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Villains by Necessity

Villains by Necessity

List Price: $24.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fun Fantasy good for RPG-ers that need fresh ideas
Review: "Good Vs. Evil" where you want Evil to win. A great concept filled with interesting characters in a wonderful setting. A fun read.

Oh yeah...look out for the "Nifty Gnomes".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great fun, though a bit uneven
Review: "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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a well-handled story of a controversial idea...
Review: A delightfully different version of the standard "good vs. evil" fantasy story. The concept of "necessary evil" is handled well, and the idea of "is good really good?" makes the reader really rethink those concepts. This book is well written, and excels in it's difficult task of making us like and identify with so-called "evil" characters. Brava!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A fresh take on a tired genre.
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read, couldn't put it down
Review: A good friend gave me this book to read. I wasn't a real fantasy reader before, but now I am in serch of other books like this one. Foreward did a great job on this book, and I highly reccomend it to anyone who wants a fun read that takes you through adventure, magic and love. A must read!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well worth reading
Review: Avoid reviews that use words like "derivative" and "workmanlike"...not just for this book, but for any book. They are written by people who are too impressed with themselves to be impressed by books. Take the time and read this one. It is funny and well written, and won't disappoint.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This book rocks!!!!!!
Review: Buy it. You'll love it as much as I did.I can't wait for more of Eve Forwards books to come out. This book has it all. A great plot, interesting characters, humor, and it's hard to put down. What more could you want from a book? I've read this book more times than I can remember and it is still the best book I have ever read!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What happens at the end of a fantasy series?
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Everything you could want in a stand-alone fantasy novel! Great action, wonderful character developement, loveable characters, a genuinely unique tale, a lovely sense of humor, and a charming love story all combine to create one hell of an enjoyable read. I suggest getting your copy FAST. This gem isn't in large circulation and the prices are sure to rise as more and more readers discover it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Solid fiction
Review: For once, the bad guys get all the credit! In a time when the bookstores have a seemingly endless supply of new Sci-Fi and Fantasy titles, it is refreshing to read a story that does not simply rehash old themes and ideas. Sure, Villians by Necessity has many of the classic elements of quality Fantasy literature, dragons, heroes, villains, black knights, white wizards (not necessarily in that order, but they are treated with a fresh eye and just a proper touch of toungue-in-cheek. -e.Kimberly


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