Alex James's Blog: AlexJamesNovels Blog - Posts Tagged "heroine"

Vigorously entertaining science-fiction super-villain adventure parody that may at first seem like a cross between Naked Gun and Austin Powers, but with a serious and strong plot. In his astounding debut novel, author Jesse Baruffi shows us the ridiculous and far-fetched way heroes are presented, as inordinately stupid supermen who can brush any affliction aside and who mindlessly fight for democracy and freedom, defying natural laws, and of course being unfaithful to their girlfriends!

We have Otto Von Trapezoid, a mad scientist supervillain who is emotionally stunted and has a short temper that sometimes leads to inadequacy and poor short-term decisions. Otto’s personality archetype exaggerates the problems scientists cause when they don’t think while at the same time possessing devastating weaponry. There’s Esmerelda, a master thief who has comical martial arts reflexes, being more concerned with style and appearance, and she has a hilarious disregard for incongruity. While Otto must decide between emotions and drones, Esmerelda must contend with her nasty family.

When the villians meet during a particularly memorable dinner, it is to have a civilised conversation, while of course plotting to end one another’s lives. Otto’s failed attempts were funny because he was so agitated and awkward that he missed his mark and managed to casually thwart Esmerelda’s attempts to do away with him. The protagonist point-of-view focus was well-balanced as we see the developing enmity between both, and the story develops with amusing and crucial incidents that cover betrayal and of course their run—in with Jake Indestructible (no introduction necessary). The villains were imaginatively created; mirrors that deflect projectiles, remote controlled boomerang, ROPE (rocket-operated punching explosive), etc. The villains were not overly negative and when they were treacherous it was artfully done, not cynically, and splashed with inventive humour. Though the main traitor was obvious much earlier in the novel, the scenes were delivered with excitement and energy. There’s a serious adventure beneath the puns, jargon, and mocked clichés that is a battle between good and evil where the reader never really switches sides.

Criticism: I didn’t get all of the humour, or why some sub-characters were presented in the ridiculous way they were, such as Otto’s parents. It’s clear many of the jokes were about exaggeration, and as I continued to read and the main plot developed, I must have got used to the style and found much of it humorous. Also, I thought the distrust between Otto and Esmerelda wasn’t fully explored, even if they did occasionally question each other’s secrecy or motives.

Overall, you do not need to understand all the humour to experience this wildly entertaining read that glues our perceptions of heroes and villains into something original, compelling, humorous, layered, and with a plot that continued to evolve at just the right pace. Astounding!

In this sequel to The Oathbound, of the Vows and Honor omnibus, Mercedes Lackey focuses on the politics of the lands they are in as much as the characters and this includes raising armies, building loyalties, and seeing the bigger picture of their battle against evil. The enemies weren’t mages or criminals; they were kings. The corrupt deeds of those in power was highlighted.

The stakes are as high as ever, when leader of the Sunhawks mercenary tribe Idra goes missing. Idra went to see which of her brothers was fit for the throne and so she left the tribe’s camp, but her long absence and lack of communication are unusual, worrying even. The Sunhawks tribe, and especially Idra’s close friends Tarma and Kethry, go to investigate the kingdom and see what they can find out. Under cover of delivering free quality horses to the stable master, they gain access to the kingdom and seek to find a way into the King’s court. They’re looking for the court archivist, whose job it is to record the truth; the library was be-spelled that way. The court archivist is friends with the stable master and is an old man, being both honest and knowledgeable; but first they must earn his trust.

In comparison with The Oathbound, there are more mage battles than sword battles in Oathbreakers. I missed the sword battles Tarma had in The Oathbound. However, we are introduced to the basics of the White Winds magical powers and follow Kethry as she develops these powers to battle against enemies or pit herself against enemy mages and assassins. Wolfish Kyree, Warrl, is as wondrous as ever: subtly shifting form, viciously snapping necks, offering sage advice, and sleeping on the hearth to keep warm. It takes a bit to get into the story. There are descriptions of settings, characters, and situations we aren’t familiar with at first and some of the sub-characters introduced at this time were unremarkable and it confused me a bit.

At the back of the book there is a selection of poems and language translations. I really liked how the poems summarised the lore and most important issues in the stories. There is a particular poem that resonated with me about Jadrek, the court archivist, and his being stuck in a library studying lore without having the opportunity to live life, while age took its toll; waiting for someone to save him and put him into a situation where he can be useful. Overall, Oathbreakers is a good novel with fascinating characters in a world where you can’t be too prepared.