⋙ Read Gratis Forging Hephaestus Villains' Code Drew Hayes Amy Landon Books

Forging Hephaestus Villains' Code Drew Hayes Amy Landon Books

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Forging Hephaestus Villains' Code Drew Hayes Amy Landon Books

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.


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Forging Hephaestus Villains' Code Drew Hayes Amy Landon Books Reviews

I have been following Drew Hayes for several years. I started reading his web novel Super Powereds about 4 years ago and have read about half his published books since then. This is a different and new setting for those familiar with his other books.

While I have always enjoyed his writing, I have to say that he has really improved on his skills during this time as well. Forging Hephaestus is a polished and professional work that keeps all the characteristic charm and wit of his earlier stories. It is long but has excellent pacing never seeming to drag, and despite leaving the door open for a sequel tells a complete and compelling story. The characters have a great life to them and that oddly relatable quality that is hard to nail down in wild fantasy novels.

I can't recommend this highly enough of all the indie/semi indie super hero fiction on this is my favorite to date (soon I will be invincible, the d list supervillain novels, wearing the cape, don't tell my parents I am a super villain, velveteen, and the Dire series are some others I regard highly so you know how my tastes run and what I am comparing it too.
It is unusual for writers to be able to create separate universes that are similar, but Drew Hayes has done it.
This is not SuperPowereds. It's a tad darker. Even the writing seemed a little different, but still up to the standard of the best Drew Hayes. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

If you are new to Drew Hayes, he's good. The Fred books are funny. The Spells series is quirky and builds well. SuperPowereds is addicting with fun characters. You get a little bit of swearing. You get a little bit of reference to sex but it is reference not scenes and not gratuitous. You get some drinking. Essentially, you get good storytelling that is not ruined by someone trying to be shocking, post-modern, and depressing. Given this, don't be surprised that the "Villains" aren't really so bad. You will not feel like you are making a pact with the devil when you love the main characters.
Drew has really outdone himself with this one.
The characters are fully developed, I want to see and learn more about the background characters. The main character has been shown and developed well, and Ivan was revealed through good pacing, with each revelation making him better and better.
The action was superb, the suspense was well placed without getting irritating or stressful, the pacing was done well.

All in all I am genuinely glad that I read this book, and I look forward to seeing the series develop.
I first stumbled upon Drew Hayes from his Super Powereds collection - I wasn't expecting much, so imagine my pleasure at getting a smart story with more nuance and complexity than you usually get from the genre. (And here's hoping the next installment comes out soon!)

Drew is getting better with every book - seriously better. I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed when Forging Hephaestus came out that it wasn't a continuation of the Super Powereds series, but that disappointment quickly evaporated. It's a fantastic story with compelling characters throughout that (thankfully) fall all along the moral spectrum. How they interact with each other and evolve is entertaining and realistic without being overly predictable. Plus, the imagination applied to the power set really stands out and adds to the characterization. (Seriously, Nexus is one of the creepier characters I've come across in this genre, and he's absolutely fantastic.)

With each chapter ending like a mini-cliffhanger, I stayed up way too late reading this book, and of course I wanted more by the time I was finished. Drew Hayes, I both praise you and curse you - praise for delivering such a fantastic story, and curse you for making me wait on yet another installment for one of your series.
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 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.