LIMITED TIME OFFER. Get 3 months for $0.99 a month. Get this deal.
Forging Hephaestus cover art

Forging Hephaestus

Villains' Code Series, Book 1

Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Amazon Prime member exclusive: get any 2 titles with your free trial. Terms apply.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Forging Hephaestus

Written by: Drew Hayes
Narrated by: Amy Landon
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $32.29

Buy Now for $32.29

About this listen

Gifted with meta-human powers in a world full of capes and villains, Tori Rivas kept away from the limelight, preferring to work as a thief in the shadows. But when she's captured trying to rob a vault that belongs to a secret guild of villains, she's offered a hard choice: prove she has what it takes to join them or be eliminated.

Apprenticed to one of the world's most powerful (and supposedly dead) villains, she is thrust into a strange world where the lines that divide superheroes and criminals are more complex than they seem. The education of a villain is not an easy one, and Tori will have to learn quickly if she wants to survive. On top of the peril she faces from her own teacher, there are also the capes and fellow apprentices to worry about, to say nothing of having to keep up a civilian cover.

Most dangerous of all, though, are those who loathe the guild's very existence. Old grudges mean some are willing to go to any length to see the guild turned to ash, along with each one of its members. Even the lowly apprentices.

©2016 Andrew Hayes (P)2017 Tantor
Fantasy Fiction Humorous Superhero Comedy
All stars
Most relevant
That’s all. Except (and I’m not sure how to write this) but I like that the female characters actually sound like interesting women.

Slow to start. Got totally into it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I did love this story and I'm looking forward to the next book. At times it felt more like a TV show with it's moving POVs. When first listening thought it would be a negative against the book but it was not. Though, I would warn that there are a lot of characters. For me they each felt different and I was able to keep them apart but it would have been nice to have a character list.

Review

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I was expecting this to be a decent book, but I was wrong. It is an EXCELLENT book.

Tori Rivas is a powered meta who is trying to steal enough tech and money to help her realize her dream of making a meta-suit...until she gets caught and forced to join a guild of villains. And that's chapter one. The book is filled with plot, action, dialogue and characters you learn to love. There are a ton of characters, many very likeable. There are tragic backstories, fascinating world building, foreshadowing that comes back later, relationships between people, multiple plotlines, oh, and some epic superhero fights. All voiced by an expert narrator. The main character is very likeable and infallible, and even some of the antagonists in the story (I almost wrote 'villain', but that would be confusing here) are the kind of sympathize with.

I found myself finding excuses to listen to just...one...more...chapter, and finished the whole book in a few weeks - despite it being longer than average. I got my money's worth - in fact, I feel like I've criminally underpaid. I've already put the second book in my wishlist for my next credit.

This book is worth listening to.

So glad I gave this one a chance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I am sure this is a beginning of a series. It was the usually parade of super heroes in training. The characters were interesting and the story line interesting. Amy Landon does a great narration!!!!

Interesting characters

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The book is about a (sort of) villian taking her first steps. The story is original and well told. The multiple PoVs are handled perfectly (I usually prefer single PoV, but this is an exception), and pretty much all the characters are interesting.

What I'm not a fan of is that this it not progression fantasy - character powers are pretty much static and they simply gain better control over time. Of course super genius develop new tech that can power them up, but the book never focused on this aspect, even for the main character. There is some slice of life and some adventures, but her training and development were skimmed over.

very good and original super hero story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

amazing book, loved every single second of it. I can't wait for the next volume!

Can't wait

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

There was a few times I thought the book was wrapping up. Then it just kept going. In a great way. I feel like I got a few really well written and narrated books for a steal!! I'm jumping straight to the second book.

AWESOME!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Absolutely stellar book! I can't wait for the next installment! Cannot say enough good things about this story line!!!

Un-frickin-believable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book is an engaging start to a series. The story arc is fairly predictable but the interactions of the characters as well as the individual situations make it worth listening too.

At the highest level there is a guild of super heroes, and a guild of super villains. Their relationship is more balanced and symbiotic than the public realize until somebody upsets the balance.

Amy Landon does a good job bringing the material to life. The character interactions are amusing. This book both stands as a complete story and sets the stage for later books.

Light superhero book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Love the look that Drew gives the reader into the super hero genre. The narrator also blows it out of the park.

fantastic look at the genre

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews