Welcome to my stop on the tour! I got Steve's Top Ten Villains and Heroes list and the tourwide giveaway! Join us after the jump! ~Tiffany
The Hellequin Chronicles, Book 3
by Steve McHugh
Published by 47North
Published February 2014
Length: Approx 467 pages
Editions: ebook & print
His name is Nathan Garrett, but he’s also known as Hellequin. And murdering one of his friends and trying to blow him up is a good way to get this centuries-old sorcerer’s full attention…
An old friend’s dead body, a cryptic note, and an explosion that almost costs him his own life propel Nate headfirst into a mystery involving a new threat from an old foe. Now he must piece together the connections between a grisly series of tattooed murder victims, an imprisoned madman, a mysterious alchemist, and a deranged plot to usurp the throne of the hidden realm of Shadow Falls, rival to the power of Avalon.
Can Nate avert the coming slaughter, or will he become the latest to fall in this clandestine war?
With the story careening between modern-day New York and Ontario and 1977 Maine, With Silent Screams continues the gritty and action-packed mix of urban fantasy and ancient mythology that mark Steve McHugh’s popular Hellequin Chronicles.
Buy it at Amazon!
Trying to come up with only 10 heroes and villains to make my top 10 list from was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done in a while. These are in no particular order because I think if I’d tried to rank them, I’d have caused myself an injury.
Heroes:
Sam Vimes is my favourite police like character from books. As much as I’m a big Holmes fan, Sam Vimes just edges it purely out of the amount of sarcasm and venom he can put into a sentence when needed. Terry Pratchett created a character that has moved from hopeless drunk in Guards, Guards, to a supposed respectable father and husband in the most recent ones. But throughout the Discworld guard books, he’s always been a hero, he’s always done the right thing, even when that thing is probably the hardest option available to him. And he never, ever, lets someone get away if he can help it.
The Flash (Wally Wast)
Batman is the badass of the DC unviverse and Superman the godlike powerhouse, but Wally West is the hero I most enjoyed reading about. Don’t get me wrong, Barry Allen was THE FLASH, but Wally was the one I grew up reading about, and will always be my preferred person to put in that costume.
Edward Elric
One half of the Elric brothers from Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward’s life is defined by one giant mistake that he’s still trying to make up for. When trying to resurrect his recently deceased mum, both him and his younger brother, Al, managed to nearly kill themselves in the process, leaving Al’s spirit trapped in a suit of armour and Ed with the loss of his arm. He’s short-tempered, fearlessly protective of his friends, especially his younger brother, and capable of power few other alchemists can hope to achieve. But the whole time he’s out saving the world, all he wants to do is be able to give his brother back the body, a mistake that he sees as his own. It makes him an incredibly powerful character, and a sad one, who never seems to be able to do enough to atone for a mistake only he blames him for.
Garrus
Garrus is a turian, one of the alien races from Mass Effect. He’s also a complete and utter badass with a sniper rifle and considers rules a sort of guideline to be ignored if they get in the way. Out of all the characters in the Mass Effect trilogy, he’s the one I enjoyed the most (apart from Mordin’s singing, obviously). Also, the scene where Garrus and Shepherd are snipping together to try and win a bet, is one of the best scenes showing a true friendship in any videogame.
Gandalf
It’s Gandalf. He’s awesome. There really isn’t any other reason why he’s on my list. He’s the glue that holds the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings story’s together. Also, he’s awesome, but I think I said that already.
Villains
Dracula
He spawned a million stories about vampires. He’s one of the big reasons vampires are meant to be scary, but at the same time still have that human spark of emotion inside them.
GLaDOS
The psychotic robot overload from Portal. She’s funny, silly and more than a little bit terrifying. Also, she has the greatest song in videogame history. Without her in the game, Portal would have been pretty good. With her, it’s one of the best games of the generation.
Alien (Xenomorph)
Never has any villain been scarier than that the Alien in the movie Alien. Yes, Aliens was had its moment of jumpiness, but few films are downright as raw as Alien was. The first time you see the film, it’s not something you’re likely to forget. And the unrelenting killing machine that is the Alien, with its acid blood, razor claws and tail, and inhuman appearance, is the reason why even after all this time, people still look forward to anything alien related. It’s just a shame it’s been so long since they were last in movie worthy of the character.
Light Yagami
The best bad guys don’t think they’re bad guys. Light, from Death Note, falls into this category perfectly. He’s a student who discovers a book that once you write someone’s name in it, they die. At first he uses his power to kill the vicious and evil that populate the world. But then over time, something snaps. He starts using the power to kill everyone who gets in his way or wrongs him. It’s a subtle change, but once he starts killing indiscriminately, any thoughts of doing the right thing have vanished.
Vader
Darth Vader. There aren’t many films where a character has the impact that he manages in the first 5 minutes of Star Wars. He is evil and terror personified. A one man killing machine, who thinks nothing of destroying anyone who gets in the way of his masters wishes. Yes, the prequels diminished his presence somewhat, but then you see the outfit and hear the voice and it all comes flooding back. You fear him, you can’t stop him, because when it all comes down to it, he’s just the best at being bad.
I can't even tell you guys how awesome this list is! He totally had me at Sam Vimes! ~Tiffany
It wasn’t for another decade that he would start work on a full length novel that was publishable, the results of which was the action-packed Urban Fantasy, Crimes Against Magic.
Steve McHugh lives in Southampton on the south coast of England with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics, and playing video games.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellequinchronicles
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevejMchugh
Website: http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/
With Silent Screams - http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Screams-Hellequin-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00EDUFTI6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392016015&sr=8-1&keywords=steve+mchugh
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