Subject: Review Eve Forward's Villains by Necessity

From: [email-masked] (Steven H Silver)
Date: 14 Mar 1995 06:46:27 -0500

Eve Forward's first novel is an ambitious attempt to overturn the 
conventions of epic fantasy.  The story is set a century after the forces 
of Good have defeated the forces of Evil, not just in one country, but 
throughout the world.  Our heroes are a band of the last evil humans on 
the planet, a thief, an assassin, a druid, a knight and a sorceress, who 
are trying to return Evil to the world to restore the balance between 
Good and Evil and avert the end of the world.

Unfortunately, I think Forward has bitten off a little more than she can 
chew at this point in her career.  One of the problems with writing 
villains as heroes is that they must be both evil and sympathetic.  In 
the case of Forward's heroes, they are much more sympathetic than evil.  
In fact, much of their evilness seems to be put on for show without any 
real depth.  Similarly, the Good guys seem to have a little evil in 
them.

Another problem I had is that the story seems to be based on a Dungeons & 
Dragons campaign.  This may be due to the selection of character 
occupations, but I think there is also a matter of characterisation v. 
plot.  In a typical Dungeons & Dragons game, the plot is more important 
than characterization.  I find myself feeling the same way with Forward's 
book.  Similarly, setting suffers even more than characterisation.  The 
characters move from point a to point b without a whole lot of sense of 
movement.  It is almost as if Forward thought, "okay, I need them to be 
here, *poof*, now they have to get here *poof*"

Forward does bring a sense of humor to her writing, something which is 
probably necessary.  However at times the humor seems anachronistic and 
jolts the reader from the story line.

Overall, the idea of Forward's book rates high.  I would like, however, 
to see it worked over in the hands of a more accomplished and experienced 
storyteller.

Villains by Necessity
Eve Forward
Tor Books
Hardcover
$24.95
446 pp
0-312-85789-6