Rian Anderson asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

I fell in love with The Ascendance Trilogy, especially the characters, but as I was reading your blog post about the new book I felt the hero in this book, Nic, is similar to Jaron, which isn't a bad thing in fact it makes it more probable I will fall in love with this character as much as I did Jaron. I was wondering if this prediction is true, that Jaron and Nic have simimlar characteristics.

Jennifer A. Nielsen Thanks for asking, Rian! Nic and Jaron do have some traits in common. Both are fiercely stubborn, have a tendency to say things they probably shouldn't, and can be rash in making decisions. But they have differences too. Nic is almost entirely uneducated and untrained for any useful skill, which bothers him. He is not as arrogant as Jaron can be, and does not walk such a fine line between truth and deception.

What I like about Nic is that he is in so. much. trouble, and yet he is trying so hard to make everything right again. It is him vs. an empire, and I love what Nic is willing to do to fix the problems caused by unleashing magic in Rome.

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