Villains By Necessity: Redux
Self-Published
Community Rating
Description
Traumatizing content: Standard D&D violence type stuff, but PG-13.
My first novel, "Villains By Necessity", was written when I was fresh out of high school. It was published and a few folks have liked it, but it's long since out of print. And looking back on it now, there's a lot of things I would have done differently, now that I'm an older and more experienced writer.
So, for lulz, I'm going to try rewriting it, bit by bit, and if anyone wants to suggest things I should or shouldn't do, in the process, this is your chance to speak up! :) I don't really know yet what all I'm going to change, but we'll find out together.
The original is available here:Villains By Necessity at Amazon.com
Information
- Status
- Hiatus
- Year
- 2023
- Author
- EveForward
Royal Road Stats
- Rating
- 5.0/ 5.0
- Followers
- 27
- Views
- 6,611
Chapters(5 total)
Reviews
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Community Reviews(2)
- Jeremy BearimyRoyal Road★★★★★ 5.0I am absolutely biased, having known the author since the dawn of time and read the original in manuscript form.
But that wouldn't account for my both still having a hardback edition in my ever-limited shelf space, or being on the third or fourth paperback lending copy after the others have wandered or fallen apart.
No spoilers, but this is a delightful story with as far as I know a completely original premise at the time of publication. The characters are wonderful and engaging, each having such a clear unique voice you can practically hear them as you read. The writing/grammar is, obviously, professional-level.
It's been fascinating watching this new and more mature version emerge, and I'm impatient to read the entire thing. - Skylark (Dion Sky)Royal Road★★★★★ 5.0This is one of those books I recommend to people a few times a year, and have been doing so for a while. I was in the process of doing so again today, in fact, casually looking up the Amazon listing to grab the link, when I saw a little line in the author's biography mentioning Royal Road.
...I'm sorry, what?
I grew up with this book. Villains by Necessity was one of my childhood favourites, and has remained one of my absolute favourites of all time to this day. I loved it so much I read it at least three times. I read it long before I'd heard of D&D, or knew what halflings were, or half the tropes now common to traditional fantasy. And none of that mattered, because it was amazing.
Villains by Necessity follows the story of a group of, well, actual villains, albeit ones with very different personalities, in their quest to defeat Good. Considering their dark and dastardly ways, it's incredible how likeable all of the characters are in their own unique ways, and I found myself unabashedly thrilled every time we got to see them commit crimes.
I think this story shines by the sheer amounts of fun it has. It doesn't take itself too seriously, while at the same time taking itself very seriously, the unlikely combination of which is so charming I couldn't get enough. It's epic yet intimate, bold, creative, and as wholesome as a crew of literal thieves and murderers can possibly be.
Unfortunately it has been a while since I last read this, so this review will be a little light on the details - but trust me, you need to read this one. How many books stay with you enough that you're still recommending them decades on? This one, for one.
I never thought I'd see this on Royal Road. But I'm certainly glad it's here.