World Divided

The Secret World Chronicles #2

by Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee

From New York Times best-seller and science fiction and fantasy mistress of adventure Mercedes Lackey, #2 in a new pulse-pounding saga of modern-day humans with superpowers. After turning back an invasion of super-science power Nazi war machines, the heroes go on the hunt for the Nazi masters and take the battle to the bad guys.

Meta-Heroes Battle On!

After an Earth-scarring apocalyptic battle, humanity’s meta-heroes must take the fight to the enemy. Their task: hunt down the secret puppetmasters behind the Nazi robot invasion, the Thule Society, and cut off the multi-universe plague the Thulians have unleashed. It’s go time once again for the meta-heroes including fire-bender John Murdock, hacker-witch Vikki Nagy, healer Belladona Blue, super-quick Mercurye–and most of all for their ghostly ally, Seraphym, the spirit of the world who uses her secret influence to direct the fight against a Thulian-based tyranny of evil that is fast descending upon the entire universe!

From New York Times best-seller and science fiction and fantasy mistress of adventure Mercedes Lackey together with a team of topnotch collaborators, the second entry in the blockbuster saga of superpowers–and the very human men and women who must learn to wield them.

About World Divided:
"[C]omes together seamlessly. . .an awesome and lightning-paced story: read it on a day when you will not have to put it down."–San Francisco Book Review

About Mercedes Lackey:
"With [Mercedes Lackey], suspense never lags..." –Kliatt

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Urban Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Adventure

432 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.

"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.

"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.

"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:

"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."

Also writes as Misty Lackey

Author's website

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

World Divided
Author: Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, Veronica Giguere, Larry Dixon
Publisher: Baen
Published In: Riverdale, NY
Date: February, 2012
Pgs: 421

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
A respite in the alien Nazi invasion. Humanity’s meta-heroes fought the enemy off. In the midst of rebuilding, Nazi raiders and motorcycle rednecks swarm out to attack and snipe at the survivors. Secret lairs are discovered. A coup is planned. Extradimensional super intelligent Earthlings stand pat. The Nazis won’t be able to reach them. Sure they won’t.

Genre:
End of the World
Fiction
Military
Science fiction
Superheroes
UFOs
War

Why this book:
Shared universe superheroes.
______________________________________________________________________________

Favorite Character:
Herbert the earth elemental.

Vic the PTSD mage.

Least Favorite Character:
Soviete. She’s a bit of a scenery chewer. All bombast.

Dominic Verdigris III is a everything character. He’s a mary sue villain. He’s a walking deus ex machina. However he goes down, it won’t feel right after all the stuff that he’s done validating his villain credentials.

The janitor/government control officer. He’s pure Gyrich.

The Feel:
Not as good as Invasion. Feels like moving the characters around so we can do something next time.

Favorite Scene:
Herbert going Groot to save the team from the destructing underground lair of Goldman in the Nevada desert. With Groot-like results and his showing up to live with Vic.

When Yankee Pride is introduced to Overwatch in the attack on the diner. And his dealing with the government control officer masquerading as a janitor once Vic tells him where the bodies are buried on that guy.

Pacing:
The pace is good.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Soviete’s personality seems different from the first book. Course it could be put down to the difference being due to the first book being warfare and this one being aftermath.

When Murdock reveals his secret origin to Belladonna Blue and she appears to get mad at him. Doesn’t wash with the way that she has acted previously.

Hmm Moments:
Dominic Verdigris III is something else. One part Lex Luthor, one part Blofeld. Love the BBQ sauce recipe being a byproduct of the discovery of a new kind of clean chum for sharks. And the Seraphym appearing to him and pointing out that if the alien, extradimensional Nazis win, he’ll be a brain-in-a-box.

Goldman’s vault containing samples of the giant robot Nazi armor that the Thulians used in the first book.

When Vic summoned Herbert, I thought we were about to get an appearance by The Mountain.

Are they moving to have a coup at Echo? Considering that Verdigris is circling and trying to takeover both Echo and Blacksnake, this could be some fireworks.
______________________________________________________________________________

Last Page Sound:
Not as good as the first book in the series.

Author Assessment:
Will look at other stuff by these authors.

Editorial Assessment:
Should have pushed for this to be a part of the story for Book 3, instead of being a setup piece for the next chapter.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
it’s alright

Disposition of Book:
Interlibrary Loan
Plano Public Library System
Maribelle M Davis Library
7501 Independence Pkwy
Plano, TX 75025-2489

Dewey Decimal System:
SF
LAC

Would recommend to:
genre fans
______________________________________________________________________________

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second in the Secret World Chronicle dystopian comic in text form.

Based on characters from the MMORPG game, City of Heroes.

My Take
It's like reading a comic book but without the pictures. A sea of superheroes, some of whom manifest with special powers brought on by traumatic events, and they all have typical superhero crazy names. The majority are bent on protecting the world with a few on the other side. Naturally, the bad guys have too much strength and superior weaponry.

It's lot of action with a fascinating blend of real world tactics and superhero exploits.

LMLG have created a nice bit of tension with the various factions: there's the American company of metahumans, Echo, with its wimpy leader, struggling to battle the bad guys; the CCCP are Russian metahumans rejected by their homeland, struggling to hold the party line and protect their neighborhood; Domenic Verdigris the multibillionaire psychopath representing the baddest of the bad...humans; and, finally, the Nazi-like Thulians, an alien race who interfaced with the Nazis in World War II and have attacked earth.

The authors take turns creating the chapters and do a wonderfully seamless job of it; admittedly, Lackey is a partner on most of them. I do love how well they maintain the various characters' accents and speaking styles. Very impressive.

The missions Bulwark's Misfits take on allow us to see them grow as a team. Right up until the end.

I gotta confess that Verdigris is pretty funny to read even as his attitude disgusts me.

Verdigris had written some of the Evil Overlord lists; he thought they were hilarious.

Bella has an interesting---and practical---approach to PTSD. I suspect a lot of people can empathize with the kind of care Mel has received and would appreciate Bella's honesty. It's possible that soldiers won't want to read of Mel's ordeals as a POW. Too many bad memories.

I think Khanjar is missing the point of balancing her karma.

Whew. We get John's backstory on how he became a meta as well as Vicki's childhood history and what led to her current disabilities. Jack has some beans to spill, but for all his smarts, he's kind of dumb in where, when, and how he spills it. Red Djinni leaks his story with all that thinking and regretting he's doing.

I hate that I'm gonna have to wait for book 3---this is a fun read, if you enjoy dystopian, militaristic, sci-fi, that is.

The Story
After the Thulian attack in Invasion , the world has fallen apart. Many of the meta superheroes are dead. Cities are in ruins. And the pieces are being picked up by the underworld. Crooks, Verdigris, Blackstone.

Seraphym visits Verdigris and shows him the future awaiting him. One so terrible, so invasive that he willingly changes his direction. But, hey, he's a super villain...

Bulwark's Misfits are expendable enough that Echo sends them into the Goldman Catacombs. A possibly mystical storage area of the Thulians. Then there's John's interaction helping to protect a nuclear power plant. A wood-fired one. The battles with the Rebs. All sorts of betrayal at Echo Ops.

And a somewhat expected pairing.

The Characters
John Murdock is an enhanced human who is much stronger and faster than the average human and can shoot fire from his fingertips. He was Delta Force before he volunteered for the enhancement. Now he's allied with the CCCP.

CCCP and its operatives
Kicked out of Mother Russia, these superhero rejects are determined to battle for America and life while they protect the people around their headquarters. Red Saviour is their leader, a.k.a., Commissar Natalya Shostakovich. Jadwiga is the doctor, a.k.a., Soviette; Gamayun is CCCP's answer to Vickie; Chug was a brilliant scientist before his accident, now he's an incredibly strong rocklike creature; Georgi Vlasov, a.k.a., Untermensch; Perun has an affinity to electricity; Rusalka; Vladimir Pavlovich Polokhov, a.k.a., Soviet Bear, knows all about the ancient Soviet generators the CCCP uses; Mamona is a psionicist; Sirin forces the ground to erupt; Alkonost "dazes targets with her ear-piercing shrieks"; Striborg; Fei Li uses swords; Zmey wears a hydrocephalic flame-producing helmet; Upyr is a botanist and has a vampiric power in which she takes people's energy and can pass it on to others; and People's Blade. New arrivals who just get a mention include Molotok. Seems the Soviets don't want any metas who don't toe the party line or whose powers aren't up to snuff.

Echo and its operatives
Victoria Victrix Nagy (for some reason Saviour calls her Daughter of Rasputin) is a crippled techno-mage with a penchant for hacking. She sets up Operation Overwatch with Blue. Grey is her psychic cat. Herbert is an earth elemental friend of Vicki's. A very useful friend to have.

Belladonna "Blue" Parker was a blue-skinned empathic medtech with the Las Vegas Fire Department before the invasion. Now she's an Echo Operative in Atlanta. And one of the pivots around which the revolution will swirl. She and Vicki are secretly allied with the CCCP. It's that attitude of hers that keeps bringing Sera around.

Bulwark is a legit Echo Op and incredibly strong. He believes that there is no useless metahuman and takes on the misfits, Bulwark's Misfits. Red Djinni was a thief and brings those successful skills to the team, his power is growing a second, almost impervious skin. Harmony is a spineless wimp who can enhance another operative's powers. Scope's ability is to sight with her eyes, and Bruno Acrobat has the abilities of a circus acrobat enhanced with superpower. And, boy, does this guy bounce! Bulwark's Misfits are one of the teams Vickie equips with her gadgets.

Flak, Motu (he can transform his skin) and Matai are Samoan brothers, Corbie transforms with big, black wings, Leader of the Pack interacts with dogs, and Silent Knight uses sound to disable or kill. Granny Aiken was a World War II vet (Pretty Sally back in the day)---she throws things with her mind. Little Dolly is five-foot-six with 48 DDs and she's always packing. The list of the weapons she normally carries sounds like they weigh more than she does. Her superpower is intuitive marksmanship. Jamaican Blaze has some nice fire control. Spin Doctor is mentioned.

Corbie usually works with Handsome Devil, Einhorn, and Shakti. Speed Fiend is an Echo OpOne operative wearing a "Max Max, junkyard version of a salt-flat racer"---this boy can drive.

Alex Tesla is the leader of Echo. And, man, is he ever falling down on the job. He's so freaked that he's useless. His father is Nikola Tesla, one of the brains at Metis. Yankee Pride, a.k.a., YP, is second-in-command at Echo and very by-the-book. He's also the public persona with his handsome American patriotic looks. Detective Ramona Ferarri is fed up with Tesla's cowardice. The Ides of March are the precog writings of an autistic man, Matthew March. Their contents have Tesla cowering beneath his desk.

Seraphym is one of God's angels and forbidden to interfere in man's free will. Most can't see her; a few will. She also feels the need to protect John Murdock for the part she senses he must play.

Kara Kane, a.k.a., Barbara Kronstein, is working as a stripper but can amplify sound, and she's desperately in need of rescuing. Melisandre Gautier was discarded by Echo when she was too damaged mentally after an op went bad.

Sergeant Lawson commands a small National Guard squad protecting a nuclear power plant. Gilly, Jackson, and Fieldhouse are some of his men.

The janitor, a "cleaner", is a government type with a very suspicious agenda.

Dominic Verdigris III is a multibillionaire, a sociopathic psychopath, and a super genius. The Lex Luthor of the Secret World Chronicle. He's even got his own shark tank to tidy up those messy leftovers like Karamjit Bhandari. Khanjar is a metahuman, Verdigris' chief of security, personal bodyguard, professional assassin, and his lover.

Thulian metahumans, a.k.a., Kriegers
Doppelgaenger can change himself to look like anyone. The Thulians use Death Spheres that are practically invincible flying machines using antigrav which flattens ANYthing underneath them to transport metal-clad troops, which the Death Sphere can also pick up via magnetic attraction.

Rebs
Think of the Rebs as the bad guys from Mad Max. They run around on motorcycles and try to intimidate everyone. Bad Bowie is the first bad boy leader in World Divided. Rebel Yell sets up a pretty nasty ambush.

Metis is a hidden, "forbidden city of innovation", a pure democracy filled with brilliant, terrified scientists. Rick Poitier, a.k.a., Mercurye, is their welcome prisoner. Nikola Tesla and Enrico Marconi are still alive, technically, but without much power.

Blacksnake is the evil twin to Echo. They also provide security, but they're very comfortable destroying people to gain businesses and new employees, like Kip. Jack, a.k.a., Rancor, is the guy who betrayed Red in Invasion . And the new Blacksnake Commander.

The Cover
It's definitely a Baen cover with its comic graphics and intensely colored title. One of the Thulian wolves in the underground lair is snarling on the metal-tiled floor, swishing its nastily barbed tail.

The title doesn't begin to explain the problems in this installment of the Chronicle. This is a World Divided into so many factions with most warring against the other.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment of the Secret World Chronicles.

I'm learning ever more about the various characters, both good, bad, and those who, like most of humanity, fit somewhere in the middle.

What I'm enjoying a lot, surprisingly for me, are the slightly different voices in each chapter. Although Misty is a constant - and I feel her work mostly within an emotional context - whichever author was co-writing with her, also showed their own voices in the writing, and that gave the whole book a more vivid feel to it.

As I'm not really familiar with the type of gaming worlds that these books were inspired from, I can't comment how well, or not, that the books follow them, but they remind me so much of the Marvel-type of world, that I cant help enjoying them for it but, as a reader, I have to say that I prefer reading these books, and picturing how I feel the characters should be, than watching films where someone else's vision is shown.

World Divided has brought me to a place in the story that makes me want to keep on reading the next book in the series, but I'm going to be good, and try to get some sleep tonight, before continuing on!

[David L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second book of The Secret World Chronicles is at that curious boundary between a collection of short stories and a novel. It is best to think of it as an episodic novel, something which has a great tradition.

I like this book more than the first one. The cast of main characters is kept small and tight, and we learn about them in a lot of depth. The various episodes hang together well and form a complete arc.

It is still very much in the comic superhero genre. But being written as a novel allows for a depth of storytelling that was missing in the first book, unfortunately. At the end of the book we are left wanting to know more about the characters and how the story progresses from this point. You want to read the third book, whereas the first book didn't leave you with that need to read on.

I can recommend this book. You will need to read the first one, but this second one is that rare sequel that is better than the first book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The war continues and there is betrayal and consequences. So much great worldbuilding here.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once more the metahumans of ECHO and CCCP are racing to avert world takeover by the Thulians.

[Jeremy Preacher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This still reads exactly like what it is - thinly-veiled collaborative City of Heroes fanfic. It's *good* fanfic, for what it is, but the pacing ends up being a little weird because it's a collection of individual threads stitched together, the framing device still doesn't really work for me, and the villians are still pop-up generic NPCs. I picked up this second volume as a toast to doomed CoH, but it's not something I'm likely to pursue much farther.

[Leons1701 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half, maybe the first three quarters, of this book was kind of a rough go. A lot of repetitious sorta-action with John Murdock and the Commies and not much else of significance, though we do meet a very important new character. The last bit was significantly better, in my opinion, good enough to redeem the book, though I suspect the opinions of others may differ.

[Jonathan Scotese · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy it very much, but it has a lot of reasons to keep going. It feels like it has a lot of potential. It reminds me of a rougher, simpler and less gritty version of GRRM's "Wild Cards". It's free in podcast form. Mercedes Lackey is one of the authors.

Give it a try If you like superheroes or have played the game.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good follow-up- slowly getting to know these new characters and the world they inhabit. I like the Agoraphobic Victoria Victrix and how she creates solutions to her problems instead of letting the phobias win all the time.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as sloppily dashed together as the first book, and with all the same problems, but the characters are really pulling me through this series. Great action and some really cool twists in this installment, too.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was so bad. i didn't love the first one, but thought i would give this one a try since the concept is pretty cool. too many side plots and characters. needed to be a hell of a lot more focused and definitely suffers from the too many authors problem.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second book in Mercedes Lackey's Secret World series isn't so bad. But (spoiler alert ahead) the cover illustration is terrible.

[Elisabeth]

Bored now. How many pages can there be of one magic-shop witch whining about her life? I may return later, to find out how the actual story ends, but for now I have other things to read.

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does overcoming or working through suffering give us strength and compassion? The heroes bear scars that humanize them.

[David Covarrubias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow at first but alot of fast paced action loved it

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read, kept me glued to the book and turning pages.

[Purcell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved it for all of its pulpy goodness.

[Foggygirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read, a great second installment.

[Larry Koester · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the second book of this series I have come to appreciate it better

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good shared world book. Nice tight story line and very interesting characters. Very recommended, especially to comic fans.

[Brittneigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

These read like fanfic. They're not the best. I DO NOT CARE. I LOVE THEM.