Cannon Fodder

by Margaret R. Taylor

The good guys always win – and Alec Nightshade isn't going to take it anymore. Alec's a fifteen-year-old member of the Norgolian Society of Evil Overlords, which means not having much of a life expectancy. When a hero hunts down and kills his aunt, the Viper, he sets off on the first evil scheme of his life to set things straight.

Starting an evil scheme proves to be harder than it looks. Alec catches a break when a friend tips him off about the Eggbeater of Doom, a device that can summon a kiloton-sized elder god with a grudge against those puny hairless apes. If Alec blabs about the Eggbeater, gets a hero to go after him, then kicks the hero's ass, he can break the cycle of prophecy that dooms his side never to see the age of fifty. He doesn't mean to hurt anybody else. But when another overlord steals the Eggbeater with the intent to actually level a city, Alec knows what he and his gang of minions will have to do: save the day. He will never get to live this down.

ebook

First published March 29, 2014

About the author

I was born in California and I currently reside in the Twin Cities. I participate in the arts scene there, including helping to run MinnSpec, the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writer's Group. I have a sciency day job, and it shows in my writing: I like to write about sciency magic systems.

Besides writing, my interests include zeppelins, non-Euclidean geometry, and slime molds.

Reviews

[Ceilidh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book after reading The Vindico. The description sounded interesting, but there weren't very many reviews (in point of fact, just one). I can say I'm glad I read it anyway.

I could relate to Alec's feeling that he wasn't doing what anyone thought he should; the villains thought he should be more monstrous, while the heroes thought he should just give up. I am not using 'superheroes' or 'supervillains' in this review because, despite the world-domination aspect, no one has any 'superpowers.' But there is magic.
The magic seems to be used in lieu of electricity to run technology very similar to ours (e.g. scry setups instead of phones) and it reminded me rather of the magic in The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde.

There were a few things I thought could have been improved. These mostly had to do with the world-building, as nearly every chapter raised questions that went unanswered. Such as: why was Alec in the villain business? Apparently he was taken in by "Aunt" Viper, but it was implied in the beginning that he was not her son, possibly even no relation. Or maybe I read that wrong. Maybe it will be explained in the sequel(?).

There were several swearwords, so I wouldn't call it middle grade - but if there's any middle graders that don't mind (quite minor, Terry Pratchett-esque) cursing, I would recommend this book!

Finally, a quick tangent: the main character, Alec Nightshade, had a very similar name to the protagonist (Alex Knight) in another hero/villain book I read recently. Don't know why that struck me, but it did.

Many thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy!