#FearlessWomen: Vicious by V.E. Schwab Spotlight & Exclusive Excerpt
Women are shining in every genre of speculative fiction, and it is no longer enough to say “Women arehere.” Instead, #FearlessWomen everywhere are taking a stand to say “Women will thrive here.”
Highlighting major titles from bestselling authors V.E. Schwab, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jacqueline Carey as well as titles from acclaimed and debut authors such as Mary Robinette Kowal, Tessa Gratton, Sam Hawke, and Robyn Bennis, #FearlessWomen will be a coordinated social media celebration encouraging fans to start a dialogue about women in publishing, their worlds, their voices, and their unique stories.
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
In anticipation of the publication of the sequel VENGEFUL on September 25, 2018, Tor Books is pleased to pleased to present a hardcover run-on repackage of New York Times bestseller V.E. Schwab’s VICIOUS, a masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, and superpowers.
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates–brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find–aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge–but who will be left alive at the end?
In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.
Exclusive Excerpt
TEN YEARS AGO
LOCKLAND UNIVERSITY
Victor stared up at the place where the lip of their apartment building’s roof met the cloudy night. Every time he closed his eyes he felt like he was falling over, getting closer and closer to the brick, so he tried to keep them open, focusing on that strange seam overhead.
“Are you coming?” asked Eli.
He was holding the door open, practically bouncing in his eagerness to get inside and find something else that could physically wound him. Zeal burned in his eyes. And while Victor didn’t exactly blame him, he had no desire to sit around and watch Eli stab himself all night. He’d watched him try all the way home, leaving a dotted red trail in the snow from the blood that escaped before the wounds could heal. He’d seen the ability. Eli was an EO, in the (regenerating) flesh. Victor had felt something when Eli had come back to life seemingly EO- free: relief. With Eli’s new abilities being thrust into his wavering line of vision all the way home, Victor’s relief had dissolved into a ripple of panic. He would be relegated to sidekick, note-taker, the brick wall to bounce ideas off of.
No.
“Vic, you coming or not?”
Curiosity and jealousy ate at Victor in equal parts, and the only way he knew to stifle both, to quell the urge to wound Eli himself— or at least to try— was to walk away.
He shook his head, then stopped abruptly when the world continued swinging side to side.
“Go on,” he said, mustering a smile that came nowhere near his eyes. “Go play with some sharp objects. I need to take a walk.” He descended the stairs, and nearly fell twice in three steps.
“Are you fit to walk, Vale?”
Victor waved him on inside. “I’m not driving. Just going to get some air.”
And with that, he took off into the dark, with two goals on his mind.
The first was simple: to put as much distance as he could be-tween himself and Eli before he did something he’d regret.
The second was trickier, and his body hurt to even think of it, but he had no choice.
He had to plan his next attempt at death.
About the Author
VICTORIA (V.E.) SCHWAB is the author of the NYT bestselling Shades of Magic series, as well as a number of MG and YA novels, including This Savage Song. She has been called “the heir to Diana Wynne Jones.” Her dynamic work has caught the attention of major TV and film studios. Schwab has a Masters degree in Art History from the University of Edinburgh. She currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee, but frequents Edinburgh. You can visit her at https://www.veschwab.com/
Join the Conversation
Tor Books’ handles across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@torbooks) will be using the hashtags #FearlessWomen (and #FearlessFantasy and #FearlessSF) to promote excerpts, exclusive content, quizzes and giveaways beginning in May. There will also be exclusive giveaways at BookCon, San Diego Comic-Con, and New York Comic Con. Follow Tor Books online, join the conversation – and get reading!
Be sure to also check out the other blogs on the #FearlessWomen tour to read more exclusive content and reviews!
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The BiblioSanctum 
I absolutely LOVE this cover. Of course the last one didn’t bother me either. I bet some people will be upset about a cover change. I mean come on, it’s a pretty drastic change. I love that Tor is doing this. About time some female authors get recognized!
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Yeah, I’m thinking too that some people who want their covers for a series to remain the same will probably be upset at having to rebuy this book to match the sequel coming out soon!
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Reading all these excerpts makes me wish I had time for a reread😊
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Same here! I need a refresher on this one badly!
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Vicious was such an odd book, but I still loved it 🙂 not sure I have read anything else quite like it!
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Yeah I think I read it when I was first starting up this blog! It feels like so long ago!
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that’s a book I’m really curious about!
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Now’s a good time to try it out!
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Oh my! This seems more like a case of shared madness rather than a scientific experiment! Still, the story looks very, very intriguing….
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It really is a cool, intriguing book! Gah, now I realized I’ve missed an opportunity to re-post my review from ages ago when the book first came out!
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I haven’t tried Vicious yet because I wasn’t too much of a fan of Schwab’s writing in A Darker Shade of Magic series, but I heard how this was different in style to ADSOM, so now will be a perfect time to try it. 🙂
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I’ll be honest, I didn’t really enjoy the ADSOM series either, but I liked Vicious! In fact, I went into ADSOM because of how much I enjoyed Vicious and was sort of disappointed by the outcome. So yes, if you are curious you should try Vicious because I think it is quite different and stuff that bugged you in ADSOM might not be a problem there 🙂
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Vicious is such a cool story. I read it around Christmastime last year and could NOT put it down. The “world-building” for the superpowers, the characters, the relentless pacing and constant suspense – if any of your readers haven’t checked it out yet, they really should. 😉 I’m also really curious to see how V.E. Schwab is going to conclude the story with “Vengeful.”
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Yeah, I thought it was a really cool take on superheroes…or I guess in this case supervillains 🙂 It’s also awesome that she’s writing the sequel – honestly, after all this time I didn’t think one would be coming, and really, I would have been okay with that. Vengeful does sound really intriguing though, and if it will conclude the story in a meaningful way, all the better! 🙂
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I just got my pre-order copy of this edition and can’t wait to finally dive into it. I have the feeling that it’s going to be the greatest cup of tea ever. 😛 Thanks for sharing, Mogsy! Such a cool exclusive content to share with us.
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Crossing my fingers that you’ll enjoy it! This book was my first experience with V.E/Victoria Schwab and quite honestly, I still think it’s her best/my favorite book of hers even after all these other series she’s written in the years since 🙂
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I have a question: I’ve heard kind of conflicting things regarding VE Schwab, but I’m totally going to check her books out. Which would you recommend going for first? ADSOM or Vicious? None of the recommendations nor critiques for these books are tipping the scale for me. 😂
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Hmm, this is a good question! ADSOM seems to be widely loved, but personally, I didn’t enjoy it as much as most readers. There are some incredibly deep and unique ideas in it, but I also found the characters really annoying, and the series also went downhill with the later books, which had seriously messed up pacing and certain plot elements that bugged me.
I loved Vicious though. It was my first book by Schwab and even after all these other books and series she’s written in the years since, it’s still my favorite. So my vote goes to Vicious, I guess! But of course you might want to also consider the premise of both books, since ADSOM is more magic/alternate worlds whereas Vicious is about superheroes/supervillains and depending on your tastes you might prefer one subject over the other. Anyway, that’s just my personal thoughts on both both books, hope that helped! 😀
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That helps A TON, thank you! I love the idea of both books, and I’m a sucker for tight execution regardless premise, so I’ll definitely be going with Vicious. 😉 Thank you again! You helped resolve an ongoing war for me in a matter of seconds. 😂 Cheers!
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I’ve not read Schwab yet but I have bought a few of her books and with a sequel due in September I could try and pick up the first book over summer. Yay.
Lynn 😀
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