Warm Up: A Tor.com Original (The Villains, #0.5)

by V.E. Schwab

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Shades of Magic series, The Near Witch, and The Archived, comes "Warm Up," a Tor.com Original prequel story to V. E. Schwab's Vicious

It's been 297 days since David died—and came back. He may have survived the avalanche, but the aftermath has been far worse. His wife moved out, taking his son with her, and a devastated David hasn't left his house since, terrified of the mysterious new power that followed him home from the ill-fated expedition. After months in seclusion, David's ready for a fresh start, and ventures out, determined to keep his power in check.

But David's power isn't the one he needs to worry about.

• ISBN10: 1466851449
• ISBN13: 9781466851443
• Publish Date: 20 August 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[maggiefan]

It's fine, nothing special.

[adamfortuna]

This short story set in the same world as Villains was surprisingly good for such a brief read. While I enjoyed the long-form dive more, it helps empathize more with some of the struggles facing other characters in the world.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: Technically this short story doesn't contain spoilers for Vicious, which means it's perfectly fine to read it first, as it was intended when it was published ahead of the novel. Nonetheless I'm glad I read it after because I didn't even read the blurb of the book and simply dived right in, feeling the full impact of everything. Warm Up was a well-crafted story that had a lot of suspense going for it and gave a good glimpse into the world of Vicious. It subtly paved the way of the main premise while still standing on its own as an independent story.