Literature / Michael Vey

Looks like an electrifying read, doesn't it?

A young adult series by Richard Paul Evans, Michael Vey is the story of a teenage boy who has the unusual ability to generate and channel electricity. Michael gradually discovers others who have powers similar to him, as well as a mysterious organization determined to hunt them down.

• The series consists of eight books:
  • Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, released in 2011.
  • Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen, released in 2012.
  • Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere, released in 2013.
  • Michael Vey: The Hunt for Jade Dragon, released in 2014.
  • Michael Vey: Storm of Lightning, released in 2015.
  • Michael Vey: Fall of Hades, released in 2016.
  • Michael Vey: The Final Spark, released in 2017.
  • Michael Vey: The Parasite, released in 2022.

The Prisoner of Cell 25 is the first book published by Glenn Beck under his Mercury Ink imprint. They even made a trailer, produced as if it were a movie.

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This series provides examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: The Elgen subplot of Storm of Lightning was this for Quentin.
  • A good portion of Fall of Hades was centered around Welch's backstory.
• Abusive Parents: Wade's parents walked out on him and forced him to live with his grandmother, who not only beat Wade on a regular basis, but also played victim when he dared to stand up to her. Book 4 further reveals that Jack caught his father nearly beating Wade to death and gave him a No Holds Barred Beat Down.
• Action Girl: McKenna, Abi and Taylor.
• Action Girlfriend
  • Taylor is this to Michael
  • McKenna to Ostin
• Action Survivor: Averted to all hell with Jack, played straight with Wade.
• Adults Are Useless: Strangely averted and played straight in Book 2. Michael's mother isn't useless, as she's just been captured. The endless amounts of Mooks Hatch has however...
• Aerith and Bob: Played with. It is implied Ostin's mother spelled his name that way because she didn't know how to spell it the other way.
• An Aesop: The primary Aesop for this series is that it's okay to be different. It helps that the message isn't hammered in.
• Asian and Nerdy: McKenna, who seems to be the only one legitimately interested when Ostin spouts trivia about certain subjects.
  • Jade Dragon.
• Ax-Crazy
  • Nichelle until book 4.
  • Torstyn. Dear God Torstyn.
• Badass Normal: Jack and Ostin.
• Berserk Button: Do NOT talk about Michael's mother negatively in front of him. Also, mentioning Zeus's odor probably isn't a good idea either.
  • Never hurt Wade in front of Jack. Wade's father and the soldier that killed him both learned that the hard way.
• Big Eater: According to the website Bryan is implied to be this. Ostin is a strange subversion. He's implied to be a big eater yet turns down food at almost every chance in the novels.
• The Big Guy: Jack for the Electroclan and Torstyn for the Elgen.
• Big Bad: Dr. C. James Hatch.
• Big Good: Michael's father formed the resistance that has been aiding the Electroclan. And he's still alive.
• Bilingual Bonus: At the end of Book 2. Why is an Amazonian tribe in Peru speaking Mandarin Chinese?
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • Prisoner of Cell 25: Despite shutting down the academy and making new allies in the form of Hatch's glows, Hatch got away and Michael's mother was in another Elgen compound.
  • Rise of the Elgen: Michael's mother is free and the Peruvian Plant is shut down, but Michael got separated from the group.
  • Battle of the Ampere: The Electoclan sunk the Elgen's most powerful ship, but Hatch got away and they have to go to Taiwan to save another captive.
  • The last book, The Final Spark: Hatch and his allies have been defeated, and Michael's father is still alive. But the entire resistance has been destroyed, and Michael's father is forced to become the new CEO of Elgen in order to uphold the masquerade, albeit taking steps to reverse the damage Hatch has done to the world by reducing the corporation's influence. Meanwhile, Michael, Taylor, Jack, and Ostin return to high school, going back to the mundanity of their pre-Elgen lives, but still keeping in touch with the other members of the Electroclan.
• Blessed with Suck: Zeus possesses such strong electric discharge powers that any contact with water hurts him. As a result, he is unable to swim or even bathe. Several characters comment on the effect this has on his odor.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Jack, hands down.
• Bolt of Divine Retribution: Something very reminiscent of this happens at the end of book 6 when Michael absorbs a blast of lightning, converting over a billion volts of electricity into an explosion similar to a nuclear blast. What makes it retributive is the fact that it is used to deal a heavy blow to Hatch.
• Book Worm: Ostin.
• Break the Cutie: Taylor through the second half of the first book. Michael and Ostin too.
  • Tanner, who suffers from PTSD from being forced to take down planes.
• Breather Episode: Storm of Lightning was pretty much this, as the Electroclan had no direct contact with the Elgen throughout the book.
• The Bully: Jack, Wade and Mitchell were this until their Heel–Face Turn
• Cain and Abel: Tara and Taylor
• Cliffhanger
  • Book 2 ends with Michael getting separated from the group and being taken in by a strange tribe who tells him he's not going home.
  • The third one ends with the Electorclan learning about a Chinese girl with knowledge on the Electric powers getting abducted by the Elgen.
  • Book 4 ends with the Electroclan finding out that Hatch found and attacked the resistance.
  • Book 5 ends with the Electroclan preparing for an assault on Tuvalu. Meanwhile, Chairman Schema meets a new Glow named Cassy, who introduces him to the Voice face-to-face.
  • Book 6 ends with The Electroclan stealing the Joule while Michael sacrifices himself to hold back Hatch's mooks, seemingly being killed by lightning.
• Character Tics: Michael gulps or blinks rapidly when he is stressed. Taylor and later Jack use this to know when he's upset.
• Character Development: McKenna, Abi, Ian, Jack and Wade get hit with this hard.
  • Nichelle in book 4.
  • Quentin in book 5. Even more so in book 6. Cell 25 made him take a level in humility compared to his previous Jerkass behavior.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Dr. Coonradt, one of the Elgen scientists who was mentioned to have worked on the MEI, is the Voice.
  • And Michael's father founded the resistance against the Elgen, and is leading it.
• Comes Great Perks: The organization that originally created the electric children gives them anything they ask for, so long as they do what they're asked.
• Dark Action Girl: Tara and Nichelle.
  • Along with Zara
• Darkest Hour: Book 7, big time. Michael is apparently dead and despite their best efforts to get away, are quickly recaptured and returned to Tuvalu. Meanwhile, the Tuvaluan prisoners of Hades attempt to start a rebellion against the Elgen but are soon pinned down inside the under-construction storage vaults, while Hatch manages to destroy the resistance in a single strike.
• Deadpan Snarker
  • Michael on occasion; Taylor and her twin sister Tara.
  • As of Book 2 Jack fits into this category as well.
• Disability Superpower: Ian fits under this quite nicely.
  • Jade Dragon is an autistic savant.
• The Ditz
  • Abigail has moments of this in book 2. Bryan is this trope embodied.
  • Deconstructed as of Book 2. The other children like Bryan, they just think he's an idiot.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Book 1 Jack and Wade were basically the same person with different names. Flash forward to Book 2 where Jack is a Boisterous Bruiser and badass while Wade gradually becomes the Lovable Coward.
• Downer Ending: Hunt for Jade Dragon. Thanks to Tara's power to create illusions, Michael blabbed the location of the resistance's hideout. They learn at the end that the hideout has been attacked, and Michael and Taylor's mothers, Ostin's parents, Grace and Tanner, and the rest of the resistance is most likely dead.
  • But then book 5 reveals that while the hideout was attacked, he lied about the casualties in case the Elgen were wiretapping.
• Dumb Blonde: Averted with Michael.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Michael and Ostin would say "Bones" as a catchphrase for when something cool happened to them. After book 2, that phrase seems to have been dropped. The characters also tended to use more childish insults towards their enemies. As the series progressed, there would be more PG-level profanity. In the first book, Jack was seen smoking a cigarette. However, since then, he's never been mentioned smoking.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Gervaso's friend J.D. sells the Electroclan and Welch out to Hatch for the reward in book 6. Thankfully for the heroes (but unfortunately for J.D.), they figure out in time.
• Evil Counterpart: Tara is this to Taylor.
  • Zeus was this to Michael until his Heel–Face Turn.
  • Nichelle was this to Tessa until her Heel–Face Turn.
  • Quentin is this to Ostin.
  • Zara is one to Michael, at least in terms of the ability to replicate the powers of the other electric children.
• Evil Twin: Tara is this to Taylor.
• Faking the Dead:
  • Doctor Coondrat, the creator of the MEI, faked his death to help found the resistance.
    • As with Carl Vey, Michael's father.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Early in the first book, Jack was smoking a cigarette when he confronted Michael. However, after joining the Electroclan, he hasn't been mentioned smoking since.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: How Michael and the other kids got their powers.
• Heroic BSoD: Ostin after he lets Michael stay behind.
  • Jack after Wade died. Ian to a lesser extent because he didn't sense Wade's killer coming.
  • Michael and Ostin in book 5 after thinking that their parents were dead.
  • Taylor spends most book 7 in one after Michael's apparent death at the end of book 6.
  • Cassie enters one in book 7 as well when Zara reads her mind to learn all of the resistance's secrets, which Hatch then uses to destroy the entire rebel group in a single strike.
• The Hero: Michael.
• Heel–Face Turn: Several, among them the school bully, who goes so far as to give Michael a ride across the country and Zeus, one of the enforcers for the evil organization.
  • Nichelle in book 4.
  • Quentin, while not exactly a good guy now, finally decides to turn on Hatch after he ordered the execution of his father figure in book 5.
    • Then finalized in book 6, along with Tara and even Torstyn.
  • A few Elgen guards defect in book 7 when they realize they're on the losing side.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Michael and Ostin, Jack and Wade, and McKenna and Abigail.
• Hollywood Tourette's: Averted. The main character's Tourette's syndrome manifests itself in non-verbal tics, usually uncontrollable gulping and blinking. The usual portrayal of persons with Tourette's is discussed in the narration.
• I Have Your Mother: Dr. Hatch has Michael's mother kidnapped in order to lure him to Elgen headquarters.
  • He kidnaps her again in book 7 in order to lure Michael's father out of hiding.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Discussed from book 3 onward. Hatch mentions an anecdote about a new ruler eating his rival after his overthrow of Schema in Battle of the Ampere. Then in book 6 the Electroclan learns that he actually intends to do this to Michael since guns and being fed to the rats cannot kill him.
• Impersonating the Evil Twin: Inverted. Tara tries to impersonate Taylor and fails.
  • Twice.
  • Played straight in book 4. Thanks to Taylor's mind-reading ability, she does it better than Tara.
• Jerkass: Nichelle and Dr. Hatch.
  • As of Book 2 Tara, Torstyn, Quentin, and Bryan ALL fit into this category.
  • Along with Zara in book 7.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Zeus, Jack, Wade, and Nichelle.
• Killed Off for Real:
  • Wade in book 3.
  • Gervaso, Tanner, and seemingly Michael in book 6.
  • Zara and Hatch in book 7.
• Lack of Empathy: Nichelle to an extreme degree. And then book 4 happened.
  • Scratch that, Torstyn to a horrifying degree. And then book 6 happened.
• Last Episode, New Character: Two new characters are introduced in the final book, even though they've only been hinted at before:
  • Michael's father, Carl Vey, having faked his death to lead the resistance.
  • Zara, the 17th electric teen
• Licked by the Dog: Part of what causes Nichelle's Heel–Face Turn.
• The Load: Wade doesn't really do much...
  • Grace to the point of where the Voice takes her with him as to not slow down the Electroclan.
• Lovable Coward: Wade.
• Love Triangle: Inverted with Zeus, Jack and Abi, after seeing this could cause complications Jack decides that in the end it's really Abi's choice.
  • Even though it is heavily implied that Abi will choose Zeus
    • And then Battle of the Ampere reveals that her and Zeus are only friends and that she chooses Jack.
  • Tessa was a Romantic False Lead for Michael. However, she never outright stated she was interested in Michael. The only Ship Tease they had was when they pretended to be a couple to act like tourists. We also learn that she used to date Zeus and is jealous that he flirts with Abigail.
  • And then ''Fall of Hades throws Cassie, a previously unknown glow working for the resistance shows up. Taylor can tell right from the start that she's attracted to Michael.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The other cause of Nichelle's Heel–Face Turn. Also for Quentin, Tara, and Torstyn's.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Michael typically develops one or two new abilities per book, justified by the fact that both Ostin and Elgen doctors not that his electricity is growing.
  • Taylor begins Dreaming of Things to Come in book 6, although not much is made of it and she does what she can to keep it a secret, she doesn't really understand it herself, and to avoid Prophecy Twist.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Nichelle, being a Goth and all. A prime example occurs in book 5 when the Electroclan stay at a hotel that has a legend about a haunted room, and Nichelle requests staying in that room.
• Official Couple: Michael and Taylor in book 1, Ostin and McKenna in book 2, and Abi and Jack in book 3. Quentin and Tara are implied to be this too.
• Parental Abandonment: Wade's parents walked out on him so he could live with his abusive grandmother. Taylor and Tara's mother put them up for adoption because she gave birth to them when she was young.
• Parental Substitute: Jack comes to see Gervaso as one. Tanner seemed to look at Michael's mother as this as well.
• Platonic Life-Partners: McKenna and Abigail are both this to Ian.
• Rich Bitch: Tara.
• Room 101: The Eponymous Cell 25.
• Separated at Birth: Identical twins Taylor and Tara meet for the first time when the former is brought to Elgen headquarters.
• Ship Tease: Ostin and McKenna as well as Jack and Abi or Zeus and Abi
• Shock and Awe: Michael and Zeus, though only the latter can project lightning. Michael is limited to shocking things he can touch until book 2, when he gains the ability to throw ball lightning.
• The Smart Guy: Ostin again.
• The Sociopath: Nichelle until book 4.
  • Torstyn as well fits under this.
• The Starscream: Quentin turns on Hatch after he orders to have EGG Welch executed. He also gets Tara and Torstyn in on it too.
• Team Mom: Abby.
• Token Evil Teammate: If Torstyn still has is sadistic personality in book 7, he may count as this for the Electroclan.
• Token Good Teammate: Welch seems to have been this for the Elgen Guard. Grace, Tessa, and Tanner were this for Hatch's Glows since they betrayed him on their own volition rather than after fighting Michael.
• Took a Level in Badass: Ostin throughout the entirety of Book 2.
  • Special mention goes to McKenna who learns to weaponize her power.
  • Tara's power has gotten so much stronger, that she is able to cause hallucinations.
• Underhanded Hero: In their efforts to save the world from the villainous Dr. Hatch, the Electroclan has resorted to tactics such as manipulation, blackmail, and threats, which are preferred tactics of Hatch himself. However, they only do these things when necessary, and on a much smaller scale than Hatch does. (It's also worth noting that most of the people that they do this to are working for Hatch.)
• Villain Episode: There are several chapters from book 2 onwards from the point of view of the villains, although only the Elgen Guard Welch has chapters specifically focused on his backstory in book 6.
• Vitriolic Best Friends: Jack and Zeus.
  • Ostin and Taylor always bickered in the first book. Later on, we learn that she was jealous of Ostin's intellect.
• Wham Episode:
  • Rise of the Elgen- Michael staying behind at the Starxource plant.
  • Battle of the Ampere- Wade's death.
  • Hunt for Jade Dragon- Nichelle's Heel–Face Turn and the resistance's hideout being destroyed, with Michael and Taylor's mother, Ostin's parents, Grace, and Tanner being possible casualties.
  • Fall of Hades- The Electroclan manages to steal the Joule, but the rest of the group is trapped on the eponymous island and surrounded by Elgen soldiers. Michael, who has been getting steadily more powerful as the series goes on, climbs to the top of a radio tower where he ''channels lightning to take out the Elgen army and dies in the process!!
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ostin gets this from Taylor after he leaves Michael.
  • He gets another one when he suggests the possibility of resorting to blowing up the Volta with Jade Dragon inside, pointing out that her information is too valuable to the Elgen.

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