V.E. Schwab's Vicious
I'd never read V.E. Schwab until this point. I knew who she was though because, just this year, she was the author asked to give the Tolkien Lecture at Pembroke College, Oxford, an event I follow and enjoy. Her lecture is a great way to understand her viewpoint as an author.
After watching her lecture, I decided that I needed to read some of her work for two reasons: J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman. She named these two authors as significant influences on her work and her way of approaching fantasy. Well, they're two of my favorites, so anyone who I share loves with must be fantastic.
Nevertheless, as it is for me with all new authors, I didn't know where to start with Schwab's work. Her bibliography, while it isn't enormous, is still considerable. So, I picked a book at random (namely because it was currently a stand-alone, at least until next month when its sequel arrives). The book was Vicious.
(Let me just say that I will not talk plot here, only character. Read the book if you want the plot).
I can honestly say, after completing this book, that I'm a Schwablin (which is apparently what her UK publisher calls her readers). This fantastic, fast-paced superhero-related urban fantasy is an addictive read. I bought it Saturday and finished it today (admittedly, that's probably longer than most people read it, but give me a break--I read slowly), and now I'm jonesing for the sequel.
But, you may be asking, what's so special about this book?
First and foremost for me are the characters. At the center of the narrative are Victor Vale and Eli Ever, a pair of medical school students turned EOs, short for ExtraOrdinaries (the in-world term for people who possess supernatural abilities), each bent on destroying the other for revenge and each willing to do whatever's necessary to achieve their goals. And I mean whatever's necessary.
Surrounding them are a great cast of side characters. There's Mitchell "Mitch" Turner, Victor's fellow prison breaker and sidekick, who acts probably as the outsourced conscience of Vale. There's Sydney Clarke, a 13-year-old EO who ends up being the humanizing force and salvation of Vale, and her dog Dol. And, I cannot forget, there is her older sister, Serena Clarke, Eli's partner in crime, who besides her sister, has probably one of the scariest yet most desired abilities of any EO.
It's a fantastic cast and a dark one. To paraphrase Mitch, there are no real "good guys" in this book. Everyone's an antihero, but some antiheroes are "better people" than others. Yet, Schwab's masterstroke is to not write holding any particular character in contempt. Instead, she allows us, the readers, to decide who's the better, nobler character by simply allowing us into their heads, into their lives, so as to understand them. We see them, flaws and motivations, and all.
Personally, I found myself more inclined to sympathize with Victor Vale and his circle of characters (that being Mitch and Sydney).
In part, this is because Vale's motivations and actions (which are plenty dark and self-interested) are simply to stop Eli. It's that narrow of a goal for him, with nothing much grander beyond that. Also in part, because he's trio seems more like a classic makeshift family that you find in fantasy fiction--that classic ragtag bunch. Mitch is his partner and friend and Sydney by the end is a surrogate daughter.
The structure of the novel is also enjoyable. Schwab employs what I refer to as a "Pendulum Structure," one that swings back and forth through time. Particularly at the novel's beginning, we move between a present narrative and one that occurs ten years prior, where we learn how Victor and Eli gained their abilities. But Schwab doesn't leave us with that. She also gives us glimpses into the lives of all our supporting characters; we learn how they got to where they ended up when we first meet them and how they became embroiled in the conflict between Victor and Eli.
Above all though, I enjoyed this book because of Vale's character.
Vale is a rational empiricist, a person who believes in the value of the scientific method, logic, and experimentation. This puts him in direct contrast with his former friend Eli, who comes across to me as a delusional religious nut with a messiah complex. Vale believes in looking at what's in front of him, recognizing it for what it is, and making it work.
Two, he's easily the less blood crazy of the two central characters. Body count wise, he has less blood on his hands and only resorts to such means when he thinks it's absolutely necessary. (He is a killer, but he isn't crazed).
Finally, and this above everything else makes Victor Vale the character I sympathize with the most, is that he's honest. Vale is always aware of his actions, knowing that what he's doing is questionable. Though he doesn't have much remorse for his gruesome moves, particularly when they advance his cause, he seems always to be self-aware and collected enough to know what's he's doing is wrong. I get this sense from his lower body count. However, unlike his frienemy Eli, he doesn't hide his reasons for doing what he does by saying, "It's God's will," or by hiding behind a mask. He's direct, and there must be something to say for that. (What it is, I can't tell. But, if someone was going to shoot me, I'd at least like to see the asshole's face).
Schwab writes in a lean, muscular, but elegantly beautiful prose that compels you to keep reading (I think that's something she learned from J.K. Rowling). If you enjoy fantasy with a foot in reality and if you love that moreish kind of writing that begs you to keep going, I implore you to pick up a copy of Vicious and see for yourself the magic that lies within.
(Read it before 9/25/18 when its sequel Vengeful arrives).
After watching her lecture, I decided that I needed to read some of her work for two reasons: J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman. She named these two authors as significant influences on her work and her way of approaching fantasy. Well, they're two of my favorites, so anyone who I share loves with must be fantastic.
Nevertheless, as it is for me with all new authors, I didn't know where to start with Schwab's work. Her bibliography, while it isn't enormous, is still considerable. So, I picked a book at random (namely because it was currently a stand-alone, at least until next month when its sequel arrives). The book was Vicious.
(Let me just say that I will not talk plot here, only character. Read the book if you want the plot).
I can honestly say, after completing this book, that I'm a Schwablin (which is apparently what her UK publisher calls her readers). This fantastic, fast-paced superhero-related urban fantasy is an addictive read. I bought it Saturday and finished it today (admittedly, that's probably longer than most people read it, but give me a break--I read slowly), and now I'm jonesing for the sequel.
But, you may be asking, what's so special about this book?
First and foremost for me are the characters. At the center of the narrative are Victor Vale and Eli Ever, a pair of medical school students turned EOs, short for ExtraOrdinaries (the in-world term for people who possess supernatural abilities), each bent on destroying the other for revenge and each willing to do whatever's necessary to achieve their goals. And I mean whatever's necessary.
Surrounding them are a great cast of side characters. There's Mitchell "Mitch" Turner, Victor's fellow prison breaker and sidekick, who acts probably as the outsourced conscience of Vale. There's Sydney Clarke, a 13-year-old EO who ends up being the humanizing force and salvation of Vale, and her dog Dol. And, I cannot forget, there is her older sister, Serena Clarke, Eli's partner in crime, who besides her sister, has probably one of the scariest yet most desired abilities of any EO.
It's a fantastic cast and a dark one. To paraphrase Mitch, there are no real "good guys" in this book. Everyone's an antihero, but some antiheroes are "better people" than others. Yet, Schwab's masterstroke is to not write holding any particular character in contempt. Instead, she allows us, the readers, to decide who's the better, nobler character by simply allowing us into their heads, into their lives, so as to understand them. We see them, flaws and motivations, and all.
Personally, I found myself more inclined to sympathize with Victor Vale and his circle of characters (that being Mitch and Sydney).
In part, this is because Vale's motivations and actions (which are plenty dark and self-interested) are simply to stop Eli. It's that narrow of a goal for him, with nothing much grander beyond that. Also in part, because he's trio seems more like a classic makeshift family that you find in fantasy fiction--that classic ragtag bunch. Mitch is his partner and friend and Sydney by the end is a surrogate daughter.
The structure of the novel is also enjoyable. Schwab employs what I refer to as a "Pendulum Structure," one that swings back and forth through time. Particularly at the novel's beginning, we move between a present narrative and one that occurs ten years prior, where we learn how Victor and Eli gained their abilities. But Schwab doesn't leave us with that. She also gives us glimpses into the lives of all our supporting characters; we learn how they got to where they ended up when we first meet them and how they became embroiled in the conflict between Victor and Eli.
Above all though, I enjoyed this book because of Vale's character.
Vale is a rational empiricist, a person who believes in the value of the scientific method, logic, and experimentation. This puts him in direct contrast with his former friend Eli, who comes across to me as a delusional religious nut with a messiah complex. Vale believes in looking at what's in front of him, recognizing it for what it is, and making it work.
Two, he's easily the less blood crazy of the two central characters. Body count wise, he has less blood on his hands and only resorts to such means when he thinks it's absolutely necessary. (He is a killer, but he isn't crazed).
Finally, and this above everything else makes Victor Vale the character I sympathize with the most, is that he's honest. Vale is always aware of his actions, knowing that what he's doing is questionable. Though he doesn't have much remorse for his gruesome moves, particularly when they advance his cause, he seems always to be self-aware and collected enough to know what's he's doing is wrong. I get this sense from his lower body count. However, unlike his frienemy Eli, he doesn't hide his reasons for doing what he does by saying, "It's God's will," or by hiding behind a mask. He's direct, and there must be something to say for that. (What it is, I can't tell. But, if someone was going to shoot me, I'd at least like to see the asshole's face).
Schwab writes in a lean, muscular, but elegantly beautiful prose that compels you to keep reading (I think that's something she learned from J.K. Rowling). If you enjoy fantasy with a foot in reality and if you love that moreish kind of writing that begs you to keep going, I implore you to pick up a copy of Vicious and see for yourself the magic that lies within.
(Read it before 9/25/18 when its sequel Vengeful arrives).
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