Today we’re featuring Megan Linski, author of the Kingdom
Saga, as she talks about the various motivations behind her characters in her
newest novel, Prince of Fire, which
you can find here: http://goo.gl/7mIt1b
Summary:
Thief lord. Wanted
criminal. College student.
Zayde Amirmoez is in
his last year of college at Ashana University, and he couldn’t be more eager to
leave. A talented thief, Zayde makes a living by robbing jewelry stores in
order to care for his ailing mother, who grows sicker each passing day.
Then the dreams
begin. Zayde’s nightmares echo memories of a land from another time, visions of
a mysterious princess who lived two thousand years ago. At the insistence of
his annoying history professor, Zayde becomes friends with the beautiful freshman
who loves to dance…the girl who looks exactly like the princess in his dreams.
As a dangerous new
Dean and his spiteful son take the helm at Ashana University, Zayde learns of
the legends of Queen Bennua, which are eerily similar to his nightmares. Could
Zayde’s dreams be a coincidence? Or is it possible that Bennua and Zahid have
returned, to save Sahrahn once more?
How did it compare
when writing Zayde’s voice as opposed to Bashira’s?
It was very different writing Zayde’s (Zahid’s
reincarnation) rather than Bashira’s this time around (Bennua’s reincarnation).
Bashira likes to think on things and use all these complicated words, and
ponders each situation before she goes into it. Zayde gets straight to the
point and doesn’t like describing anything or being fancy in any way. Even when
something bad is going on, he’ll try to make the situation humorous, or shrug
it off instead of taking it head-on like Bashira. Bashira also likes talking
about her emotions a lot, while Zayde doesn’t reveal anything about how he
feels, even to himself. Everything’s very cut and dry with him. He’ll tell you
enough to move the story along and make it interesting, but you have to read
between the lines with him because he has to conceal everything. He likes
living in the shadows and being quiet, and that’s just how he is.
What are some of the
main differences between Zahid/Zayde and Bennua/Bashira, and how are they going
to be covered in Prince of Fire?
Bashira tends to be worried about everything, and Zayde
takes everything in stride. As he sees it, bad things will happen when they
happen, and he’ll deal with chaos when it comes, but not a second before. He
doesn’t tend to get as riled up as she does. The world could be ending for
Bashira, but for Zayde, it’s just another day. Something that did surprise me,
though, was the dark side in him. It’s a lot bigger than I thought it was, and
he hides it well, but sometimes his sadness and despair peeks out at the most
surprising at times. It was a blast playing inside his head, because he’s so
honest with you as a character. In the previous Kingdom novels, Bennua took so
much more work because I had to cut through the layers and layers of her in
order to discover who she really was. It took multiple drafts of Kingdom From Ashes to get her to open
up, whereas Zayde in Prince of Fire
was like, “Here it is, and this is as good as it’s gonna get, so you can take
it or leave it.”
Who do you believe is
your most complex character within the Kingdom Saga?
I believe, more so than any of my other characters, that
Bennua is more misunderstood than all the rest. I can agree with readers when
they write me and tell me Alora (from the novel of the same name) is too
prideful, too arrogant, when they say Kiatana (from Kiatana’s Journey) is aggressive and bratty, because that is who
they are and who I made them to be. Bennua, however, is vastly more complicated
than either of these two. There is always a hidden meaning behind her actions
that few see or understand. Even she has trouble comprehending her decisions at
times. Bennua has been referred to as brave, sacrificial, a true leader and
hero, but has also been called selfish, eco-centric, and immature by the same
readers who adore her. There are reasons why Bennua does the things she is apt
to, and none of them come from a feeling of selfishness. Rather, her entire
focal point as a character is centered around other people, much like Zahid.
She makes decisions not on how they’ll affect her, but everyone else.
So do you believe
Bennua obtains undeserved criticism from readers?
I wouldn’t say undeserved, as she does make irrational
choices. Many readers forget Bennua has had no easy journey; she has lost
multiple friends and members of her family along the way to bring peace to
Sahrahn, as well as has been subjected to some of the worst experiences mankind
has to offer at the ages of seventeen, eighteen, and twenty-one. Not to mention
she’s felt the repercussions of a repressive society and a judgmental (and
sometimes abusive) family during her childhood. The mistakes she made, and
continues to make, come from a place of fear within her. Her worst fear,
ultimately, is to be abandoned, and so she will do what it takes to work around
that fear and keep the people in her life safe and happy, even if it means
making herself miserable. This fear leads her to quick and misplaced decisions
that wreak more havoc than she realizes. She longs to help too much, in an
effort to be loved, and so it leads to chaos.
What about Zahid?
Readers are more willing to let Zahid’s flaws go because he
conceals them, and so, we hardly ever see them. His true feelings and desires
are rarely revealed to anyone, even Bennua, so it is easy to understand the
things he does. It can be hard to sympathize with Bennua at points, but what
readers must understand is that she’s willing to share her true thoughts.
Zahid’s not. Many readers haven’t yet noticed that Zahid can be rather distant
in his relationship with Bennua, which I cover more in Prince of Fire. Zahid’s biggest issue is that he shuts others out,
and has a tendency to continue on regardless of the problem at hand. You could
have a knife to his throat, and he still won’t talk about how he really feels.
In Prince of Fire, readers are going
to see that Zahid does have a darker side to him, a flawed side, that Bennua
loves just as much as all the other parts. His darkness makes him the man
readers fell for.
Faith is a huge theme
in The Kingdom Saga. Was this influenced by any personal beliefs of yours?
I’ll always tell people that if you want to know what my
beliefs are about a higher power, go read the Kingdom Saga. My faith parallels
Bennua’s, while my doubt rivals Zahid’s. Only together do they make up what
makes my faith, my faith. In recent years, I’d say one can’t get by without the
other, even though I’ve spent plenty of time in both camps. The entire series
has been an evaluation from where I started with “Alshams” until now. It’s
definitely not always pretty, and the answers are few and far between, but regardless
of whatever happens that higher power is always a central part of my life. Even
if I try to escape it, that faith seems to tie my story together, just like it
ties together the story of Bennua and Zahid.
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