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Velveteen vs. #2
Velveteen vs. The Multiverse
He was the last great hero of his generation. Velma Martinez—Velveteen—had never intended to be a great hero, but she was out of choices.
“Hello, Jolly Roger.”
“Hello, bunny-eared girl who’s taken over my ship. Have you come to collect the bounty on my head?”
“I’ve come because Dame Fortuna told me how to find you, and we need your help.” Velveteen crossed her arms. “The Super Patriots are corrupt, and I think Marketing is evil, and they have my best friend, and we want her back.”
Jolly Roger blinked, several times, before turning to the Princess. “Is she for real?”
“She is,” said the Princess, sounding smug. “She would have been happy stayin’ out of the way for her entire life, but The Super Patriots forgot the first rule of rabbits. Don’t follow them into their dens. They’re meaner than they look.”
_____
Velma hadn’t wanted to be a superhero, had walked away from it all once before. But when love and friendship call Velveteen to fight, she can’t run away, no matter the odds.
Award-winning author Seanan McGuire chronicles Velveteen’s ultimate battle in this concluding (for now!) volume of her adventures.
“Hello, Jolly Roger.”
“Hello, bunny-eared girl who’s taken over my ship. Have you come to collect the bounty on my head?”
“I’ve come because Dame Fortuna told me how to find you, and we need your help.” Velveteen crossed her arms. “The Super Patriots are corrupt, and I think Marketing is evil, and they have my best friend, and we want her back.”
Jolly Roger blinked, several times, before turning to the Princess. “Is she for real?”
“She is,” said the Princess, sounding smug. “She would have been happy stayin’ out of the way for her entire life, but The Super Patriots forgot the first rule of rabbits. Don’t follow them into their dens. They’re meaner than they look.”
_____
Velma hadn’t wanted to be a superhero, had walked away from it all once before. But when love and friendship call Velveteen to fight, she can’t run away, no matter the odds.
Award-winning author Seanan McGuire chronicles Velveteen’s ultimate battle in this concluding (for now!) volume of her adventures.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2013
8 people are currently reading
692 people want to read
About the author
Seanan McGuire
508 books17.1k followersHi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).
I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
November 28, 2013
I wrote the introduction to the first Velveteen collection, Velveteen vs. the Junior Super Patriots, so I was very happy to get my hands on book two. In this book, bunny-eared superheroine Velveteen, with the power to animate toys, continues her battle against the the forces of the Super Patriots, Inc.
I emailed Seanan after I finished reading the collection, telling her she was awesome, and that I was honored to be her friend. She wrote back to say thank you, but that she wasn’t sure what about her silly superhero stories had inspired such a response.
That’s a fair question, and it’s taken me a few days to try to put it into words. Because sure, there’s a fair amount of silliness going on in these stories. There’s a superhero who’s basically a Disney princess come to life. There are Velveteen’s green plastic army men shooting tiny plastic bullets at bad guys. There’s a whole story about getting trapped in a typical horror flick.
But despite the silliness, the characters are always treated with respect. They feel like real people, even when they’re flung into rather odd or absurd situations. Their struggles and their love and their pain are real, and you very quickly start to care about them all. I think that’s one of Seanan’s superpowers.
There’s more going on here, though. These stories, this book, felt … unfiltered in a way most books don’t. It felt like Seanan McGuire had written these stories purely for the fun and joy and love of it. Knowing her as a friend, I could see her shamelessly indulging her love of parallel universes and toys and twisted holidays and fairy tales and horror films and so much more, and it works. This collection is an invitation to join Seanan in celebrating everything she loves.
Now sure, if you don’t like the same things she does, then the stories may not work for you. No book works for everyone, after all. And not everyone has the same tolerance for the fun/silly factor in stories.
But I like it. I like the random-but-carefully-thought-out superpowers combined with the all-too-real corporate overlords of the Super Patriots, Inc. I like that she never forgets that all victories come with a cost. I like that the individual, mostly-standalone stories don’t feel repetitive. I like the character revelations we get in this book.
I liked the first collection, but by the end of this one, I felt like Seanan had accomplished something magical.
The Velveteen stories are also available online if you want to check them out before you buy. The first nine are listed on her website. All of them are tagged on her LiveJournal.
Go forth and read and buy. For justice!
I emailed Seanan after I finished reading the collection, telling her she was awesome, and that I was honored to be her friend. She wrote back to say thank you, but that she wasn’t sure what about her silly superhero stories had inspired such a response.
That’s a fair question, and it’s taken me a few days to try to put it into words. Because sure, there’s a fair amount of silliness going on in these stories. There’s a superhero who’s basically a Disney princess come to life. There are Velveteen’s green plastic army men shooting tiny plastic bullets at bad guys. There’s a whole story about getting trapped in a typical horror flick.
But despite the silliness, the characters are always treated with respect. They feel like real people, even when they’re flung into rather odd or absurd situations. Their struggles and their love and their pain are real, and you very quickly start to care about them all. I think that’s one of Seanan’s superpowers.
There’s more going on here, though. These stories, this book, felt … unfiltered in a way most books don’t. It felt like Seanan McGuire had written these stories purely for the fun and joy and love of it. Knowing her as a friend, I could see her shamelessly indulging her love of parallel universes and toys and twisted holidays and fairy tales and horror films and so much more, and it works. This collection is an invitation to join Seanan in celebrating everything she loves.
Now sure, if you don’t like the same things she does, then the stories may not work for you. No book works for everyone, after all. And not everyone has the same tolerance for the fun/silly factor in stories.
But I like it. I like the random-but-carefully-thought-out superpowers combined with the all-too-real corporate overlords of the Super Patriots, Inc. I like that she never forgets that all victories come with a cost. I like that the individual, mostly-standalone stories don’t feel repetitive. I like the character revelations we get in this book.
I liked the first collection, but by the end of this one, I felt like Seanan had accomplished something magical.
The Velveteen stories are also available online if you want to check them out before you buy. The first nine are listed on her website. All of them are tagged on her LiveJournal.
Go forth and read and buy. For justice!
June 7, 2017
Just a terrific followup to the first novel, excellent characters that change and develop as the story progresses and it progresses a lot in this book. And I have a new favorite character along with Vel, Jack and the Princess, Victory Anna the coolest steampunk character ever.
June 25, 2022
It started with a heavy spoon of sweetness as its predecessor, but then it switched gears into a more serious plot reminiscent of the night before Xmas. The book is not afraid to remove the false veil from the super-heroes industry in hopes of starting a new a more just avenue for the various characters.
July 25, 2025
This thing sort of looks like a Velveteen novel...
Velveteen vs. The Multiverse is the second book of Seanan McGuire's Velveteen vs series. Nowadays (25-Sep-2022) these books are only dubiously available as books. The first two, Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse are available as audiobooks from Audible, which counts. I have not been able to find Velveteen vs. The Seasons or Velveteen vs. Everything for sale anywhere in any form. Velveteen vs. The Seasons apparently was a real book at some point, published in hardcover by ISFiC Press in 2016, just before, apparently, they went belly-up. Audible doesn't have an audiobook of it. Although Amazon lists Velveteen vs. The Seasons, no copies are available for sale. Velveteen vs. Everything has, I believe, never been a book, -- it is just an umbrella title for all the Velveteen stories together.
The good news, however, is that "The stories remain free to read online", as McGuire says on her website. They are found on her LiveJournal. Or you can just use the handy link list I have assembled below for Velveteen vs. The Multiverse. (I have already assembled a link list for Junior Super-Patriots, and will soon do the same for The Seasons.) You're welcome!
1. Velveteen vs. Blacklight vs. Sin-Dee, Part I
2. Velveteen vs. Blacklight vs. Sin-Dee, Part II
3. Velveteen vs. The Holiday Special
4. Velveteen vs. The Secret Identity
5. Martinez and Martinez v. Velveteen
6. Velveteen vs. The Alternate Timeline, Part I
7. Velveteen vs. The Alternate Timeline, Part II
8. Velveteen vs. The Retroactive Continuity (just to be confusing, The Seasons also has a vs. The Retroactive Continuity chapter, but it is different from this one).
9. Velveteen Presents Victory Anna vs. All These Stupid Parallel Worlds
10. Velveteen vs. The Uncomfortable Conversation
11. Velveteen vs. Bacon
12. Velveteen vs. The Robot Armies of Dr. Walter Creelman, DDS
13. Velveteen vs. The Fright Night Sorority House Massacre Sleepover Camp
14. Velveteen vs. Vegas
15. Velveteen Presents Victory Anna vs. The Difficulties With Pan-Dimensional Courtship
16. Velveteen vs. Legal
17. Velveteen Presents Jackie Frost vs. Four Conversations and a Funeral
18. Velveteen vs. Jolly Roger
19. Velveteen vs. Everyone, Part I
20. Velveteen vs. Everyone, Part II
21. Sponsorship: Velveteen vs. The Epilogue
Afterword: Velveteen vs. The Aftermath
I don't guarantee that this list is complete, but if you find something that I'm missing, message me and I'll fix it!
The first thing you'll notice about this list is that there are a lot more than nine chapters (the number in Junior Super Patriots) -- there are, in fact, 18, comprising 21 LiveJournal posts, since three chapters are split into two parts. You also find, when you read it, that it is a more coherent story than Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots was. McGuire described her first Ghost Roads book, Sparrow Hill Road, as 'a “fix up,” a collection of short stories strung together by a thin narrative thread'. The second, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. she described as Rose Marshall's "first novel". The relationship between Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse is similar.
Whether Velveteen vs. The Multiverse is actually a novel is somewhat debatable. (It is not an important question -- Multiverse is an entertaining book, regardless of its novel-ness.) It does have a coherent plot. Without giving too much away, the problem Vel sets out to solve here is to extract former best friend Yelena from the clutches of the The Super Patriots, Inc. That, of course, balloons into a much bigger problem than she foresaw, which is how we get a book out of it.
You might also suppose, based on the title, that the Multiverse will play an important role. It does -- not so much as a coherent plot axis, but as a trick McGuire gets to pull out of her pocket whenever she feels inclined to branch off and tell a little storylet in a separate world. If anything, the Multiverse breaks up the coherence of the story and reduces the novelocity of the book. Do we care? Not a whole lot, no. Because she's Seanan, we want to her let down her hair and set her imagination free every so often, even at the expense of a coherent tale. So it's all good.
Blog review.
Velveteen vs. The Multiverse is the second book of Seanan McGuire's Velveteen vs series. Nowadays (25-Sep-2022) these books are only dubiously available as books. The first two, Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse are available as audiobooks from Audible, which counts. I have not been able to find Velveteen vs. The Seasons or Velveteen vs. Everything for sale anywhere in any form. Velveteen vs. The Seasons apparently was a real book at some point, published in hardcover by ISFiC Press in 2016, just before, apparently, they went belly-up. Audible doesn't have an audiobook of it. Although Amazon lists Velveteen vs. The Seasons, no copies are available for sale. Velveteen vs. Everything has, I believe, never been a book, -- it is just an umbrella title for all the Velveteen stories together.
The good news, however, is that "The stories remain free to read online", as McGuire says on her website. They are found on her LiveJournal. Or you can just use the handy link list I have assembled below for Velveteen vs. The Multiverse. (I have already assembled a link list for Junior Super-Patriots, and will soon do the same for The Seasons.) You're welcome!
1. Velveteen vs. Blacklight vs. Sin-Dee, Part I
2. Velveteen vs. Blacklight vs. Sin-Dee, Part II
3. Velveteen vs. The Holiday Special
4. Velveteen vs. The Secret Identity
5. Martinez and Martinez v. Velveteen
6. Velveteen vs. The Alternate Timeline, Part I
7. Velveteen vs. The Alternate Timeline, Part II
8. Velveteen vs. The Retroactive Continuity (just to be confusing, The Seasons also has a vs. The Retroactive Continuity chapter, but it is different from this one).
9. Velveteen Presents Victory Anna vs. All These Stupid Parallel Worlds
10. Velveteen vs. The Uncomfortable Conversation
11. Velveteen vs. Bacon
12. Velveteen vs. The Robot Armies of Dr. Walter Creelman, DDS
13. Velveteen vs. The Fright Night Sorority House Massacre Sleepover Camp
14. Velveteen vs. Vegas
15. Velveteen Presents Victory Anna vs. The Difficulties With Pan-Dimensional Courtship
16. Velveteen vs. Legal
17. Velveteen Presents Jackie Frost vs. Four Conversations and a Funeral
18. Velveteen vs. Jolly Roger
19. Velveteen vs. Everyone, Part I
20. Velveteen vs. Everyone, Part II
21. Sponsorship: Velveteen vs. The Epilogue
Afterword: Velveteen vs. The Aftermath
I don't guarantee that this list is complete, but if you find something that I'm missing, message me and I'll fix it!
The first thing you'll notice about this list is that there are a lot more than nine chapters (the number in Junior Super Patriots) -- there are, in fact, 18, comprising 21 LiveJournal posts, since three chapters are split into two parts. You also find, when you read it, that it is a more coherent story than Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots was. McGuire described her first Ghost Roads book, Sparrow Hill Road, as 'a “fix up,” a collection of short stories strung together by a thin narrative thread'. The second, The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. she described as Rose Marshall's "first novel". The relationship between Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse is similar.
Whether Velveteen vs. The Multiverse is actually a novel is somewhat debatable. (It is not an important question -- Multiverse is an entertaining book, regardless of its novel-ness.) It does have a coherent plot. Without giving too much away, the problem Vel sets out to solve here is to extract former best friend Yelena from the clutches of the The Super Patriots, Inc. That, of course, balloons into a much bigger problem than she foresaw, which is how we get a book out of it.
You might also suppose, based on the title, that the Multiverse will play an important role. It does -- not so much as a coherent plot axis, but as a trick McGuire gets to pull out of her pocket whenever she feels inclined to branch off and tell a little storylet in a separate world. If anything, the Multiverse breaks up the coherence of the story and reduces the novelocity of the book. Do we care? Not a whole lot, no. Because she's Seanan, we want to her let down her hair and set her imagination free every so often, even at the expense of a coherent tale. So it's all good.
Blog review.
June 23, 2022
Ahhhh T_T its over. I want this to be made into a movie or animated series, something which will display its fantastical technicolor world and characters in all their deserving glory.
So Velveteen is back and she has finally gathered the courage to fight the corrupt Super Patriots Inc. There are love triangles which I couldn't hate, a new sweet romance, alternative world travelling, mind controlled supers, evil lawyers, spies, showdowns, more crazy outfits and more everything. Prepare to be bedazzled and have a fun ride.
Many many aspects of this which I love including:
+ the awesome kick ass steampunkess Victory Anne
+ Victory Anne and her romance with Polychrome
+ alternate reality shift for both Velveteen and Victory Anne which help or ruin their course of action
+ The Hall of mirrors showing different potential realities for Velveteen and Jackie Frost, some really creepy ones for Velveteen
+ the awesome showdown to end all showdowns battle between supers which in my imagination looks so colourful and magical with blood interspersed..yeah.
+ All my questions of things not explored in the last book were fully answered here and excellently so.
Things that detracted my enjoyment of this book though not enough to reduce the rating:
+the occasional pages full of sci-fi info dumping on alternative realities or the legal fripperies etc. This is one of the main reasons I only really dip my toe into sci-fi because my tiny mind cannot fully comprehend or appreciate too much science without wanting to skim or lock down. But this is my own fault so I cannae fault the book too much.
+ the lack of dividers in my ebook which meant the plot kept jumping dammit. I soon got used to it though.
Overall I enjoyed this very very much, its self aware, translates well into the real world while obviously being one of fantasy and such a fun one at that despite all the terrible stuff that happens to the characters.
So Velveteen is back and she has finally gathered the courage to fight the corrupt Super Patriots Inc. There are love triangles which I couldn't hate, a new sweet romance, alternative world travelling, mind controlled supers, evil lawyers, spies, showdowns, more crazy outfits and more everything. Prepare to be bedazzled and have a fun ride.
Many many aspects of this which I love including:
+ the awesome kick ass steampunkess Victory Anne
+ Victory Anne and her romance with Polychrome
+ alternate reality shift for both Velveteen and Victory Anne which help or ruin their course of action
+ The Hall of mirrors showing different potential realities for Velveteen and Jackie Frost, some really creepy ones for Velveteen
+ the awesome showdown to end all showdowns battle between supers which in my imagination looks so colourful and magical with blood interspersed..yeah.
+ All my questions of things not explored in the last book were fully answered here and excellently so.
Things that detracted my enjoyment of this book though not enough to reduce the rating:
+the occasional pages full of sci-fi info dumping on alternative realities or the legal fripperies etc. This is one of the main reasons I only really dip my toe into sci-fi because my tiny mind cannot fully comprehend or appreciate too much science without wanting to skim or lock down. But this is my own fault so I cannae fault the book too much.
+ the lack of dividers in my ebook which meant the plot kept jumping dammit. I soon got used to it though.
Overall I enjoyed this very very much, its self aware, translates well into the real world while obviously being one of fantasy and such a fun one at that despite all the terrible stuff that happens to the characters.
April 3, 2014
Okay, I'm sold... I want the matched set of Velveteen graphic novels with the Jo Chen covers, the Victory Anna pin-up poster, the Action Dude action figures play set, a Jackie Frost sweatshirt, and a my-other-car-is-the-Jolly Roger bumper sticker. McGuire has taken the characters and situations she established in the first volume and brought them back for an apocalyptic reunion, creating a full-blown comics universe in the bargain. Some of the situations and events are as silly as can be imagined on the face of them, but the characters are fully-developed people, and before you know it you find yourself really worrying about and caring for them. It's a terrific little book, and I recommend it highly to comics fans.
July 9, 2019
I loved this one even more that Velveteen vs the Junior Superpatriots. Told with McGuire's customary wit, quirky humour and intelligence, super hero turned cashier turned 'super villain' turned super hero attache to Oregan, faces the laws of possibility and the more confusing side of physics in this collection of the serial. Old friends and adversaries show up and new faces appear - Victory Anna is an especial favourite of mine. But for the heroine in the bunny ears, this time it's personal. The 'rebranded' or the Superpatriots - the world ain't big enough for both of them. Settle in for the ultimate superhero show down as Vel gathers her army both flesh and blood, and kapok. This was sheer brilliance. Highly recommend.
September 3, 2013
Velveteen vs. the Multiverse continues—and concludes, for now—Velveteen's story brilliantly. All the strengths of the first book remain: the strong worldbuilding and analysis of superheroes, the quirky humor, the eternal sense of impending doom, and complex characters. This book, however, is where shit gets real. Seanan examines Velveteen as a person and as a superhero; as the title implies, we do encounter other versions of her, which, of course, inform our understanding of who she is. Plot points from the first book pay off in a big way. Velveteen and Tag's relationship is put to the test. Plus, the introduction of a new character, Victory Anna, a curvy, redheaded gadgeteer, makes this book even better than the first all on its own. It's just fantastic. I firmly believe the Velveteen series deserves to be as popular as anything else by Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant.
December 26, 2015
Much more concentrated and engaging than the first set of Velveteen stories, this one is a read-in-one-sitting kind of thing. Appreciating Velveteen might require you to appreciate the same pop cultural tropes and phenomena as the author does - which I clearly do, and thus have zero problem with it.
(I might occasionally think about how similar Velveteen is, hero-personality-wise, to October Daye, but I don't actually mind.)
(I might occasionally think about how similar Velveteen is, hero-personality-wise, to October Daye, but I don't actually mind.)
January 24, 2019
More fun adventures of Velveteen! I liked this better than book one. Too bad book three isn’t available in audio.
June 28, 2022
Mini blurb: Superheroine Velveteen, animator of toys (and more) currently fighting evil in Portland, finds herself visiting a number of alternate realities or been visited by a number of their inhabitants, all while trying to maintain a love life, save an old friend, and break the corporate entity who own superheroes once and for all.
***
This is much more organic than Book 1 (which sort of happened by accident after all, one story after another) and McGuire once more blew me away with her ability to create a new, original, completely self-sustained world out of age-old tropes, all while reversing/putting wild spins on them. (And did I mention, an inclusive world?). It's fun, yet heartbreaking. It's imaginative, full of twists (oooh, THAT one twist 🤯 😭) and quirky powers, but ultimately character-driven in true McGuire fashion - the one where you care for everyone and feel like you've known everyone for your whole life. The worst I can say about this installment is that there's a *cough* love triangle *cough*, but then again...it doesn't feel forced or icky. Also, if you're worried about my "Horror or Gore" label on Goodreads, this is violence/fighting superhero-style...not much blood to be seen. What else can I say - if you enjoy twisted seasons, rebranded fairytales, mirror mazes that offer you a glimpse into parallel worlds, parallel worlds themselves, silly yet endearing superpowers, women having one another's back, and justice coming at a price, you'll fall in love with Velveteen and her world(s).
Note: definitive review (due to time commitments, I've decided not to write full-length reviews anymore for short stories, novellas and anthologies, except in special cases or unless they're part of a series. Which these are, but not one that I started reviewing back when I used to write a full review for every book...).
***
This is much more organic than Book 1 (which sort of happened by accident after all, one story after another) and McGuire once more blew me away with her ability to create a new, original, completely self-sustained world out of age-old tropes, all while reversing/putting wild spins on them. (And did I mention, an inclusive world?). It's fun, yet heartbreaking. It's imaginative, full of twists (oooh, THAT one twist 🤯 😭) and quirky powers, but ultimately character-driven in true McGuire fashion - the one where you care for everyone and feel like you've known everyone for your whole life. The worst I can say about this installment is that there's a *cough* love triangle *cough*, but then again...it doesn't feel forced or icky. Also, if you're worried about my "Horror or Gore" label on Goodreads, this is violence/fighting superhero-style...not much blood to be seen. What else can I say - if you enjoy twisted seasons, rebranded fairytales, mirror mazes that offer you a glimpse into parallel worlds, parallel worlds themselves, silly yet endearing superpowers, women having one another's back, and justice coming at a price, you'll fall in love with Velveteen and her world(s).
Note: definitive review (due to time commitments, I've decided not to write full-length reviews anymore for short stories, novellas and anthologies, except in special cases or unless they're part of a series. Which these are, but not one that I started reviewing back when I used to write a full review for every book...).
January 17, 2014
It's been a long time since I listened to a book essentially without stopping. It's been that way with Velveteen vs the Multiverse - wake up, feed the animals, shower, get dressed, put on my coat and headphones, go to the train, listen when I can during the workday, train home, headphones off. This is a 12 hour book. I started Wednesday morning, and finished Friday morning.
That should tell you something about Velveteen.
Imagine a world where instead of Hollywood, the Kardashians, Real Housewives, and the Bachelor, you had The Super Patriots. And The Super Patriots had the world's best marketing division. And that marketing division used a lot of mind control. And it's always on. This is Velveteen's world - it looks and functions exactly like ours, except... with superheroes and supervillains instead of celebrities.
When Seanan McGuire started writing Velveteen shorts, I don't think she expected her "silly superhero stories" to resonate so soundly with the world we live in. Even her website doesn't list more than the original stories in Velveteen vs The Junior Super Patriots, and now we have a whole other volume that is twice as long as the first. And I was sad for it to end.
Velveteen is a superhuman whose focus has always been on the human, rather than the super, and she wants to live in a world that reflects that. I do, too. She is a heroine I could have met on the subway yesterday.
Seanan McGuire announced yesterday that she's becoming a fulltime author. I hope this means more Velveteen.
That should tell you something about Velveteen.
Imagine a world where instead of Hollywood, the Kardashians, Real Housewives, and the Bachelor, you had The Super Patriots. And The Super Patriots had the world's best marketing division. And that marketing division used a lot of mind control. And it's always on. This is Velveteen's world - it looks and functions exactly like ours, except... with superheroes and supervillains instead of celebrities.
When Seanan McGuire started writing Velveteen shorts, I don't think she expected her "silly superhero stories" to resonate so soundly with the world we live in. Even her website doesn't list more than the original stories in Velveteen vs The Junior Super Patriots, and now we have a whole other volume that is twice as long as the first. And I was sad for it to end.
Velveteen is a superhuman whose focus has always been on the human, rather than the super, and she wants to live in a world that reflects that. I do, too. She is a heroine I could have met on the subway yesterday.
Seanan McGuire announced yesterday that she's becoming a fulltime author. I hope this means more Velveteen.
March 3, 2022
What it’s about: Having escaped the Super Patriots, Inc., and established herself as Portland's protector, Velveteen wants to focus on enjoying her life. But life seems to have other plans for her.
A robot attack by a D-list villain causes some unexpected complications; and shortly after, Velveteen realizes that a new friend is not who she seemed to be.
After spending some time in an alternate dimension - time that gives her some startling new insights into herself and those around her - Velveteen is told in no uncertain terms that she must make a choice among the three seasons with which she has been associated - Fall (who has repeatedly kidnapped her and forced her to undertake dangerous but important tasks), Winter (whose minion has become a good friend), and Spring (where the Easter Bunny has a claim to make). But Velveteen strikes a deal - she'll spend time with each and make a choice after she is allowed to rescue a friend who's been abducted.
Of course, nothing is as simple as Velveteen would wish. With her powers waning, a battle with the massed might of both the superheroes and corporate arm of Super Patriots, Inc. seems like a suicide mission. She'll have to seek out a legend who might be able to turn the tide and help Velveteen build an army of heroes to oppose an army of heroes.
Oh, and she has to figure out her love life, too.
What could possibly go wrong?
What I thought: The forewords of the Velveteen books have both included paeans to how McGuire crafts stories that are character-driven, even if those characters happen to have super powers. They're absolutely right. What makes these stories so engaging is the fact that these people might have incredible abilities, but they're still just as insecure and uncertain as any other human being. There are some people who do good because they want to, some because they're not given a choice; some are evil because it's fun, some are evil because it pays well, some are evil because someone in authority said they were evil. It's a great contrast of the mundane and the mythic.
This book has a few bits that are telegraphed pretty far in advance, but I don't think that's a failing on the part of McGuire, but rather a part of building the tension of the story. Stephen King often straight-out tells the audience that someone is going to die 200 pages before they do - I think this is a version of that. It provides a kind of dramatic irony, giving us insights into the story that the characters are missing, building up our expectations.
I do have to say, Velveteen's powers seem to be "Whatever I want them to be" -- there aren't a lot of hard and fast rules about how she is able to use them as this story unfolds. There's a particular manifestation of her powers that gets played up a lot in this installment of the series, and while all those instances are related to each other, they don't seem to connect to how Vel's abilities are originally laid out. I'm not sure if that is an on-purpose thing or not. McGuire very specifically and repeatedly calls out the fact that Vel has been provided with information about her powers from a corporation that is purposely lying to her in order to manipulate her and her powers. So it could make sense that what we think we know about Velveteen's powers are just what she has been told, and that these other manifestations are hints about what her REAL abilities might be.
I did have one major issue with this particular installment. The climax of the book, and the conflict across both volumes so far, hinge on something that doesn't seem to make any sense to me.
It also would have been nice to have a bit more diversity and representation in this series - maybe it's just my old-fashioned brain making assumptions, but it seemed like all the described characters are white (except for one blue-skinned character, and a Latina). It's wonderful that most of the cast of both books are women; just wondering if they couldn't have been a bit more representative of the demographics out there.
Giving the story a bit of the benefit of the doubt, as it was written about a decade ago; but still.
Why I Chose Those Shelves: There are several deaths, and some zombifying; this is a story that specifically calls out magic as well as superheroes and super-science; the protagonist leans heavily on her found family (and I included a trigger warning for how she is mentally harmed by her birth family); there are mentions of violence, but there's not anything graphic described - it's implication rather than description; there are several things the characters are trying to figure out, and some clues are planted along the way to let readers figure it out; one or more characters are described as being gay; there are several different relationships that are explored, both romantic and platonic
Why I rated it like I did: This was a really enjoyable and hard-to-put-down installment in this series. I realize these were originally written as short stories posted online, and only later collected into books, but each short reads like a chapter more than a short.
A robot attack by a D-list villain causes some unexpected complications; and shortly after, Velveteen realizes that a new friend is not who she seemed to be.
After spending some time in an alternate dimension - time that gives her some startling new insights into herself and those around her - Velveteen is told in no uncertain terms that she must make a choice among the three seasons with which she has been associated - Fall (who has repeatedly kidnapped her and forced her to undertake dangerous but important tasks), Winter (whose minion has become a good friend), and Spring (where the Easter Bunny has a claim to make). But Velveteen strikes a deal - she'll spend time with each and make a choice after she is allowed to rescue a friend who's been abducted.
Of course, nothing is as simple as Velveteen would wish. With her powers waning, a battle with the massed might of both the superheroes and corporate arm of Super Patriots, Inc. seems like a suicide mission. She'll have to seek out a legend who might be able to turn the tide and help Velveteen build an army of heroes to oppose an army of heroes.
Oh, and she has to figure out her love life, too.
What could possibly go wrong?
What I thought: The forewords of the Velveteen books have both included paeans to how McGuire crafts stories that are character-driven, even if those characters happen to have super powers. They're absolutely right. What makes these stories so engaging is the fact that these people might have incredible abilities, but they're still just as insecure and uncertain as any other human being. There are some people who do good because they want to, some because they're not given a choice; some are evil because it's fun, some are evil because it pays well, some are evil because someone in authority said they were evil. It's a great contrast of the mundane and the mythic.
This book has a few bits that are telegraphed pretty far in advance, but I don't think that's a failing on the part of McGuire, but rather a part of building the tension of the story. Stephen King often straight-out tells the audience that someone is going to die 200 pages before they do - I think this is a version of that. It provides a kind of dramatic irony, giving us insights into the story that the characters are missing, building up our expectations.
I do have to say, Velveteen's powers seem to be "Whatever I want them to be" -- there aren't a lot of hard and fast rules about how she is able to use them as this story unfolds. There's a particular manifestation of her powers that gets played up a lot in this installment of the series, and while all those instances are related to each other, they don't seem to connect to how Vel's abilities are originally laid out. I'm not sure if that is an on-purpose thing or not. McGuire very specifically and repeatedly calls out the fact that Vel has been provided with information about her powers from a corporation that is purposely lying to her in order to manipulate her and her powers. So it could make sense that what we think we know about Velveteen's powers are just what she has been told, and that these other manifestations are hints about what her REAL abilities might be.
I did have one major issue with this particular installment. The climax of the book, and the conflict across both volumes so far, hinge on something that doesn't seem to make any sense to me.
It also would have been nice to have a bit more diversity and representation in this series - maybe it's just my old-fashioned brain making assumptions, but it seemed like all the described characters are white (except for one blue-skinned character, and a Latina). It's wonderful that most of the cast of both books are women; just wondering if they couldn't have been a bit more representative of the demographics out there.
Giving the story a bit of the benefit of the doubt, as it was written about a decade ago; but still.
Why I Chose Those Shelves: There are several deaths, and some zombifying; this is a story that specifically calls out magic as well as superheroes and super-science; the protagonist leans heavily on her found family (and I included a trigger warning for how she is mentally harmed by her birth family); there are mentions of violence, but there's not anything graphic described - it's implication rather than description; there are several things the characters are trying to figure out, and some clues are planted along the way to let readers figure it out; one or more characters are described as being gay; there are several different relationships that are explored, both romantic and platonic
Why I rated it like I did: This was a really enjoyable and hard-to-put-down installment in this series. I realize these were originally written as short stories posted online, and only later collected into books, but each short reads like a chapter more than a short.
May 5, 2015
The sequel to Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots, Seanan's stories are... well, they're Seanan's stories. Full of young women who can do anything. It's entertaining, but had the same problem as the first book in the series. Because she wrote these as independent short stories on her blog whenever someone donated enough money they don't read like they've been edited well. The plot and characters are fascinating, but the pacing is off, and there are a lot of weird tangents and assumptions that make it clear she's playing to an audience rather than working on writing the story as cohesively as possible. I also had to stop for a month and facepalm repeatedly to get over the constant thread of "Santa Claus is real and every culture has an old man winter spirit who is Good and Kind and Rewards Good Children" because it got on my nerves. That said, as all Seanan Mcguire books are, it was a fun romp, with enough tearjerker angst to give it a bit of a bite.
July 28, 2016
A rare novel that has far more to say than your normal superhero romp.
Velveteen is back for her second novel and it's just as good if not better than the previous one. Having found work, a little peace and a boyfriend in Oregon Velveteen is happy to leave things be with the Superpatriots. Unfortunately the Superpatriots have other plans and want her back. After that things spiral out of control quickly and not in a good way.
In all this is one of the best superhero novels i've read thus far. The worldbuilding is superb and full of a quirky humor that turns downright scary if you think about it too hard. Add to that some truly epic multiverse traveling and a load of plot twists and revelations and you get this amazing novel.
If your are up for something different than i can strongly recommend the Velveteen Vs. Series.
Velveteen is back for her second novel and it's just as good if not better than the previous one. Having found work, a little peace and a boyfriend in Oregon Velveteen is happy to leave things be with the Superpatriots. Unfortunately the Superpatriots have other plans and want her back. After that things spiral out of control quickly and not in a good way.
In all this is one of the best superhero novels i've read thus far. The worldbuilding is superb and full of a quirky humor that turns downright scary if you think about it too hard. Add to that some truly epic multiverse traveling and a load of plot twists and revelations and you get this amazing novel.
If your are up for something different than i can strongly recommend the Velveteen Vs. Series.
July 20, 2016
I've read a couple five star super-hero works of late. Ironically, both have been the second book in what, I hope, will be ongoing sequels. Even more importantly, each took their star heroines and made them not only older, a touch fallible, and of more depth. The stakes were higher, their assembled friends mean more to us, the love is deeper, and the consequences of any loss is more than just a bad headline in the paper. It's a human one. I felt every scene of this book, no matter how out there it was from alternate realities to fairy tales to Santa Claus himself. All of that was window dressing to heighten the adventure. The core is the heart of our heroine, Velveteen, and it grows stronger with each outing. May there be a third!
May 9, 2014
Incredibly warm, thoughtful, moving, and funny novel / story cycle about a bunch of silly super heroes--along with its predecessor, this is easily one of my favorite books. I read both of them aloud to my wife, and we laughed, speculated about the plot, and teared up together in complete agreement about how good they were. I have had only a mildly positive reaction to other work by the same author (Newsflesh / InCryptid), but in view of how amazing this was, I am definitely going to try out her other series.
May 25, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. It sill has the same silly fun that's a part of the first book, but this sequel starts to get a little deeper into the problems that are set up in the first book. It's darker, but no less good or hopeful or ultimately happy. Mostly. There is ultimately a happy ending, but it's not a fairytale ending where everything is okay and nothing costs more than a cup of coffee.
“Happy ever after isn’t easy. If it were, we wouldn’t fight so hard to have it.”
“Happy ever after isn’t easy. If it were, we wouldn’t fight so hard to have it.”
August 26, 2014
4,5 stars
I freaking loved it. I loved the way out played with the troops of superhero fiction. I loved how much heath it had. And of course it had me all emotional.
Read my full review here: http://wp.me/p40HVI-ua
I freaking loved it. I loved the way out played with the troops of superhero fiction. I loved how much heath it had. And of course it had me all emotional.
Read my full review here: http://wp.me/p40HVI-ua
September 18, 2014
Poor Vel. Like Dresden, her tombstone will probably read "She died doing the right thing." I love these stories and have been reading them as Seanan releases them into the wild. The audio was gorgeous, as usual, and these stories are just fantastic.
March 17, 2024
She just keeps getting better.
August 13, 2019
I first read these stories when McGuire posted them on her LiveJournal blog. It's nice to see them all stitched together. I listened to this on Audible, and I loved it even more than the first time I read it.
The Velveteen stories are McGuire's superhero universe. Children with super powers are identified and usually sold by their parents to the Super Patriots, Inc., purportedly to be trained in their powers, but really to be marketed to the public. Every aspect of these poor kids is controlled by Marketing, who runs the show. Velveteen, who is an animus, animating toys to do her bidding, walks out when she turns 18. She's legally an adult and chooses not to join the adult team so she is labeled as a super villain when all she wants is to be left alone.
This is volume 2, in which she is already established as the resident super-hero of Portland, OR. With her friends, Jackie Frost (daughter of Jack Frost and the Snow Queen, heiress to Winter), the Princess (Disneyland wants to be her), Tag (another animus and Velveteen's current squeeze) and their new ally, Victory Anna, a steampunk gadgeteer from a Victorian England in a dimension which has been destroyed, they set out to free Sparkle Bright, Vel's best friend all through their super-hero training. Sparkle Bright is still with the Super Patriots, having been brainwashed into buying their whole package.
Jackie has mirrors which can be used for transportation, and the North Pole has a room of magic mirrors which show oneself in various other universes/dimensions. (In some of those, Velveteen has put aside the bunny ears and is truly villainous, calling herself Puppeteer or Roadkill (for what she animates - ick!) or other things.) They work together to root out the evil core in the Super Patriots.
This is a wonderful testament to friendship as well as a whole lot of fun to read. Or to listen to, if you do Audible.
The Velveteen stories are McGuire's superhero universe. Children with super powers are identified and usually sold by their parents to the Super Patriots, Inc., purportedly to be trained in their powers, but really to be marketed to the public. Every aspect of these poor kids is controlled by Marketing, who runs the show. Velveteen, who is an animus, animating toys to do her bidding, walks out when she turns 18. She's legally an adult and chooses not to join the adult team so she is labeled as a super villain when all she wants is to be left alone.
This is volume 2, in which she is already established as the resident super-hero of Portland, OR. With her friends, Jackie Frost (daughter of Jack Frost and the Snow Queen, heiress to Winter), the Princess (Disneyland wants to be her), Tag (another animus and Velveteen's current squeeze) and their new ally, Victory Anna, a steampunk gadgeteer from a Victorian England in a dimension which has been destroyed, they set out to free Sparkle Bright, Vel's best friend all through their super-hero training. Sparkle Bright is still with the Super Patriots, having been brainwashed into buying their whole package.
Jackie has mirrors which can be used for transportation, and the North Pole has a room of magic mirrors which show oneself in various other universes/dimensions. (In some of those, Velveteen has put aside the bunny ears and is truly villainous, calling herself Puppeteer or Roadkill (for what she animates - ick!) or other things.) They work together to root out the evil core in the Super Patriots.
This is a wonderful testament to friendship as well as a whole lot of fun to read. Or to listen to, if you do Audible.
May 26, 2025
(7.5/10) This stretch of stories feels like it shows off the best potential of the Velveteen setting, embracing many expanded possibilities granted by its wacky worldbuilding and giving Velveteen lots of moments to grapple with her past. It's great that the really important parts of the plot stayed intelligible despite some of the multiverse stuff getting very out there.
There continue to be a bunch of things that happen way too fast, or offscreen, or without enough explanation, that the reader just has to catch up with. Princess and Jackie become rather major characters but are introduced unceremoniously and without much definition; pretty much everything about Velveteen's relationship to the seasons is a blur that is only fully spelled out much later. However, these things generally do come good. I did not expect to feel such pathos for characters that I initially thought would stay surface-level, such as Jackie and Victory Anna (*excellent* decision to give the latter so much screentime).
There continue to be a bunch of things that happen way too fast, or offscreen, or without enough explanation, that the reader just has to catch up with. Princess and Jackie become rather major characters but are introduced unceremoniously and without much definition; pretty much everything about Velveteen's relationship to the seasons is a blur that is only fully spelled out much later. However, these things generally do come good. I did not expect to feel such pathos for characters that I initially thought would stay surface-level, such as Jackie and Victory Anna (*excellent* decision to give the latter so much screentime).
May 7, 2017
The great continuation of Velveteen's adventures.
This book reads much more like a novel than a short story collection, unlike the first one. The thread between the chapters is very well defined. I love the characters, the universe, the story, and the way the author writes them.
The only thing that concerns me is that this book seemed to have a very definitive ending. I'm not reading the stories as they are published in Seanan's blog, I'm buying the collections, so I'm a bit worried that the next collection may feel subpar, since the original story is already concluded.
I definitely hope not, though.
This book reads much more like a novel than a short story collection, unlike the first one. The thread between the chapters is very well defined. I love the characters, the universe, the story, and the way the author writes them.
The only thing that concerns me is that this book seemed to have a very definitive ending. I'm not reading the stories as they are published in Seanan's blog, I'm buying the collections, so I'm a bit worried that the next collection may feel subpar, since the original story is already concluded.
I definitely hope not, though.
June 20, 2019
I adored this book. It takes all the potential of the first book and ramps it up to eleven. The characters are delightful. The choices they have to make are as morally complex as they should be. Actions have consequences, and there are no endings, but everyone still fights for the end scroll and the happily ever after.
Also it has the second best trans reveal I've ever read. The best is in the October Daye books. I love McGuire's inclusivity in her books.
Also it has the second best trans reveal I've ever read. The best is in the October Daye books. I love McGuire's inclusivity in her books.
July 3, 2021
This was quite heartbreaking and like the first in the series the stories are sequential.
Velveteen would like to leave the Super-Patriots behind but they seem determined to keep her in their sights. She has to pull in a lot of favours and deal with problems that arise once she has to confront what people do to people she loves and likes to try to keep their power.
It was heartbreaking in parts but overall a good read.
Velveteen would like to leave the Super-Patriots behind but they seem determined to keep her in their sights. She has to pull in a lot of favours and deal with problems that arise once she has to confront what people do to people she loves and likes to try to keep their power.
It was heartbreaking in parts but overall a good read.
February 17, 2023
when i tell you how much this book had me resenting the concept of employment this morning. why must i work when i could be reading? riddle me THIS goodreads!
anyways i liked this even better than the first book. it had more of a unified narrative and the character interactions were, as the internet's imaginary italians say, chef's kiss. i suspect the third book will lean more to the short story side of things again because this is such a solid ending i can't picture how you'd be able to keep stacking narrative momentum again
5 stars
anyways i liked this even better than the first book. it had more of a unified narrative and the character interactions were, as the internet's imaginary italians say, chef's kiss. i suspect the third book will lean more to the short story side of things again because this is such a solid ending i can't picture how you'd be able to keep stacking narrative momentum again
5 stars
February 15, 2019
McGuire has a wonderful ability to create tiny vignettes that rip our your heart, and that ability was on show here. (Only one bit where it didn't quite work for me)
The stories flowed together in a way that book #1 didn't.
And we all need a superhero sometime.
The stories flowed together in a way that book #1 didn't.
And we all need a superhero sometime.
January 14, 2021
I enjoyed nr 2 a lot more than nr 1. Not much mansplaining, amazing plot twist and a funny outing. The book title and cover art don't do the story justice. Because it is just one story and not a multiverse as far as I'm concerned.
April 26, 2022
I loved the premise and the strong characters in the first book, but the overall writing is much stronger in this sequel. It's more cohesive this time around and it the stakes are higher than ever. Absolutely loved it, and I'm really looking forward to starting the third book.
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