The Top Villains in Eyrinthia | Royal Rebel Blog Tour

Posted April 19, 2023 by Silvia in Guest Posts / 6 Comments

Royal Rebel Blog Tour

Villains have that particular charm that often intrigues and scares us at the same time. Since in Eyrinthia there are plenty, I joined the Royal Rebel Blog Tour to ask Heather Frost to rate them in order of scariness! Don’t run away, read along to have ‘seven devils all around you 🎶’ . . .

THE TOP VILLAINS IN EYRINTHIA
by Heather Frost

The Fate of Eyrinthia series has a wide cast of characters. Some are clearly heroes, some are decidedly gray, and then there are the obvious villains. I thought it would be fun to talk a little about the villains, and I how I personally rank them in order of overall scariness at this point in the story.

#7 NEWLAN

He is Serene’s father, and the king of Devendra. We instantly dislike him, and he does little to make Clare or anyone else feel comfortable. In fact, he had no problem uprooting Clare from her life and forcing her to become Serene’s decoy. He’s got a selfish streak, along with a burning need to control everything and everyone around him. He is especially paranoid about betrayal, since his cousin Ivar Carrigan betrayed him years ago. Newlan won the ensuing civil war, but he remains tyrannical in his ruling and parenting style, and I certainly wouldn’t want him for my king—or father.

#6 GRANDEUR

He is the crown prince of Devendra, and Serene’s little brother. He has a lot of paranoia and jealousy, and most of that is directed at Serene. He’s sort of been in the shadows since the first book, and at this point we’ve mostly heard rumors of some things he might be up to. Unless you’ve read Shield & Blade, because that novella gives a closer look at what he’s been doing recently. At this point, I’d say Grandeur’s scariness factor mostly comes from the overall threat he represents, and the knowledge that he will probably be stirring up more trouble soon.

#5 PETER

The crown prince of Ryden, and Grayson’s oldest brother. Peter is definitely scary. He is sadistic, he relishes the pain and fear of others, and he loves to oppress everyone around him. He’s truly despicable, and morally corrupt. He managed to enthrall Carter, so he has at least one brother who is unflinchingly loyal to him. It’s crazy to me that he was able to earn that loyalty, though, because Peter once cut off Carter’s finger. Peter enjoys exerting his power and authority at every opportunity, and has certainly learned a lot from his father. But at least Peter’s evil is predictable, which is one of the reasons I rank him as a little less scary than some of the other villains in Eyrinthia.

#4 SALIM

A Mortisian mercenary with no morals, and no compassion. In the grand scheme of things, he doesn’t have as much “screen time” as some of our other villains, but he is truly reprehensible as a human being. He leads a band of men just as terrible as he is, and every time I wrote a scene with him, it just felt heavy. He’s a true villain in every sense of the word, and I never knew quite what he’d do. That unpredictability is unnerving for many reasons. There are few characters I would label as completely evil, but he’s one of them.

#3 THE ROSE

The most infamous assassin in Eyrinthia, who never fails and always leaves a rose at the scene of the murder—usually in the victim’s open mouth. He’s frightening for a whole host of reasons, and I would never want to be alone in a room with him. He enjoys what he does so much, he leaves taunting messages for the victim to draw out their terror. He is so skilled as an assassin, he has proven that no one is untouchable. On top of all that, he’s socially adept, and can be quite charming. His emotions can change in a split-second, and he has a lot of hate, rage, and jealousy that propelled him to choose this occupation. He has secrets, and a burning desire for vengeance. The fact that he has a personal reason to fixate on Bennick, one of our favorite heroes of the story, just makes the Rose all the more threatening.

#2 HENRI

The king of Ryden, and Grayson’s father. He is inarguably evil, and that’s just looking at how he rules a kingdom with fear and an iron fist. As a father, he’s even more deplorable. His children are weapons he wields in his rule, and he has honed them by turning them against each other. His only rule was that they couldn’t kill each other, and then he stood back and watched them abuse each other. He loves to manipulate and control his sons, and everyone else around him. He longs for war as strongly as a sane monarch would long for peace, and he uses a scary mix of calculation and brute force to accomplish his goals. He will do anything to win, and he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process. He scares me because, every scene I have with him, I know he needs to do something worse than he’s ever done before, because we need to constantly up the stakes. And his temper can make him unpredictable, and that’s just terrifying.

#1 IRIS

The Poison Queen. She tops the list for me for several reasons. She’s intelligent, cunning, and she doesn’t feel things the way other people do. There’s a cold remoteness about her most of the time, and that’s scary enough. Then you get a glimpse of a self-satisfied smile, and that just makes her all the more chilling. The fact that a mother can also poison her own children and stand by while they are abused is just abhorrent. There is nothing motherly about the way she manipulates them. And we have seen that she has no trouble ordering one son to kill another. Iris has studied poisons all her life, and that knowledge shows—especially in the way she experiments to make new and terrifying potions. There’s also something terrifying about the fact that she’s always there, hovering on the edges, but rarely the focus of a scene. It may make one wonder who is truly leading Ryden—Henri, or Iris? The next novella will actually be a prequel from Iris, so readers will be able to see just how she met Henri and became the Poison Queen we know and fear.

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Well, there you have it. These are the top scariest villains to me, at least in this point of the story. Because as readers of this series are well aware by now, things are always shifting and changing in Eyrinthia. And of course that applies to the villains as well . . .

Heather Frost

Heather Frost is a #1 Amazon bestselling author who writes magical stories with breath-stealing romance. She is the author of the Seers trilogy, the Fate of Eyrinthia series, and Esperance. Her books have been Whitney Award and Swoony Award Finalists. She has a BS in Creative Writing and a minor in Folklore, which means she got to read fairy tales and call it homework. When she’s not writing, Heather likes to read, travel, and re-watch Lord of the Rings. She lives in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains in northern Utah.

Author’s Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | BookBub | Mailing List


Royal Rebel by Heather Frost

ROYAL REBEL by Heather Frost

Click on the cover to read my review!

A PRINCE fighting to save a princess
A SERJAH torn between duty and desire
A PRINCESS willing to sacrifice everything
A DECOY with nothing to lose
A WORLD about to be torn apart
After his father’s latest punishment, Grayson isn’t at his full strength. Trapped in Ryden and surrounded by enemies, he knows escaping with Mia will be more complicated than anticipated. Tyrell is determined to claim Mia for himself, and Henri’s plans for the rest of Eyrinthia are more horrific than Grayson ever imagined. Despite the increased danger, he and Mia must return to Mortise and warn Desfan of what’s coming—even though it may already be too late.
In Mortise, the palace is still reeling from the brutal attack that left many dead and even more wounded. Regardless of the chaos, Desfan is determined to continue with his coronation. As serjan, he hopes to bring stability to his country and solidify the peace with Devendra. But things in Eyrinthia are always complicated. When Prince Liam reveals they may be facing dangers from old enemies, Desfan will have to decide what kind of ruler he will be.
Devastating news from home has left Clare broken. Despite her heartache, she must once again be Serene’s decoy when a terrifying report sends the princess on an unexpected mission to Zennor. Left at the palace, Clare helps Desfan build trust with the elite in Mortise while guarding a treasonous secret. Because as her grief transforms into a burning desire for vengeance, she is finally ready to embrace a new role—rebel.
Eyrinthia is consumed by uncertainty. Duty. Desire. Sacrifice. Every rebellion has its cost.

Goodreads | Kindle | Amazon (Hardcover) | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Check also my reviews for the previous books and novellas in the series:

Royal Decoy (book 1)Royal Spy (book 2)Royal Captive (book 3)

Fire & Ash (novella - after Royal Spy)Shield & Blade (novella - after Royal Captive)

You can find all the stops for the tour here and, if you still don’t have the books but you can’t wait to venture into the world of Eyrinthia, note that the first instalment, Royal Decoy, is on sale at $0.99 on Kindle (US & UK) until April 21st!


Silvia

About Silvia

Through her creativity and blogging, Silvia has met people from different industries and collaborated with them on various projects over the years. Her strong passion for reading and her fascination for different cultures and languages have led her to develop a keen interest in the East-Asian continent. Off to see her? Follow the colourful book road . . . ♡

6 responses to “The Top Villains in Eyrinthia | Royal Rebel Blog Tour

  1. Grandeur is a great name for a character. 🙂 The Rose sounds great too, and I like his calling card of sorts. Will he ever redeem himself somehow and join the side of the angels? Doesn’t sound like it ha, but one can hope!

    Iris sounds very scary!

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