It is rare for me to find a book that speaks to my sense of humour. The Rules of Supervillainy is one of them. How I laughed!
Someone left a magic, talking cloak on Gary's doorstep and he chooses to embrace a life of supervillainy. His muddling and attempts to be evil while still following some sense of a moral code leads to a hilarious sequence of events. But there is so much more.
I love the way this book reminded me of everything I loved about superhero comics and especially Batman from a time before the movie industry destroyed superheroes (Yes, I'm looking at you, Marvel. The latest offerings have been abysmal to say the least). At the same time, this novel also made me think of the TV show The Boys which has superheroes who are actually villains, but The Rules of Supervillainy actually pulls it off with the panache the TV show lacked. I liked how C.T. Phipps manages to navigate the difficult task of creating a sympathetic anti-hero. Gary is evil, but he's also likeable and I definitely connected with him. Add to that the quirks of this character's Jewish background, being married to a bi-sexual Wiccan and all the other hints and nudges towards tolerance and allowing people to be themselves as long as that doesn't bring harm to others--this book is a very enjoyable read.
There's also wonderful food for thought, like this fantastic quote: “I always thought the Force was overly forgiving letting Vader into Jedi Heaven. Darth Vader was willing to kill the Emperor for the love of his son and die to save him. Which is great and all but, what about all the other millions of people he helped the Empire kill, like the Alderaanians? It’s easy enough to die for the people you love. It’s hard to do it for the rest of the world. Gabrielle is, Mandy is, but I’m not.”
“That is, perhaps, a bit much to ask of anyone. Sometimes we forget that heroes are not meant to be the standard by which we should judge others, but those people who go above and beyond.”
I really loved that Gary is married. The interactions with Mandy are excellent and add so much depth to the characters. It's also so very unusual for superheroes and villains to have such relationships. Some of the twists and turns related to their marriage and relationship, as well as some of the reveals later on in the book added a really wonderful touch too (not to mention creating some really hilarious moments).
This book is surprisingly epic in scope. I was most certainly not expecting biblical monsters and yet it worked so, so well. The worldbuilding is truly excellent. The city Phipps created has strong Gotham City vibes, but it is so much more detailed, feels less generic, and had the vibe of something that could potentially exist in some dystopian future. At the same time, it was grittily dark and smoothly futuristic. Then things broadened in scope, but the worldbuilding kept up and I absolutely loved it. This author definitely has a knack for imagining up crazy places and describing them vividly so they are easily pictured. I also liked the fact that descriptions were done succinctly and flowed well. Descriptions are perfectly interspersed in all the action so I never had even a moment where I couldn't picture what was going on.
As this book so poignantly points out, “the line between heroes and villains is just imaginary. A construct of where you’re looking and what you support.”
I highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the sequel. What are you waiting for?
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