Invasion

The Secret World Chronicles #1

by Mercedes Lackey, Steve Libbey (Contributor), Cody Martin (Contributor)

Presented in its unabridged form, this modern military superhero saga chronicles the battle between Earth's superheroes and a transdimensional Third Reich. Invasion is book one of the Secret World Chronicle, and comes packed with bonus content, including several short stories also taking place in the Secret World universe.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Ebooks, Fiction, Superheroes, Urban Fantasy, Audiobook

742 pages, ebook

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.

"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.

"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.

"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:

"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."

Also writes as Misty Lackey

Author's website

Reviews

[Petr Kalis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Invasion is comics made into podcast made into book. Weird? Nevermind. The book starts very strong, Nazis in gigantic metal armors are ambushing cities all around the world, killing innocents as the go, but mainly targetting Meta humans organisation, Echo. Story switches between a dozen heroic, or some not so heroic, characters, who have variety of ordinary superheroes skills as unpenetrable skin, flaming hands etc. Sounds as cliche, but in the beginning its in good, comics way. Story unwinds slowly, but still its nicely written. Secrecy and conspiracy hints are looming in background, suspense is building step by step...and then the book completely lost it. Suddenly story is breaken with really boring storyarc that presents new characters, who are totally rubish and you hope Nazic iron cavalery will punish them and stomp them to death. I haven't had so much patience, so I skipped this part of the book, that should consisted will escalating story, but contains only 20% of gabby nonsense. Last two chapters are welcomed return back to normal, but you will be wondering, what just happened, if your copy of the book is somehow corrupted, or I don't know. Last chapters contain for example totally new names for familiar characters, some characters are dead without any explanation, some characters show up without introduce. I was thinking about 4 stars all the way through to 75% of the book, but in the end I ponder what the hell it was all about. (Btw that weird part of the book is written only by Mercedes Lackey, all others chapters have multiple authors. It is really pity no one had a time to help Mercedes to toss her lovely story to trashbin and create again something readable together...)

Edit: I found in one review, that "weird" part is bonus story "Children of the Night". Somehow I didn't get (as the other reviewer) that, that the main story is over, and now only desserts are served. That maybe says something about "real end" of the story :(. I hope I will not return to my review or I will succumb to growing urge to strip another star from rating...

[Sigmund · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring action. I planned to give it one star. But I became SO happy when I reached the end, so I gave it two...

[The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook through Audible.com

I read this book after I found the "Super-Powered" series by Drew Hayes. It popped up with the orphan "Buy me! Buy! Love you Joe No S**T buy I give you Air Conditioned Honda!" page for unsolicited books who badly need a home. It turned out to be a good buy and a good fit.

This is more headlined by Mercedes Lackey than it was written by her. Similar to books by Robert Ludlum towards the end of his life. I am sure she wrote much of this also, a collaboration (Which is more than Ludlum did with the last good series that bore his name.

The book is set in the silver age of comics, or better yet, the golden age where masked superheroes like the Shadow and the Green Hornet were forced to find their way amidst a plethora of costumed bad-asses with supped up powers. The story has a good (if familiar) set of villains (fitting for the 1950s (ish) feel of the book and is able to address themes I like to see (that seem to be just part of good writing than anything intentional) like racism, economic inequity, and competing societies.

And there is a lot of ass-kicking action, as one might suspect, a fair bit of humor, and some teary-eyed moments. It has a dark or Noir feeling to it. I suspect that it was influenced by the famed Comic Book "Watchmen." These aren't the Super-friends here. It is fit for any adult, who likes a good comic book-based story (of which there are many of us) and it blows Wild-Cards away. (Though that book may have influenced this one. One might say that this is like Martin's Wild Cards but with a lot of the problems fixed. And it is one long series, not a string of short-stories.

Fun book. Gets my thumbs up.

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty grizzly at times but good storyline and well written

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some might get confused with where to begin - this series started out as a podcast. For me that is a media I have never really gotten into. So there are "books " which are audio read -and they do not at all match the two printed works BAEN has put out. I have compared them - if you expect them to match up you are going to be dissapointed.

So this is my review of the book independent of the podcast.

It focuses on John Murdock, Belladonna Blue, Vicky, "Eisenfaust ", Red Djinni, Ramona and Red Saviour - all the book is supposed to be put together by Vicky at the beginning in about two hours.

It is put together so sloppily I believe it might be a refection of the reality.

Now I most certainly am predetermined to dislike a book that does not have a narrow focus of charactors. You get a look at everyone in that list and a few more who are less interesting and some more remarkable.

Here is a alien invasion with the theme of Nazi, there are metahumans (and that I could get behind) ...only there are angels....and there are Voudan....and a tech-shaman Tuatha da Danaan "sorceress "...and I just want to point out that there is a four armed 'goddess ' Shahkti - they got that right but didn't bother to check and make sure Shiva was not Kali at the end?

Look any sort of author who puts in gods and goddesses of a different religion - ancient or not - needs to put in a little reasearch or they come across looking like a idiot. Congrats calling a male Hindu god a goddess does that- a lot. "Shiva is both a creator and a destroyer. When 'she ' dances, there's no telling which way the dance will turn." -there isn't really a need to throw Shiva into a conversation between Americans and Russians.

Also the Voudan - of course - is misrepresented utterly. Typical.

Bocor are power hungry and call evil "djabs ": houngan are good priests of loas. Yeah...no.

So the theme here?
I had high hopes for this sort of book but the mix -mash ruined it at the end. If I am this annoyed with the "little things " I am not paying attention to the big thing - the story.

[Elijah · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was very intriguing! the characters were all brilliantly done as well. they were all either battling their demons or battling stigmas and they way the book was written made it sure that they would all experience incredible growth in the coming books.

the plot was also very intricate. not gonna lie, it started off pretty slow, but once that action hit, it was a legit blitzkrieg lol.

the only thing i would say that is negative about this book is that it is almost entirely character driven and people that like more world building would probably cry at that, BUT i believe that the characters are so beautifully fleshed out, it more than makes up for it.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this through a Humble Bundle ages ago. Truly dire, not doing 1200 pages of this.

[Bishop · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hyper-literal names, cumbersome premise, and lots of run on sentences. Stopped on page 8.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the strangest books I've read. It's as if the author drew random ideas from a hat and threw them into a blender... it really is the strangest juxtaposition of ideas I've seen. As an example it has Superheroes (where every man and his dog seems to be one), Robot Nazis (and normal ones), God, Nikola Tesla, Aliens, Sorcery, Alternate Realities, East vs West... this book has pretty much everything. A very strange mixed bag.

I did finish the book but at the same time I wish it was self contained so I could have been done with it. As it is, I wanted to know how the story ends, but not enough to put myself up with another x volumes of mishmash.

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot here, such as it is, is about what you would expect from a mediocre superhero RPG. There is a cliched overarching threat (Nazis, of course, probably from a secret base underground in Antarctica or on the back side of the moon). This is largely ignored after the first "Invasion". The rest of the book is largely taken up with more local threats -- the usual mix of gangs (which consist of irredeemably evil people deserving death, unless they're just misguided youths, who can be redeemed if they're just shown how to be good), evil Corporations!, and rogue government organizations.

The characters would also fit into a typical RPG. They are a mix of edge lords and people deeply broken by their lives. Fortunately (?), they seldom interact, so there's no need to figure out how their individual quirks could possibly work together. And they seem to do nothing about that previously mentioned existential threat -- it's side quests all the way. As could be expected, the big bad does get mentioned again at the very end of the book (why else would the reader be inspired to continue to the next book), but not in time to progress significantly on the main quest.

The sentence/paragraph-level writing is actually pretty good (though the horrific Russian accent attempted is quite obtrusive), but the thing that lost this book its last star for me was the glorification of the Soviet Union. In this book, Nazis are bad, which is only fair. But the Soviets, who used exactly the same genocidal strategies and murdered even more people, are somehow held up as shining examples in contrast to the evils of Western civilization.

If you're nostalgic for the old Soviet Union, this might be exactly the book you are looking for. If you find the canonization of that evil deeply offensive, stay away.

[Gerard Rinaldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

WW 2 1/2

I enjoyed this. Of course it leads into another book so this really has no ending. It was all over the place but that’s ok I didn’t mind. There were a lot of characters until the main ones came into focus.

What I didn’t like is a lot of these characters were not fleshed out or well written. As in what do they look like? What is their powers? Give me something. A brief description or synopsis would have helped.

There are political overtones in this. Going back to before WWII through WWII up until the present. Not the kind of political overtones of todays world where a story is written around an agenda. More or less historical political overtones.

The book starts out slow and the main characters slowly come into focus throughout the story. Echo is the formal metahuman organization in America and the rest of the free world. I say free world because there are some Russian heroes that haven’t let go of the old world yet. The good old CCCP.

The main antagonists are Nazis. Yeah old but these are not Hitler’s Nazis. I won’t say anymore. There are some villains as well as heroes who are the protagonists. The story jumps around. John has fire hands. Belladonna can read minds. Vic is magical. Mercurye is a speedster. There is even an Angel. Quite a few characters. They were all interesting except for Red Gjinni. He kind of got on my nerves.

I recommend it. I will purchase the next book and see where it goes.

[David L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second review of this book, having reread it. My First Review is below.

This is a difficult one to rate.

If you take this book as a collection of linked short stories, it would rate a three. Technically competent and interesting but nothing special.

If you read this as what it really is, which is a collection of super-hero graphic novels, but without the artwork, it would rate a five. As an example of the super-hero stories which many of us grew up reading, by Marvel and DC, it is outstanding.

Hence the four.

This book has a fascinating history, starting from a MMORG, in the days when text and speech was supreme and visuals in their infancy, progressing to a series of podcasts, and then finally a book. It is a rare example of the spoken word coming first, and then the book, not the other way around.

If you like US comics, the you will enjoy this book. If you don't like comics, then I would think twice before reading.

My First Review in 2011.

This review is actually from the e-book, ARC, off webscription.

The authors credit the MMORPG 'City of Heroes' as the inspiration for this book, the first in a new series. The reality is more complex. It owes a lot to the 'Wild Cards' series of books, without which I very much doubt this new series would exist. It owes something to the Golden and Silver age comics, with their fighting the Axis themes and heroes, but not nearly as much as they try and insinuate in the first couple of chapters. It borrows ideas from sources as diverse as 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow' and Dennis Wheatley. In short it is a collage, a pastiche, with very little that is actually new. But the old adage applies "Steal from one place it's plagiarism, steal from several places, it's research".

Having said all that it is a good read. The joins from it being a multiple author work are sometimes a little too obvious. The writing takes itself a little serious serious and threatens to become preachy. But it is a coherent story, it has good narrative redundancy, it reaches a climax, if a slightly hurried one, and it sets the stage for an extended series with at least two viable sub-plots giving scope for off the main branch books.

I enjoyed it, with all it's faults. I am looking forward to more books, and I think that being able to slow the pace with less required exposition will make for some really good sequels.

Most important of all there is a large cast of characters, all very much individual, all well written, and almost all of whom I really want to know more about, both their past and their future.

I recommend it.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in the Secret World Chronicle military science fiction comic series based on the MMORPG, City of Heroes.

My Take
I actually started this a few weeks ago, but I just couldn't get interested until I got further into the book. Now, I'm chomping at the bit to get the next in the series, Hunt .

In this story, the authors take turns creating a chapter. Sometimes singly or in varying combinations. It has a very comic book flavor with its outrageous characters and over-the-top situation. American with/against Russkie superhero types in their various costumes. It's a very surface read with most of the characters although there are a couple that have greater depth.

We begin by meeting the critical characters in their individual lives: Blues is helping in the Vegas Fire Department; Nagy is trying to step foot out her apartment; Eisenfaust has managed to breach Echo HQ; Murdock is getting drunk in New York; Red is plotting a bank heist with Duff Sanction, his best and oldest friend, Jon Bead, a one-woman army, and Jack of All Trades; Saviour is about to be demoted; and, Ramona is drooling over Mercurye.

I'm curious to see where the authors are going with Red Saviour's fervor to convert ignorant Amerikanskiis to communism through her soup kitchen.

Those in charge seem to have a tough time realizing their new reality. Especially when they're picking on Blues for defending herself!

The Story
Klaxons let loose, and Echo Ops are practically rolled over where they stand when superhuman Nazis invade the major cities of the world. Good cover for the Nazi unit that invades the prison block at Echo HQ to take down Eisenfaust, but they're too late in one respect.

Meanwhile, Red Saviour and her team are battling to save the Russian people caught in the crossfire. The same ones chanting for her removal. Vicki is battling her own fears while Blues is wearing herself to death saving all those around her. And John comes to the attention of all the wrong people.

The virus the Nazis release into the computer system wreaks a destruction so complete that Echo is desperate for any meta to join them…including Red Djinni.

The Characters
Echo Ops was…
…founded by Nikola Tesla's nephew, Alex Tesla, who organized the "old metas from former WWII vets and recruited new ones" with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Victoria Victrix Nagy [is a] magician, metahuman, romance writer, and hacker". And she can't bear to leave her apartment. Even worse, to be around people. Her cat, Grey, has some kind of power as well. Yankee Pride is the son of Dixie Belle and Yankee Doodle. Belladonna "Blues" Parker is a blue-skinned metahuman with touch-healing abilities. Detective Ramona Ferrari is a regular human who works at Echo. Jack Point is a colleague who suffers from prosopagnosia, but no one can lie to him. Mercurye is a very fleet-of-foot metahuman. Iron Hawk is a Navaho meta who was a codetalker during WWII. Matai is a Samoan meta. Shahkti is a four-armed one. Jacob Stone and Tomb Stone are recruited.

Red Djinni is another metahuman, but on the wrong side of the law. Bulwark will take him in hand. Victoria Summers, a.k.a., Amithyst, was the woman both loved, although neither knows this: Bulwark was married to her while Red Djinni was with her on the barricades when she died.

John Murdock is on the run. From everything. Former military. A metahuman with extra enhancements. There's something very special about Murdock. Even the angel thinks so.

The CCCP is…
…another meta-hero organization and Echo Ops' sometime Russian ally led by Natalya Nilolaeva Shostakovich, a.k.a., Red Saviour. She has a passion for communism and doing what's right, no matter the cost. Piotr Dzhavakhishvili is the moneyman Saviour must apply to for funds. Chug; Fei Li, a.k.a., the People's Blade; and, Soviette are all that remains of her team.

Seraphym "is absolute power constrained by absolute control". Their duty, her duty, is to the future. Choosing the person or situation to save to ensure the proper future. And John Murdock is one who must be kept safe. Matthew March is a human who sees futures. A cacophony of visions that have rendered him unable to move, unable to choose. Jonas is the owner of a bodega in John's new neighborhood.

The Thule Society is…
…the enemy of Echo Ops. Oberst Heinrich Eisenfaust of the Uberluftwaffe of the Third Reich is a metahuman. And an ace German pilot who somehow survived World War II and has returned to warn his former enemies.

Valkyria "Effi" was Eisenfaust's lover before she betrayed everything for the Commandant. Walter Slycke was a prisoner of Echo before the jailbreak; now he's carrying a vital secret.

Blacksnake is one of the more "creative" mercenary security firms who are reaping a fortune from terrified people.

The Cover and Title
It's a Baen cover for sure with its brash colors and graphic images — the Nazi eagle braking for attack, wings widespread, claws poised to strike, the gun that replaces the tongue pointing at its potential victims against a gray-black background amidst orange flames and greenish gases.

The title encompasses the entire story, for it is an Invasion that has set the entire world aflame with destruction and anger. I like the red-orange-red gradients on the title text.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I really enjoyed this!

Strangely, for someone never interested in gaming, this book really appealed to me.

I love that it's written in various points of view, and it feels almost like the radio broadcasts I used to listen to as a child - sort of like Dick Tracey, but more SciFi! Lol

It probably helps that I'm a big superhero movie fan, so am used to these types of characters.

I'm loving that each character's voice can be heard, and that the reader gets to know them, bald spots and all and that, even though the metahumans seem to be beyond normal humanity, they also still bring all the problems, worries, angst, and sheer bloody mindedness that makes us all level in the playing fields of humankind.

I had enjoyed Echo One, the book of short stories set in this world, but wasn't sure what full novels would be like, especially with multiple authors but, despite that, I'm thoroughly enjoying reading them, so far.

So, I'm off to read book two: World Divided, now, and I really hope it's as good as this one has been!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a shared universe series inspired by the MMORPG, City of Heroes. It doesn't use the same world at all but is certainly in the style of the game. It is great fun to try and pick out the choices the players made.

The story is basically... It's Nazis. Armed with weird alien tech the Fourth Reich makes a concerted attempt to kill all the metas it can. Interesting and nuanced characters try to survive and fight back. Using hit and run tactics, there scour corridors of destruction through most major cities in the world.

[Pete Moyes · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I started reading, I thought maybe I’d already read this book and and had forgotten. (That’s one reason I like Goodreads for keeping track!). As I continued to plow through, the suspicion increased. So I started reading reviews, and there it was.....described as very similar to the Wild Card series by R.R. Martin. Bingo!
I agree with the 2 star reviews; poor character development, etc.
I’ve too many other books to read.....DNF

[Elaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was probably a great idea for a book way back in the day when the accompanying web site City of Heroes was live. But, like the CD rom included in the book, the site is out of date and is behind the times. I abandoned the book after 150 pages which is more time than any of us should give to a book that we don't like. It was a mishmash that lacked the pizzazz that comes from having RR Martin associated with the Wild cards series.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

ECHO is an organisation of metahumans just doing their job of policing criminal metahumans when the world is attacked by what seems like Nazis, but powerful, armoured beyond possible technology. And it's not just Atlanta in the USA under attack, but ECHO bases across the world. Included in the attacks is the CCCP headquarters in Moscow.

Now the metahumans must work to avert an invasion by a group that plans on totally wiping out all life on earth before they launch themselves to the stars.

[Dave Packard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book... didn’t realize it contained additional short stories / novellas - that kind of took me out of the rhythm, but I did kind of like them as well. Interesting universe with a bit of all sorts of fantasy and a bit of SF as well. I don’t know as I will continue, but glad I read this one at least.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out so disjointed and haphazard that it was difficult to keep reading. Only the fact that Mercedes Lackey was the lynch pin did I keep going. And then it ends without any fanfare or plot resolution, which was annoying. By the end of the book I was enjoying the characters and story.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. Lackey (and the other authors) build up a fun superhero universe here, and introduce some interesting characters. My only complaint is that the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and nothing is really resolved in this volume. But I'm interested enough that I'm probably going to continue reading this series.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been on a superhero/secret powers kick lately, and finally picked this one up. I really enjoyed it, though it definitely leans toward the dark side, as hope is sprinkled through it from many unlikely sources. I look forward to reading the next one.

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first some parts of this struck me as really strange/over the top maybe/wtf? However, it all ends up coming together and making sense; well worth the read.
you gotta love superheroes with REALISM ...real world type flaws to go with the goodies.
Especially, ya just gotta LOVE Chug!

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A freebie I picked up almost ten years ago and finally got around to reading. Pulp-comic-strip stuff without the pictures, unclear what its all about and seems to be a pot-filler to get you to buy into the sequel, ok in its own way

[Fiannawolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of City of Heroes.

[Mark Cahoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscent of X-Men with a historical lean. Well written. I enjoyed the premise and intend to continue reading the series.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads more like a comic book, classic cliff hangers, meta-humans, space alien Thuliean nazis making a big mess... harder to follow than average , not my favorite.

[P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun - similar to simon green's world

[Angela C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Get book vivid characters. The story grabs you and makes you read too late into the night . It has memorable super heroes and villains with a grabbing story line

[Sheila Huijbregts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books 100% needs to be made into a movie or series.
Ryan Reynolds should team up with Dwayne Johnson again for it.

Captivating and entertaining series of books, love them.