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A review by corvarchist
Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel by Matt Carter
4.0
I'm a fan of villains. So when I saw this while looking through the newly-added section at my library, I figured it was pretty much necessary for me to at least check it out. With a bit of trepidation, mind, because the unfortunate prevalence of young guys primarily interested in moral edginess for its own sake in the real world, is enough to make me wary of media seeming to featuring similar individuals as its protagonists. And reading through the first chapter, with Aidan's disaffected commentary on his high school life and casual objectification of female classmates, I began to get a sinking feeling that that apprehension might be correct...
I'm incredibly glad to say that my initial worries were utterly unfounded. Aidan is indeed, as the cover blurb describes, "unambitious, selfish, and cowardly," not to mention shallow, self-absorbed all out of proportion considering the ridiculous situations he gets himself into, prone to viewing women primarily as sex objects, and lacking in even the faintest impulse toward curiosity or prodding at his instincts - and throughout the book, the various threads of the narrative ream him for all these things mercilessly. He's surrounded by other characters who not only call him for his own stupidity, but who provide scathing attacks in varying degrees of subtlety on the sorts of attitudes and tropes that would make a less intelligent story with a similar premise an unpleasant chore to read.
And not only does Almost Infamous provide commentary (in the characters' mouths and on a narrative structural level) on common character and character interaction tropes in popular media and fan reaction to them; it also draws in several layers of sociopolitical commentary through worldbuilding backstory (the "War on Villainy" inevitably brings to mind other real-life "Wars On...", such as Terror and Drugs, providing one of the first hints to the particular nature of superheroes' antagonistic place in this story), front-and-center details of the plot including the ultimate reveal of the superheroes' motivations, and most interestingly to me, a meta-level look at the complex interactions between personal circumstance, political and ideological expedience, and actual ethical wrongdoing in the cultural determining of what makes a "villain".
Alongside all the thematic material being drawn through the events of the narrative - my personal favourite aspect because of how many different layers I kept noticing! - I've barely even touched on the other aspects of this book that made it an enjoyable read, including a glut of amusing references (Watchmen, pro wrestling, Women In Refrigerators...), a great ensemble of main and secondary characters with clear and distinct perspectives (my heart belongs to Firewall/Trojan Fox), interesting worldbuilding and alternate history, quality character development, and (not kidding) the power of friendship.
Ultimately, (after growing progressively more engrossed in the book until I ended up finishing it more quickly than I'd intended), the main critiques I have of Almost Infamous are relatively minor, mostly to do with the occasionally rough prose and editing, and a desire to see various aspects of the characters and events of the book dug into more deeply to give a richer and more thorough depiction of the entire narrative picture outside of that most immediately relevant to Aidan, both to sate my own curiosity as well as to more fully match the thematic scope of the book. On the whole though, it was a strikingly intelligent, thoroughly enjoyable read that I'm glad to have obeyed my whim to take a look at.
I'm incredibly glad to say that my initial worries were utterly unfounded. Aidan is indeed, as the cover blurb describes, "unambitious, selfish, and cowardly," not to mention shallow, self-absorbed all out of proportion considering the ridiculous situations he gets himself into, prone to viewing women primarily as sex objects, and lacking in even the faintest impulse toward curiosity or prodding at his instincts - and throughout the book, the various threads of the narrative ream him for all these things mercilessly. He's surrounded by other characters who not only call him for his own stupidity, but who provide scathing attacks in varying degrees of subtlety on the sorts of attitudes and tropes that would make a less intelligent story with a similar premise an unpleasant chore to read.
And not only does Almost Infamous provide commentary (in the characters' mouths and on a narrative structural level) on common character and character interaction tropes in popular media and fan reaction to them; it also draws in several layers of sociopolitical commentary through worldbuilding backstory (the "War on Villainy" inevitably brings to mind other real-life "Wars On...", such as Terror and Drugs, providing one of the first hints to the particular nature of superheroes' antagonistic place in this story), front-and-center details of the plot including the ultimate reveal of the superheroes' motivations, and most interestingly to me, a meta-level look at the complex interactions between personal circumstance, political and ideological expedience, and actual ethical wrongdoing in the cultural determining of what makes a "villain".
Alongside all the thematic material being drawn through the events of the narrative - my personal favourite aspect because of how many different layers I kept noticing! - I've barely even touched on the other aspects of this book that made it an enjoyable read, including a glut of amusing references (Watchmen, pro wrestling, Women In Refrigerators...), a great ensemble of main and secondary characters with clear and distinct perspectives (my heart belongs to Firewall/Trojan Fox), interesting worldbuilding and alternate history, quality character development, and (not kidding) the power of friendship.
Ultimately, (after growing progressively more engrossed in the book until I ended up finishing it more quickly than I'd intended), the main critiques I have of Almost Infamous are relatively minor, mostly to do with the occasionally rough prose and editing, and a desire to see various aspects of the characters and events of the book dug into more deeply to give a richer and more thorough depiction of the entire narrative picture outside of that most immediately relevant to Aidan, both to sate my own curiosity as well as to more fully match the thematic scope of the book. On the whole though, it was a strikingly intelligent, thoroughly enjoyable read that I'm glad to have obeyed my whim to take a look at.