Happy Wednesday, folks! I hope everyone is enjoying their time right now, making good use of their energy and efforts these days. May has just started, and Mother’s Day is around the corner, and with that, I hope everyone is able to reach out to a loved one, where ever they may be. Nobody is ever completely out of reach, if we reach out just a little. With a few moments out of our day to check up on friends and family costs nothing, and it’s important to open up just a little bit more. That’s my message to my readers this week. If we just open up our hearts a little bit more, I promise, we’ll all be that much more happier.
Now, with the sappy stuff out of the way, I wanted to shine a spotlight on some creative works that I found myself completely mesmerized by with this week. Granted, one of these is a novel that I had already read, but just came across when my sister was cleaning out her room. It’s an amazing piece of science fiction in the YA genre of literature, and dare I say might be the juiciest and sexiest crime thriller around as well. I pitched it to my sister as “Professor X vs. Magneto” meets Grey’s Anatomy, but, she’s busy watching Money Heist on Netflix. For those of you who know exactly what book I’m talking about, I just want to thank y’all for putting me onto this series. I love y’all!
The book is Vicious by V.E. Schwab, first of her Villains series and predecessor of Vengeful. It’s so lovely how dark this tale is, while taking readers on a suspenseful journey across a gritty comic-book-styled world. The story follows Victor Vale and Eli Ever, two college roommates and medical students who explore the possibility of near-death experiences being the catalyst that can awaken superhuman gifts within them. As the two embark on this journey as academic rivals, they become obsessed with the results, leading to a battle between the two brilliant minds as they use their newfound abilities to destroy one another as arch-nemeses.
If anybody has read this book, then you know why it’s such a highly recommended novel. Along with V.E. Schwab’s wonderful writing style, development of the characters in her stories, and the sheer scope of the superhero dynamics she explores in the series, it’s also just a hell of a great time for any fan of revenge thrillers. 10/10 coming from me, folks! And if you aren’t interested, then we can at lest admire these gorgeous covers.
I, personally, was drawn into the series by the premise of unlocking newfound abilities through pushing one’s self to the brink of death, and to be brought back with a new breath of life. Vicious doesn’t dwell heavily on the sci-fi aspect of the abilities by allowing Victor and Eli’s medical student backstory to help ground the concept in a realistic scenario. That being said, I found the unique look at a human’s untapped potential to become superhuman in Vicious vastly more fascinating than, say, a radioactive spider, or “You’re a lab experiment, Rogers; everything special about you came out of a bottle.” (Yes, I’m calling Marvel out, let the Disney overlords take me away.) There’s something truly extraordinary about the possibility that, in order to become the more capable version of ourselves, all we need to do is dare to explore scientific experimentation in a trial and error fashion, while also gambling one’s own life. That’s what the two characters, Victor and Eli, end up doing, but with completely diametrically opposing mindsets and viewpoints. At the start of the novel, Victor is a lonely cynical atheist, whose trust issues stem back to his absent parents, while Eli is a loving and passionate young man, whose big heart is a result of his devotion to a righteous God. As the two’s philosophies and beliefs contradict one another, they test the theory with less interest in the ramifications or consequences of these tests, but rather out of pure jealousy and rivalry. Victor believes he can accomplish this by succumbing to a messy overdose, while Eli believes he can create a controlled environment in order to slow his heart rate to the point of nearly flat-lining. As the experiments continue, with success, more and more chaos ensues, and we see what it’s like when two people attempt to play God with their lives and those around them.
Untapped potential and superhuman abilities? Perhaps these two could’ve, I dunno, stayed in school and cured cancer or something. They were both arguably smart enough to become amazing men, and instead they just…well, I suppose you’d have to read the book yourself to find out what happens to these two young men.
On another note, I wanted to continue the conversation about untapped potential with another creative project I came across. This one also came about when my sister jokingly asked me “Why don’t you get into computer science? Make a video game or something.” Now, if anybody knows me, they know I absolutely abhor math and science form a professional standpoint. I say this fully aware that I just went on and on about a book involving medical students, but, you will never catch me learning how to code in Python or anything like that. However, my sister did spark an idea in me that led me to a pretty worthwhile investment (if you can even call it that; I spent maybe 20 bucks on this only.) Anyway, check out Dreams, a video game that is essentially a game creator system published by Sony, from the creative minds behind Little Big Planet.
It’s a weird concept to explain on paper (or screen?) but basically, the game allows you to utilize mechanics found in video game development engines to create your own video game projects! In Dreams, tutorials on the development of levels, characters, and stages are optional, as you are also given free range to test out and play other creations made by other users. Whether it’s a remake of Super Mario 64 in the Sony game engine, a test run of an original video game character’s animations, or a completely rendered cinematic of the Batman: The Animated Series intro. There are also music-based projects, like synth machines and piano rolls, and visual environments used for background noise and concentration, like study beats! There’s even some weird remakes of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, but that’s for the meme-loving gamer.
Speaking of gamers, if anybody is looking for any good light-hearted satirical humor tailored to gamers AND politics, check out Ace Watkins’s podcast, The Ace Watkins Presidential Hour. Their latest episode features Ace Watkins and his team as they discuss Hillary Clinton’s endorsement of Joe Biden, weigh the pros and cons of drinking bleach, and talk through what grinds their Metal Gears. So, ya know, just another President candidate, spittin’ stuff that’s quite normal in comparison to, ya know, those in Office.
I do want to give a big thanks to my sister who, without her finding my copy of Vicious and her inspiring me to try out Dreams, I wouldn’t have had anything to discuss today! So, for that, I’m going to shout her out, my immensely supportive pain in my ass sister. Love ya. Stay safe, folks.
Stars and Monsters 