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Hench #1
Hench
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Science Fiction (2020)A smart, imaginative, and evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with razor-sharp wit and affection, in which a young woman discovers the greatest superpower—for good or ill—is a properly executed spreadsheet.
Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured. And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.
So, of course, then she gets laid off.
With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.
Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.
It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.
A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 22, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,747 reviews
January 26, 2021
I'm not saying I was looking for lifestyle alternatives. Just because I've left the path of self-sacrificing medical worker doesn't mean I'm swinging another way. In fact, I might have shelved this on the Infinite TBR List if not for a group of enthusiastic friends. Interestingly, most of us were under the impression that this would be a somewhat humorous look at the hench role--a sort of re-imagination, perhaps a humanized Minions via Despicable Me. It most certainly was not. Instead, it was more a detailed examination of how one slides into the villain role over time. Think Bridget Jones's Diary meets Catwoman or some origin story. It's a book that begs for comparisons, precisely because it is at once so familiar and yet takes a unique spin on a young woman's professional development, or at least for those more familiar with NYT best-sellers over Marvel Comics.
Although it wasn't what I expected, Walshots eventually looped me in for the ride. Anna Tromedlov is the main character, and we meet her en route to a mass interview at a temp firm with her bestie, June. She's a heartbeat away from being evicted, and she really needs this job. It's a smart way to develop some empathy--experiencing her downs and ups as she works to change her circumstance. Anna and June have a sarcastic relationship that conceals a lot of affection and though their interactions occasionally feel harsh, they are also funny, and a good entrance for empathy.
“A moment later, Susan, Greg, and I each had a truffle in our mouths–mine was buttercream, Susan got a toffee, and Greg got the extremely cursed orange one, which I decided was an appropriate punishment. ‘They still letting you out today?’ Greg asked, searching for a new chocolate to get the taste out of his mouth.”
It's well written, with quite believable characters, despite the 'super' trappings. In fact, it rather reminded me of George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards universe, with an array of people with 'powers' and the social problems that can ensue. In a test of philosophy; at a number of moments, I experimented with taking the 'super' out of the equation and replacing it with something like 'Facebook,' or 'Lehman Brothers,' and the story remains just as potent. The moral crises less extreme perhaps ("let's try this new algorithm' or 'let's make a few loans) but the slide into relativism no less true.
“I admired the clearheadedness with which he’d made these choices, how he’d had some kind of internal direction and followed it, knowing the consequences. When I compared it to m y own story, I saw just how much I had drifted and fallen, rudderless, in the beginning.”
Let that be a lesson.
A little slow at first, eventually there was a point where I did not want to stop reading and stayed up too late to finish. Well-written, seditious and unexpected. I went into it knowing the blurb and enjoyed the fact that at a couple of points, I had absolutely no idea what way the plot was going to go (evil? good? renunciation? redemption?). I've avoided detail in this review because I don't want to give any expectations. While there were times that I definitely did chuckle, it was not a funny book. You want more detail, you think? Then I highly recommend reviews from buddies jade and Nataliya.
Many, many thanks to Barbara, jade, Nataliya, and Stephen for the buddy-read and fascinating discussion!
Although it wasn't what I expected, Walshots eventually looped me in for the ride. Anna Tromedlov is the main character, and we meet her en route to a mass interview at a temp firm with her bestie, June. She's a heartbeat away from being evicted, and she really needs this job. It's a smart way to develop some empathy--experiencing her downs and ups as she works to change her circumstance. Anna and June have a sarcastic relationship that conceals a lot of affection and though their interactions occasionally feel harsh, they are also funny, and a good entrance for empathy.
“A moment later, Susan, Greg, and I each had a truffle in our mouths–mine was buttercream, Susan got a toffee, and Greg got the extremely cursed orange one, which I decided was an appropriate punishment. ‘They still letting you out today?’ Greg asked, searching for a new chocolate to get the taste out of his mouth.”
It's well written, with quite believable characters, despite the 'super' trappings. In fact, it rather reminded me of George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards universe, with an array of people with 'powers' and the social problems that can ensue. In a test of philosophy; at a number of moments, I experimented with taking the 'super' out of the equation and replacing it with something like 'Facebook,' or 'Lehman Brothers,' and the story remains just as potent. The moral crises less extreme perhaps ("let's try this new algorithm' or 'let's make a few loans) but the slide into relativism no less true.
“I admired the clearheadedness with which he’d made these choices, how he’d had some kind of internal direction and followed it, knowing the consequences. When I compared it to m y own story, I saw just how much I had drifted and fallen, rudderless, in the beginning.”
Let that be a lesson.
A little slow at first, eventually there was a point where I did not want to stop reading and stayed up too late to finish. Well-written, seditious and unexpected. I went into it knowing the blurb and enjoyed the fact that at a couple of points, I had absolutely no idea what way the plot was going to go (evil? good? renunciation? redemption?). I've avoided detail in this review because I don't want to give any expectations. While there were times that I definitely did chuckle, it was not a funny book. You want more detail, you think? Then I highly recommend reviews from buddies jade and Nataliya.
Many, many thanks to Barbara, jade, Nataliya, and Stephen for the buddy-read and fascinating discussion!
January 23, 2021
“It is very hard for evil to take hold of the unconsenting soul,” Ursula K. Le Guin wrote.
Well, here is the book about a soul who’s obsessively consenting to evil without a glimpse of a second thought or a shred of self-awareness, but with a ready batch of irritating excuses for it, backed up by spreadsheet data.
It’s a good book in the sense that’s it’s well-crafted and well-executed and well-written — but it uses all these to create something that for me was very unsettling, disturbing and, frankly, not-so-subtly horrifying. I hated it because it did what it set out to do well — show depravity of human soul and the depths to which we can go to justify our actions and choices. For that - bravo. For the number of times it made me recoil in sheer disbelieving outrage - double bravo.
From the premise and a sample of glowing reviews I expected something different. A story from a villain’s henchwoman’s point of view; a deconstruction of the superhero tropes; a satirical take on millennial office politics in the supervillain setting; a story of a cog in a wheel - a hench, a villain’s Redshirt - acquiring power and agency through the subversive awesome in its unsexiness power of spreadsheets and data mining.
I expected all that.
That’s not what I got. And take it with a grain of salt because the majority of readers seemed to get the entertaining “all of the above”. Maybe my brain is wired differently, because I got something completely different.
What I got was a depressing and disturbing story of human depravity and desire to find excuses for the abominable actions, obsessive quests for revenge blotting out any reason, the heroes and the villains both being equally despicable to the point where you cannot root for anyone (and the world where everyone is the same kind of an asshole is awfully shitty), and complete lack of self-awareness from a cold and calculating central character (she’s not quite a protagonist or an anatagonist, but the terrifying shitty person who’s unaware of that).
It’s not a satisfying villain origin story either - because for a satisfying origin story you have to feel anything for anyone besides tired repulsion.
No, it’s the study of human self-excusing despicable depravity and small-mindedness — and I’m sticking with that. And as that, it’s awesome. But in the end, you may want a good cleansing shower.
———
To make ends meet, Anna gets henchwoman jobs for local supervillains through a temp agency. She prefers to work with spreadsheets and crunch numbers. And then one day she’s gravely injured by a superhero and the perceived unfairness of that — I mean, she was just standing there, not doing anything!*— leads her on the path of becoming a very confident second-in-command to a supervillain and on the determined quest to mitigate the damage that she calculates superheroes are doing to the world.
Anna determines the costs from the superheroes antics and uses the idea of justice for that as an excuse to disguise her obsessive quest for revenge. She conveniently does not factor two things here - the costs from the villain antics and the fact that villain crimes would not have had a “disproportionate” response from superheroes if the villains found something else to do but commit those crimes. But of course it the *other* side of the Us-vs-Them that is the worst — isn’t is always?
Initially Anna thinks she’s just doing payback, “pranks” on those deserving it ()and it’s easy to fall into the trap of agreeing with her reasoning (first-person narration makes it tempting by making it easy to start identifying with the protagonist, which is why first-person narration is so effective) - and by that bit by bit you start agreeing with bits of twisted but juuust plausible logic, thus becoming a bit complicit in it. That’s well-done and chilling — and I can only presume the effect Walschots was going for, as she would have known we can see through Anna’s flimsy wall of excuses and rationalizations. But it is at times subtle and therefore disturbing as hell.
And by the time we get to the body horror that made me really cringe, I think even those of us who were ready to give Anna a break would slowly walk away from her. Without turning their backs, just in case.
And Anna almost - almost - sees her own hypocrisy. Almost.
This is a book that is good, but decidedly *not* entertaining. It’s subversive — but not in the fun hero-villain one I hoped for. It’s disturbing and it made me type long paragraphs in outrage in our buddy read group (sorry for ranting, friends!) — and it certainly did not leave me indifferent.
You don’t deserve any, so stop whining.
3.5 stars in the end, a compromise between its quality and my enjoyment ruined by Anna’s awfulness. And a big birdie to Anna, the despicable hench.
Well, here is the book about a soul who’s obsessively consenting to evil without a glimpse of a second thought or a shred of self-awareness, but with a ready batch of irritating excuses for it, backed up by spreadsheet data.
It’s a good book in the sense that’s it’s well-crafted and well-executed and well-written — but it uses all these to create something that for me was very unsettling, disturbing and, frankly, not-so-subtly horrifying. I hated it because it did what it set out to do well — show depravity of human soul and the depths to which we can go to justify our actions and choices. For that - bravo. For the number of times it made me recoil in sheer disbelieving outrage - double bravo.
From the premise and a sample of glowing reviews I expected something different. A story from a villain’s henchwoman’s point of view; a deconstruction of the superhero tropes; a satirical take on millennial office politics in the supervillain setting; a story of a cog in a wheel - a hench, a villain’s Redshirt - acquiring power and agency through the subversive awesome in its unsexiness power of spreadsheets and data mining.
I expected all that.
That’s not what I got. And take it with a grain of salt because the majority of readers seemed to get the entertaining “all of the above”. Maybe my brain is wired differently, because I got something completely different.
What I got was a depressing and disturbing story of human depravity and desire to find excuses for the abominable actions, obsessive quests for revenge blotting out any reason, the heroes and the villains both being equally despicable to the point where you cannot root for anyone (and the world where everyone is the same kind of an asshole is awfully shitty), and complete lack of self-awareness from a cold and calculating central character (she’s not quite a protagonist or an anatagonist, but the terrifying shitty person who’s unaware of that).
It’s not a satisfying villain origin story either - because for a satisfying origin story you have to feel anything for anyone besides tired repulsion.
No, it’s the study of human self-excusing despicable depravity and small-mindedness — and I’m sticking with that. And as that, it’s awesome. But in the end, you may want a good cleansing shower.
“Leviathan liked my proposal and the oldest Ocean Four child was soon scheduled for a routine nonviolent abduction. (Most abductions were nonviolent; there was often far more to be gained from the psychodrama of when the target lost their beloved and got them back. In this case, the ransom mattered much less than the target’s trauma from the experience, and their haunted relief at a near miss.)”
———
“I’m petty and mean, maybe, but I don’t know if picking on heroes the way I do fully counts as evil.”
To make ends meet, Anna gets henchwoman jobs for local supervillains through a temp agency. She prefers to work with spreadsheets and crunch numbers. And then one day she’s gravely injured by a superhero and the perceived unfairness of that — I mean, she was just standing there, not doing anything!*— leads her on the path of becoming a very confident second-in-command to a supervillain and on the determined quest to mitigate the damage that she calculates superheroes are doing to the world.
* In her “righteous” outrage, Anna conveniently glances over a minor detail: She was injured while just standing there, as a part of an entourage of a villain who was about to mutilate a kidnapped child for ransom. She was not helping an old lady cross the street.
“Looking at it all written down, watching the numbers add up, it seemed like a high price to pay for a pinkie finger and some cryptocurrency.”
You signed up for the job as a villain’s hench.
Take the damn responsibility, you whiny asshole.
Anna determines the costs from the superheroes antics and uses the idea of justice for that as an excuse to disguise her obsessive quest for revenge. She conveniently does not factor two things here - the costs from the villain antics and the fact that villain crimes would not have had a “disproportionate” response from superheroes if the villains found something else to do but commit those crimes. But of course it the *other* side of the Us-vs-Them that is the worst — isn’t is always?
“We make their private and public lives as miserable as we can. Make them late; make things go wrong around them; ruin their dry cleaning and dinners and marriages. Fuck with their social media profiles and public perception.”
Initially Anna thinks she’s just doing payback, “pranks” on those deserving it ()and it’s easy to fall into the trap of agreeing with her reasoning (first-person narration makes it tempting by making it easy to start identifying with the protagonist, which is why first-person narration is so effective) - and by that bit by bit you start agreeing with bits of twisted but juuust plausible logic, thus becoming a bit complicit in it. That’s well-done and chilling — and I can only presume the effect Walschots was going for, as she would have known we can see through Anna’s flimsy wall of excuses and rationalizations. But it is at times subtle and therefore disturbing as hell.
And by the time we get to the body horror that made me really cringe, I think even those of us who were ready to give Anna a break would slowly walk away from her. Without turning their backs, just in case.
And Anna almost - almost - sees her own hypocrisy. Almost.
“Watching her when I could, a horrible realization dawned on me: if Leviathan died, if it all fell apart, everything I had done would be for nothing. I would have killed Accelerator for nothing. I would have destroyed Quantum’s life, and caused the death of her lover and his partner, and all of the other splash damage and ripple effects, for nothing. The math would fall apart, and I would be left with nothing but more lifeyears of debt than I could ever hope to pay off.”
This is a book that is good, but decidedly *not* entertaining. It’s subversive — but not in the fun hero-villain one I hoped for. It’s disturbing and it made me type long paragraphs in outrage in our buddy read group (sorry for ranting, friends!) — and it certainly did not leave me indifferent.
“You know why they can’t get to our loved ones?” Keller asked.
“Because they’d never stoop to it?” I answered.
“Because we don’t have any.”
You don’t deserve any, so stop whining.
3.5 stars in the end, a compromise between its quality and my enjoyment ruined by Anna’s awfulness. And a big birdie to Anna, the despicable hench.
January 2, 2024
the villain origin story i've always wanted!!!
after an encounter with a superhero that leaves her leg shattered and with a permanent limp, Anna sets out on a path for revenge and to expose the collateral damage and pain inflicted by superheroes.
after an encounter with a superhero that leaves her leg shattered and with a permanent limp, Anna sets out on a path for revenge and to expose the collateral damage and pain inflicted by superheroes.
October 4, 2021
I'm not huge on superheroes but this one had a lot of potential!
Strong beginning, weak ending.
Strong beginning, weak ending.
August 4, 2020
Hench Aug 2020
Yikes, two stars. I really wanted to like this one too. I won it on Goodreads giveaway. The premise sounded so interesting and promising. And it started out just so. Great Point of view, strong female character, good writing craft. The first part of the book had me all the way while she built the new world. It came out natural and easy to follow. I always talk about the Fictive Dream and as the book progressed I got dumped out too many times. This was caused mainly by my own inability to suspension disbelief. For me it was a tad over the top.
The story is about a temp (work) agency that supplies Hench or henchmen/women for villains to help with their villainy. What a great premise, loved it. Let me say I am not a fan of superhero movies and I realize lots of folks are. I'm absolutely sure other readers will love this book.
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
Yikes, two stars. I really wanted to like this one too. I won it on Goodreads giveaway. The premise sounded so interesting and promising. And it started out just so. Great Point of view, strong female character, good writing craft. The first part of the book had me all the way while she built the new world. It came out natural and easy to follow. I always talk about the Fictive Dream and as the book progressed I got dumped out too many times. This was caused mainly by my own inability to suspension disbelief. For me it was a tad over the top.
The story is about a temp (work) agency that supplies Hench or henchmen/women for villains to help with their villainy. What a great premise, loved it. Let me say I am not a fan of superhero movies and I realize lots of folks are. I'm absolutely sure other readers will love this book.
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
November 23, 2022
November 2022
Reading Vlog: https://youtu.be/pry2D9eSGns
Reread this to annotate and see if it should go on my top 10 of 2022. While it didn't meet that criteria, I stand by this book whole heartedly.
It's not 5 stars per se. The chapters are far too long and it doesn't solidify any depth with the characters.
BUTBUTBUT! I love this book.
I highly recommend.
It's so unique and WEIRD and quirky and interesting. I've never read anything like this and I doubt I will again.
I adore Anna and Leviathan. I'd read fanfic about them to be honest.
If you love Marvel or DC, you might like this fresh twist on superheroes and what cataclysmic effects they have on everyday society.
March 2022
I loved it! What an absurd and spectacular setting and plot?
A henchwoman for a super villain exposing the nefarious deeds of superheroes? Sign me UP!
I love a Selina Kyle MOMENT.
This wasn't fully realized or fleshed out the way a 5 star would be for me. But I had a great time. I loved the weird relationship between Anna and her villain. I want fanfiction about them to be honest.
I really enjoyed it and can see myself rereading it in the future.
Reading Vlog: https://youtu.be/pry2D9eSGns
Reread this to annotate and see if it should go on my top 10 of 2022. While it didn't meet that criteria, I stand by this book whole heartedly.
It's not 5 stars per se. The chapters are far too long and it doesn't solidify any depth with the characters.
BUTBUTBUT! I love this book.
I highly recommend.
It's so unique and WEIRD and quirky and interesting. I've never read anything like this and I doubt I will again.
I adore Anna and Leviathan. I'd read fanfic about them to be honest.
If you love Marvel or DC, you might like this fresh twist on superheroes and what cataclysmic effects they have on everyday society.
March 2022
I loved it! What an absurd and spectacular setting and plot?
A henchwoman for a super villain exposing the nefarious deeds of superheroes? Sign me UP!
I love a Selina Kyle MOMENT.
This wasn't fully realized or fleshed out the way a 5 star would be for me. But I had a great time. I loved the weird relationship between Anna and her villain. I want fanfiction about them to be honest.
I really enjoyed it and can see myself rereading it in the future.
Read
July 10, 2021Oh my god this was fabulous. A superhero setup from the POV of a minor henchperson in a temp job. It's brilliantly structured and well told, taking you every step of the way along the path that leads a temp to become *sinister font* The Auditor, a villain in her own right.
Or then again not, because everyone in this is as grey as cats in the dark, morally speaking. The villain gives good health coverage, the heroes don't care about doing right but only about looking it. The only things that shine through are the real friendships and support, including moments that forget hero against villain for female solidarity in the face of goddamn men.
If you want a book with a sympathetic heroine who does the easily defined Right Thing, look elsewhere. For everyone else this is very funny, completely engaging, and gives more than you expect to think about. Also comprehensively and casually queer throughout. I have a massive book hangover now.
Note: some really quite disturbing body horror towards the end.
Or then again not, because everyone in this is as grey as cats in the dark, morally speaking. The villain gives good health coverage, the heroes don't care about doing right but only about looking it. The only things that shine through are the real friendships and support, including moments that forget hero against villain for female solidarity in the face of goddamn men.
If you want a book with a sympathetic heroine who does the easily defined Right Thing, look elsewhere. For everyone else this is very funny, completely engaging, and gives more than you expect to think about. Also comprehensively and casually queer throughout. I have a massive book hangover now.
Note: some really quite disturbing body horror towards the end.
September 28, 2020
Hench didn’t end up being what I thought it was going to be. I suppose that’s my fault, because halfway through I went to re-read the synopsis and it turned out to be pretty faithful to the events of the novel. Suffice to say, I was expecting more action. What this was instead was essentially ‘super accounting’ with some mean-spirited pranks thrown in for good measure.
I don’t think that’s necessarily a knock against the book. Natalie Zina Walschots writes with a lot of momentum and charisma. Her characters are interesting, even if some end up being a little flat. But I initially used a gif of Homelander from the Amazon Prime show The Boys and I don’t think that was an apt comparison at all. It wasn’t a comparison I came up with myself, but one that was used in some of the marketing material by the publisher. I just want to dispel any assumptions that might be made about Hench resembling something like The Boys or Watchmen so that people don’t go into this expecting one thing and then leave feeling disappointed.
What Hench is very successful at is larger societal observations and critiques. There are parallels between the ‘Heroes’ and the damage and cost inflicted by, say, the military industrial complex. There’s commentary on the role of social media in spreading both information and misinformation, some of which may be applicable to the #MeToo movement. The way that the super-powered act with impunity and are glorified to the point of being worshipped resembles how law enforcement in this country are treated much the same way. It’s impressive the way Walschots is able to extract some of these finer points which are typically ignored in superhero stories.
That said, the story itself was pretty mundane. A lot of time is spent analyzing data or trying to cause interpersonal conflicts between supers. For someone supposedly working for one of the great ‘Super Villains’, Anna’s antics are fairly benign. There’s also a substantial part spent going over her various injuries and healing time and procedures and physical therapy, etc. I just got bored when it felt like her story had stalled yet again. I understand this is probably one of the more realistic depictions of what a society with super-powered people would be like, but to be honest I didn’t go into a book like this hoping for someone struggling to pay medical bills or dealing with roommate drama. That’s just a little real for me, with not enough of the fantastical mixed in.
I still think this is a good book, and I’d read more by the author. But I just don’t know if this is one that I would prioritize in an already bloated genre. The ending also gets unexpectedly gruesome in a way that was difficult to sit through. I don’t know, maybe someone who usually avoids the Marvel of it all or is just *deep* into the lore would enjoy this more. I just can’t stop thinking about some of those earlier Agents of Shield episodes where they had Phil Coulson with a broom and dustpan cleaning up whatever mess the Avengers had just made. It’s all a little to bleak and ordinary for me to really enjoy.
I don’t think that’s necessarily a knock against the book. Natalie Zina Walschots writes with a lot of momentum and charisma. Her characters are interesting, even if some end up being a little flat. But I initially used a gif of Homelander from the Amazon Prime show The Boys and I don’t think that was an apt comparison at all. It wasn’t a comparison I came up with myself, but one that was used in some of the marketing material by the publisher. I just want to dispel any assumptions that might be made about Hench resembling something like The Boys or Watchmen so that people don’t go into this expecting one thing and then leave feeling disappointed.
What Hench is very successful at is larger societal observations and critiques. There are parallels between the ‘Heroes’ and the damage and cost inflicted by, say, the military industrial complex. There’s commentary on the role of social media in spreading both information and misinformation, some of which may be applicable to the #MeToo movement. The way that the super-powered act with impunity and are glorified to the point of being worshipped resembles how law enforcement in this country are treated much the same way. It’s impressive the way Walschots is able to extract some of these finer points which are typically ignored in superhero stories.
That said, the story itself was pretty mundane. A lot of time is spent analyzing data or trying to cause interpersonal conflicts between supers. For someone supposedly working for one of the great ‘Super Villains’, Anna’s antics are fairly benign. There’s also a substantial part spent going over her various injuries and healing time and procedures and physical therapy, etc. I just got bored when it felt like her story had stalled yet again. I understand this is probably one of the more realistic depictions of what a society with super-powered people would be like, but to be honest I didn’t go into a book like this hoping for someone struggling to pay medical bills or dealing with roommate drama. That’s just a little real for me, with not enough of the fantastical mixed in.
I still think this is a good book, and I’d read more by the author. But I just don’t know if this is one that I would prioritize in an already bloated genre. The ending also gets unexpectedly gruesome in a way that was difficult to sit through. I don’t know, maybe someone who usually avoids the Marvel of it all or is just *deep* into the lore would enjoy this more. I just can’t stop thinking about some of those earlier Agents of Shield episodes where they had Phil Coulson with a broom and dustpan cleaning up whatever mess the Avengers had just made. It’s all a little to bleak and ordinary for me to really enjoy.
December 31, 2020
It's got a great premise and the story is really interesting.
But. The ending is weird.
Now, it doesn't end on a cliffhanger or anything, but there was just something dissatisfying about it when I closed the book. It feels as though this was going to be a series of books instead of a one and done, if that makes sense?
Maybe it is? <--how should I know?!
Other than the odd conclusion, why wasn't a book about henchmen (hencepeople) a complete win for me?
Bottom line, Anna is a whiny asshole. I mean, you want to root for her, right? But the thing is, she never takes any responsibility for her role in getting injured. Ever. Like, even at the end of the book when you're hoping that she grows as ahenchperson! Nothing. She never looks around and goes, Well. Hell, maybe I shouldn't have been doing shitty stuff to other people.
Nope.
And maybe that's what is unsatisfying. She isn't so much evil as she is completely unaware of how obnoxiously self-centered she is about hurting other people in the attempt to hurt someone for hurting her.
I could have gotten behind someone who ended up with her injuries who had just been an innocent bystander. The loss of life, the pain and suffering, and the property damage that was due to the overkill responses from the superheroes was definitely ridiculous.
It wasn't that she wasn't right, it was that she wasn't the person who actually deserved to bitch about it.
Yes, the hero that she's out to take down is a giant douche. So, it's not like you feel sorry for him, but Anna and her boss hurt plenty of undeserving people in their crazy revenge scheme. And not in a fun anti-hero way.
And I get it. Anna got really hurt by this guy. <--she walks with a permanent limp now because he tossed her across a room.
But she got hurt while helping a villain try to cut the finger off of a 12 year old boy for ransom.
Sooooo. Yeah. Sorry your leg got fucked, sweetheart. But also, you kind of signed up for it.
On the upside, the story was well-written, and I was interested in what was happening the entire time. It's a pretty cool world that Walschots has created here, even if I don't quite know how to feel about everything. And if there are somehow more stories about these characters, I think I'd be pretty likely to pick that book up.
Alex McKenna - Narrator
But. The ending is weird.
Now, it doesn't end on a cliffhanger or anything, but there was just something dissatisfying about it when I closed the book. It feels as though this was going to be a series of books instead of a one and done, if that makes sense?
Maybe it is? <--how should I know?!
Other than the odd conclusion, why wasn't a book about henchmen (hencepeople) a complete win for me?
Bottom line, Anna is a whiny asshole. I mean, you want to root for her, right? But the thing is, she never takes any responsibility for her role in getting injured. Ever. Like, even at the end of the book when you're hoping that she grows as a
Nope.
And maybe that's what is unsatisfying. She isn't so much evil as she is completely unaware of how obnoxiously self-centered she is about hurting other people in the attempt to hurt someone for hurting her.
I could have gotten behind someone who ended up with her injuries who had just been an innocent bystander. The loss of life, the pain and suffering, and the property damage that was due to the overkill responses from the superheroes was definitely ridiculous.
It wasn't that she wasn't right, it was that she wasn't the person who actually deserved to bitch about it.
Yes, the hero that she's out to take down is a giant douche. So, it's not like you feel sorry for him, but Anna and her boss hurt plenty of undeserving people in their crazy revenge scheme. And not in a fun anti-hero way.
And I get it. Anna got really hurt by this guy. <--she walks with a permanent limp now because he tossed her across a room.
But she got hurt while helping a villain try to cut the finger off of a 12 year old boy for ransom.
Sooooo. Yeah. Sorry your leg got fucked, sweetheart. But also, you kind of signed up for it.
On the upside, the story was well-written, and I was interested in what was happening the entire time. It's a pretty cool world that Walschots has created here, even if I don't quite know how to feel about everything. And if there are somehow more stories about these characters, I think I'd be pretty likely to pick that book up.
Alex McKenna - Narrator
October 11, 2023
“[he] had a great deal in common with a diamond: aesthetically tacky; value artificially ascribed by corporate greed; cultural significance vastly overinflated; and incredibly hard to damage.”
hench is one of those books that’s probably not perfect, but it was definitely perfect for me. there’s something about its theme, tone, and general diabolical villainy that made it feel as if the author made a fantastic fucking dish out of a lot of my favorite story ingredients.
it’s not a ‘classic’ superhero story -- it’s the sort of tale that critiques power on both sides of the scale. it shows how carefully curated the images of heroes are while they actually do a lot of damage to the world, but at the same time it doesn’t neglect how slippery the slope to villainy is.
and what you then get is a very messed-up world in which both superheroes and supervillains are destructive assholes as well the industries supporting them, while all the regular folks get caught in the middle.
the story follows one of those regular employees: anna tromedlov, a disillusioned-with-life temp in the business of henching -- also known as working as support staff for villains. her speciality is organizing and interpreting data; her weapon of choice a spreadsheet.
once anna lands a somewhat more stable job with a sleaze of a villain, she starts doing fieldwork, and unfortunately becomes collateral damage to a superhero barging in to save the day. confined to a bed for months and now chronically disabled, anna starts utilizing her data analysis skills to show the true cost of superheroes’ good deeds...
... which a certain supervillain finds quite interesting indeed.
i loved this book. it’s funny, it’s confrontational, and it brings out the frustrated moral philosopher in you like nothing else does. i finished it in nearly one setting because i really couldn’t put it down.
i’ve always been the kind of idiot who wants to root for the villain rather than the hero, and especially after our world became oversaturated with superhero movies i’ve been even more inclined to turn my back on them. call me edgy if you must.
this story perfectly plays into that as it takes you by the hand and says, “hey, isn’t this super shitty, all this damage that superheroes do? what about all the people in the periphery getting crushed by buildings or having their faces melted off?”
it gets more complicated, however, as we watch the protagonist go above and beyond to get revenge on the superhero who injured her. who also, y’know, straight-up tried to gaslight her afterwards when the police insisted she couldn’t possibly be hurt by a hero, now could she?
anna starts out as a character who might do the morally-questionable or petty thing if necessary, but still often finds herself taken aback when confronted by the ‘truly evil’ deeds perpetrated by the villains in her vicinity.
since she takes a very ‘let’s just get the job done’ kind of approach to her work, however, it turns out it’s actually very easy to start employing the same tactics she finds so distasteful in the negligent superheroes around her. which she justifies to herself, of course.
because we spend so much time with her while she recovers and works through her trauma, and because her statistical findings do have a point, i found it easy to empathize with her. she goes from a powerless, badly injured nobody to a second-in-command to be feared, while constantly getting praise and validation from her new coworkers for her methods.
even if her methods end up being quite questionable.
need to take a superhero down? manipulate the data you have on them. leak a story about their love affair; kidnap their kid. bait them into making foolish mistakes -- preferably on camera -- regardless of how many people get injured for it. anna becomes a villain who fights dirty and is not scrupulous about it.
at the same time, the antagonist is an utter piece of total shit and anna is a disabled analyst with a go-go-gadet! cane and the power of spreadsheets on her side, breaking the superpowered mold on both sides -- and that makes me want to root for her. so morally, it toes a neat line there that made the story more interesting to me.
the other characters in the book get less of a spotlight than anna does, but there are a few notable standouts:
june, anna’s chain-smoking best friend. she’s a temp with a minor superpower: heightened senses, which makes her a popular hire for villains who want to sniff out poison or ensure that smuggling-packaging is airtight. june possesses a lot of dark humor and spirit, but the bonds of their friendship start to weaken once anna finds her new obsession.
leviathan, the supervillain who offers anna her new job. he’s a mysterious creature with a gravitas that’s both intriguing and dangerous, and he becomes increasingly more appreciative of anna (read: more funding, cool cyborg upgrades, higher rank, etc) once her work starts leading him towards his old superhero nemesis.
keller, who runs the more physically forceful of missions for leviathan. he’s the old, grumpy commander archetype who initially treats anna with some hostility -- but they end up warming up to each other, and he provides some really useful insights into what makes people eventually start working for The Bad Guys.
“you know why they can’t get to our loved ones?” keller asked.anna’s staff also includes a couple of interesting characters: vesper, more cyborg than human at this point, who quickly becomes a supportive friend; molly, an IT whizz with thick glasses and mechanical hands; nour, an incredibly charismatic sweet-talker who can impersonate anyone; jav, who’s just as good with spreadsheets as anna is; and melinda, a badass tattooed chauffeur who can master any vehicle.
“because they’d never stoop to it?” i answered.
“because we don’t have any.”
there’s a lot of casual representation amongst them, too, which i really appreciated. some of them use they / them pronouns, there are plenty of different types of relationships mentioned, and anna herself displays attraction to people of various genders during the story.
later on in the story, we get a larger scope of the whole superhero versus supervillain thing: backstories of familiar characters and well-known heroes start to get revealed, and behind individual conflict looms the backing and support of government institutions and systemic power.
a lot of parallels can be drawn here to current social issues: oppressive governments and corrupt law enforcement, the danger of a charismatic individual possessing too much power, the role of social media in both news and surveillance, the lengths someone would go to to support themselves in this economy -- the list is endless.
this is a world where everyone is kind of a questionable asshole, and it shows you just how easy it is to become one yourself.
there’s also a lot of snarky humor (my brand!) in the book that genuinely made me laugh. anna and june have some excellent banter as best friends during which they make fun of guys on tinder and other temps running around the agency. and vesper seems to be pretty damn fond of puns, much to anna’s dismay.
… and two young men who scowled at each other, both wearing leather jackets and white t-shirts. their matching, perfect pompadours trembled as they eyed each other aggressively, like the wattles on a pair of roosters.and sometimes the best way to cope with extreme violence and getting threatened by people with so much more power than you is to just sarcastically monologue right back at them :)
“wore the same dress to prom, i see,” june said in my ear, and i nearly choked on the coffee in my mouth.
because oh yes, there is violence -- graphically so in true gritty comic book style, as well as genuine threats of bodily harm to the protagonist. especially so near the end, including some pretty hefty body horror.
if i had to critique this book, i’d have to touch upon the fact that the power structures behind our main antagonist only start emerging by the last third of the book. it’d be nice to have more of a sense of those earlier on.
there’s also quite a number of tropes here -- it’s not the first time someone’s attempted to examine whether superheroes are actually a good thing -- but i felt that the approach from a hench’s point of view was fresh. i’ve not often seen a book that really does put a regular person at the center focus of a conflict like this.
i can also imagine people not liking the romance, but luckily for them it’s very subtle and barely-there.
but those are the only things i can think of; it’s an amazing debut, and very cleanly written. i do think it’s one of those stories that has to resonate with you personally -- if you can’t feel for anna in any way or you’re instantly annoyed by the way the novel sets up its moral quandaries, it might just be an instant NOPE for you.
for me, it was an instant YES.
thank you to Nataliya, Barbara, Stephen and carol for buddy-reading this with me! you made it a lot easier for me to write my review and provided a lot of food for thought :)
✎ 4.5 stars.
December 14, 2024
Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded up because I'm damn near popping from impatience to get her next book
I CHECKED THIS BOOK OUT OF MY LOCAL LIBRARY. SUPPORT YOUR LIBRARY, FOLKS! USE THEM OFTEN!
Several book ideas later, Author Walschots realized they all fit into one if she used a different frame...
I will make no bones about or apologies for my complete disdain for superhero crap. It's a bad social message. It's worse storytelling. The violence it does to physics and reality is incalculable.
Hey wait! I found *another* level of this book!
That this is a first novel is astonishing. That it is an assured and deft flensing of Western fascism and capitalism is a joy. That I am finding it now, nine months after William Morrow unleashed it on the US, is shocking. This should've flown at me, beating my head with its hard covers, demanding that it enter my consciousness long before now. Alas, the library wait-list was deep. I'm both glad and irked, because that means a lot more people have read it than might otherwise have been able to.
So, two reads in two weeks, and what I take away from it is: Love sucks.
Yeah, there's more, but given the data-destroying propensities of this place, I am leaving it at my blog: Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud.
I CHECKED THIS BOOK OUT OF MY LOCAL LIBRARY. SUPPORT YOUR LIBRARY, FOLKS! USE THEM OFTEN!
Several book ideas later, Author Walschots realized they all fit into one if she used a different frame...
I will make no bones about or apologies for my complete disdain for superhero crap. It's a bad social message. It's worse storytelling. The violence it does to physics and reality is incalculable.
Hey wait! I found *another* level of this book!
That this is a first novel is astonishing. That it is an assured and deft flensing of Western fascism and capitalism is a joy. That I am finding it now, nine months after William Morrow unleashed it on the US, is shocking. This should've flown at me, beating my head with its hard covers, demanding that it enter my consciousness long before now. Alas, the library wait-list was deep. I'm both glad and irked, because that means a lot more people have read it than might otherwise have been able to.
So, two reads in two weeks, and what I take away from it is: Love sucks.
Yeah, there's more, but given the data-destroying propensities of this place, I am leaving it at my blog: Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud.
October 5, 2020
I think it's important to note that I gave this one star because, according to Goodreads's scale, 1 star means I did not like it--and I didn't. It doesn't necessarily mean the book was bad, and I don't think I'd argue that. Instead, I'd say I found it deeply flawed and wanting. Some spoilers to follow.
My main problem with this book is I could not understand the stance it was taking. The point may have been to rest in the gray area at all times, but I don't think it did the book any service. Instead, it made a lot of the Auditor's (and I can't for the life of me remember her name, maybe because I felt so detached from her) actions seem contradictory. She hates superheroes because of the damage they cause, which is an interesting and plausible premise for a book. She works for a villain temp agency, and is that so bad, when you think of corporations and how corrupt so many of them have proven to be? Again, interesting and plausible. The problem is, I never felt the book picked up and ran with either of those concepts.
Instead, the Auditor ends up descending into this strange fascination with her supervillain boss, and I had no idea why. What is it about him she finds so compelling, other than that his armor intrigues her? It's clear there's meant to be some attraction between them, but I couldn't imagine why. Actually, the way the book portrayed things left me feeling slightly icky, because to me it came across as her wanting and needing his acknowledgement and approval that led to the attraction. She lives to devise plans that please him, is starved for encouragement from him. Thanks, but no. Yeah, we all want approval and acknowledgement from the object of our attraction, but what these two had felt like a dark romance, which is not my thing. There was no connection between them, no hint of the substance each found in the other. The only common denominator, really, was that they both wanted to get back at Supercollider.
Further, throughout the book the Auditor justifies working for villains because of the cost superheroes wreak on the world, but she never once stops to think about the cost of villainy. I got the sense that June did, and that was a big part of what led to the rift between them, but the Auditor never has the self-awareness she really needs. She's quick to note when superheroes' actions cause collateral damage to regular people and henches, but not so quick to note when villains' actions have the same consequences. Leviathan goes through so many redshirts I couldn't have kept track without a spreadsheet (Jav, where are you when I need your skills!), yet never once does the Auditor spare a thought for this.
Really, in the end, I felt like this book failed at what it set out to do precisely because of this lack of self-awareness, its unwillingness to examine the toll taken by its protagonists' actions. How are villains any better than superheroes? How are superheroes any worse than villains? Does replacing one corrupt and callous system with another make the world a better place for anyone? Sure, you could argue that this isn't what this book is about, could point to the Auditor's actions and say it's a book about revenge. I actually would have been fine with that. It's clear the Auditor wants Supercollider to pay, and her reasons are understandable. But this book felt like so much more nihilism, and that's just not my bag, mainly because it's easy to just throw your hands in the air and say the world sucks.
My main problem with this book is I could not understand the stance it was taking. The point may have been to rest in the gray area at all times, but I don't think it did the book any service. Instead, it made a lot of the Auditor's (and I can't for the life of me remember her name, maybe because I felt so detached from her) actions seem contradictory. She hates superheroes because of the damage they cause, which is an interesting and plausible premise for a book. She works for a villain temp agency, and is that so bad, when you think of corporations and how corrupt so many of them have proven to be? Again, interesting and plausible. The problem is, I never felt the book picked up and ran with either of those concepts.
Instead, the Auditor ends up descending into this strange fascination with her supervillain boss, and I had no idea why. What is it about him she finds so compelling, other than that his armor intrigues her? It's clear there's meant to be some attraction between them, but I couldn't imagine why. Actually, the way the book portrayed things left me feeling slightly icky, because to me it came across as her wanting and needing his acknowledgement and approval that led to the attraction. She lives to devise plans that please him, is starved for encouragement from him. Thanks, but no. Yeah, we all want approval and acknowledgement from the object of our attraction, but what these two had felt like a dark romance, which is not my thing. There was no connection between them, no hint of the substance each found in the other. The only common denominator, really, was that they both wanted to get back at Supercollider.
Further, throughout the book the Auditor justifies working for villains because of the cost superheroes wreak on the world, but she never once stops to think about the cost of villainy. I got the sense that June did, and that was a big part of what led to the rift between them, but the Auditor never has the self-awareness she really needs. She's quick to note when superheroes' actions cause collateral damage to regular people and henches, but not so quick to note when villains' actions have the same consequences. Leviathan goes through so many redshirts I couldn't have kept track without a spreadsheet (Jav, where are you when I need your skills!), yet never once does the Auditor spare a thought for this.
Really, in the end, I felt like this book failed at what it set out to do precisely because of this lack of self-awareness, its unwillingness to examine the toll taken by its protagonists' actions. How are villains any better than superheroes? How are superheroes any worse than villains? Does replacing one corrupt and callous system with another make the world a better place for anyone? Sure, you could argue that this isn't what this book is about, could point to the Auditor's actions and say it's a book about revenge. I actually would have been fine with that. It's clear the Auditor wants Supercollider to pay, and her reasons are understandable. But this book felt like so much more nihilism, and that's just not my bag, mainly because it's easy to just throw your hands in the air and say the world sucks.
Want to read
June 4, 2020Omg this is a novel about a supervillain's henchwoman.
YES
YES
February 22, 2021
For a great deal of this novel, I was practicing -- or rather, reveling -- in my nefarious "muahahahahahaha" laugh.
Sometimes, I had to hold back and try to unleash my vast coil of villainy in tiny little bursts, but by the final action scene, it all came bubbling out in waves of gut-propelled dark joy.
Seriously though, the first part of the novel felt like I was back in my old job as a customer support rep for a big cell-phone agency. The sheer evil that I had to endure, with me as a lowly peon, felt like I was BACK.
And then the middle of the book, the rise of Hench stardom, becoming an evil mastermind from deep within the bowels of the leviathan... or rather, under the auspices of Leviathan, was pure joy. I felt like I was reading Flex again for the first time.
On the other side of it, I felt like I was watching (or reading the comic of) The Boys, but having the story told from the funny and unique perspective of a smart middle-manager go-getter.
But it was the end that made my innards boil. What an end! Deliciously evil.
But the very, very end?
I didn't expect that. It's not a celluloid ending. It's dark and cruel and if I'm to be utterly honest: I really appreciate it. Most of the novel definitely IS a darkly realistic trip into a moral trap, but it also satisfies all those revenge fantasy cravings, too. It's the very end that elevates this to a question of philosophy. And I loved it.
Well worth the read. Truly.
Sometimes, I had to hold back and try to unleash my vast coil of villainy in tiny little bursts, but by the final action scene, it all came bubbling out in waves of gut-propelled dark joy.
Seriously though, the first part of the novel felt like I was back in my old job as a customer support rep for a big cell-phone agency. The sheer evil that I had to endure, with me as a lowly peon, felt like I was BACK.
And then the middle of the book, the rise of Hench stardom, becoming an evil mastermind from deep within the bowels of the leviathan... or rather, under the auspices of Leviathan, was pure joy. I felt like I was reading Flex again for the first time.
On the other side of it, I felt like I was watching (or reading the comic of) The Boys, but having the story told from the funny and unique perspective of a smart middle-manager go-getter.
But it was the end that made my innards boil. What an end! Deliciously evil.
But the very, very end?
I didn't expect that. It's not a celluloid ending. It's dark and cruel and if I'm to be utterly honest: I really appreciate it. Most of the novel definitely IS a darkly realistic trip into a moral trap, but it also satisfies all those revenge fantasy cravings, too. It's the very end that elevates this to a question of philosophy. And I loved it.
Well worth the read. Truly.
July 29, 2023
This book was billed as an angry feminist look at the cost of superheroes and the white supremacist/patriarchal societies that protect them. And it's not wrong...to a point. It's just very much a stiletto stab rather than the inclusive meat grinder I prefer for my own takedowns of the kyriarchy, I guess.
Content warnings
Things that were fun:
-Collateral damage. In a past life, I worked with insurance companies on property damage related stuff. Boring, but it was a popular meeting joke to discuss the claims possible after the latest superhero flick trashed New York again. (I hear you judging me for what I find fun. Whatever, I'm sure you also have work jokes you enjoy, fellow GOODREADS NERD).
-Takedown of the superhero complex. It's fun to watch supervillain backstories, and it can be amusing to skewer things our culture finds acceptable, if you have a good angle. I think this one wasn't bad, but it wasn't complete either.
-Disabilities front and center. I did like that this empowered victims to speak up. That was a good message. I also liked that physical "function" wasn't tied to worth or attraction.
-Office drama. I saw a post that said "stop asking what people do for a living. All of us are just responding to emails." And that truth was celebrated here, with an "The Office"-esque look at being a drone in an operation.
Things that detracted for me:
-The sex-shaming/ internalized misogyny. I came really close to chucking this book because we keep attacking women through their sexual agency in this book. One woman is a dom with a stalker ex, so they encourage her stalker ex to stalk harder and shame her for being sexually aggressive. Another has the audacity to want a career AND children, so they hurt her kids and tell her that if only she was a good mom who left the workforce, that wouldn't happen. I'm oversimplifying, but that was how it read to me and I resent that heartily. Women are often part of the problem, I agree, but usually it's not their womanhood or how they use their fun bits that causes that problem. I don't think the book wrangled with that enough. Similarly, I think the female friendship was toxic as hell and I expected to deal with that more too.
-Lack of self-awareness. Indeed, that criticism is one I maintain throughout. Why do people go to henching in the first place if it's that dangerous? Where is the government if jobs are that scarce? Why can't you un-hench? Is this actually righteous or actually just the same problem of vigilanteism from another angle?
-Disgusting. Super gory. Like, really, really in depth and revolting body horror.
-A few leaps of faith. There are several plot points we can only get to by leaving the anticipated path for characters entirely. I think this could have been better.
In the end it was sure angry, but not in a way I found cathartic or funny. Maybe this was the narrator, maybe my mood, but likely just a lot of my own preferences. It was fine, and the writing was decent, but this author is not on my watch list either. Thanks but no thanks. 2 stars.
Content warnings
Things that were fun:
-Collateral damage. In a past life, I worked with insurance companies on property damage related stuff. Boring, but it was a popular meeting joke to discuss the claims possible after the latest superhero flick trashed New York again. (I hear you judging me for what I find fun. Whatever, I'm sure you also have work jokes you enjoy, fellow GOODREADS NERD).
-Takedown of the superhero complex. It's fun to watch supervillain backstories, and it can be amusing to skewer things our culture finds acceptable, if you have a good angle. I think this one wasn't bad, but it wasn't complete either.
-Disabilities front and center. I did like that this empowered victims to speak up. That was a good message. I also liked that physical "function" wasn't tied to worth or attraction.
-Office drama. I saw a post that said "stop asking what people do for a living. All of us are just responding to emails." And that truth was celebrated here, with an "The Office"-esque look at being a drone in an operation.
Things that detracted for me:
-The sex-shaming/ internalized misogyny. I came really close to chucking this book because we keep attacking women through their sexual agency in this book. One woman is a dom with a stalker ex, so they encourage her stalker ex to stalk harder and shame her for being sexually aggressive. Another has the audacity to want a career AND children, so they hurt her kids and tell her that if only she was a good mom who left the workforce, that wouldn't happen. I'm oversimplifying, but that was how it read to me and I resent that heartily. Women are often part of the problem, I agree, but usually it's not their womanhood or how they use their fun bits that causes that problem. I don't think the book wrangled with that enough. Similarly, I think the female friendship was toxic as hell and I expected to deal with that more too.
-Lack of self-awareness. Indeed, that criticism is one I maintain throughout. Why do people go to henching in the first place if it's that dangerous? Where is the government if jobs are that scarce? Why can't you un-hench? Is this actually righteous or actually just the same problem of vigilanteism from another angle?
-Disgusting. Super gory. Like, really, really in depth and revolting body horror.
-A few leaps of faith. There are several plot points we can only get to by leaving the anticipated path for characters entirely. I think this could have been better.
In the end it was sure angry, but not in a way I found cathartic or funny. Maybe this was the narrator, maybe my mood, but likely just a lot of my own preferences. It was fine, and the writing was decent, but this author is not on my watch list either. Thanks but no thanks. 2 stars.
August 1, 2020
Hench expertly deconstructs superhero stories and offers a fresh perspective on the subgenre. Instead of following heroes, it focuses on Henches, expendable employees of supervillains.
Anna Tromedlov works temp jobs for minor baddies. Her newest job ends in a disaster - Anna ends injured, out of work, and disillusioned with reckless superheroes who pay no attention to casualties of their superhuman feats. Her data-based research confirms superheroes, for all their good PR, are terrible for the world. They're a pest. Or worse.
When Leviathan, an A-List Supervillain, hires her as a Hench, she can use her anger, data analysis skills, and excel sheets to wreak havoc in heroes' lives. Trust me when I say data analysis proves more lethal than laser beams or psychic powers.
Anna's work has one goal - to publicly humiliate heroes and make their private and public lives as miserable as possible. Thanks to modern technology, rumors, social-engineering, social media, and viral videos, she controls how the public perceives them and how they interact with others.
While Hench doesn't have a lot to say about superheroes that hasn't been said before, it offers a unique perspective. I wouldn't call Anna relatable, but I appreciate her agency. Despite the success of Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel many superhero stories lack strong female leads. It's good to finally see a competent female character with an understandable backstory, her own agenda, and loads of screen-time. Her doubts make her more believable and human. The way she ruins her private life shows everything comes at a cost.
Interestingly, Anna bores most superheroes no ill will. She destroys them to get to a Supercollider, her, and her employer's Nemesis. Walschots' take on emotional detachment impressed me. Thanks to snarky (and slightly cynical) humor, the story never gets depressing or too dark. Even when things do get dark and depressive.
The plot follows her jobs, and it's not linear. Instead, we witness the turning points of her professional life leading to a brutal climax and excellent ending that I find fitting, even if it's more bitter than sweet.
In all, a worthwhile read for fans of the subgenre.
Anna Tromedlov works temp jobs for minor baddies. Her newest job ends in a disaster - Anna ends injured, out of work, and disillusioned with reckless superheroes who pay no attention to casualties of their superhuman feats. Her data-based research confirms superheroes, for all their good PR, are terrible for the world. They're a pest. Or worse.
When Leviathan, an A-List Supervillain, hires her as a Hench, she can use her anger, data analysis skills, and excel sheets to wreak havoc in heroes' lives. Trust me when I say data analysis proves more lethal than laser beams or psychic powers.
Make them late; make things go wrong around them; ruin their dry cleaning and dinners and marriages. Fuck with their social media profiles and public perception.
Anna's work has one goal - to publicly humiliate heroes and make their private and public lives as miserable as possible. Thanks to modern technology, rumors, social-engineering, social media, and viral videos, she controls how the public perceives them and how they interact with others.
While Hench doesn't have a lot to say about superheroes that hasn't been said before, it offers a unique perspective. I wouldn't call Anna relatable, but I appreciate her agency. Despite the success of Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel many superhero stories lack strong female leads. It's good to finally see a competent female character with an understandable backstory, her own agenda, and loads of screen-time. Her doubts make her more believable and human. The way she ruins her private life shows everything comes at a cost.
Interestingly, Anna bores most superheroes no ill will. She destroys them to get to a Supercollider, her, and her employer's Nemesis. Walschots' take on emotional detachment impressed me. Thanks to snarky (and slightly cynical) humor, the story never gets depressing or too dark. Even when things do get dark and depressive.
The plot follows her jobs, and it's not linear. Instead, we witness the turning points of her professional life leading to a brutal climax and excellent ending that I find fitting, even if it's more bitter than sweet.
In all, a worthwhile read for fans of the subgenre.
March 20, 2022
Spandex and capes never make it into my literary diet anymore. I gave up a long time ago. Hench was suggested as a group read with colleagues; I went in without expectations.
This was zany and then some. Also uneven, but still great fun. While superheroes and supervillains make up the essence of this book, the change in perspective and the involvement of bystanders brought this unexpected novel more on the side of Astro City by Kurt Busiek, for me, than that of any regular Marvel or DC title. This is not the stuff that routinely gets turned into a blockbuster movie – which I applaud.
Pick it up to explore:
- Moral grandstanding
- Fluid sexuality in a protagonist
- Superpowers taking the backseat from work relationships and personal growth
- The gig economy showcased in a whole new light
I will need to thank the colleague who suggested this. Short of grasping for transcendence, although yes, in a way, Hench definitely got creative and nailed the entertainment part. Technically, I’d give this 3 stars and a half – the ending took a few wrong turns for me, among other things – but I will gladly round this up rather than down. Smart and fun went hand in hand in Hench, with a clever, happy delivery.
This was zany and then some. Also uneven, but still great fun. While superheroes and supervillains make up the essence of this book, the change in perspective and the involvement of bystanders brought this unexpected novel more on the side of Astro City by Kurt Busiek, for me, than that of any regular Marvel or DC title. This is not the stuff that routinely gets turned into a blockbuster movie – which I applaud.
Pick it up to explore:
- Moral grandstanding
- Fluid sexuality in a protagonist
- Superpowers taking the backseat from work relationships and personal growth
- The gig economy showcased in a whole new light
I will need to thank the colleague who suggested this. Short of grasping for transcendence, although yes, in a way, Hench definitely got creative and nailed the entertainment part. Technically, I’d give this 3 stars and a half – the ending took a few wrong turns for me, among other things – but I will gladly round this up rather than down. Smart and fun went hand in hand in Hench, with a clever, happy delivery.
November 4, 2020
I loved this!
Hench imagines what life is like when you are part of the Supervillain's admin staff. Anna's speciality is data analysis and strategizing the downfall of Heroes through careful planning. Her technique is the data analysis equivalent of death by 1000 cuts, or in this case, micro-manipulation of events.
For me the book was massively enjoyable and compulsively readable. I would love to see the author write a sequel! One of my favourite reads for 2020.
Hench imagines what life is like when you are part of the Supervillain's admin staff. Anna's speciality is data analysis and strategizing the downfall of Heroes through careful planning. Her technique is the data analysis equivalent of death by 1000 cuts, or in this case, micro-manipulation of events.
For me the book was massively enjoyable and compulsively readable. I would love to see the author write a sequel! One of my favourite reads for 2020.
January 19, 2021
I had no real idea of what to expect with this book. When a group of friends picked it for a buddy read I decided to take a walk down the sci-fi aisle, a place where I don’t spend much time. Plus, as someone who leveraged her back-door access to a SQL database into providing the small company she worked for with a wealth of information about their own operation that they wouldn’t otherwise have had, I was intrigued by the reference to “weaponized data”.
Given that intro you may understand that it took me a while to process the fact that I was reading a book where normal office workers interact with superheroes and supervillains. I had already begun to get a positive feeling for the main character, Anna, who seemed so rooted in a typical 21st century reality, when I realized what all the “hench” business was about.
It’s fair to say that my appreciation for Anna’s situation carried over through the rest of the book. I think I saw her as a normal person, from a normal world, trying to find her way in a world of super-people. They had always been a presence in her life, just as they had in everyone else’s life, and she may have been aware that their way of interacting with each other did not represent normal human behavior. But when a series of events lands her in the middle of their world, she is put in a position of finding out how far she can go in that world to avenge the harm that’s been done to her.
A lot of Anna’s behaviors are pretty despicable, but I guess I always felt they were attuned to that superhero environment, and not to her older reality. I tend to think she would have acted differently, had a different life, made different decisions - if not for the superhero encounter that turned her old world on its head.
Given that intro you may understand that it took me a while to process the fact that I was reading a book where normal office workers interact with superheroes and supervillains. I had already begun to get a positive feeling for the main character, Anna, who seemed so rooted in a typical 21st century reality, when I realized what all the “hench” business was about.
It’s fair to say that my appreciation for Anna’s situation carried over through the rest of the book. I think I saw her as a normal person, from a normal world, trying to find her way in a world of super-people. They had always been a presence in her life, just as they had in everyone else’s life, and she may have been aware that their way of interacting with each other did not represent normal human behavior. But when a series of events lands her in the middle of their world, she is put in a position of finding out how far she can go in that world to avenge the harm that’s been done to her.
A lot of Anna’s behaviors are pretty despicable, but I guess I always felt they were attuned to that superhero environment, and not to her older reality. I tend to think she would have acted differently, had a different life, made different decisions - if not for the superhero encounter that turned her old world on its head.
November 12, 2020
Anna is a hench, which is basically an assistant to supervillains. While I can watch superhero movies for 2 hours of mindless entertainment I don’t think that I have ever read about super heroes and villains before, and I probably won’t again. After Anna and other henches are injured in a failed child hostage situation she becomes obsessed with proving that superheroes actually cause harm to society. She is eventually hired by supervillain Leviathan to help him disrupt and destroy superheroes.
This book isn’t sharp enough to be satirical and the characters are not charismatic enough to actually get us on the side of supervillains. Even Anna doesn’t seem to understand what side she is on. Sometimes she hates superheroes because they kill henches and cost society. Sometimes she hates supervillains because they are her bosses. Sometimes she crushes on her boss. The book is an ethical and logical mess. It’s also too long, I skimmed a lot in the second half of the book. 2.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
This book isn’t sharp enough to be satirical and the characters are not charismatic enough to actually get us on the side of supervillains. Even Anna doesn’t seem to understand what side she is on. Sometimes she hates superheroes because they kill henches and cost society. Sometimes she hates supervillains because they are her bosses. Sometimes she crushes on her boss. The book is an ethical and logical mess. It’s also too long, I skimmed a lot in the second half of the book. 2.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
April 6, 2022
This book was on my radar, but Charles’ review made me fast-track it. Thank you very much, friend, I had a lot of fun with this one!
One of my favorite characters in adult animation is Henchman 21/Gary/The Viceroy from the brilliant series “The Venture Bros.”. He is a henchman to a super-villain called The Monarch, and while he is a simple underling early in the series, he eventually becomes his boss’ sidekick and close friend. And he has a tattoo on his chest that says “HENCH4LIFE”. When I first hear about this novel, I immediately thought of 21, and I knew I had to read it. Also, you should watch “The Venture Bros.” (available for streaming on the Adult Swim website – they are not paying me to promote it, it is just that good).
I don’t know if Walschots is a “Venture Bros.” fan, but if she isn’t, she is tapping into the same vein of the collective unconscious Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick draw from when they write their show, because she has wondered a lot about the real-life effect superheroes and supervillains would have on our existence if they were real (though their take on it is very much tongue in cheek, as where hers is more serious). To run any good project, you need a brain and a face, but you also need support staff: people who crunch the numbers, give you tech support, cover your various legal quibbles, make you coffee. It only makes sense that such people would go through a temp agency in order to find work, as being part of a supervillain’s rank and file must have a high turnover…
That’s what Anna and her friends June and Greg do: short contracts working with various bad guys in support roles; it’s not glamourous but it pays the bills! Anna had been working building spreadsheets for Electric Eel, when her boss asks her to come with him for a public appearance – what she thinks might be her big break turns out to be the event that will derail her life. E’s team is thwarted in their nefarious plan by one of the world’s most famous superhero: Supercollider. In the process of stopping Electric Eel, the hero throws Anna across the room and when she comes to, it’s to a spiral fracture of the femur and an early termination from her work contract. Traumatized, depressed and going through a painful physical recovery, Anna needs to make sense of what happened to her, and she begins to realize her experience is not unique. She puts together a database to compute how many lives were affected, and years ultimately taken from people by superheroes’ actions and begins to see that the harm they cause is not made up for by the good they do. Her work is eventually noticed by a very notorious villain, Leviathan, who offers her not only a job, but a purpose: the opportunity to channel her knowledge and her hate towards the superheroes to fight against them in a way no one has ever done before.
The writing is snappy and witty, and it’s very easy to just sit there and devour huge chunks of the book, as the pacing is perfectly executed. But there is something about Anna’s evolution that is terribly upsetting: Walschots deconstructs how villains become villains, and while of course it is not pretty, I think the disturbing thing is how easily it happens. Sure, she was working for bad guys, but Anna was not really a bad person when her story begins, she was just trying to make ends meet. Her injury and the way it is handled by the so-called good guys plant a seed in her, a need for revenge that she sustains through her work. Of course her new boss encourages it. Of course, the truly awful way the heroes behave make her feel justified. And that’s the bitter center of this story: justifying your bad actions is a slippery slope, because eventually, down that road, all bad actions can be justified.
This is nothing revolutionary: read any comic book! Loki and Magneto are perfect example of “bad guys” people can root for, and the question of how good are the good guys is deeply looked at in “Watchmen”. But the way Walschots blends those tropes with millennial office politics, and from a first person point of view, makes this story very interesting, because it highlights the hypocrisies and small-mindedness that anyone can relate to. It turns a premise that could be seen as quite over-the-top into something that might be a little close to home for comfort. I was curious to see how Anna’s story would warp up, and I found the ending to fit quite well with the spirit of the story. There is not real end to the cycle of vengeance and violence, in fact or fiction.
A very interesting, often fun and sometimes gross book about doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Recommended for comic book fans who like their stories gritty and who don’t mind grey areas and flexible moral barometers in their “protagonists”.
One of my favorite characters in adult animation is Henchman 21/Gary/The Viceroy from the brilliant series “The Venture Bros.”. He is a henchman to a super-villain called The Monarch, and while he is a simple underling early in the series, he eventually becomes his boss’ sidekick and close friend. And he has a tattoo on his chest that says “HENCH4LIFE”. When I first hear about this novel, I immediately thought of 21, and I knew I had to read it. Also, you should watch “The Venture Bros.” (available for streaming on the Adult Swim website – they are not paying me to promote it, it is just that good).
I don’t know if Walschots is a “Venture Bros.” fan, but if she isn’t, she is tapping into the same vein of the collective unconscious Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick draw from when they write their show, because she has wondered a lot about the real-life effect superheroes and supervillains would have on our existence if they were real (though their take on it is very much tongue in cheek, as where hers is more serious). To run any good project, you need a brain and a face, but you also need support staff: people who crunch the numbers, give you tech support, cover your various legal quibbles, make you coffee. It only makes sense that such people would go through a temp agency in order to find work, as being part of a supervillain’s rank and file must have a high turnover…
That’s what Anna and her friends June and Greg do: short contracts working with various bad guys in support roles; it’s not glamourous but it pays the bills! Anna had been working building spreadsheets for Electric Eel, when her boss asks her to come with him for a public appearance – what she thinks might be her big break turns out to be the event that will derail her life. E’s team is thwarted in their nefarious plan by one of the world’s most famous superhero: Supercollider. In the process of stopping Electric Eel, the hero throws Anna across the room and when she comes to, it’s to a spiral fracture of the femur and an early termination from her work contract. Traumatized, depressed and going through a painful physical recovery, Anna needs to make sense of what happened to her, and she begins to realize her experience is not unique. She puts together a database to compute how many lives were affected, and years ultimately taken from people by superheroes’ actions and begins to see that the harm they cause is not made up for by the good they do. Her work is eventually noticed by a very notorious villain, Leviathan, who offers her not only a job, but a purpose: the opportunity to channel her knowledge and her hate towards the superheroes to fight against them in a way no one has ever done before.
The writing is snappy and witty, and it’s very easy to just sit there and devour huge chunks of the book, as the pacing is perfectly executed. But there is something about Anna’s evolution that is terribly upsetting: Walschots deconstructs how villains become villains, and while of course it is not pretty, I think the disturbing thing is how easily it happens. Sure, she was working for bad guys, but Anna was not really a bad person when her story begins, she was just trying to make ends meet. Her injury and the way it is handled by the so-called good guys plant a seed in her, a need for revenge that she sustains through her work. Of course her new boss encourages it. Of course, the truly awful way the heroes behave make her feel justified. And that’s the bitter center of this story: justifying your bad actions is a slippery slope, because eventually, down that road, all bad actions can be justified.
This is nothing revolutionary: read any comic book! Loki and Magneto are perfect example of “bad guys” people can root for, and the question of how good are the good guys is deeply looked at in “Watchmen”. But the way Walschots blends those tropes with millennial office politics, and from a first person point of view, makes this story very interesting, because it highlights the hypocrisies and small-mindedness that anyone can relate to. It turns a premise that could be seen as quite over-the-top into something that might be a little close to home for comfort. I was curious to see how Anna’s story would warp up, and I found the ending to fit quite well with the spirit of the story. There is not real end to the cycle of vengeance and violence, in fact or fiction.
A very interesting, often fun and sometimes gross book about doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Recommended for comic book fans who like their stories gritty and who don’t mind grey areas and flexible moral barometers in their “protagonists”.
September 20, 2021
I’ve never much liked or cared about superheroes – what’s some asshole in a cape? Despite my friends’ gushing, I didn’t put Hench on my radar until there was a sale, and….wait. Mundane job? Spreadsheets? Fuck me, I’m in. I’ve always had enough of a hard-on for bureaucracy and other usually boring shit in books to override subgenre preferences and sure enough, it was exactly my thing. The characters’ low opinion of superheroes was the final cherry on top.
I loved pretty much everything about this book. The colourful cast of characters, the fast pacing that was compelling without being too intense for me, being on the side of the villains, and, naturally, the spreadsheets. Anna can’t fly or jump over the buildings and she hates action – she’s just a normal person good at handling large amounts of data and weaponising it to ruin superheroes’ lives from afar. Which is, honestly, completely terrifying and at the same time very entertaining to watch.
The worldbuilding was not especially deep. Superheroes, supervillains, heroes are objectively worse for the world, that’s more or less it. But it was enough to get the point across and that’s good enough for me. I also liked that it’s queernorm and not ableist – there’s a number of casually queer characters (including Anna herself, who is bi) and being neuroatypical or disabled didn’t seem to be especially noteworthy either.
I was also surprised to find I genuinely enjoyed the humour!
Enjoyment: 5/5
Execution: 4/5
Recommended to: spreadsheet fetishists, supervillain enthusiasts, those looking for a fast and entertaining read set in an inclusive world, disability rep, or a variety of LGBTQ+ rep
Not recommended to: anyone sensitive to body horror, those who like detailed worldbuilding
Content warnings: explicit body horror
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds .
No one wants to be a real hero; it’s too hard. My husband didn’t give a damn whether the work I was doing was noble as long as it appeared to be. When I killed someone then—something I did a lot more than I do now—it was for the greater good. It was such bullshit.Anna is a hench, working temp jobs as a data analyst and spreadsheet master for various supervillains. Then an assignment goes wrong, she runs into a superhero, landing in hospital with a shattered leg and losing her job to boot. Of course, she swears revenge, intent on using her skill with data to expose how bad for humanity superheroes are. And then she gets an offer for a much better job…
I loved pretty much everything about this book. The colourful cast of characters, the fast pacing that was compelling without being too intense for me, being on the side of the villains, and, naturally, the spreadsheets. Anna can’t fly or jump over the buildings and she hates action – she’s just a normal person good at handling large amounts of data and weaponising it to ruin superheroes’ lives from afar. Which is, honestly, completely terrifying and at the same time very entertaining to watch.
The worldbuilding was not especially deep. Superheroes, supervillains, heroes are objectively worse for the world, that’s more or less it. But it was enough to get the point across and that’s good enough for me. I also liked that it’s queernorm and not ableist – there’s a number of casually queer characters (including Anna herself, who is bi) and being neuroatypical or disabled didn’t seem to be especially noteworthy either.
I was also surprised to find I genuinely enjoyed the humour!
I guess the guest pass isn’t the easiest thingWe desperately, desperately need a sequel and not just because of the hinted at but tragically unexplored potential for a monsterfucking romance subplot.
It’s a fucking suppository
We have ones you can swallow now
Oh yeah?
I’ll make sure they get you the older model
Asshole
Exactly
This is why you have no other friends
Enjoyment: 5/5
Execution: 4/5
Recommended to: spreadsheet fetishists, supervillain enthusiasts, those looking for a fast and entertaining read set in an inclusive world, disability rep, or a variety of LGBTQ+ rep
Not recommended to: anyone sensitive to body horror, those who like detailed worldbuilding
Content warnings: explicit body horror
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds .
March 14, 2021
Anna Tromedlov is a tiny cog in the villain gig economy. Henching means filling out the ancillary roles that make up a traditional bad guy roster. The camera crew that films the dramatic hostage situation, the IT resources hacking into the network feed, the getaway driver at the ready should things go south and Anna, behind the scenes crunching the numbers. But her latest gig drags her into the spotlight and she joins the line of Meat at the latest villain presser, a token diversity prop to better show off evolving bad guy allyship.
In typical hero fashion the uber-hero of the book, Supercollider arrives to save the day but leaves Anna with a shattered femur, incapacitated, jobless and probably never able to walk again without the aid of a cane. While recuperating she starts calculating the cost of heroes in the world and shares the numbers in her tiny blog The Injury Report. The thousands of hours of lost productivity, not just from the Meat horribly injured as the hero sweeps in to save the day but the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, the firefighters dying under the rubble of a collapsing building and the millions in property damage. The arrival of Supercollider is akin to a catastrophic earthquake and no less expensive. Heroes are just villains with better PR.
I could go on. What starts out as a clever examination of the hench ecosystem, the oft overlooked infrastructure of villain endeavours which could easily fill an entire novel swiftly morphs into superhero economics drawing on the real-world research of Ilan Noy and his examination of the "Disability Adjusted Lifeyears Measure of the Direct Impact of Natural Disasters". All carried out by the wickedly snarky Anna and the sharp banter between her and June. But it's also such a perfect office novel once Anna finds herself at Leviathan HQ. Walschots nails the adrenaline and camaraderie of a functioning office in contrast to the psychotic disfunction built mostly on hype and ego of Anna's earlier experiences. Social media and its impact in this new reality is smartly deployed and we still get a classic good guy/bad guy showdown to boot.
This would make a perfect punk rock, alt superhero movie in contrast to the grim bluster of DC and the candy coloured optimism of Marvel. As it stands, it's a near perfect read that is a blistering fastball right down the centre of my own personal strike zone. Worth check out true believers.
In typical hero fashion the uber-hero of the book, Supercollider arrives to save the day but leaves Anna with a shattered femur, incapacitated, jobless and probably never able to walk again without the aid of a cane. While recuperating she starts calculating the cost of heroes in the world and shares the numbers in her tiny blog The Injury Report. The thousands of hours of lost productivity, not just from the Meat horribly injured as the hero sweeps in to save the day but the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, the firefighters dying under the rubble of a collapsing building and the millions in property damage. The arrival of Supercollider is akin to a catastrophic earthquake and no less expensive. Heroes are just villains with better PR.
I could go on. What starts out as a clever examination of the hench ecosystem, the oft overlooked infrastructure of villain endeavours which could easily fill an entire novel swiftly morphs into superhero economics drawing on the real-world research of Ilan Noy and his examination of the "Disability Adjusted Lifeyears Measure of the Direct Impact of Natural Disasters". All carried out by the wickedly snarky Anna and the sharp banter between her and June. But it's also such a perfect office novel once Anna finds herself at Leviathan HQ. Walschots nails the adrenaline and camaraderie of a functioning office in contrast to the psychotic disfunction built mostly on hype and ego of Anna's earlier experiences. Social media and its impact in this new reality is smartly deployed and we still get a classic good guy/bad guy showdown to boot.
This would make a perfect punk rock, alt superhero movie in contrast to the grim bluster of DC and the candy coloured optimism of Marvel. As it stands, it's a near perfect read that is a blistering fastball right down the centre of my own personal strike zone. Worth check out true believers.
August 8, 2021
I loved so much about this book. It is such a fun and (slightly) unique take on the superhero & villain story. If you're looking for a more character-drive story that has those superhero/villain elements & themes to it, this is one to check out
You can watch me discuss the book in my July wrap up: https://youtu.be/f6wmudTzrno
You can watch me discuss the book in my July wrap up: https://youtu.be/f6wmudTzrno
June 6, 2024
started skimming at around 65%. i simply lost interest.
April 25, 2021
Well, that was and wasn't what I was expecting. It has its funny moments, but it deals with many more serious issues than I expected. We meet Anna when she is a temp worker as a hench, scrambling for jobs to keep her from eviction and calculating carefully how to afford enough vegetables to avoid scurvy. I was a bit unclear on why she chose the role of hench. Perhaps it was that old “do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life” bullshit. At any rate, she is hired by the villain Electric Eel, not the best of employers, and when his latest caper attracts the attention of the hero Supercollider, Anna gets severely injured, collateral damage.
Walschotts manages a brilliant critique of the precarious gig economy and of businesses that are willing to dump employees who might require time to heal or otherwise regroup. Whether you're a hench or a mensch, being part of the precariat isn't fun. Anna becomes obsessed with the damage caused by superheroes and she asks the very relevant question: who gets to decide who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? There's a bit of a Watchmen vibe—superheroes maybe aren't the best role models. Anna starts a spreadsheet, which becomes a blog detailing all the harm that superheroes have done. Her project brings her to the attention of Supercollider's arch nemesis, Leviathan and Anna gets a job (with benefits) and a chance at revenge.
Things get serious fast at this point. Anna has real talent at plotting and planning. She rapidly becomes The Auditor, Leviathan‘s right hand woman.
I understand there may be a sequel in the works. I'd be interested if this actually happens. If you enjoyed this book, you might try Watchmen (quite dark) or James Alan Gardner’s Dark/Spark series (All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault, They Promised Me The Gun Wasn't Loaded) for a more humorous take on the superhero gig.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
Walschotts manages a brilliant critique of the precarious gig economy and of businesses that are willing to dump employees who might require time to heal or otherwise regroup. Whether you're a hench or a mensch, being part of the precariat isn't fun. Anna becomes obsessed with the damage caused by superheroes and she asks the very relevant question: who gets to decide who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? There's a bit of a Watchmen vibe—superheroes maybe aren't the best role models. Anna starts a spreadsheet, which becomes a blog detailing all the harm that superheroes have done. Her project brings her to the attention of Supercollider's arch nemesis, Leviathan and Anna gets a job (with benefits) and a chance at revenge.
Things get serious fast at this point. Anna has real talent at plotting and planning. She rapidly becomes The Auditor, Leviathan‘s right hand woman.
I understand there may be a sequel in the works. I'd be interested if this actually happens. If you enjoyed this book, you might try Watchmen (quite dark) or James Alan Gardner’s Dark/Spark series (All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault, They Promised Me The Gun Wasn't Loaded) for a more humorous take on the superhero gig.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
Want to read
August 7, 2020This synopsis is giving me Dr. Horrible vibes and I am HERE FOR IT.
February 23, 2021
This was an impromptu buddy-read and it couldn't have been more perfect.
I watched The Boys and loved the show not only for the blood and gore but also the quirky look on heroes and their impact on the world, the PR bullshit surrounding them. This novel had all of that and then some.
You see, we don't get someone working in the CIA or some special forces soldier. Instead, we get a temp working odd jobs for this or that villain, just trying to get by. And there is a point to be made (in fact, the book greatly made that point) about it being more honest work. I tend to agree.
One day, while working for one of the more important villains in the world, Anna is suddenly in the room with several "heroes" and gets injured badly. This starts her down the path of revenge - using her internet research acumen and a spreadsheet. *snickers*
Soon, she's working for a big-shot villain and proving that you don't need superpowers to stir some serious trouble. Though to be fair, the trouble chiefly comes from all the "heroes" being such godawful people! What they get is what they deserve and they deserve what they are getting.
Naturally, it's about taking down thebig bad greatest hero, the one who injured Anna so badly and that turns out to be one hell of a challenge not just because of that guy’s superpowers.
Data is key. So this book is not just looking at person-cults and hero-worship (though it does), but also at the falseness in how most people present themselves to the world (in our actual world). Just cranked up to 11. *lol*
One PR team battling the other, trying to take each other down. It was quite riveting.
I seriously loved how this novel so effortlessly explored the cost of justice to individuals and how humans tend to gloss over what doesn't fit the narrative - until someone won't let you any longer. To quote Mr. Nancy from the TV show American Gods: „Angry gets shit done.“ *lol*
The writing style was amicable and fast-paced, the story had plenty of action and blood and gore, but also wonderfully detailed (though effortless) characterization that made you care deeply about the people and the issues addressed here.
Thrown in for good measure and not too little comedic effect is office politics amongst other things and it was delicious.
A fantastic novel (and a debut at that) with many wonderful twists and lots of opportunities for that evil cackle we all like to use every once in a while (or frequently)! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (See?)
I watched The Boys and loved the show not only for the blood and gore but also the quirky look on heroes and their impact on the world, the PR bullshit surrounding them. This novel had all of that and then some.
You see, we don't get someone working in the CIA or some special forces soldier. Instead, we get a temp working odd jobs for this or that villain, just trying to get by. And there is a point to be made (in fact, the book greatly made that point) about it being more honest work. I tend to agree.
One day, while working for one of the more important villains in the world, Anna is suddenly in the room with several "heroes" and gets injured badly. This starts her down the path of revenge - using her internet research acumen and a spreadsheet. *snickers*
Soon, she's working for a big-shot villain and proving that you don't need superpowers to stir some serious trouble. Though to be fair, the trouble chiefly comes from all the "heroes" being such godawful people! What they get is what they deserve and they deserve what they are getting.
Naturally, it's about taking down the
Data is key. So this book is not just looking at person-cults and hero-worship (though it does), but also at the falseness in how most people present themselves to the world (in our actual world). Just cranked up to 11. *lol*
One PR team battling the other, trying to take each other down. It was quite riveting.
I seriously loved how this novel so effortlessly explored the cost of justice to individuals and how humans tend to gloss over what doesn't fit the narrative - until someone won't let you any longer. To quote Mr. Nancy from the TV show American Gods: „Angry gets shit done.“ *lol*
The writing style was amicable and fast-paced, the story had plenty of action and blood and gore, but also wonderfully detailed (though effortless) characterization that made you care deeply about the people and the issues addressed here.
Thrown in for good measure and not too little comedic effect is office politics amongst other things and it was delicious.
A fantastic novel (and a debut at that) with many wonderful twists and lots of opportunities for that evil cackle we all like to use every once in a while (or frequently)! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (See?)
May 31, 2021
I had a lot of fun with this book, as someone who doesn’t engage much with superhero media. It’s that perfect mix of magic and mundane: the real world seen through the eyes of supervillains’ henches, who get in the door through a temp agency and have to think about things like HR and rideshares, and who go out drinking with their coworkers and say the same kinds of things modern people do in real life—and then return to work for ridiculously-named bosses who are wildly irresponsible with made-up weaponry (but possibly worthless at understanding their own tech). A good fantasy-world-brought-down-to-earth always tickles me, and add that to the fun of the story being told from the villainous side. Though the book is not exactly lighthearted, one of its major themes being the collateral damage inflicted by the superheroes, and more broadly, what happens when we refuse to scrutinize the behavior of those whose use of force we consider legitimate. The henches go to work every day knowing an encounter with a superhero could leave them dead or disabled and nobody outside their personal friends will care.
Enter Anna, who’s been paying her bills through remote data entry work for minor villains, until an encounter with a superhero sends her researching the data on the real cost of heroic activities. Anna’s soon on a quest to take some so-called heroes down, along with a motley bunch of coworkers, and she develops some villainous traits of her own.
The plot is a fun ride, the characters generally enjoyable and believable, the dialogue pitch-perfect and the occasional text message conversation embedded naturally into the prose. Walschots’s conception of a world full of superheroes and villains is a realistic and breathing one. There’s some moral complexity, though it’s fair to say that in her focus on the costs of heroism Anna rather easily dismisses the costs of allowing villainy to run unchecked (hers is a close parallel to the “defund the police” argument, for which Walschots has voiced support, including both the strong points and the oversights of that argument). There’s also some goofy fun.
Meanwhile, Anna is a fun prickly heroine who’s easy to sympathize with, and I enjoyed seeing her come into her own. If anything, we know too little about her: I kept expecting at some point we’d learn why she’s estranged from her family and why she’s doing unfulfilling grunt work despite her obvious intelligence, but we never do get any real backstory. But I enjoyed her close relationships, namely the fact that none of them are sexual: she has a messy, meaningful friendship with a female friend from grade school, and an emotionally charged relationship with her boss that, despite a frisson of sexual tension, I ultimately thought was more about Anna’s looking for a mentor and protector than about romance. Anna’s explicit sexual interest, meanwhile, is turned on minor characters (with whom nothing much happens). However, all of this could be turned on its head in the sequel.
Which brings me to the biggest letdown of this book, which is that despite not being marketed as a series opener, it’s not really a standalone. The action-related plot arc wraps up, but Anna’s major relationships are left in limbo, and her life choices weirdly unresolved. That said, it appears a sequel is in the works though not guaranteed, and I may have a different view after reading it. I’m less excited about that prospect after reading about how much the author loves body horror; what she includes here is so fantastical I was able to largely ignore it.
That said, I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely recommend it as a fun and thought-provoking view of a superhero world from a different angle. I am interested to see where this story goes in future installments, should they arrive.
Enter Anna, who’s been paying her bills through remote data entry work for minor villains, until an encounter with a superhero sends her researching the data on the real cost of heroic activities. Anna’s soon on a quest to take some so-called heroes down, along with a motley bunch of coworkers, and she develops some villainous traits of her own.
The plot is a fun ride, the characters generally enjoyable and believable, the dialogue pitch-perfect and the occasional text message conversation embedded naturally into the prose. Walschots’s conception of a world full of superheroes and villains is a realistic and breathing one. There’s some moral complexity, though it’s fair to say that in her focus on the costs of heroism Anna rather easily dismisses the costs of allowing villainy to run unchecked (hers is a close parallel to the “defund the police” argument, for which Walschots has voiced support, including both the strong points and the oversights of that argument). There’s also some goofy fun.
Meanwhile, Anna is a fun prickly heroine who’s easy to sympathize with, and I enjoyed seeing her come into her own. If anything, we know too little about her: I kept expecting at some point we’d learn why she’s estranged from her family and why she’s doing unfulfilling grunt work despite her obvious intelligence, but we never do get any real backstory. But I enjoyed her close relationships, namely the fact that none of them are sexual: she has a messy, meaningful friendship with a female friend from grade school, and an emotionally charged relationship with her boss that, despite a frisson of sexual tension, I ultimately thought was more about Anna’s looking for a mentor and protector than about romance. Anna’s explicit sexual interest, meanwhile, is turned on minor characters (with whom nothing much happens). However, all of this could be turned on its head in the sequel.
Which brings me to the biggest letdown of this book, which is that despite not being marketed as a series opener, it’s not really a standalone. The action-related plot arc wraps up, but Anna’s major relationships are left in limbo, and her life choices weirdly unresolved. That said, it appears a sequel is in the works though not guaranteed, and I may have a different view after reading it. I’m less excited about that prospect after reading about how much the author loves body horror; what she includes here is so fantastical I was able to largely ignore it.
That said, I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely recommend it as a fun and thought-provoking view of a superhero world from a different angle. I am interested to see where this story goes in future installments, should they arrive.
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