Forging Hephaestus: Villains' Code Series, Book 1

Drew Hayes smashes it again! If you haven't yet caught on to this guy, you are missing out on something great. Hit up his Super Powereds series, and its spinoff, Corpies. Branch out to his books about Fred, the Vampire Accountant, and, also, his Spells, Swords, & Stealth series. Drew Hayes is one prolific mother.His bestest may be his latest, Forging Hephaestus (Villains' Code Book 1). I read a lot of superhero prose, including its sub-genre in which the story is told from the villain's perspective. For years now, the high-water mark in this sub-genre has been Jim Bernheimer's Confessions of a D-List Supervillain. Forging Hephaestus may have just elbowed that over.It's advised that you start reading this book at the start of the weekend because you're gonna need that much extended alone time. If you crack it open during the work week, you are gonna be one bleary zombie by TGIF. It's a looooong read, over 600 pages long (as tracked nebulously by my Kindle Paperwhite). It'll mess with your work and your running errands and spending quality time with the family. It's worth it. Screw the family.It's a sprawling story told from multiple points-of-view. Except the person in whom we have the most rooting interest is 23-year-old Tori Rivas. In Ridge City, she's a petty thief who can manipulate fire and who has a natural knack for tech, and I love her to bits. After one of her heists goes fubar, Tori is presented with a choice: either join a secret guild of criminals or die. It's not much of a choice.Drew Hayes casts an eye on the minutiae of everyday livin' when a villain. As usual, his worldbuilding is immersive and incredibly detailed. You should know that Tori's world doesn't reside in the same universe as that of the Super Powereds, although Hayes does introduce an obvious workaround. In Tori's reality, the world's most potent super-villains banded together years ago to found a cabal to self-police themselves and their fellow rogues. They instituted one of the most interesting elements in this book: a strict code of conduct to abide by so as to not screw the pooch for villainy everywhere. The Villain's Code of Conduct's primary purpose is survival. There must be oversight. It's a must to keep under the radar so as to not draw superhero scrutiny on various criminal activities. It makes clever sense that all guild members must first run their crooked schemes thru the oversight committee. For example, you don't want to terrorize a building or home that's inhabited by a cape's family or friends. You don't want a vengeful cape gunning for you. It's an interesting and uncomfortable detente. The heroes are aware of the Guild and that the Guild cleans up its own messes, making it easier for the heroes to do their job, keeping the public happy. The dichotomy, of course, is that the heroes are still allowing a measure of villainy to while away unencumbered, even if it's partly checked.Thru Tori's eyes, we learn of the make-up of the cabal's infrastructure, and, thru the eyes of others in this huge cast, we learn the make-up of the opposition, specifically, the Alliance of Heroic Champions. Hayes adeptly muddies the line between good and evil, presenting heroes who are as fixated with their public image and with social media as much as with helping people. Both the Guild and the AHC invest themselves in corporate machinery, but it's the AHC who has a PR department.You just don't become a member of the Guild. Tori finds herself apprentice to one of the scariest mothers ever in the unassuming person of Ivan Gerhardt. Nowadays, Ivan passes himself off as a mild-mannered office manager because of reasons. But there are moments when he peels back the curtain and reminds everyone of the terrifying nightmare he once was. Tori tops the list, but Ivan is one of my favorites, one reason being he has got one of the most amazing origins ever, which he reveals in one short sentence and nothing more. Incredibly, there are others who rival Ivan in sheer earth-shattering badassery, and some of them are minor characters. One such is this guy named Kristoph. Kristoph snags only two or three scenes but they're enough to tease an alarming mystery about him. Another side guy is the dimensions-hopping Nexus, a bogeyman so formidable even Ivan doesn't want to mess with him. And then there's another favorite in Helen, a suburban mom raising an exuberant 6-year-old girl. I'm patting my own back since I figured out, in her first scene, how she fits into the story. Then, again, it's not like the writer was trying too hard to obfuscate.What is best in life? I think it's the interplay between Ivan and Tori. He's the buttoned-down, no-nonsense, "I'll kill you myself if you overstep your boundary" mentor. She's the lively apprentice with the potty mouth and who lives to overstep her boundaries. How their relationship evolves is one of the best things in this book. I love how low-key and polite Ivan is, and he's got a damn good reason to be like that. Ivan cherishes his quiet livin'. Years ago, when the others voted on "The Guild of Villainous Reformation" for their name, if Ivan had had his druthers, it would've been something more innocuous, like "Joe's Meeting Group."Three more favorites. Beverly who shifts into a diverse catalogue of dragons. Xelas, robot with a wild streak who liberated herself from being a sex toy. And Chloe the barista. Not one of my favorites: the racist superhero called the Whitest Knight. But I appreciate the play on words.Much of the story revolves around Tori's orientation and training within the Guild, and I think I made it sound more dry and detached than the writer wrote it. Tori's progression is distinguished by substantial character moments and wild action beats. The final fifth of the book - mind you, there are 91 chapters - constitutes an all-out meta-human war that essentially breaks the city. Think the third act of the Avengers movie, and maybe you'll come close to the sweeping scale. The number of boss battles in this very extended sequence is astounding.Another thing I appreciated? That Tori doesn't get a romantic arc, that she isn't sexualized or squeezed into some heart a-flutter role that would've undercut her character. There wouldn't have been room for it, anyway. Tori has got fire powers and is a prodigy when it comes to technology. But, in the Guild, she realizes she's strictly small fry. In her time as an apprentice, Tori was always one goof, one test failure, away from being eliminated by the Guild. Yeah, son, you either keep passing tests until you graduate, or you die. It's not much of a choice.I've been babbling more than brooks, sorry. It's just that I am so hyped about this book. Drew Hayes is a helluva writer. He writes with wit and humor and with poignancy. He infuses even the secondary characters with startling depth and dimension. Forging Hephaestus is such a high-spirited, such a satisfying read. It's a terribly long read, but time flew by just like me snapping my finger. Still, I need to know when the sequel is coming out because it's when I have to schedule, like, a two-week reading holiday.

Drew Hayes has a way of making fantastic worlds feel real. Interesting, entertaining, and addictive. If the super hero genre interests you, I recommend this book.

This one's a whopper. While I usually steer clear of self-published novels this size – often it means the author believes everything that pops into his mind is wicked cool, and HAS to be in the book – I'm thankful I gave this one a try. It's a great, incredibly detailed addition to the superhero fiction genre.I'm not going to go into much detail about the basic plot. Others have already done that. There are heroes who don't always act heroic, and villains who don't always act villainous. Plenty of gray areas: you get the usual tenuous alliances and forbidden relationships between hero and villain. Hayes handles all of it excellently.Characters: the characters are varied both in powers, temperament, and motivations. There are a ton of viewpoints; even minor characters get their fifteen minutes of fame. Some characters are bland, but most make you keep reading.Tori is our de facto protagonist, though again, we'll spend time with nearly everyone before the novel is done. I have mixed feelings about the fiery – in more ways than one – namesake of this novel.While Tori does care about her friends and guildmates, and while her intelligence and drive are admirable, she has too much of the “boss bitch” style to her persona. I can't stand this character type – and no, my dislike isn't gender-specific. Male characters who are portrayed as loud, brash, take-no-crap-from-anyone jackasses are just as irritating. In the real world, I avoid people with these personalities like the plague. Tori isn't as bad as some, though, which is why I give her a middling grade.Battles: the battles are usually satisfying, especially the ending melee. Some characters have silly or poorly defined powers, or powers that are so versatile they can always come up with a “get out of jail free” card, which dampens a battle's awesomeness. Chloe is an example of this versatility. As many clichés as there are in the English language, Hayes could find one to get Chloe out of any situation. Perhaps it's his intent to make her overpowered, but the real tension in superhero fiction comes from the characters' limitations, not their strengths.Writing Style: Solid. Good mix of dialogue and narrative. Few typos or head-scratching sentences.Pacing: Here's where Hayes stumbles a bit, mainly in the beginning. We have to get through seemingly endless repetition about the Code, until we're as sick of it as Tori. And while I hate to trot out the “show, don't tell” shibboleth, Hayes does love to tell. I found myself thinking on multiple occasions, “Yeah, I understand the stakes. I understand what he/she is thinking. Let's move things along, please!”Logic: Since this is a superhero novel, I expect to suspend my disbelief. Still, there are plenty of “WTF” moments. I still fail to see why the powers-that-be of the different factions let the crisis happen, for example.In sum: Though it may look like I've just been bashing Hayes, that's because I prefer to write honest reviews instead of gushing praise. This novel is exceptional, and I'll surely check out Hayes's other work. Its flaws don't warrant a star deduction; this is still a five-star read. Get it!

I've not read any of Mr Hayes' other books, but I shall be now.This was, in a word, phenomenal. Complex characters on either side, and "either side" turns out to be a complicated statement.For people who simultaneously want the pros of a super-hero book but find a black/white dichotomy tedious.It's also a good, long, read, so it'll keep you out of trouble for a number of hours.

I very much enjoyed this. A superhero book, with the main protagonist being a villain. A villain you can get on board with, but nevertheless still a bad-guy.The whole set up of "villain's who aren't too bad" makes sense within the scope of the books overriding plot. It did feel strange at first, but its explained well. Lots of interesting characters and many partial reveals of back stories and ongoing world (and universal) events to make us want the next book and see these things resolved.Long book. Lots of story and plots. Quite a few funny and sometimes thought provoking asides from the characters.I really liked it.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I'd already read Drew's SuperPowereds novels, so I knew that I'd enjoy his writing style, but I was interested to see how he would handle similar subject matter in a different setting. This book totally worked for me, and I thought it was brilliant that the "villains" in the story had understandable, relatable motives. This book also made me laugh quite a few times, especially the Cliché character, who has probably the most unique "super power" that I've ever seen described. As always for a Drew Hayes novel, this was great value for money.

Having read Hayes' other series about people with superpowers, I was expecting a similar, if not identical world. However, this book has a completely different setting, with new powers and events. As usual in any Hayes novel, the characters are interesting and well-developed, and the plot is sufficiently intricate and gripping that makes you want to know more, but still not know what's to come.I would recommend this book and Hayes' other novels to anyone wanting a great read, and even those who aren't!

As usual, Drew Hayes has written very well-rounded characters and a great plot, full of very interesting and entertaining details and dialog. This is a slightly different universe that the Super Powereds, but I loved it as much. The main character has been developed really well, from unlikeable to 'I can't wait for book 2'!