Description
Volta has a lot on her mind. Becoming a Hero demands sacrifice.
As the scion of the wealthy Travers family and a struggling trainee in a prestigious superhero academy, the wolf must contend with loneliness, gender dysphoria, and the Dampener – a special device designed to suppress her unstable powers.
Stretched thin, stressed, and in constant fear of being outed to her parents, Volta may crack under pressure if she cannot graduate on time. Graduation is only the first hurdle, though; then she’ll be a Hero full-time, fighting all kinds of villains both standalone and organized – including the enigmatic group spreading its influence across the country: the Korps.
The only reprieve in sight is a new friend – an impossibly beautiful and charismatic tabby, fascinated by Volta’s troubles. Student researcher Carmen provides an oasis of comfort and patience for the wolf, but Volta can’t help but wonder, why is she so interested in the first place?
Author: Syntax Takes
Style: Literary Work
Content: Novel
Pages: 296
ISBN: 978-1-61450-635-5
Parental Rating: PG-13
Publication Date: August 2024
pj wolf (verified owner) –
I really want to talk about the ending to Induction, a Korps novel, by Syntax Takes. I find it very difficult to talk about the ending to Induction without spoiling it. But any case, I gotta talk about Volta first.
Let me explain.
Volta is a character that, so far in the Korps Universe books I’ve read, has a reputation to Heroes as the threat. When the horse formerly known as Slate first sees her in Crystallization, she recalls that Volta is one of the most prominent regional threats in Texas. When Maddy realizes who they are being introduced to in Change of Heart, her first instinct is to drop into a defensive stance and prepare for the fight that could kill them. The Volta that will be even dominates the center of the excellent cover by Eight-Stroke.
And this story is Volta at her beginning.
Unique so far in the Korps novels I have read, Volta begins the story knowing that she’s trans, referring to herself with she/her pronouns and her chosen name, but unable to be out to anyone. Not only is she the scion of a wealthy, conservative family that in whole or in part bankrolls the Texas Protectorate Assembly, the local state-wide superhero team, but she’s enrolled in the TPA’s training facility for young heroes. Volta gains one friend during the course of the novel, a new research assistant named Carmen who takes an interest in the young red wolf and also helps Volta with combat training on the side. But as a condition of her being enrolled, one stipulation her parents imposed, was that she gain control of her powers. Which brings me to the Dampener.
The Dampener Volta is forced to wear 24/7 is a giant, hamfisted metaphor and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It saps and harmlessly dispels Volta’s electricity based powers beyond a certain point, effectively allowing the institution to control her powers for her, mostly by keeping them on lockdown unless in a controlled demonstration. Only partway through the book is Volta given any slack, and it’s combined with vastly increased expectations from retired Hero and chief of Security for the academy, Adam Tullis AKA the Golden Gavel, who seems to want Volta to fail spectacularly as some kind of twisted teaching method. These people, her parents especially, refuse to let Volta be herself if they can’t control her every move. And that’s to say nothing of her parents beliefs and what they want from her.
With Carmen offering training on the side, along with friendship and moral support, Volta finds herself making progress in school. And in confiding to Carmen, Volta is able to open up and blossom, and that’s wonderful. But of course, Carmen has her own agenda, in that she is an infiltrator and recruiter for the dreaded Korps. And Carmen has set her sights on recruiting Volta. Meanwhile, Volta’s schooling is getting way more intense, since the school is also noticing the progress, and the shifting attitude of a formerly perfectly beaten down Volta.
And then we come to the ending and…
Well, like I led the review with, it’s difficult to discuss the ending without spoiling it. A lot of things happen that put Volta into her lowest point, isolated with the Dampener turned on fully once again to sap her of all her electrical power. But by the time the final scene rolled around, I was on the edge of my seat at the almost theatrical superhero (supervillain?) fight that followed, and the skill of the words on the page that conveyed that fight to me. As a story, Induction had a lot going for it following Volta and Carmen, and that final match made my heart soar in triumph. Induction is a fantastic story but the ending made it so much better. And if I go on any more, I may end up spoiling some detail and some of you might get angry with me for doing so. So I’ll stop here.
Given that there’s plenty of time after Induction ends for Volta to become the feared Redline, I am very eagerly awaiting the next book. Mostly because I was told there would be pizza.
You’ll get that one when you read it.