Not to be confused with the Hive novels by Tim Curran.The series H.I.V.E., the Higher Institute of Villainous Education, is a Villain Protagonist series by Mark Walden about, as the title suggests, a school for villains. It currently has seven released books, but due to No Export for You, only the first three have been released in America yet. The author, Mark Walden, seems to enjoy his fanbase, and has a blog, a small forum and a separate e-mail account for fans. Online, there is little evidence to show the books' popularity, but HIVEmind, H.I.V.E.'s forum, is bursting with enthusiastic members.The four main members of H.I.V.E. are Otto, the main character; Wing, Otto's Chinese best friend; Laura, the Scottish computer hacker, and Shelby, the American lock-picking girl, with the later group addition of Lucy, the mind-controlling granddaughter of the Contessa. In the secondary character section there is Nigel, the son of Diabolus Darkdoom, Number One's replacement when he goes all crazy and dies, and Nigel is very, erm... 'good' with plant life. There is also Franz, the German son of an owner of a chocolate factory. There has been very little said about any of Franz's abilities, though it is mentioned that he is able to make money 'disappear.'In the later books, the characters Nero, the headmaster of H.I.V.E., and his assistant; Raven, the former Russian 'bodyguard' of Nero, along with a couple of other teachers, are added closer to the list of main characters. The moves of the... enemies of the main characters are usually described in great detail in the later books as well.The books currently released are:
H.I.V.E. - This is the first book, where the Fabulous Four main characters of this series meet one another in their new villain school, and make an escape attempt.It doesn't work.In fact,Raven breaks Wing's wrist.Seriously badass!
The Overlord Protocol - This is the second book, and the last one released in America, in which Otto and Wing are let out of the school for a short time, and Wing gets kidnapped. In this book, we enjoy more character development for the teachers of the school, who are quickly turning from foe to friend for the main characters.
Escape Velocity - Recovering from the shock of the last book, Otto has been practicing his newfound ability to talk to machines and computers meanwhile, Nero meets with an old villainous friend and soon finds out that Number One is plotting to reform Overlord, and Nero gets himself kidnapped. Naturally, our four man team has to go and, oddly enough, save the day.
Dreadnought - At the very beginning of this book, we get a small peek into Raven's past, and then all hell breaks loose. The main characters take Lucy, a newbie who has been put into their year, under their wing. They are about to go on a school expedition to the Arctic circle, but, naturally, they meet trouble on the way as they visit Nigel's father, now the leader of G.L.O.V.E.'s new 'ship', Dreadnought. Darkdoom Sr. gets captured by a rogue G.L.O.V.E. member, and chaos ensues.
Rogue: Released May 2010. Otto has been brainwashed and turned into an assassin for the other side. Computer glitches at H.I.V.E. signal the return of H.I.V.E.mind, but he warns that Overlord has also survived inside Otto's head.
"Zero Hour": Released September 2010. Overlord uses the Animus fluid to take over a US military facility and H.I.V.E. itself in an attempt to capture Otto. Also, some of the main characters begin dating.
"Aftershock" : Released June 2011. A new intake of students arrive at H.I.V.E. and two join the group in an attempt to steal this year's exam papers. However, the first exam - a survival exercise - is interrupted by the Disciples attempting to massacre the Alpha stream.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Subverted and played straight with the Overlord Protocol, the evil Kill All Humans AI, and his 'brother' H.I.V.E.mind, the sympathetic ally of our protagonists.
Anyone Can Die: Let's count 'em. Escape Velocity: Contessa. Rogue: Trent. Zero Hour: Chief Lewis and Lucy.
Awesomeness by Analysis: Otto can pretty much read entire textbooks and solve problems that would take the most skilled mathmeticians weeks in the time it takes you to be amazed by this fact.
Badass Longcoat: Raven wears one of these in Escape Velocity.
Bittersweet Ending: The series is full of them in one form or another. Two of the most notable take place in Dreadnought ( Otto ends up captured by Trent) and Zero Hour ( G.L.O.V.E. is disbanded and Lucy's dead and buried beneath 200 tonnes of nuclear slag).
Aftershock continues the trend. The majority of this year's Alpha stream is killed or captured and taken to a hellish Disciple training camp. Among the captured are Nigel, who was recently shot, and Laura, who betrayed H.I.V.E. to save her family's lives. Otto takes the fall for helping Laura steal information from H.I.V.E. and is expelled, leaving Wing, Shelby and Franz as the only Alpha stream students in the year.
Broken Faceplate: Played with; while Ghost wears one, and it does get shattered (by Nero with a flare gun no less) it happens a long time before her actual death.
Cerebus Syndrome: The first book, while hinting at the greater overiding arc, was basically about the kids trying to escape the school, and was fairly lighthearted. The second book was notably darker, with higher stakes. And from there... well, check out Bittersweet Ending above. Although the books have kept the humour, for the most part, until the end of Aftershock.
Compelling Voice: The Contessa has this but there are some drawbacks. The longer she uses it, the Contessa becomes physically and mentally exhausted she becomes. In Dreadnought, it's revealed to be a generational gift and her granddaughter Lucy has it too.
Continuity Nod: In Rogue, Otto says something unheard to Laura. This becomes a major plot point in Aftershock. Also, Aftershock sees the return of Tom and Penny, two minor characters from the very first book.
Cool Airship: The Dreadnought. An airship that's self defence is to make a huge storm? Yeah.
Cool Boat: You wouldn't want to meet the Megalodon alone in a dark bathtub...
Even Evil Has Standards: Pretty much the only way we know who the "good guys" are - for example, Dr Nero disproves of Cypher's plans because there is unnesicary violence.
Evil Overlord List: To be expected seeing as the premise of the show is supervillains. Rules obeyed include 20, 27, 32, 33, 45, 56, 57, 58, and 65. Rules broken at any point in the series include 1, 2 (lampshaded by Otto), 6, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17 (Number One, I'm looking at you), 18 again, I'm looking at you Number One, 23, 36, 46, 52, 59, 67, 73, 78, 84, and 96.
Evil Versus Evil: The main characters constantly go after the Complete Monster, while they prefer to be the behind-the-scenes Chessmaster.
Fun with Acronyms: G.L.O.V.E., The Global League Of Villainous Enterprises, and, of course, H.I.V.E., the Higher Institute of Villainous Education. This can bring Fridge Logic when you consider that G.L.O.V.E. makes use of it's 'of,' while H.I.V.E. does not. Just to make it a word, I suppose. And H.O.P.E.
Hell-Bent for Leather: Raven, and technically Verity and Constance, but they are more Knight Templar than anything else. That, and the fact that they are just far less awesome in comparison to Natalya.
Killed Off for Real: While a Not Quite Dead might have been the norm in earlier book, given how dark the series has been getting of late it looks like Lucy is staying buried. (Mind you given that many of the fans are of the opinion that the First Law of Resurrection is considerably helped along by emailing the author a picture of a pointy stick, it may not be long be they start digging.)
Love Is In The Water: Franz thinks this is happening in Zero Hour: "I am thinking that there is being something in the water".
No One Could Survive That: Raven lives on this trope, most notably when she was shot by Trent off the top of the Millenium Wheel, plunging gods know how many feet into the Thames.
Not Quite Dead: Verity, Wing, Otto, Diabolus Darkdoom. Raven is supposedly dead at least once a book. Lampshaded in Escape Velocity:
Shelby: That's it. From now on, no one's dead until I read the autopsy report.
Nuclear Weapons Taboo: Sooooooooo inverted - just look at the finales of Dreadnought and Zero Hour
Recursive Ammo: Megladon's torpedoes do this. and it's awesome.
Russian Girl Suffers Most: Raven: Shot in the thigh, dropped off the Millennium Wheel (and probably half drowned in the process), knocked unconscious with an electric floor mop, foot long spike through her shoulder, shot at again, kicked, beaten and generally abused by a military psycho....
To be honest, the series started on the whole premise of taking villain stereotypes and exploring them further, so consequently the books are littered with (usually subtle) nods to the villains of real world fiction.
Sink or Swim Mentor: While Nero generally tries to keep students out of the real danger, he seems to have no problem with sending newly-arrived students who are joining the upper years on the same dangerous survival exercises as their well-trained classmates.
Sixth Ranger: Lucy arrives in Dreadnought. After her death in Zero Hour, Aftershock sees the arrival of Tom and Penny.
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