Posted by Martin Read on March 05, 1998 at 04:59:27:
In Reply to: Comments on Vance Villains posted by The Professor on February 27, 1998 at 23:06:28:
: My contention is that Vance Villains are more varied, more horrid & frightening, complex, and far more original than any other writers (although Aldridge's Yellow Leaf is in this class). Just think of the 5 Demon Princes, each one unique in his way.
: Who are your favorite villains, and why do you think they are so effective?
I would have to vote for the Demon Princes. They have a grandeur of their own. They seem to be amoral, totally egocentric or socially autistic rather than evil as such. Their monomanias are rather admirable in a strange way; nothing they do is on a petty scale and their schemes are carried through with great elan. I think it is the pettyness of the motives and actions of Madame Zigonie and her cohorts in the Cadwal books that makes them so thoroughly despicable.
Howard Alan Treesong would have to be my absolute favourite. Mad as a hatter of course - but who wouldn't secretly like to emulate his poetic vengeance at his old-school reunion!