Argh! I can't wait for the next book in this series! ( )

A good follow-up- slowly getting to know these new characters and the world they inhabit. I like the Agoraphobic Victoria Victrix and how she creates solutions to her problems instead of letting the phobias win all the time. ( )

World Divided
Author: Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, Veronica Giguere, Larry Dixon
Publisher: Baen
Published In: Riverdale, NY
Date: February, 2012
Pgs: 421

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
A respite in the alien Nazi invasion. Humanity’s meta-heroes fought the enemy off. In the midst of rebuilding, Nazi raiders and motorcycle rednecks swarm out to attack and snipe at the survivors. Secret lairs are discovered. A coup is planned. Extradimensional super intelligent Earthlings stand pat. The Nazis won’t be able to reach them. Sure they won’t.

Genre:
End of the World
Fiction
Military
Science fiction
Superheroes
UFOs
War

Why this book:
Shared universe superheroes.
______________________________________________________________________________

Favorite Character:
Herbert the earth elemental.

Vic the PTSD mage.

Least Favorite Character:
Soviete. She’s a bit of a scenery chewer. All bombast.

Dominic Verdigris III is a everything character. He’s a mary sue villain. He’s a walking deus ex machina. However he goes down, it won’t feel right after all the stuff that he’s done validating his villain credentials.

The janitor/government control officer. He’s pure Gyrich.

The Feel:
Not as good as Invasion. Feels like moving the characters around so we can do something next time.

Favorite Scene:
Herbert going Groot to save the team from the destructing underground lair of Goldman in the Nevada desert. With Groot-like results and his showing up to live with Vic.

When Yankee Pride is introduced to Overwatch in the attack on the diner. And his dealing with the government control officer masquerading as a janitor once Vic tells him where the bodies are buried on that guy.

Pacing:
The pace is good.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Soviete’s personality seems different from the first book. Course it could be put down to the difference being due to the first book being warfare and this one being aftermath.

When Murdock reveals his secret origin to Belladonna Blue and she appears to get mad at him. Doesn’t wash with the way that she has acted previously.

Hmm Moments:
Dominic Verdigris III is something else. One part Lex Luthor, one part Blofeld. Love the BBQ sauce recipe being a byproduct of the discovery of a new kind of clean chum for sharks. And the Seraphym appearing to him and pointing out that if the alien, extradimensional Nazis win, he’ll be a brain-in-a-box.

Goldman’s vault containing samples of the giant robot Nazi armor that the Thulians used in the first book.

When Vic summoned Herbert, I thought we were about to get an appearance by The Mountain.

Are they moving to have a coup at Echo? Considering that Verdigris is circling and trying to takeover both Echo and Blacksnake, this could be some fireworks.
______________________________________________________________________________

Last Page Sound:
Not as good as the first book in the series.

Author Assessment:
Will look at other stuff by these authors.

Editorial Assessment:
Should have pushed for this to be a part of the story for Book 3, instead of being a setup piece for the next chapter.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
it’s alright

Disposition of Book:
Interlibrary Loan
Plano Public Library System
Maribelle M Davis Library
7501 Independence Pkwy
Plano, TX 75025-2489

Dewey Decimal System:
SF
LAC

Would recommend to:
genre fans
______________________________________________________________________________ ( )

This still reads exactly like what it is - thinly-veiled collaborative City of Heroes fanfic. It's *good* fanfic, for what it is, but the pacing ends up being a little weird because it's a collection of individual threads stitched together, the framing device still doesn't really work for me, and the villians are still pop-up generic NPCs. I picked up this second volume as a toast to doomed CoH, but it's not something I'm likely to pursue much farther. ( )