The relationship between Supercollider and Quantum Entanglement, for example, is a vivid parsing of “traditional” relationships, enforced gender roles, and societal double standards.Īs smart as it is, though, Hench is also pure reading delight.
The novel is also incisively smart, clear-eyed in its examination not only of familiar superhero tropes but of the way those tropes shape and are shaped by society at large. Anna is a sharply drawn, utterly realistic character, so steeped in the vagaries of “contemporary existence” as to be almost emblematic of our cultural fragmentation. Part origin story, part revenge drama, part workplace comedy, Hench is a hilarious and frequently bloody deconstruction of the superhero mythos from the point of view of its collateral damage. Anna is left seriously injured and jobless.ĭuring her recovery, Anna starts to calculate the true cost, environmental and otherwise, of superheroes – “Supercollider was as bad for the world as an earthquake.” She also draws the attention of Supercollider’s arch-nemesis, Leviathan, “the monster lurking beneath the surface of the world.” Leviathan hires Anna, assists with her recovery, gives her control of a team, and enables her to pursue revenge against Supercollider and his ilk. Everything changes, though, when the nefarious plans of her current employer, Electric Eel, are foiled by Supercollider (with assistance from Accelerator and Quantum Entanglement). It isn’t glamorous – data entry is data entry, no matter what the profession – but her patchwork freelance life keeps her in ramen. For Anna, temporary work as a henchperson to supervillains is just a way to make ends meet, a logical extension of the gig economy. Anna Tromedlov, the anti-hero of Natalie Zina Walschots’s stunning debut novel, Hench, isn’t drawn to villainy because of any deep-seated issues or evil intent.
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