Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Forging Hephaestus” as Want to Read:
Forging Hephaestus
Enlarge cover
Rate this book
Clear rating
Open Preview

Forging Hephaestus

(Villains' Code #1)

by
4.54  ·  Rating details ·  2,641 ratings  ·  224 reviews
Gifted with metahuman powers in a world full of capes and villains, Tori Rivas kept away from the limelight, preferring to work as a thief in the shadows. But when she's captured trying to rob a vault that belongs to a secret guild of villains, she's offered a hard choice: prove she has what it takes to join them or be eliminated. Apprenticed to one of the world's most pow ...more
Audio CD
Published February 24th 2017 by Tantor Audio
More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Forging Hephaestus, please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Drew Hayes While I do plan to start writing Villains Code #2 this year, due to the size of these there's no telling when it will release. I have schedule updates…moreWhile I do plan to start writing Villains Code #2 this year, due to the size of these there's no telling when it will release. I have schedule updates on the site each year, so while I can't offer concrete dates you can always see what's planned to be worked on for the year ahead: http://www.drewhayesnovels.com/blog/2...(less)
Drew Hayes Nope, this world is a brand new one. I wanted to do some stories set against a more traditional, less reality-based superhero world, so rather than…moreNope, this world is a brand new one. I wanted to do some stories set against a more traditional, less reality-based superhero world, so rather than muddling up the SP-verse it made more sense to create a new setting.(less)

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30
Average rating 4.54  · 
Rating details
 ·  2,641 ratings  ·  224 reviews


More filters
 | 
Sort order
Start your review of Forging Hephaestus
Cloak88
Villains like you've never seen them before. Villains of the Code. 4.5 stars

Tori Rivas, is stubborn, intelligent and a truly independent minded. Imbued with the power to control fire and a technical mind to rival any genius. Even soo she knows, she's but smallfry, in a world where Legendary Heroes and Infamous Villains could destroy whole cities in their fights. Now living and working as a smalltime thief to fund her own tech-projects, things go wrong in the most horribly interesting
...more
Timothy Boyd
Jun 28, 2018 rated it liked it
Very good superhero novel. Drew Hayes always gives you an interesting and fun read. I was interesting comparing this story to his magnum opus superhero series Super Powered. Very enjoyable. Recommended
Lindsey
So we get a villain story in a world of supers!
Tori is meant to be a too difficult apprentice in the big baddies guild. In the villains guild the ever important code is more important than doing crimes. This is one aspect that makes you question how bad these baddies are as they have to get their crimes approved to ensure no loved ones on either side of the good or bad field are hurt. Anyways Tori has been bucking against her teachers and it comes down to either death or taken under the wing o
...more
Carla Enright
Jan 29, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: Anyone who loves fantasy comedy
I loved this book. So, so very much.

When I found out Drew Hayes was writing a novel about villains, I'm not going to lie; I was a bit concerned.
My primary concern was that it was going to take away some of the magic that is Super Powereds, and that a lot of villain novels tend to follow a similar formula.
Forging Hephaestus not only proved me wrong on both accounts but also seriously exceeded any expectations that I had for a new Drew Hayes novel.

In a world where "meta-humans" are created fro
...more
Cloak88
Villains like you've never seen them before. Villains of the Code. 4.5 stars

Tori Rivas, is stubborn, intelligent and a truly independent minded. Imbued with the power to control fire and a technical mind to rival any genius. Even soo she knows, she's but smallfry, in a world where Legendary Heroes and Infamous Villains could destroy whole cities in their fights. Now living and working as a smalltime thief to fund her own tech-projects, things go wrong in the most horribly interesting
...more
Barbara Douglas
Jan 22, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Drew Hayes does it again! Forging Hephaestus is emphatically a Drew Hayes novel. It is long -- it took me three days to read. The tone is light-hearted, the language is fairly colloquial, the plotting is complex, and the cast of characters is large. The over-all plot, discounting the details, is bordering on the formulaic, so, if you want formal, poetic language, read Patrick Rothfuss. If you want to have no idea where the plot is heading, also read Rothfuss. But for all it was clear where the p ...more
Becky
Sep 14, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
I honestly think Drew Hayes can do no wrong. (If you're reading this, Mr. Hayes, well done!)

I wasn't sure about this one at the beginning. It took time for me to bond with Tori and Ivan and the rest. But, with a book this long, there was plenty of time to get attached. By the end, I was wanting more and was sorry it was over. Now I can't decide which of this author's series I want him to hurry and work on next, because there are so many, and every one of them is golden. (Get to work,
...more
Lukas Lovas
5/5, 10/10...this book was great any way you look at it. Surprisingly original /considering how saturated the market is with the superhero themed stuff these days), thoroughly enjoyable, and an absolute pleasure to read through. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.
Robert Maxwell
Jul 30, 2017 rated it it was amazing
Super villains, super heroes, robots, magic, dragons... what more could you ask for? Fantastic
Douglas Debner
Feb 09, 2018 rated it liked it
This review deserves an “executive summary” because, while Drew Hayes is an excellent author, this is not his best work and my full review is a lot of complaining about that. This is a better than average book that makes some mistakes Mr. Hayes doesn’t make in his other books. Those mistakes are (1) using stupidity to move the story forward and (2) a ridiculously convenient ending that just so happens to set every thing up for a second book.

As for the stupidity, the main character, T
...more
Superbunny
Sep 27, 2018 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
This was awesome. Well written and not a boring minute! For someone who usually gets bored 15 minutes into an audiobook, believe you me that this one is as exciting and interesting as they come. I listened to all 26 hours and 58 minutes of it. If you're ever interested in reading about superheroes and super villains this is the book for you. I can't wait for book 2!!!
Josh
Jun 25, 2017 rated it liked it
A fun book, but not without its problems. Before I get to the issues I had with it, let me say that they didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book. The premise is interesting, and the action sequences are entertaining. Read as allegory it is also timely. I just think it could have been better, and even more enjoyable.

Due maybe in part to the genre (superhero YA?), there is excessive explanation to the reader, that blunts the effects of ironic moments and major turning points in
...more
GaiusPrimus
Mar 20, 2017 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Holy crap... I don't even know what to say about this book. Might have to take a few days to make something out of the awesomeness spinning around the brain right now.

If you get the choice between written or read, take the read. It might take longer to get through it, but the narrator was spectacular.

Is there anything Mr. Hayes can't write about? At this point in time, I think I would read technical manuals for routers if he wrote them. I would read scientific papers abou
...more
Mikhail
Feb 02, 2018 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Drew Hayes is sort of my version of an airport novel. Villain's Code isn't the most innovative book out there, but it's solid and fun and keeps my attention. If you like superheroes, definitely worth a read, though I suspect the plot would be a bit lost on someone who doesn't know the superhero/villain tropes very well.
Trevor Sherman
Apr 03, 2017 rated it it was amazing
A surprisingly deep book about superheros and villains. Drew is great at taking a silly premise and making you really care for the goofballs though, So I shouldn't be surprised by this one. I will try to get a full review up on my blog https://thebloggoblin.com/ soon but for now this is well worth the 5 stars
Linda
An addictive intricately woven fantasy in a world of villains and heroes!

“Sooner or later, they’ll realize that having one spider in the house kills a lot of the lesser insects.”

Forging Hephaestus by Drew Hayes was an addictive intricately woven fantasy set in a world of villains and heroes. It was a given that I’d pick up this listen as soon as I saw it because I’m a sucker for super hero tales. Also, my appetite for more books by Drew Hayes had been previously whetted
...more
Amber Dunten
“Look, we're moderately bad,” said the Villains, “but we're not so bad that we're willing to take the world apart either trying to destroy it or rule it by force. We just want to be bad in regular criminal mastermind sorts of ways. Heck, a lot of our evil schemes aren't even technically illegal if you have a really good team of lawyers and publicists. So how about you let us be, and we'll sort of, um, police ourselves, and when the Really Bad Guys get out of hand, we'll help take care of the problem.”
...more
Kim
Sep 13, 2017 rated it it was amazing
This clever take on super-villains and super-heroes is funny and fast-paced without turning into parody or satire.

The book revolves around Tori Rivas, one of the growing number of metahumans that have been growing in number the past few years. She's a skilled survivor and thief who has preferred to work by herself. In the process of sneaking into a corporate office, by liquefying like molten lava, she discovers that she's has raided the headquarters of a guild of super-villains.  ...more
Aundrea
May 25, 2018 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Wonderful characters, captivating story line, unique world building, and just plain fun. There was plenty of action, but this isn't what I'd call action packed either. There were a lot of slower scenes that focus on the world building and character development. On that same note I never felt like I was trudging through heavy info dumps either. My only complaint is that the second book isn't out yet. It doesn't end on a cliff hanger, but it definitely left me looking for more.

Audio: E
...more
Derek Jordan
Apr 23, 2019 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Wow.. This was good. I was very seriously not expecting to be as good as it was. Very fun story .. Great characters and just all around fun world to peek into. Seriously will keep reading in this series - and will likely pick up more Drew Hayes stuff. Loved the powers and the twist on the villain/hero motif.
Matt Ranlett
Jun 20, 2019 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: comic-sci-fi
Pretty decent story about super heros (who are actually associated with the group of super villians) and demi-gods (who are easily duped). The story was a quick read and fun. Excellent summer reading!
Kaitlin Jones
3.5 stars
Christopher
Apr 23, 2018 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: super-hero
I *really* liked this one! Drew Hayes is swiftly becoming a favorite of mine, and this novel pushed him up another notch. I'm an on-and-off fan of supers/metas novels, since people started writing them, so I wasn't sure how this one would go. I have liked his Super Powered and NPC series, though, so I gave this a shot...and couldn't put it down!

The characters have serious depth, the story moves along, and all the usual quirks of super hero fiction are pretty much explained in a ratio
...more
Frank Dominguez Jr
Very interesting take on heroes and villains. Thoroughly enjoyed the book and have recommended it to several people. Great stuff!
Aaron Nagy
Feb 26, 2017 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: superpowers
Wow, Drew Hayes blew this one out of the park, this might be my favorite book of his yet, and that's saying something.
Christopher
Jan 25, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: giveaways, arc
Do Villains have a Code? Who Punishes the ones that go too far? Find out the answers to all this and more as you fall in love with an entire universe of brand new characters and powers that you see develop right before your eyes. I promise you, this book will be a seductive temptress keeping you from getting sleep until you finish it.

Drew is a master of bringing you to the edge of your seat and keeping you teetering on the knife edge the entre time your reading. I didn't want to put
...more
Jessica Duff
Jun 06, 2017 rated it it was amazing
This was one of those books were it took me a few attempts to get past the first few chapters (and there are many chapters) and get used to the tone. But I'm very glad I eventually did - Forging Hephaestus is now one of my favorite, rainy day re-reads. The book is action packed, and I found the characters endearing and easy to relate to. The heroine, Tori, is also kick-ass and not in the usual fantasy-book cliche way.

Forging Hephaestus has a somewhat non-traditional super hero/super villain plo
...more
Glenn
Feb 28, 2017 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Enjoyable story that is not in the Powereds universe. Imagine a universe where the bad guys are self policing group with rules and codes. You can't? Well Drew did and now you can too.

A great read that I skipped work left the cat outside and took the phone off the hook to finish.
Zéphyrin
Review of Forging Hephaestus (contains spoilers)

I read this book after finishing Super Powereds 1-4 by the same author. Forging Hephaestus has a lot of good parts and is an improvement over his previous works even if it is plagued many of the same flaws.
All in all I enjoyed the book, but it could be much better.


Lets begin with the plot. Tori Rivas – meta-human, aspiring inventor and the main character – breaks into the wrong vault to fund her research and ends up b
...more
Sophia
Jun 12, 2018 rated it really liked it
This is a bit of a niche one. First things: it's long. People are impatient. Y'know, just finish the equation already. Second things: I have to say it. Drew Hayes is a whole lot better than he was when he wrote Super Powereds- yeah, that's another web serial he, like, wrote, and 'cause this one was pretty much as addictive as Calpol or jelly sweets, I read it next- because when you've hit peak laddishness, peak Bud-that's-not-alcoholism-really (I mean it)-Lite, and peak Dungeons & Dragons &a ...more
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 next »
topics  posts  views  last activity   
Goodreads Librari...: page count 2 16 Feb 15, 2018 06:57PM  
Goodreads Librari...: paperback cover 2 15 Nov 19, 2017 02:41PM  
Who is Penelope's fahter? 1 17 Mar 12, 2017 10:14PM  
Duplicate? 2 15 Jan 03, 2017 01:38PM  

Readers also enjoyed

  • Rath's Gambit (The Janus Group #2)
  • Secrets of a D-List Supervillain (D-List Supervillain, #2)
  • Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection (Andrea Vernon, #1)
  • Inspector Hobbes and the Gold Diggers (Unhuman #3)
  • Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel
  • The Rules of Supervillainy (The Supervillainy Saga, #1)
  • A Dragon of a Different Color (Heartstrikers, #4)
  • X-Files: The Truth Is Out There
  • Caped (The Omega Superhero #1)
  • America's Grandson (Cape High, #2)
  • Personal Demons (Good Intentions, #3)
  • Superego
  • Arsenal (Full Metal Superhero #1)
  • Dark Light (Elizabeth Cage, #2)
  • Rise of The Circle (Meta, #3)
  • Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1)
  • Chupacabra's Song (Magic ex Libris)
See similar books…
“There may come times that you will regret not just dying when you had a chance.” 4 likes
“Try not to let them scare you too much. But, don’t forget, that they are scary people.” 4 likes
More quotes…