A Stage Set for Villains

by Shannon J Spann · 2026

In a world where the immortal Players of the Playhouse are worshipped and feared for their ability to bend reality, eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper struggles with a lethal curse contracted from a Player's blood. When the Playhouse announces a brutal competition—the Great Dionysia—where mortals can compete for a chance to steal a Player's immortality, Riven infiltrates the event in a desperate bid to save her life. She forms a dangerous alliance with Jude, the Playhouse's merciless Lead Player, who needs her unique status to manipulate the contest. As Riven navigates a world of theatrical danger, shifting memories, and dark secrets, she must confront the terrifying possibility that she is not the hero of her story, but perhaps its villain.