least another 4 or 5 chapters to be had, but they're not there. It seemed to me that Gamblin wrote a decent enough ending, but then arbitrarily decided, "I'm tired of writing this novel. I'm just going to slap the ending here and call it a book." It felt like he gave up, digging Dizzy in too deep and not bothering to find a way to dig him out again. And then there were the unexplained actions and unfinished plot lines. It left me really disappointed.

Would I Recommend This Book? No and yes. The story itself is good, but considering how unsatisfied the ending left me, I would generally say no. Honestly, it makes me sad. I wanted so much more from this book, and it was setting me up for it, only to leave me wanting, and not in a good way. Mostly because of the ending, Invito Rex gets a byblow 2.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information on the author, visit http://brandg.com/

Book Review: The Hidden Institute by Brand Gamblin

The Hidden Institute by Brand Gamblin.

Summary

Cliffy is a nobody, a commoner without much hope for anything. But when he witnesses a murder, he starts down a path of blackmail that will get him an education at the illegal Hidden Institute. The course of study offered will teach him to behave like a nobleman and pass himself off as one of that number, effectively opening many more doors than he could ever have hoped before. Of course, this practice is highly illegal, and there are a group of people who specifically seek to expose people like Cliffy. They’ve got their sights right on Cliffy. It’s only a matter of time before they catch up to him, but can he evade them long enough to stop a plot to kill a head of state?

That was my summary. Here's the summary I got from http://brandg.com/

Rising above your station can be deadly.

Cliffy is a child born on the streets of a Neo-Victorian world. Witnesses to a murder, he blackmails a nobleman, receiving a unique bribe. In exchange for his silence, the nobleman introduces him to the Malcolm Rutherford Holden Institute of Regentrification. There, Cliffy learns to walk, talk, and act like a nobleman, so that he may infiltrate high society. But that type of fraud is punishable by death, and when Cliffy uncovers a plot to assassinate a head of state, he's hunted by more than just the aristocracy.

Royal intrigue, daring escapes, sub-dermal machines, and bear polo. A grand adventure in a not-so-distant world. 

Context 

I could very easily go into a huge rant about class systems and the “unspoken” social devisions in America, but I won’t right now. Suffice it to say a finishing school like The Hidden institute would do a lot of people a lot of good these days, although the class divisions and the social ceilings in the novel make their need for it necessary. It’s impossible to cross stations in the novel due to extensive background checks. You have what you have, and that’s your entire lot in life. Even getting into the Institute is expensive, and it’s something Cliffy could never have hoped to do in his normal life. There’s a scene in one of Cliffy’s classes that goes into the economy that created the social structure of his world, and that does worlds to explain the attitudes of the nobles towards the commoners. It’s very well done.

Style 

I did not read The Hidden Institute. I listened to it via podiobooks.com. It was a one-person narration, read by the author. What I like about this sort of format is that there are two ways to go. It can be a straight read, or the narrator can actually differentiate voices for the characters. Gamblin took the latter route, and it was spectacular. It’s pretty obvious that the text itself is written in lingo/dialect (where appropriate), and his performance was so characterized (especially for Cliffy) that the transformation from street kid to young gentleman was made even more clear and drastic. I don’t think you’ll lose anything if you read the novel rather than listen to it, but Gamblin’s performance really speaks to the audio medium.

The writing itself is clear and easy to understand without being condescending. The slang that Cliffy uses as a boy isn’t ever fully explained, but I don’t feel idiotic for not knowing exactly what is meant by each word. I swear, there were about twelve different uses for a single slang word and I’m still not sure I could use it right if forced to. But that doesn’t feel wrong. Cliffy and the others of his kind knew how to use it, and that was perfect. They expressed themselves in such a different lingo than I use that it almost comes across as a whole other language, and that was fascinating to me.

My thoughts

I heard about this first through a promo on another podcast, and it grabbed my attention so that I had to read/listen to it. And I am so glad I did! I immediately fell into the world, the culture, and became engrossed in the characters. They’re all clearly defined and their actions are really constant to their own personalities and natures. Dizzy does things because there’s no way he could do anything else. He simply is himself, take it or leave it. From start to finish, Cliffy is himself, but his transformation is still more than just surface. The Institute does make someone different out of him, sure, but the badly-spoken boy from the beginning is still underneath that exterior. This book is a great draw and is well worth the time (not much) to read or listen to it. Seriously… I listened to it in a single work day. And I enjoyed every minute.

Would I recommend it? Oh hell yes! This was a great trip in an awesome setting with a killer premise. Don’t miss out! I give The Hidden Institute a regentrificated 3 out of 5 stars.

You can find more info on the book on the author's website. http://brandg.com/

Book Review: Max Quick 1: The Pocket and the Pendant by Mark Jeffrey

Max Quick 1: The Pocket and the Pendant by Mark Jeffrey

Summary

Max Quick doesn't exactly have it easy. He's an orphan, he lives in a home for boys run by a cruel man, he's bullied at the bus stop every day before school, and he doesn't even remember his own past. Nothing's really going his way. But when an old woman recognizes him in a bookstore-- one where he shouldn't even be because he's supposed to be at school, it starts him questioning, but then something else happens no one could have predicted.

Time stops. Max finds himself one of few people that area actually able to move around in this frozen time. His search for answers to why time has stopped and finding out who he is lead him somewhere he never could have expected, and he learns that the human race is in danger of being enslaved.

And only a strange little boy named Max Quick can stop it.

That's my summary. Here's the one I pulled from markjeffrey.net

Max Quick is a pickpocket, a vagabond, an orphan, and a thief. Even so, nothing about him seems particularly special . . . until one day when time mysteriously stops. Suddenly, nearly everyone in the world is frozen in time—except for Max.

Now Max must journey across America to find the source of the Time-stop. Along the way, he meets others who aren't suspended in time, like Casey, a girl who's never been on her own until now. Together, as they search for the cause of this disaster, Max and his companions encounter ancient mysteries, magic books, and clues to the riddle of stopped time. But relentless and mysterious villains are hot on Max's heels and will do everything in their power to prevent Max from ending the Time-stop. And the closer Max gets to the answers, the more it seems that his own true identity is not what he once believed. Racing against a clock that no longer ticks, Max must embrace his past to save his future—and the world—from being altered forever.

Context

Max Quick could be set just about any time from 1995 to 2005, or even to the now, and it would make sense. This makes it (forgive the pun) a relatively timeless book. In fact, about the only few elements that lock it down to the turn of the century are a few mentions of cell phones and email addresses. One particular character, Ian, is a bit of a computer nerd, but his computer knowledge really only manifests in the form of analogies, like uploading, software patches, and the like. As it is, The Pocket and the Pendant can easily be accessible and relatable to about any young reader these days. As someone in thier late 20's, I still found this very easy to connect with even though I'm outside the age bracket the book was intended for. This was a very solid book for at least my generation forward.

Style

As far as middle grade and YA books are concerned, I'm actually not all that versed, so reviewing this is a little bit different for me. I can't hold this book to the same standards I hold Starla Huchton's or Scott Sigler's books. That said, I appreciated that The Pocket and the Pendant was fairly straightforward in its language. I listened to the podcast version, but I think I would have been better served by actually reading this one. That's not to say that the performance or quality of the recording were bad. Far from it. I think there was one spot where the wrong name was said, and some of the episodes were surprisingly long, but otherwise, the podcast alone was okay. I think if the episodes had been more aligned in length rather than having some be about 30 minutes and some being over an hour, I would have bene more okay with it. But the real reason I think I would have been better served reading it is just because of some of the new terms introduced in the world. Little things. All in all, not bad.

But there was one glaring issue that continually bugged me. Pauses in the action. Oh, my did we get a massive infodump about 2/3 into the book! Considering all the questions asked leading up to this, I shouldn't have been surprised at the huge Bond-style monologue (but not from the villain) explaining EVERYTHING up to this point. The infodump lasted two 40-or-so-minute episodes of the podcast! But here's the kicker-- I liked the information given, mostly because it was in the form of a story. I guess if you have to infodump (no one should ever have to, really, but I'm guilt of it sometimes, too) then I suppose this is the way to do it. Still, it was an infodump, so I'm torn on my feelings about it.

The other egregious pause was in around the 1/3 mark, when Ian, Casey, and Max first discover how to use the books. There's a long section that's nothing but describing the pictures on the pages of a book they're looking at. It's a pretty important plot point, I understand that, but it still felt... awkward. But that might just be because it was a podcast I was listening to. I'm not sure if that would feel more effective if I were actually reading the words. Honestly, such a thing would be best expressed in book form if the actual book I was reading had the illustrations themselves rather than descriptions of them.

My Thoughts

I had a few moments when I guessed exactly what was going on, and I turned out to be right more often than not. That could just mean that Jeffrey was paving his own way well, or that I was just looking too far into things. Then again, I usually miss things like this, so for me to guess at something isn't really a good sign. I called a few key points, ones that seemed so obvious to me, but I don't know if the average 12-year-old (about where I peg this book as being aimed at) would pick up them like I did. It's been a long time since I was 12, and I can't relaly say whether or not 12-year-old Me would have guessed them.

I really did love how so many mythological and belief systems were woven together... but that was a big thing in that huge infodump. If there had to be an infodump, that's the kind of one that really draws me in. Honestly, it wasn't until I finished the first episode of the infodump that I realized I was smack in the middle of one. But think about it. This was TWO CHAPTERS of infodump. There had to be a better way to do that, and I want to smack myself for having liked it.

Would I Recommend This Book? Yeah, I'd say so. I'm not enthusiastically saying you have to go read it right now, but if you see it, or want to listen to the podcast, go for it! There's some good stuff here, some stuff that I will definitely remember, but this is one of those books that is only a few steps up from being a semi-predictable movie. But again, I'm speaking as a slightly jaded 29-year-old. I give it a 3.25 of 5 stars. I can't give it a 3.5 because of the info dumps, but I can't give it a 3.0 because I liked the info dumps. So 3.25 it is.

For more information on the author, visit markjeffrey.net

Book Review: Marco and the Red Granny by Mur Lafferty

Marco and the Red Granny by Mur Lafferty

Summary

Marco and the Red Granny is a science fiction novel featuring an alien race, the Li-Jun, that cannot experience emotion, yet can meld the senses together so you can taste banana creme pie in listening to music, or wear a piece of jewelry and hear and experience the story of Othello. They build synaesthesia into art, making a whole new type of medium for creative culture. Marco is a failing writer and illustrator who receives a patronage frmo a Li-Jun House and moves to Ride Lunar Base on the moon to create new works of art for his patron.

That’s my summary. Here’s one I pulled from amazon.com

Have you ever tasted a symphony? Listened to a seven course meal?

An alien species brings back the old artist patronage system, and suddenly Sally Ride Lunar Base is transformed into the new artistic center of the universe: “Mollywood.” These aliens can do amazing things with art and the senses, allowing a painting, for example, to stimulate other senses than simply sight.

Marco wanted a coveted patronage, once. But then his girlfriend got one and shuttled off to Mollywood for fame and fortune, and Marco stayed home, waiting for his own patron. His career faltered. His agent dumped him. But then he gets THE call.

But he’s about to find out that an artistic patronage isn’t what it was in the good old days, and that the only friend he’s made, a tiny old woman who’s the star of a blood sports reality series called The Most Dangerous Game, has secrets of her own.

Context

Science fiction has changed drastically as technology has improved. It has become so easy to go further and further away from Earth in sci-fi, to create more and more outlandish technology, since so much has become possible in the last few decades. Lafferty resisted the draw of quantum physics-- in fact, the only really hard physics in evidence is the mention of gateways early in the story, used for travel. It's a glance over the subject, comes and passes so quickly it doesn't matter. It wouldn't matter to someone who lived in a time like that-- the technology is nothing out of the ordinary. Why should it be made so special to the reader? Even in setting, Lafferty doesn't wander too far from Earth. Our protagonist, Marco, doesn't wander any further than the moon. Lafferty has managed to make a science-fiction book that isn't post-apocalyptic, post-nuclear, or a war od the worlds. She barely goes past our own backyard! It proves that you don't need to take the reader too far from their own world to take them into someone else's?

Style

I didn't read Marco and the Red Granny. I listened to it through podiobooks.com. It was released in seven episodes. I was halfway through the fourth episode before I realized there were no chapter breaks. Everything flowed together so well, the individual episodes so well-separated that it didn't need those breaks. Each episode ended with a cliffhanger or at the end of a train of thought that made me want to hurry up and get the next episode started. Everything glued together in a cohesive whole that made it easy to forget I wasn't actually there.

Devo Spice's narration was spot-on. He made each character come alive with vocal changes. I hated the smarmy Seven of House Blue. I knew (or thought I knew) exactly where the Red Granny was from. I knew Marco's agent was a smoker long before it was ever mentioned. Everything flowed so naturally from Lafferty's written words to Devo Spice's mouth that I didn't feel any awkwardness in writing style. This was masterfully done!

The vocal performance and Lafferty's writing style melded wonderfully. Everything was clear and highly expressive. It was both easily understood and easily enjoyed.

My thoughts

Marco and the Red Granny was entertaining, intriguing, and just an all-around great literary experience. I've seen a few other reviews out there, and there is one thing their opinions and my opinion agree on: it was too short! Honestly, my only serious criticism is that I felt there was so much here that was untapped, so much potential! Even if Lafferty didn't want to expand this particular storyline anymore, there is a ton of wonder in the world she's created that could be fleshed out. I would loved to see a "normal" patronage in this future-verse! On the whole, though, this is well worth the effort to read or listen to. And hey, it doesn't take a lot of time!

Would I Recommend this Book? It’s definitely worth the time to read (or listen to) this novella. It’s intriguing and teases the senses, trying to wrap one’s mind around how the cross-sense art works. If nothing else, it will make you wonder at how we perceive the world. I give Marco and the Red Granny a synaesthetic 4 out of 5 stars.

For more information on the author, visit http://murverse.com/

For more information on the narrator, visit http://www.devospice.com/

Book Review: How to Succeed in Evil by Patrick E. McLean

How to Succeed in Evil by Patrick E. McLean

Summary

Everyone can't be a superhero or supervillain. There just aren't enough powers to go around. For Edwin Windsor, he'd gone on to the next best thing: being a consultant for villains. Edwin offers his services to make villains more profitable, essentially doing their evil plotting for them. What good is being an evil villain if you can't make money while doing it?

That’s my summary. Here’s one I pulled from amazon.com

How to Succeed in Evil is the story of Edwin Windsor, Evil Efficiency Consultant. He tries to help supervillains be more villainous. Or at least more profitable and sensible about the business side of Evil.

Along with his very proper and English secretary Agnes and his hench-lawyer Topper, he struggles to make the world of superpowered people make sense. But this is very difficult because, while Edwin’s advice is excellent, all of his clients are too egomaniacal to listen. There is, it must be said, a bit of comedy in this work.

Edwin struggles with a cast of characters including, Dr. Loeb, a trust fund child who desperately wants to be an Evil Genius, but has none of the talent. Dr. Loeb’s hideous mother, Iphagenia – who’s evil scheme is to foment a second Southern Rebellion, beginning with Lower Alabama. And the Cromogoldon, a brute with forehead villainous low and quite possibly the strongest creature on the planet.

Inevitably, Edwin’s unique clientele lead him into direct conflict with the greatest superhero of them all, Excelsior. And so, the quiet, restrained intellectual is pitted against heroic force.

Context

This novel is such a fresh idea. I wouldn't say that superheroes are overdone, because they're not, but McLean twisted the trope to focus instead on a backup player, a man who is not super-powered, but who knows how to use the powers he doesn't have. Edwin is a man of amazing mental prowess, whose sense of business turns wanton destruction into profit. But he doesn't just manipulate the villains that come to him; he thinks towards the heroes too, specifically a hero called Excelsior, to build up his business. Everything is broken down into numbers for Edwin, effectively turning crimefighting (and crimestarting) into a disjointed corporation.

Style

I listened to the audio version of How to Succeed in Evil, and the performance by the author was great! I had moments thinking it was a full cast production, because his characterizations were so different and so spot-on for his characters. Just going by the content, not by the performance, I wanted to strangle Topper, the lawyer. McLean's vocal performance made me twitch every time Topper opened his filthy little mouth (in a good way!). McLean clearly has such a strong understanding of his characters that I don't know if another reader would have done this book justice. Even straight-laced, barely-emotional Edwin's voice was summarily different from the others'. That's something I don't know if would have come across as well from reading the text.

That said, I do think this is one novel I would enjoy reading a paperback copy of, but that's just because I like the idea of sitting in public, out in the open, with the words How to Succeed in Evil clear on the cover of my reading material. This would be a fast read, I'm sure. It was a very quick, very engaging listen, too.

My thoughts

I loved this book. There was so much thought, so much action, so much reaction, that I can easily believe Edwin's consulting firm would have a place in real life. If superheroes made an amazing entrance into real life. The cast of the book was so human, so painfully true to life, that it is very easy to lose yourself in the plot, the world, and the schemes. I was upset when the novel ended. I got attached to the characters in an amazing way, considering this was only one book. I usually try to avoid attachment like that when I'm not settling in to read a whole series. It's too much like losing friends. How to Succeed in Evil made me get attached to the characters.

The plot... I was so involved in it. Edwin's logic, his reasoning, was spectacular. The pitches he gives for business make so much sense, I wonder how on earth any villain has ever gotten along without him! I honestly could not get enough of this novel. I strongly suggest it. It will be well worth your time!

Would I Recommend This Book? Yep! This is some good stuff, and it brings a side of thought to superheroes and villains that one might never consider. The logistics of evil are brought into question, and the big questions here are why and how, as opposed to the usual what. The deed doesn’t mean anything if the reasoning behind it isn’t solid. I give How to Succeed in Evil a logistical 3 out of 5 stars.

For more information on the author, visit http://succeedinevil.com/