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: The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

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Book Review, Demon Cycle, Fantasy, Peter V. Brett, The Warded Man

This post is a part of a Blog Giveaway Hop by Stuck in Books. Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway at the bottom for a chance to win a copy of this book. Then check out the other great blogs participating in this giveaway!

Title: The Warded Man: Book One of the Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett

Published by: HarperCollins in 2009

Book’s Blurb: As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.

My Take: This book blew me away. The premise of the book, the world that the characters live in and how they have adapted to it, was incredible. The idea of nights being filled with demons who roam freely, killing humans and sometimes each other, was well-done. The people have wards that they can draw to keep the demons at bay, so long as the wards remain unblocked and undamaged. The fact that there were multiple types of demons, each with their own fierce traits and limitations, was one of the worldbuilding things I enjoyed the most in this book. As a whole the world was imaginative and a place I found myself getting sucked into.

The story itself got dark at times. You’d expect as much in a world where demons ruled the night. The balance between life and death could hinge upon a stray leaf blowing onto a rune, creating a temporary weak point in the ward that would allow a demon or two to come inside and create havoc. There are stories, early on in the book, of how the people who first made the runes had ones that could actually harm the demons and tales about how they would fight the demons. But the world we are transported into is nothing like that, where people cower and hide inside their homes as soon as the sun begins to fade from the sky and where people accept the idea that some of their family, neighbors, and friends might one day be killed by those demons and life must simply go on.

There are three main characters who get some POV time in the book, and by the end you enjoy all three. It was tough, at first, to leave behind the most interesting of the characters, but it allows you to see the experiences that all three have over the years that this book spans across. The characters throughout the entire book were well-written and very believable in their choices and actions.

While there is a lot of praise to heap on this book, it was a bit darker at times than some people might enjoy. There is one scene, in particular, towards the end that many other reviews already discuss in length and I came to the same conclusions. For the sake of saving spoilers I shall refrain from the details of it, but many other reviews on Amazon discuss what happens, as well as the things that occur only a few days later that leave the reader incredulous about how quickly such a traumatic event is forgotten.

Overall this was one of the best books I have read so far this year, and I will definitely be continuing to read the rest of the series. The worldbuilding and characters have enthralled me to the point where stopping after the first book simply would not be an option. I enjoyed this book so much that I want others to have the chance to experience this book as well, so I will also be giving away a paperback copy of this book to one lucky winner in the U.S. – the contest will be open from today until May 19th. For those of your finding this from the Amazing Books blog hop, welcome and enjoy!

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