Customer Reviews

Villains by Necessity

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a twist on the usual fantasy story, Forward's heroes are not classically good-hearted heroes, but instead villians. Including an assassin, an evil sorceress, a greedy thief, and a black knight, the main characters are likable and intriguing. They band together to save the world from destruction by the powers of good.

In the beginning, I found the characters one-dimensional. However, as the story quickly unfolded, I was fascinated to see that both character introspection and interaction developed their personalities to an amazing degree. After that, even minor, short-lived characters managed to grab my attention fully.

There are a number of sly digs at other fantasy works, which make Villians By Necessity an even funnier book if you're well-read in fantasy novels.

A first glance and a quick skim through, Villains by Necessity, by Eve Forward, seems like your average, run-of-the-mill comic fantasy epic, involving a band of adventurers out to save the world against unlikely odds. However, take a look closer, and you'll find something familiar, yet strangely unique, and a great read along the way.

What Forward does here is not introduce new types of fantasy worlds, but lampoon already existing ideas that have been beaten harder than any dead horse could hope for. "Villains by Necessity" takes place in a world called the Six Lands, a place Forward most likely intended to resemble Middle-Earth. The prolouge tells the tale of a great war long ago, where a Dark Evil King battled the forces of good. It took a small band to overcome their differences and defeat the Dark Lord (hmm, where have I heard THAT before?). Now, 150 years later, the banishment of evil threatens to destroy all in a blinding flash of goodness. Now, THAT's a bit different.

Enter our anti-heroes. An assassin, a thief, a druid, a sorceress, a dark knight, and a centaur must band together to bring balance back to the world, ere it sublimates itself. Take what you're used to and flip it. The bad guys must save the world from itself.

Interesting, no? Having the left-overs from forces of evil, defeated in the decisive Final Battle described in countless fantasy novels, set out to undo that Victory. Despite preconceived roles of pure nastiness that one would prescribe to this group, Forward instead develops these supposed irredeemable souls into a group one might actually find after the Absolute Victory.

Some have complained that these characters are not "evil enough", but it makes sense, the way Forward weaves it; the most evil creatures in existence were snuffed out... people of merely "flexible morals" are what one would have left. If one was of an incredibly dark nature, the followers of light would have found and eliminated one without problem. So what would be left with is people who commit evil acts purely out of necessity (hence the title). Make sense now?

Also, by having these characters obstain from being two-dimensionally evil, Forward challenges what it actually means to be good or evil. The "good" characters attempting to prevent evil from returning perform acts normally reserved by evil people. When good exists only for its own sake, and all right and wrong lost, "good" can become just as bad as evil, Forward suggests. What's being said is that sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken (i.e. claiming goodness and piety and actually exercising them are two very different things).

The actual characters, both main and secondary, are likable and fleshed out nicely. We find ourselves sympathizing with Sam the assassin and his Cohorts and thinking "Wait, these guys are 'evil', and I feel for them?! You mean that villains just might be people too?! Whoa!!" Yes, these so-called villains are not paper-thin OR have laughs that consist of repeating "Mwah-hah-hah".

Everything in this novel is designed to be a parody of the Tolkein and D&D world. Sam is a rouge, as is Arcie, who also has dwarf/hobbit features, Valerie the Nathauan is a take on Dark Elves, Kaylana is a Druid (well, duh), Blackmail is an anti-paladin, and Robin is a bard. Their nemesisi consist of a ranger (even described as a "Strider"), a elven wizard whom reminds me so much of Gandalf the Grey it startled me (though the differences between a wizard and a sorceror are very D&D). There's deep dwarven tunnels (a la Moria), barbarians (a class in D&D), dragons possessing "alignment", etc. etc. If you've ever played a game of D&D, and if you know the literary fantasy genre, you've seen a lot of the content of Villains by Necessity, which would be a detractor in any other novel. Not here, though. The familiarity actually helps Eve drive her points home better than a +2 Bow of True Strike... or something like that...

All nerdy D&D references aside, and despite all the familiar ground covered, the most important part of the novel, the twisting of preconcieved notions of good and evil in the dogmatic epic fantasy genre, is the biggest and best reason to pick up VbN (gotta love run-on sentences). You'll also find good pacing, good plotting, a nice amount of humor, some unforeseen plot twists, and very likable characters.

In short, while Villains by Necessity seems familiar, you're likely to be pleasently surprised.

Golly, so much to say about this book, and so little time. Well, first off, it was a wonderful twist on the usual good-going-off-to-battle-evil storyline, and showing interesting reprecussions of that particular storyline as well. So, take the plot, an interesting twist on an old (good vs evil) concept, and you've got the makings for a great story. Now, onto characters. I have read hundreds of books in my day, and, with the exception of Kaylana (and I believe she was supposed to be like that, too), I have never read a more likable cast of characters. Forward did some real character development, again, giving the usual one-dimensional bad guys depth- the heartsick, black-clad blond assassin, who kinda of likes rhymes, for example, and the dark sorceress who saw her family brutally murdered at the hands of heroes, simply for being what they were. Interesting, interesting, I say. A great book. I just finished reading it for the sixth time.

You know this has happened to you. You're reading a traditional, high-fantasy type novel. About fifty pages in, you're skimming through the third long-winded, introspective inner monologue of the hero of the story about battling the evil in his heart. Don't you just wish sometimes that the bad guy, who's usually a much more interesting person anyway, would just come up and whack him? This is the book for you. Along with all the traditional aspects of high fantasy--the warrior, the mage, the theif, quests, labyrinths and insurmountable odds--this book has a wicked sense of humor and depth, and characters that will stay with you forever. It's for those of us who have always wanted to step on the lovable gnomes, smack around vapid princesses and say "BWA-HAHAHAAAA!!" and mean it. Definitely my favorite book of all time :)

After an all-out war, Good has at last truimphed over Evil. Peace, milk and cookies now reign over all the kingdoms. But something is wrong. The total victory of the forces of Good has created an internal imbalance in the universe and now, unless Evil is raised up to a measure of its former glory, the world will end. It falls upon an assorted group of leftover minor villains and misfits to save the day. Included in this contentious band are: Sam, a bored assassin always clothed in black; Arcie, his vertically-challenged sneakthief sidekick; Valeriana, an embittered sorceress; Kaylana, a Druid priestess; Blackmail, a mute black knight; and Robin, a naive minstrel-centaur who chronicles the villains' deeds. Pursued and harried at every turn by the minions of Good, with a spy lurking in their midst, this bunch of lowlifes must learn to co-exist and then somehow reopen the magically sealed Darkgate and release darkness back into the world. Only the Good die young? Not in this book.

Eve Forward may be the daughter of sci-fi writer Robert L. Forward but this debut novel is more reminiscent of Roger Zelazny's work, in its wit, tone and predisposition to upending themes. She writes with zest and imparts a sense of satiric fun to the epic proceedings. Her oily-haired assassin Sam is an endearing character, never mind that he's technically a bad guy. I fervently hope she puts out more books in the feature. I wouldn't mind a bit if she revisits this fantasy universe.

Lastly, this book needs to be re-released and soon. I've looked everywhere for a copy and the lowest price I've found is $38.25 for a paperback from the original printing.

"Villains by Necessity" is indeed a dreadfully derrivative fantasy quest, with all the exesses we have sadly come to expect. However, the fact that the heroes are villains, out to save the world from the forces of good, makes all the difference. Besides which, Eve Forward is perfectly well aware that her story is derrivative, and pokes fun at cliches even as she uses them.

Our "heroes" are Sam, a depressed and unemployed assassin; his thieving friend Arcie; Kaylana, the druid who warns them of the world's immanent destruction; Valeriana, the evil sorceress; a dark knight who never speaks or raises his visor; and the centaur Robin, a rather hapless young minstrel. They travel through the Six Lands, searching for pieces of the key that will open the Dark Gate and return evil to the world. As their quest progressed, I did find myself wishing Forward had been slightly less tied to the strict conventions of epic-quest fantasy, which forces her characters and plot into a very familiar pattern. But though the story arc and episode types are predictable, the details are well-handled; many scenes are utterly hilarious, and some are unexpectedly poignant.

There are a few efforts at philosophy, including discussions about the relationship of ultimate good and ultimate evil; both are dangerous and meaningless without each other. The idea that no worthwhile art has been created since evil was vanquished strikes me as dead-on accurate. And the secrets of Valerie's past, while never making her in any way a nice person, do illuminate the sticky, evasive morality inherent in battles against "irredeemably evil" creatures.

Mostly, though, "Villains by Necessity" is just sheer fun, very welcome to anyone who ever secretly doubted unicorns' perfection and dragons' nobility, found the villains more interesting (and human) than the heroes, and wished that after all their effort, the bad guys could finally win. Even just once.

Eve Forward answers a question I've had for years: what happens in fantasy worlds when the Heroes have conquered the Dark Lord and Ultimate Evil is banished from the world?

Forward suggests in this tongue-in-cheek novel that Ultimate Good can be as bad as Ultimate Evil. The idea is that free will might be compromised if there are no alternatives.

Six anti-heroes set out on a quest to right the wrong (or perhaps wrong the right?) done by the Heroes of old. Each is somewhere on the scale of evil: an out-of-work assassin, a former guild master of the thieves, a taciturn black knight, a Druidess who believes that balance is most important, a truly evil sorceress who enjoys a human snack now and then, and a hapless centaur who is really spying for Good.

Don't try to take the book too seriously--I don't believe Forward meant to create a timeless classic fantasy at the level of Tolkien or others. Instead, she pokes fun at various created worlds and ideas. One favorite of mine is when the assassin chastises the thief for his smoking habit. "I'm a Barrigan (a ethnic group), not a habbit." True, not high comedy...but it got a chuckle out of me.

If you find this book at a used bookstore, pick it up. You may be just killing time, but you'll have fun doing it.

What happened AFTER the Heroes saved the world and entered into a time of great prosperity? Now we know! It plays both ways. A hard-to-find book, to be sure. My one complaint (ok, two) is that the publisher has decided not to reprint it, and that a sequel hasn't been written! It is an ingenius story line and screams to be a series and/or a movie! I highly recommend it for anyone who is into Fantasy or is thinking about it! Some of the scenes and aspects of the book I would have liked to see fleshed out more, and further character development. However, as books go, it is a supreme balance of plot, background, and interaction and is one of my all-time favorites!

Villians by Necessity is a fun and amusing book about the bad guys trying to set the world right again, after the triumph of goodness and light. A definite parody of the "heroic fantasy", the book is fun and an enjoyable read. The plot is standard (anti)-heroic quest fare, and the characters are more cariacature-like than full-drawn personalities: Valerie is just nasty, Robin faints at everything, etc. Sam is the one exception, and thus the most likeable character in the book, in my opinion. He is the one who really blurs the lines between what is good and what is evil. Fun, but with its share of flaws (some of the comic bits are a bit over-done) and inconsistancies. For people who enjoyed the premise of this book, I'd recommend Louise Cooper's Time Master Trilogy: The Initiate, The Outcast, and The Master--a more serious look at the same concept. All in all, a worthwhile read, but expect fun, not brilliance.

What if the "Good Guys" were to win so decisively that the balance of all things would be "sublimated in a dazzling brilliance"?

Such is the question posed by Eve Forward, and it is one that has great potential. While most fantasy novels stop at "happily ever after" she takes it a step further and explains how a world of pure goodness would be just as bad as a world wracked by chaos.

Unfortunately, I found the rest of the novel to be woefully lacking. No sooner does one get hooked by the enticing premise than one discovers that the characters are sent on a 6-step Fetch Quest.
Blah.

The "Fetch Quest" sections of the book--which is most of it--are as boring as reading a ZELDA novel as opposed to actually playing the game. This is actually a good analogy, because as it turns out, Eve Forward actually used to write screenplays for a ZELDA TV show!

As if that isn't bad enough, just about every fantasy cliche you can think of is within the covers of this book. Dragons, the cute female interest, the knight in shining (black) armor, riddles in the dark, assorted caves, last second escapes and all the rest.

What a shame that the author thought outside of the box, only to resort to "in the box" cliches and tedium that we've all read before.

The characters were also hard to agree with. Out of all 6 of them, the only one that was terribly "evil" was Valerie, a shark-toothed sorceress with a cannibalistic past. The rest were more of a collection of misfits than anything else and seldom did anything really appalling.

In general the book comes across as a PG or maybe a PG-13, but with evil being the centerpiece of discussion I think some more "evil" events would allow one to take this novel more seriously. It's like a light-hearted Saturday morning cartoon trying to be simultaneously philosophical and entertaining on a dark subject.

On a more positive note, there is one clever, funny joke that is a word-play on "Assassin".
Also, the last few pages of the novel do wrap things up nicely and even the ending paragraph is very well written.

If the author had stayed away from the "Fantasy-By-The-Numbers" approach and kept her thinking outside of the box, this book could have been truly brilliant, a genre-defining novel. As is, this book is a mildly entertaining read, offering an interesting premise that deserved deeper exploration.