50 Books #7

[forsyth]

#7 H.I.V.E. : Higher Institute of Villainous Education by Mark Walden

I have the distinct feeling the phrase "Hogwart's for supervillains" came up in the pitch for this novel. Because that's largely what it is.
A group of 13 year olds with talents for mischief and crime are abducted by a mysterious organization to their elite training facility on an island inside an active-looking volcano. There they're taught courses like Basic Villainy by a cast of colorful teachers.

Now, with a description like that, your first reaction is going to either be "How lame!" or "How awesome!" Mine was the second. I loves me some supervillainy. Though for budding supervillains, most of the characters are friendly, courageous, loyal, etc. So they're not really that bad. Not even the big baddie who runs the place. Which is really the easier way to write "bad guys", make them pretty much admirable people, then add the trappings like mechanical hands and death rays and henchthugs and so on. The ending leaves it wide open for a series (presumably following the further years of the class) so it remains to be seen how things will be handled if the kids actually start doing nefarious deeds. All in all, probably not worth a hardcover price, but decent enough to read from the library or similar.

Previous Books:
#1: Grave Peril
#2: Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War
#3: DMZ Vol. 3: Public Works
#4: Bad Prince Charlie
#5: Making Money
#6: How to Win Friends and Influence People

Comments

[tahngarth.livejournal.com]

Teen Titans fiction? Ye gods!

[forsythferret.livejournal.com]

Not quite. It's not set in any regular comic universe, and the characters mostly don't have super powers exactly, but they are all ridiculously competent. Absurdly so. What with the 13 year olds being martial artists, cat burglars, and masterminds. But it's aimed at kids, really.