HIGHER INSTITUTE OF VILLAINOUS EDUCATION
Otto Malpense may only be thirteen years old, but so far he has managed to run the orphanage where he lives, and he has come up with a plan clever enough to trick the most powerful man in the country. He is the perfect candidate to become the world's next supervillain.
That is why he ends up at H.I.V.E., handpicked to become a member of the incoming class. The students have been kidnapped and brought to a secluded island inside a seemingly active volcano, where the school has resided for decades. All the kids are elite; they are the most athletic, the most technically advanced, and the smartest in the country. Inside the cavernous marble rooms, floodlit hangars, and steel doors, the students are enrolled in Villainy Studies and Stealth and Evasion 101. But what Otto soon comes to realize is that this is a six-year program, and leaving is not an option.
With the help of his new friends: an athletic martial-arts expert; a world-famous, beautiful diamond thief; and a spunky computer genius -- the only other people who seem to want to leave -- can Otto achieve what has never been done before and break out of H.I.V.E.?
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Review:
H.I.V.E was a highly enjoyable book to read. The first in a six book series, it promises to make good reading. After reading the blurb of the book I was worried that the main character Otto Malpense would be a real villain who would thoroughly enjoy and thrive on evil.
However, the book was highly interesting to read as it relates the story of an unwilling inmate of the Higher Institute of Villainous Education and his attempts to escape the school with his newly made friends Wing, Laura and Shelby.
This is all complicated by his realisation that he is beginning to enjoy the lessons taught at H.I.V.E. The story begins with Otto’s arrival at H.I.V.E and his first impression of the school before detailing the key moments of his life and the momentous events leading to his sudden abduction to H.I.V.E in the form of a flashback.
I believe that this was a very effective device utillised by Walden as up until the very end of the flashback I was intrigued to know what Otto could have possibly done to end up at H.I.V.E.
H.I.V.E is fast-paced, action packed and gripping. The characters are well developed and 3d. Over the course of the book we learn a great deal about some of the characters such as the exploits which earnt them a place in H.I.V.E and the history of Otto Malpense as he is the central character.
However, the pasts of other equally interesting characters are shrouded in mistery which only makes me eager to read more. At the beginning of the book the most dangerous character which seems to pose a threat to Otto’s plans is Maximillian Nero, the headmaster of H.I.V.E who immediately recognises Otto as trouble and someone who will be difficult to control. Surprisingly, we find out that Otto’s real enemy is Nero’s boss, a mysterious character known by the codename Number 1.
Although the book was entertaining, one criticism is that Otto’s plan to put the Prime Minister under hypnosis and to make him recite a false and incriminating speech which was broadcast to the nation on television was unrealistic. Also, Otto’s power to soak in any information he reads almost instantaneously is robot-like.
Most of the action takes place in a top secret school on an island in an undisclosed location. The school complex is mainly underground and is very impressive. The pupils are taught a wide range of classes such as the best ways to avoid detection, how to assemble all sorts of villainous devices and how to use plants with highly unusual properties in their dastardly schemes.
There are various types of technology featured in the book. H.I.V.E Mind is an extremely complex artificial intelligence computer system that has the ability to experience emotion and has the task of running the school’s many systems smoothly. Some of H.I.V.E Mind’s duties include providing and monitoring security for the school and establishing personal interfaces for students and staff at the school to give them whatever information they require.
There were grapplers reminiscent of Batman which provided the students with the means to navigate the ceiling. One staff member managed to develop a mind transferring procedure which moved the consciousness of another teacher into the body of a cat. As well as this, there was the development of a gigantic bloodthirsty plant which had the characteristics of a voracious carnivore.
I really enjoyed reading H.I.V.E and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. I would recommend this book to people who like the Alex Rider series , the Harry Potter series and the Young Bond series.
Book Rating: 4/5
Cover: 3/5
Concept: 4.5/5
Author: Mark Walden
-Reviewed by Loralin, a new contributor to the blog.
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