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A review by vampiresessah
Rogue by Mark Walden
5.0
The HIVE series has a lot of elements that one might consider cliché in a villain/hero story like this. There are the types of villains that would fit right into a James Bond movie as well as an indestructible hero that survives. It might be bothering me a little bit that it’s always the very same five children who get in trouble (or sometimes it’s seven but Franz and Nigel are quite sidelined (again) in this book).
This novel granted us the reappearance of the earlier imprisoned Cypher, who is as psychopathic as ever and can be considered a wild card. His reintroduction was very fitting to the topic since it was once again a battle against Overlord (I can’t get around the fact that it’s the best possible and obvious choice of a name for the almighty entity). While I love the adults in the story I can’t warm up to most of the children. They just seem a little bit displaced and their appearance of the scene of events was too forced (This refers to the three girls rather than Otto or Wing). I wish that Walden would focus more on the classes at HIVE and how they actually develop to be those Evil Geniuses that they are supposed to become. Instead the story focuses too much on what the adults are doing.
Highlights of this installment are the reappearance of Cypher and also the beloved HIVEmind (which I have found myself missing a lot). Then there is of course the big change that Nero has taken over the leadership of GLOVE, which I hope will show us his not so kind side a bit more in the further books. After all this man is not just a nice supportive teacher but a true evil mastermind. We got to see a little glimpse of how capable he is of doing that job at the end of the book and I hope it’s expanded further, not just in the shapes of empty threats.
I admit that I’m a bit troubled with the general series because it seems more and more like the adults are taking over the storyline and not the children. Some of the themes especially the torture is a bit too vivid in my opinion when you consider that this book is meant for a younger audience. But it’s still a very fast and enjoyable read with many intriguing twists and a predictable, yet brilliant cliffhanger at the end.
This novel granted us the reappearance of the earlier imprisoned Cypher, who is as psychopathic as ever and can be considered a wild card. His reintroduction was very fitting to the topic since it was once again a battle against Overlord (I can’t get around the fact that it’s the best possible and obvious choice of a name for the almighty entity). While I love the adults in the story I can’t warm up to most of the children. They just seem a little bit displaced and their appearance of the scene of events was too forced (This refers to the three girls rather than Otto or Wing). I wish that Walden would focus more on the classes at HIVE and how they actually develop to be those Evil Geniuses that they are supposed to become. Instead the story focuses too much on what the adults are doing.
Highlights of this installment are the reappearance of Cypher and also the beloved HIVEmind (which I have found myself missing a lot). Then there is of course the big change that Nero has taken over the leadership of GLOVE, which I hope will show us his not so kind side a bit more in the further books. After all this man is not just a nice supportive teacher but a true evil mastermind. We got to see a little glimpse of how capable he is of doing that job at the end of the book and I hope it’s expanded further, not just in the shapes of empty threats.
I admit that I’m a bit troubled with the general series because it seems more and more like the adults are taking over the storyline and not the children. Some of the themes especially the torture is a bit too vivid in my opinion when you consider that this book is meant for a younger audience. But it’s still a very fast and enjoyable read with many intriguing twists and a predictable, yet brilliant cliffhanger at the end.