The Villains of HIGH MAGA, by Karin Rita Gastreich
The Villains of HIGH MAGA
One of the greatest challenges of writing High Maga was crafting the villains. My
first novel, Eolyn, had a formidable
antagonist in the wizard Tzeremond. But the antagonists of High Maga, Queen Rishona and Prince Mechnes, raised villainy to a
whole new level for me.
Rishona of the Syrnte was born under tragic
circumstances. Her parents, Prince Feroden of Moisehén and his Syrnte wife,
Tamara, were slaughtered while attempting to return to Feroden’s homeland,
where he intended to claim the crown. Tamara was pregnant with Rishona when
they were attacked, and gave birth as she died.
Gifted with the extraordinary power of Syrnte sight, Rishona remembers
this moment in all its horror. A
forester rescued Rishona and returned her to the Syrnte, where she was raised
by her uncle Mechnes. Rishona grew up determined to avenge the death of her
parents and to claim her father’s throne in Moisehén.
The Syrnte are a sophisticated and complex
culture, ruled by an extended royal family whose wealth, hunger for power, and
capacity for corruption know few bounds.
While Rishona learned to thrive as part of the royal family, she also in
a very deep way despises them. In this
she takes after her mother Tamara, who also longed to escape the twisted power
plays and establish a new life on her own terms as Queen of Moisehén.
By the time we meet Rishona in High Maga, she has tried every avenue
available to fulfill her ambitions. Every avenue, that is, except for dark
magic. Out of desperation she decides to
summon ancient monsters called Naether Demons in hopes that their fury will
help her defeat her cousin, King Akmael of Moisehén. Once the crown is
rightfully hers, Rishona intends to send the Naether Demons back to the
Underworld and establish a peaceful and just realm.
Rishona’s uncle, Mechnes, is a force of
nature. Brilliant and ruthless, a
conqueror of nations, Mechnes excels in violence, manipulation, and sensual
pleasures. Like Rishona, he carries the
gift of Syrnte sight; unlike her, he uses it with impunity. For Mechnes,
people's hopes and dreams, their ambitions and fears, their strengths and
weaknesses, are all meant to serve his own ambitions. Mechnes has no doubt that
privilege should accrue to the powerful, and as a powerful man, he believes he
deserves every manner of privilege within his reach.
Does Mechnes have any redeeming
qualities? I'd be better off letting
you, the reader, decide. As the author, I appreciate Mechnes' fondness for
music and his suck-the-marrow-dry approach to life. He is, if nothing else, charismatic.
I tend to be a sensitive and empathetic
person. Villainy does not come easily to me. One of the hardest parts of
writing these villains was allowing them to do bad things to other characters.
Both Rishona and Mechnes commit horrific acts that cannot be condoned in any
world real or imagined. Writing these moments often made me very uncomfortable.
I was also more than a little nervous about the reactions my villains would
inspire when High Maga was released.
As it turns out, a handful of my readers
have criticized me for the violent acts committed by Rishona and her malevolent
uncle. Yet writing is as much instinct as it is craft and strategy. As the
author, I knew I had to let Rishona and Mechnes be who they were meant to be,
otherwise the novel would have come across as flat and dry, even unauthentic.
While I would never condone or endorse acts of villainy, I will always stand by my villains. Without them, High Maga would never have become the complex and challenging
journey that I intended it to be.
HIGH
MAGA [audio edition]
Karin
Rita Gastreich (author)
Darla
Middlebrook (narrator)
Sisters in magic, Eolyn and Adiana seek to
revive a craft once forbidden to women. When war strikes at the heart of the
kingdom, their fledgling community of magas is destroyed; its members killed,
captured or scattered.
In hopes of defending her people, Eolyn
tries to escape the occupied province and deliver to King Akmael a weapon that
might secure their victory. Trapped by the invading army, Adiana is taken
prisoner and placed at the mercy of the ruthless Prince Mechnes.
Even as their world is torn asunder, Eolyn
and Adiana cling to a common dream. Courage and perseverance guide them toward
a future where the Daughters of Aithne will flourish in a world set free from the
violence of men.
“War propels the book forward, and the
characters are at their best when the events engulfing them are at their
worst.” –Publishers Weekly
Purchase
Links:
About
the Author:
KARIN RITA GASTREICH writes tales of
ordinary women and the extraordinary paths they choose. Inspired by a lifetime
of exploring lush forests and breathtaking landscapes, Karin’s stories blend
elements of epic fantasy, historical fiction, and romance. The worlds she
creates are a strange amalgamation of medieval Europe and colonial Central America,
with misty forests, vast savannas, and steamy jungles. They are populated by
brave heroines, noble heroes, and twisted villains. From ancient woodlands to
uncharted seas, readers will experience gripping battle scenes, heart wrenching
loss, hard-won triumphs, and the ultimate magic of love. Karin’s fantasy novels
Eolyn and High Maga are available from Hadley Rille Books. Her short stories
have appeared in Zahir, 69 Flavors of
Paranoia, and World Jumping. She
runs an on-line discussion forum about women in genre fiction at Heroines of Fantasy. Follow Karin’s
adventures into fantastic worlds, both real and imagined, at krgastreich.com.
Author
web links:
Karin’s web
site: http://krgastreich.com
Heroines of Fantasy:
http://heroinesoffantasy.blogspot.com
Twitter: @EolynChronicles
About
the Narrator:
Darla’s voice is a versatile instrument
used with skill. It is a voice filled with intelligence and warmth. Her sound can range from mature to youthful
female, and she can also produce convincing male timbres. Narrative is presented in a conversational,
down to earth, matter-of-fact manner and also displays a broad emotional range
across a large repertoire of characters (female, male, young, old and
"creature"). All of that
while still conveying a sense of wonder when telling the story.
With experience of 34+ years as a
Speech-Language Pathologist, more than 20 years as a stage & film actor and
over 20 years as a trained singer with knowledge and insight into the mechanics
of the voice and speech, Darla Middlebrook brings a wealth of experience to
bear to develop character voices (male, female, mature, extremely elderly,
creepy, bright exotic, etc) with an impressive emotional range.
Currently, Darla is one of many voice
actors who narrate podcasts for AIRS-LA (an audio internet service for
individuals with visual challenges) in addition to narrating audio books.
Narrator
Web Links:
Website: http://www.darlasvoice.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damiddlebrook
Twitter: @GypsyCatVoice
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Thank you for hosting me, Jeanne!
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