Book source ~ TWR Tour

Doctor Fid is the supervillian alter-ego of Terry Markham. When his little brother dies in his arms he blames a superhero who didn't prevent it, so Terry turns himself into a villain to reign down death and destruction on the one who allowed his brother to die. Revenge. It drives him. But will it sustain him forever? How far is Terry willing to push his human body in order to achieve his goal? The answer is: pretty fucking far. Crazy bastard.

This is something I’ve never read before. I’m pretty sure it’s a parody of the current Marvel/DC superhero/villain craze. I love Marvel and like DC, so this was a great read for me. Dr. Fid is a supervillain and the story revolves around him. It takes place in the present and flashes back to the past to give a well-rounded feel of Fid and his life before and after his villaindom. While he is a supervillain he has lines he doesn’t cross. So maybe he’s more of an anti-hero instead of a true villain? In any case, I like him, flaws and all. Though I think he’s absolutely nuts when it comes to what he’s doing to his body. Eeeeee! Anyway, there is so much sciencey stuff that it makes my head hurt. I’m not a sciencey-type person. Much of it goes over my head. Also, I am not a fan of alternate universes. It’s one of the main reasons I stopped watching The Flash. However, I love the plot and the twisty turny path Fid takes to get to the truth. I also love the characters, Fid in particular. If you like comic books then I think this is a read you should pick up. ( )

RTC ( )

I really enjoyed this story. I have seen and read a few complaints about it, but I felt like they were nitpicks. I felt like it was a strange mix of super fun ridiculousness and really deep problems, which I really enjoy. Are some of the characters OP? Yes, but they are also human. They get help from their friends, from other sources. ( )

I found this an enjoyable superhero/supervillain novel from the perspective of supervillain Doctor Fid, who is really more of an antihero than an actual villain. This book put some unique twists on the genre, which I liked. For one, the implications of more modern cultural norms were explored; Doctor Fid's suit and accompanying drones took video of his fights so he could post embarrassing shots of his enemies online. Perhaps my favorite twist, though, was that everyone--heroes and villains alike--had some amount of moral code, and though they fought, they weren't typically trying to use lethal force. It was mentioned that certain techniques were reserved for opponents with the invulnerabilities to handle them, and there was even a scene where someone has a medical emergency in the middle of fighting and the battle is halted to get them to a hospital. This acknowledgment of each other as real people endeared the characters to me.

I also liked that the heroes and villains of this story were described as racially diverse, and social issues like racist and sexist comments played into Fid's rationalization for hating certain individual superheroes (as in, one of the heroes was known for having made some problematic comments in public and people largely didn't seem to care because he was a superhero).

The writing in this book wasn't perfect. I found myself getting frustrated at the sheer number of info-dumps, particularly in the beginning, which felt like more backstory than story. I wanted more of that information to be worked into narration (or perhaps just cut). I also found some repetitive elements; the author would use the same word multiple times in one sentence or paragraph, and a few times whole sentences of description felt copied and pasted from one chapter to the next.

I also felt disoriented at times because of the author's tendency to start scenes in medias res. This can be an interesting technique for Chapter 1, but it's a bit much to do it multiple times and it made it more difficult for me to follow what was happening. I will add the caveat to this particular complaint, however, that due to my very busy schedule for the past month, I had to listen to this book on audio, which is not my preferred format, and part of my difficulty in following the story at certain times is definitely due to my bad audio comprehension.

The character of Fid was likable and had a suitably tragic backstory to paint his villainous actions in a more sympathetic light, but he was almost too smart. His powers were completely technology-based, which was fine, but there seemed to be no hard limits to what he was capable of. We were never given a comprehensive list of his inventions and abilities, and he was constantly coming up with new innovations. He was strategically intelligent, as well, and could usually predict his enemies actions ahead of time and go into situations completely prepared. In a sense, this was fun to read; it's almost self-congratulatory to temporarily take up the mental space of someone who always has the upper hand in just about any situation and it can be fun to share in the character's feelings of self-assuredness. However, this also takes away from the potential tension and suspense which could have been build had we thought Fid's enemy had the upper hand. We always knew he would have some kind of technology on standby, ready to solve his problem, and if he didn't, he would be able to invent it promptly.

Finally, the humor in this book was very mixed. There were a few places that genuinely made me laugh, but a few other places with jokes so bad or overdone I groaned a little. ( )