A Stage Set for Villains

The gods are dead. All that's left are the Players...

The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her.

When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime?a chance for one mortal to steal a Player's immortality?Riven sees her last chance to live. Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse's brilliant, merciless Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life.

But with time running out and the Playhouse's secrets unraveling into a disturbing picture, Riven faces a grim possibility: she might not be the hero of her story after all. In fact, she may be the villain.

Because the Playhouse doesn't just tell stories. It rewrites them.

And Riven's might end in blood.

Caraval meets One Dark Window in this lush and dark fantasy.

About the author

Shannon J. Spann is a New York-based writer and social media strategist. In her spare time, she loves knitting, wandering her local bookstore, and of course, theatre. A Stage Set for Villains is her first novel.

Product details

• Authors: Shannon J Spann, Shannon J. Spann
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.02.2026
• EAN: 9781911753124
• ISBN: 978-1-911753-12-4
• No. of pages: 560
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 240 mm x 40 mm
• Weight: 750 g
• Subjects: Fiction > Science fiction, fantasy; Fantasy, Romantic suspense, Fantasy Romance, FICTION / Fantasy / Epic, FICTION / Fantasy / Action & Adventure, FICTION / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy, FICTION / Fantasy / Romance, Romance: fantasy and paranormal, Performing arts genres: film, television, radio, and theatre, Romance: unlikely or unexpected lovers