“Vicious”, by V. E. Schwab

 

400 pages, Tor Books, ISBN-13: 978-1250160263

Vicious by V. E. Schwab is yet another book I assigned to the Books on Tap book club sponsored by the Fraser Public Library. The first in the Villains series (which I didn’t know at the time), the book focuses on Victor Vale and Eliot Cardale (later known as Eli Ever), collegiate colleagues who discover that an after-death trauma, under the right conditions, can create an “EO” (short for ExtraOrdinary), a person with superhuman abilities. The reason (I think) that Schwab called this her Villains series is because most of the characters, while thinking themselves as heroes, are nothing like. Eli’s power allows him to heal at an extraordinary rate and, evidently, granted him immortality, as the parts set ten years after he gains his abilities make it clear that he hasn’t aged a day. Victor gains the power to inflict pain with a thought or, just as useful, to remove it. Other EO’s appear, as well – Serena, a modern-day siren who can make anyone do her bidding; her little sister Sydney who can resurrect the dead; among others – but the story revolves around Eli and Victor and their feud.

The story basically flips back and forth between past and present, the past being ten years before the current tale (along with several side-treks, from a few years to a few hours). During that time we see what Eli and Victor have been up to, which boils down to Victor cooling his heels in prison where he tests and perfects his power before finally escaping with super-hacker (and behemoth) Mitch in tow, to Eli launching his God-inspired crusade in which he seeks out and murders every fellow EO he can find (secretly aided and abetted by the police), seeing as he has come to the conclusion that they are unnatural and must be returned to their proper, dead state. With the story bouncing back and forth between past and present, we watch as Victor and Eli – both thinking themselves heroes; both in fact villains with contrary motives – pursue their goals and one another, all of it cannonballing to a final (for now) confrontation at the end. Who will triumph? Who do we want to? Do either of these self-righteous egoists deserve to “win”? Wouldn’t the world be better off without all of them?

Vicious keeps you interested and involved in the lives of its characters, even the supporting ones. The fact that Victor and Eli are so disreputable and unlikable make them all the more intriguing; it put me in mind of the tagline for the Mel Gibson vehicle Payback: “Get Ready To Root For The Bad Guy”. For make no mistake: both Victor and Eli are villains, pursuing their respective goals at the expense of everyone and everything around them. Just when you find yourself sympathizing with the one, the other pops up and makes you see the world from their perspective. The supporting characters are just as noteworthy: Serena makes every girl who ever manipulated you seem like a saint; Sydney is the little sister you always wanted; Mitch the big bro you need in your corner. It takes real skill to invent fictional people to care about, and Schwab does it again and again over the course of the book. And in spite of the fact that she is dealing with EO’s and all that, the world she has written is as real as our own, an aspect that adds to the realism of the subject and makes the story that much more intriguing.

I think I’ll read the rest of the series, but not yet; I need to take a break from EO’s for a while. But I will look forward to more viciousness in the future as all of these superpowered egomaniacs make life harder for the rest of us.