Guest post by Nerine Dorman: Heroes – Good and Not So Good
Today my blog is guest hosting author Nerine Dorman who has just released her newest fantasy tale The Guardian’s Wyrd with publisher Wordsmack. She’s been kind enough to explain a bit about her book and include an excerpt. So without further ado, here’s Nerine:
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I admit it freely. I am a huge sicker for stories where the hero or heroine ends up leaving this world completely to end up somewhere else. As a child, I read CS Lewis’ beloved Narnia books, but I was equally bewitched by fairy tales in which the adventurer visited the land of the faeries – which brings with it its own brand of complications.
How a person will react when they get over the denial and, better yet, how they are changed once they return to Earth is all part of the journey. In fact, the great storyteller Joseph Campbell addresses these exact themes in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Don’t know who Joseph Campbell is? Here’s a hint, he was a great influence on none other than George Lucas, who explored Campbell’s concept of the Monomyth in the Star Wars films.
But, without boring you with unnecessary detail, I’ll say this much, The Guardian’s Wyrd tells the story of a boy who discovers that he’s a hero. In fairy stories, it’s usually the prince rescuing the fair damsel. This time, it’s an ordinary boy who never saw himself as anyone special, who goes out to rescue the fairytale prince.
The Guardian’s Wyrd was a story I wrote to please myself, that touches on some of the magic I experienced as a child. The house where Prince Rowan lives really exists, as does the overgrown garden, though I’ve taken some liberties with a number of the features. As one does in fiction.
When you’re younger, there’s so much that is hidden in the past, and some of the stories that you stumble into are already old.
Jay has no idea of the complexity of what he’s getting himself into. In fact, at the beginning, he doesn’t even want to be involved, but there you have it. Heroes are sometimes born out of circumstance. Just ask Bilbo Baggins.
The other aspect of storytelling that I touch on is motivations. Characters are good or bad depending on whether you are standing with them or against them when it comes to achieving their goals.
The “evil” uncle, King Lessian, thinks his older sister, Queen Persia, is too irresponsible to rule. He feels perfectly justified in having staged a coup to wrest power from her. Quite clearly, she’s not that keen to hand over power to her son, Prince Rowan, when the time comes, yet by equal measure, she’s not in a position to rule the kingdom from she’s been exiled. No one wins. And yes, it’s quite possible she has only herself to blame for the fact that her son is not the brave hero destined for greatness that he should be.
Even Jay, our reluctant warrior, isn’t squeaky clean. Though he’s been bullied, he is quite capable of becoming a bully himself.
So, as for who will enjoy this story… Well, obviously if you enjoyed CS Lewis’s Narnia books, but of course The Guardian’s Wyrd doesn’t follow the trend of moralising when it comes to good or bad. And, yes, if you liked Harry Potter, then there’s a good chance that you will find The Guardian’s Wyrd hitting the mark.
Essentially, I allowed my imagination to run wild and I warmly welcome you into my world of Sunthyst, where unicorns roam.
EXCERPT
All things considered, I couldn’t help but feel a small rush of excitement. I now had a valid excuse to visit Amberlee. There was a reason I walked past that property whenever I had half a chance. Old man Bastian’s family had bought almost the entire block many years ago, and they’d built a rambling manor house which, over the years, had become hidden behind a thick screen of vegetation.
Large, ornamental wrought iron gates were guarded on each side by immense cement sculptures of owl-headed felines which grasped heraldic shields, and all that could be seen of the manor house was a crenulated turret shrouded in ivy. So not like any other house on the road.
No one had seen the reclusive sculptor in years, but delivery trucks from various stores visited twice a week, and occasionally an old silver Bentley with tinted windows was seen coming and going.
So, yeah, I was curious like cray-cray to find out what was going on behind that gate. And yes, curious enough to put up with weird-ass Rowan. Or so I kept telling myself, because round about now I was about to make that boy’s day. Unless of course by some sheer bit of pure coincidence he happened to be somewhere else when I arrived. Oh come on now, it wouldn’t be so bad, right?
LINKS
Add The Guardian’s Wyrd on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22086015-the-guardian-s-wyrd?from_search=true
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerinedorman
Sign up for my monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/JoPUv
BIO
An editor and multi-published author, Nerine Dorman currently resides in Cape Town, South Africa, with her visual artist husband. Some of the publishers for whom she has edited works include Dark Continents Publishing and eKhaya (an imprint of Random House Struik). Her fiction sales include works to Dark Continents Publishing, Wordsmack, Tor Books, Apex Publishing and Immanion Press. She has been involved in the media industry for more than a decade, with a background in magazine and newspaper publishing, commercial fiction, independent filmmaking, print production management and advertising. Her book reviews, as well as travel, entertainment and lifestyle editorial regularly appear in national newspapers and online. A few of her interests include music, travel, history, Egypt, art, photography, psychology, philosophy, magic and the natural world.
