Best Villains of 2016

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Anaerfell, Calamity, Into the Shadow Wood, Les Miserables, Siren's Song, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Magician's Nephew, The Prince Warriors, The Warded Man, Top Ten List, Unfinished Tales, Villains

Welcome to the third installment in my Top 10 of 2016. Be sure to check out my previous posts if you missed them, and check back in the coming days for the remainder of the series. Today I cover the best villains from books I read in 2016, so read on to find out who made the cut!

December 26: Best Books I’ve Read in 2016
December 27: Best Book Covers of 2016
December 28: Best Villains of 2016
December 29: Best Boyfriends/Girlfriends of 2016
December 30: Top 10 Books I’m Looking Forward to in 2017

10. Poneros from The Prince Warriors by Priscilla Shirer

The unseen evil force responsible for the never-ending war going on in Ahoratos, and the fictional stand-in for the forces of evil in our own world. His behind-the-scenes presence is strong enough to earn him a spot on the list.

9. Braeden from Into the Shadow Wood by Allison D. Reid

Granted, he never actively appears during the novella, but his fingerprints are all over the things descending upon Einar and his companions. The sinister overtone to this book grants Braeden a spot on this list.

8. Jadis from The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

She snaps Uncle Andrew into complete subservience. She attempts to tempt Digory into using an apple for his own selfish wants, which would have twisted its power to make him and his mother miserable instead. And she will become the White Witch now that she has been unleashed upon Narnia.

7. Tyran and Drast’s father from Anaerfell by Joshua Robertson and J.C. Boyd

There is a lot of evidence throughout that Drast and Tyran have been molded into who they are by their father, who is abusive and power-hungry, which leaves the reader questioning whether the actions of the two brothers are their own fault or if the blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of their father.

6. Glaurung from Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien

He manipulates Turin Turambar and his family into a tragedy that leaves them all dead. Glaurung is a sinister dragon that puts Smaug to shame, and is a part of one of the most heart-wrenching and memorable tales that Tolkien ever wrote.

5. Prof from Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

An unexpected shift, placing one of the primary heroes and the mentor of the series into the role of a super villain for the final book in the series. Things are intense as David and company try to defeat their old leader who has more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

4. Fernand Mondego, Danglars, and Villefort from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

They betrayed Edmund Dantes for various reasons, each one remaining silent as the man wrongly suffers for years of imprisonment. You cannot help but cheer Dantes on as he exacts his plots for revenge over the course of the book.

3. Inspector Javert from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

The dogged persistence shown by Javert as he pursues Jean Valjean time and again makes him a memorable villain. His struggles with the morality of the situations, as the book winds down to its end, elevated him to become an even more interesting character.

2. The Rock Demon from The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

This thing is massive. It loses an arm and spends a lot of the book chasing after the main character, who was responsible for the dismemberment. This demon is the thing of nightmares, as are many of the things that made appearances in the first book of this series.

1. Draewulf from Siren’s Song by Mary Weber

Ancient, wolf-formed shapeshifter whose armies are sweeping throughout the land, conquering kingdoms and dispatching rulers. Draewulf is exactly the villain I both love and hate, and the fact that his power continues to grow stronger makes him a looming threat.

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Book Review: Siren’s Song by Mary Weber

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Book Review, Mary Weber, Nym, Siren's Song, Storm Siren Trilogy, Thomas Nelson

Title: Siren’s Song

Book Three in the Storm Siren Trilogy

Author: Mary Weber

Published by: Thomas Nelson (3/1/16)

384 Pages (hardcover)

Blurb: “The realization hits: We’re not going to win. It’s why I couldn’t defeat Draewulf in Bron—because this power was never mine anyway. I drop my arms and let the energy die off. And turn around to Face Eogan.”

After a fierce battle with Draewulf, Nym barely escaped with her life. Now, fleeing the scorched landscape of Tulla, her storm-summoning abilities are returning; only . . . the dark power is still inside her.

Broken and bloodied, Nym needs time to recover, but when the full scope of the shapeshifter’s horrific plot is revealed, the strong-willed Elemental must race across the Hidden Lands and warn the other kingdoms before Draewulf ’s final attack.

From the crystalline palaces of Cashlin to the legendary Valley of Origin, Nym scrambles to gather an army. But even if she can, will she be able to uncover the secret to defeating Draewulf that has eluded her people for generations? With a legion of monsters approaching, and the Hidden Lands standing on the brink of destruction, the stage is set for a battle that will decide the fate of the world.

This time, will the Siren’s Song have the power to save it?

My Take: I was so torn for half of this book. I wanted to read this book, because I loved the characters and the world and wanted to know what would happen. Yet part of me wished to delay reading this book even longer in order to prevent my time with Nym and Eogan and Myles and Rasha and the rest to come to an end. This book has seriously sat on my shelf since March, ignored because I didn’t want to conclude this trilogy. Yet, as with all good things, it eventually had to come to an end. And now, looking back, I am so glad I finally got around to reading this book.

I absolutely love Mary Weber’s writing and her fun, engaging characters. The imaginative world. The overwhelming sense of impending doom and dread that casts an overtone upon everything going on. Those things carried through in all three books, each in its own unique way. Yet the sense of despair is at its peak in this book. They even have a timeline, given early on, about when they can expect Draewulf to make his appearance for, what will amount to, their final battle to destroy him and, should they fail, the world will be subjected to his evil plots and armies of wraiths for who in hulls knows how long. Litches, this book still has me hooked.

As one should come to expect, the finale in this book certainly delivered. There were elements of unknown still in play. The heroes faced seemingly insurmountable odds much like Aragorn and company outside of the gates of Mordor in Return of the King. The tension builds and builds until the final seventy pages when that battle finally begins and events roar forward to a memorable climax and resolution. Yes, this was the book that readers deserved. It was easily better than Siren’s Fury, which was still a good book but fell short of Storm Siren. This is probably an even better book than Storm Siren, although I think a rereading of the series would be needed to give that as a definitive answer. Altogether it was satisfying and, while I am sad that the trilogy has ended, I am delighted that this delivered upon every expectation I could have hoped for in a conclusion.

If you haven’t read these books yet, you really need to do so. This trilogy will be a perfect fit on any 2017 reading list, and would make a great gift for male or female readers who enjoy fantasy or young adult fiction.