Note: This copy of A Practical Guide to Evil I was provided by NetGalley.
Originally serialised on the web, A Practical Guide to Evil is a very interesting take on the heroes vs villains trope. The series is set in a world where evil has been reigning for the last 20 years. While this may be bad in general, it’s not something that the common folk necessarily worry about as their main problems are the nobility directly ruling over them. In one such backwater city we meet Catherine Foundling, an orphan who has big dreams of helping the people who need it. In a world where villains thrive and heroes aren’t allowed to even gain a foothold, this means that Catherine’s hopes for a better future involve her joining the military academy run by the evil regime. When an unfortunate encounter lands her in the lap of one of the most dangerous villains of the era, a potential job offer wasn’t something she expected. This first volume follows our protagonist in the trope filled journey of getting to grip with her situation while realising that she isn’t the only one after this job, which means she needs to learn fast that sometimes in order to do the most good for everyone, you have to be okay with the consequences of being bad.
There is magic in this series, or would it be called powers since its all heroes and villains? I digress. The magic powers here are tailored to the individual. When a specific person comes into their own, they are bestowed with a name and this directly relates to the magic/powers they can use. Villains and Heroes usually get powers that oppose one another so in this world, even a small inkling that someone may follow the path of a hero is very quickly snuffed out. Very practical.
Honestly, this first volume was okay but it felt more like setting the scene for the series as a whole. There are several references that aren’t directly explained and I’m sure they will become clear in due time, but in this book they were just left hanging. I quite liked the idea of poking jabs at typical hero culture and other related tropes, which leans into the whole idea of the being practical. It is a little surprising to see our young protagonist having that level of maturity but the people with ‘names’ are just built different I guess. Outside of the aforementioned references, a pretty easy read with a quick plot. There is plenty of violence so be prepared for that going in. Definitely recommended for people who love some books that take advantage of tropes with an anti-hero protagonist.
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