Adrian Tchaikovsky

R. Scott Bakker

Bradley P. Beaulieu

Experience your favourite fantasy worlds through some of the most fearsome, devious, and brutal antagonists in fantasy. Villains take centre stage in nineteen dark and magical stories that will have you cheering for all the wrong heroes as they perform savage deeds towards wicked ends. And why not? They are the champions of their own stories¿evil is a matter of perspective.Authors:R. Scott Bakker (The Second Apocalypse)Adrian Tchaikovsky (Shadows of the Apt, The Tiger and the Wolf)Michael R. Fletcher (Manifest Delusions)Shawn Speakman (The Annwn Cycles)Teresa Frohock (Los Nefilim)Kaaron Warren (The Gate Theory, Mistification)Courtney Schafer (The Shattered Sigil)Marc Turner (Chronicles of the Exile)Jeff Salyards (Bloodsounder's Arc)Mazarkis Williams (The Tower & Knife)Deborah A. Wolf (The Dragon's Legacy)Brian Staveley (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne)Alex Marshall (Crimson Empire)Bradley P. Beaulieu (The Song of the Shattered Sands, The Lays of Anuskaya)Matthew Ward (Shadow of the Raven, Coldharbour)Mark Alder (?Banners of Blood)Janny Wurts (The Wars of Light and Shadow, The Empire Trilogy)E.V. Morrigan (Glyph War world)Peter Orullian (The Vault of Heaven)Artists:Tommy Arnold (cover)Jason Deem (interior art)Shawn King (design)

An Anthology of Antagonists

Evil is a Matter of Perspective

Shawn Speakman

Matthew Ward

Brian Staveley

Mark Alder

Janny Wurts

Michael R. Fletcher

Kaaron Warren

Mazarkis Williams

Deborah A. Wolf

Peter Orullian

Marc Turner

Jeff Salyards

Alex Marshall

Teresa Frohock

Courtney Schafer

E. V. Morrigan

Step into the shoes of your favourite fantasy antagonists.Featuring stories by:R. Scott BakkerAdrian TchaikovskyMichael R. FletcherShawn SpeakmanTeresa FrohockKaaron WarrenCourtney SchaferMarc TurnerJeff SalyardsMazarkis WilliamsDeborah A. WolfBrian StaveleyAlex MarshallBradley P. BeaulieuMatthew WardMark AlderJanny Wurts

Jenna Kathleen

The ultimate grimdark anthology that introduces what the genre is. A collection of all of the grey characters you could possibly want, all gathered in one place. Of course, some of my favourites were from fantasy universes I've experienced before, but it is not necessary to have prior knowledge of the settings. Some of the stories I ended up loving were from authors I've never read or even heard of.

Forward and Introduction - R. Scott Bakker, Adrian Collins 
Nice introduction to the anthology that really captures the essence of what grimdark is and the evolution of the fantasy genre.

 The Broken Dead - Michael R. Fletcher 5/5*
This is the first thing I've read by Michael Fletcher. He's been on my TBR for a while now and a lot of my friends put his Manifest Delusions in their list of favourite fantasy series. I must say, after reading this short story I am even more excited to pick up his novels. The story was super weird (in a good way) and really set the tone for the collection.

Every Hair Casts a Shadow - Teresa Frohock 3/5*
Another author I haven't read before. An interesting paranormal urban fantasy. The Spanish background added something different to the angels and demons story. Will be adding her Los Nelifim series to my TBR.

The Divine Death of Jirella Martigore - Alex Marshall 1/5*
Sadly, not my cup of tea.

A Royal Gift - Mark Alder 2/5*
This story was extremely short. It had promise and seemed like it might have been going somewhere, but I felt the ending happened very abruptly and nothing really happened.

Old Blood - Adrian Tchaikovsky 3/5*
I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I'd read Shadows of the Apt because the story seemed to assume you knew things that have been mentioned in the series. I like his writing style and the story was still good, but this was a confusing choice for an anthology.

Black Bargain - Janny Wurts 4/5*
Janny Wurt's prose is beautiful. The story was good, but the writing stood out to me more than anything. She definitely has a story-telling gift and I've decided I need to put The Curse of the Mistwraith higher on my TBR.

The Syldoon Sun - Jeff Salyards 5/5*
This is the first of the collection where I've read the author's novel. It was so cool to see the event that is referenced so often in the main series, Bloodsounder's Arc, and it was great to see some of my favourite characters again. I'm rather biased when it comes to this story because I really enjoyed Jeff's series so I hope people who haven't read the series enjoy this one as well.

The Darkness within the Light - Shawn Speakman  5/5*
Another fantastic story. The characterization was great and even in just a short story, I grew to really like Tathal. I need to read more Arthurian fantasy.

The Greater of Two Evils - Marc Turner 5/5*
Pirates, magic and schemes all fit into one short story? Yes, please! My favourite story so far and I really need to move his series up on my TBR list.

Exceedingly Bitter - Kaaron Warren 1/5*
Quite a boring story. Also, super creepy (and not in a good way). I guess I'm just not really into too much horror.

A Game of Mages - Courtney Schafer 3/5*
The story was decent; it was nothing new or exciting, but it was well-paced and interesting. I have to admit I found Lizaveta to be quite annoying. I can't really put my finger on why I thought so, but I just didn't like her.

The Tattered Prince and the Demon Veiled - Bradley P. Beaulieu 4/5*
The longest story in the anthology, this was a good example of the title of the anthology. Evil is a word that is used so often, but not always used fairly. It was a good story and reminded me that I really need to make time to read The Song of the Shattered Sands.

A Storm Unbound - E.V. Morrigan 1/5*
I'll be honest, after about 5 pages, I skipped this story. The reason I didn't finish it was the writing really bothered me. It seemed really choppy and the style repetitive. It was to the point where I really wasn't paying attention to the story anymore.

The Game - Matthew Ward 4/5*
I love a good clever character who can work his way out of any situation while still managing to be a pompous manipulative ass about everything. I'm not sure what that says about me, but this story was fun.

Blood Penny - Deborah A. Wolf 5/5*
This one was a pleasant surprise. I'd never heard of Deborah Wolf so I had no expectations going into this story. My friends often tell me that when they read, it's like they step into another world and they can actually see themselves in that world - almost like a movie. While I also lose myself in a story or book, I usually cannot visualize it the same way others do. However, this was a story I really transported to another world. A super creepy, nightmare inducing world, but I was there for a short time and that is always a special experience for me.

Better than Breath - Brian Staveley 5/5*
Another author whose work I was familiar with before reading this anthology. This story was very short, but it was still able to make me emotional by the end.

A Foundation of Bones - Mazarkis Williams 2/5*
This was was pretty mediocre and not really interesting to me, but I'll be sure to check out his other work.

The Aging of a Kill - Peter Orullian 3/5*
Another long one for this anthology, but it was a good classic revenge story.

The Carathayan - R. Scott Bakker 4/5*
I really have no idea what I just read. There was a lot of yelling and a lot of murder, but I had no idea why anything was happening. For some reason, this story was really intriguing even though I don't really know what happened.

Chantale

I listened to the audiobook and I very much enjoyed it.

Evil is a Matter of Perspective An Anthology of Antagonists

Reviews