FANTASY NOVEL | V.E. Schwab's 'Vicious'
In a world saturated with superheroes and their origin stories, you’d expect V.E. Schwab’s ‘Vicious’ to fall by the wayside of the masses. However, due to its unique plot, stunningly complex and charismatic characters, and overall themes of moral ambiguity, 'Vicious' has shot to fantasy fame.
Right now, ‘Vicious’ is a standalone adult fantasy novel following the two main characters of Eliot (Eli) Cardale and Victor Vale in a world modelled on our own, with the difference being the existence of people with super powers, known as EOs.
The novel follows close friends Eli and Victor in their college years as they study the phenomenon of Eos, and decide to experiment with creating them, using themselves as guinea pigs; this leads to the plot which takes place ten years later after Victor escapes from prison.
Victor is now Eli’s arch nemesis, and the two men spend all their time trying to outsmart the other until their inevitable meeting. Although this storyline might sound familiar, Schwab’s focus on details, character development and open ended treatment of powerful themes make this a book unlike any other.
Artwork by @Baldsinging. You can find more of the artist's work HERE.
The characters are the stand out of this novel. Eli and Victor are strong, immoral, interesting characters who are immensely compelling. Victor is especially well-written and explored as a character. He is more of a stereotypical villain, yet also the novel’s protagonist. Victor does despicable things for what can be deemed as ‘the right reasons’, and yet somehow manages to be likeable - proven by his ability to create his own family of misfits.
Eli is the typical charismatic and kind college boy who does similarly terrible things for what he believes are just reasons. Eli and Victor both complement and clash with each other, propelling the novel forward in a nail-biting way.
The side characters are also well fleshed out, particularly the Clarke sisters. Serena and Sydney Clarke are sisters who are brought into Eli’s devious plans, and are therefore between Eli and Victor’s battle of wills. Both girls are independent, strong-willed and unbelievably flawed.
Sydney, who is still a child for the course of this book, is possibly the most innocent and least morally grey of all the characters in the book, but also deals with some of the biggest consequences of Eli and Victor’s games.
Serena is of college student age, and is a fascinating study of women agency and the illogical nature of human beings trying to hold on to conflicting beliefs.
A real highlight of the novel is the interesting world of EOs. In this world, EOs are more so rumours than real for the general populace, but the police are made aware of them and have resources pooled into looking out for and managing EOs. Additionally, as the reader follows Eli and Victor through their research of how EOs are made, we begin to learn that an EOs powers are not accidental and question whether they are reflections of a personal nature. Perhaps the best aspect about the world of EOs are that the powers all come with consequences. We are not talking about Kryptonite or great responsibilities, but individual downsides to each person’s powers, and they are as complex and played out as the characters themselves.
The writing of the book is powerful in its simplicity. It contains lines that are beautiful and quotable, whilst doing its job of focussing its readers on the characters and the building of tension and suspense in such a way that is experienced intimately. There are no signs of author laziness in this book, and the slow paced nature fits, in hindsight, with what is trying to be achieved.
If you have not yet read V.E. Schwab or Victoria Schwab’s writing (she uses both names), ‘Vicious’ is a great way to emerge yourself into some of her best.
If you are a fan of manga or anime, and would like to dip into the book world, then ‘Vicious’ is highly recommended due to sharing similar themes to that of the cult-status series ‘Death Note’.
‘Vicious’ is available at all retail and online bookstores across the UK and Australia.
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