The Last Namsara is Kristen Ciccarelli's debut fantasy novel. I really love writers that come out of nowhere and blow the YA fantasy genre out of the water. This book was incredible from start to finish. It was by no means a slow burn (no pun intended), but rocketed from scene to action-packed scene until the final pages. It read like a fairy tale and has a creative mythology that blew me away. So, let's get into this.
   Princess Asha is known as the Iskari, named after a legendary warrior that inspired fear. She believes she is wicked after she draws a dangerous dragon to her kingdom and leaves the city devastated and herself badly burned. She will hunt and kill dragons for the king until the day she will be married to the ruthless Commandment, Jarek. However, the Dragon King offers her a chance of escape: she will not have to marry him if she brings back the head of the oldest and most fearsome dragon of all. 
   I enjoyed how this author accomplished being unique and offering a beautiful mythology and stories about dragons, while at the same time being a conservative storyteller. So many YA books seem to lean toward unresolved endings – or simply sad ones – and it was refreshing to me to see a stand alone with a feel good finish that still was a thrilling roller coaster. (I like happily ever afters. I know, I'm a child.)
   I loved Asha's character. Her personality never wore on me and I liked seeing her come into conflict again and again with the image her father placed inside her of the kind of person she was – and overcoming that. Torwin was also well-developed, and it was great seeing the progression of how Asha came to value him as not only a person, but as an equal. My favorite character in the book might have been the golden child, Asha's brother. But as endearing as the prince was, he's just not mentioned near enough and I would have loved to see more of the character. His story about growing up in their enemy's kingdom and ultimately being taken hostage and imprisoned sounded really interesting...but we never get more. The character that the second book will be narrated by is hardly even mentioned at all and has no allure for me whatsoever as an MC. The minor characters in general were not handled with the greatest of expertise.
   The world-building was more about history and stories than the present look and feel of the kingdom. I don't know much except that it is either Middle-Eastern or African-influenced. Can't determine. This I know: all of the area scenes made me shudder. It reminded me of Ancient Rome and it was terrifying. 
   Ultimately, I loved this story and was pleased with the ending. The dragons play a big part and were used beautifully throughout the plot. It was a fantasy world that worked, and I couldn't be happier with it.

In my mind, there are two kinds of “reality”, in stories and in life. One is lowercase reality, and the other is uppercase Reality. Both are important, and one cannot exist without the other – not perfectly.

Lowercase reality operates in writing. It is rules and regulations, titles and authority figures, treaties and contracts. It is what “should be” according to tradition or regulation. On paper, where does the power lie? What should be done according to protocol? This type of reality exists everywhere, and no one can escape from it. It is the cement that holds the bricks of society together. It is also not the only type of reality.
            Uppercase Reality operates in facts. What is actually happening? Who actually has the power? It also deals in the world of truth and lies, right and wrong, integrity and honor. It is the standard that holds the world together or tears it apart. Authority figures may not truly hold power. Contracts may not truly hold sway. When Reality breaches the realm of protocol, there is no stopping its force.
            Often, I see different situations where characters ignore one kind of reality or the other, and the results are catastrophic. Most of the time, Reality is ignored, the truth behind the legislation. Characters get caught up in what is broadcasted, what is written down, or who should “technically” be in charge. Traditions and habits are cycled through without the character waking up to Reality. If people get too bogged down in technicalities, they cannot surface long enough to realize what is actually happening. They follow orders and schedules. They ignore their conscience and forgo morality for the death trap of written reality.
            Occasionally, characters will do the opposite. They are too deep into their own sense of justice and honor that they ignore the consequences in lowercase reality. Sometimes characters will reveal their noble intentions too early and render their roles worthless in the story. Sometimes the kind and gentle, the pure and selfless, don’t make it far. They ignore lowercase reality: the laws that still exist. The soldiers still at the gates. The authority figures that still rule over them. Lowercase reality refuses to be ignored.
            Uppercase Reality has power. It has the power to change and alter reality. It can break rules and start new traditions. It writes names out of the books and calls new ones in. Lowercase reality can always be changed. Uppercase Reality can’t. Even solemn oaths can be broken, but truth cannot. Reality stays true and always will. People can write their own laws and try to blot out the force of Reality, but it also refuses to be ignored. It is often seen as vague, but is also solid and material. It manifests in every word and deed. It speaks its wisdom and haunts those who refuse to hear its call. Reality is the stitching of the universe.
            Anyone can call themselves a king.
            Kings do not have to.

I have a book review of Veronica Roth's new fantasy Carve the Mark on The Odd Writers!
It was so unique and fascinating on every level that I had to do a review on it as soon as I closed the book. Carve the Mark is a crazy, amazing fantasy world that will take you in from the very beginning – that is, if the characters don't first.

  I've been working on several book reviews recently for a new blog. I am collaborating with some talented writers and poets, and I post on the blog once a month with a new book review. I have been reading a few new releases recently, some of which were INcredible. I'll be reviewing Alwyn Hamilton's Rebel of the Sands sequel: Traitor to the Throne, as well as others to come. 
Check out my book reviews (and also the other lovely short stories) at:  The Odd Writers.

Often times, in stories where the character who plays the villain is supposed to come as a surprise, it doesn't. It's really not surprising. It is hard to set up the board with characters who all have a place in the narrative except for one. But the best books I've ever read, and the best movies I've ever watched both have one thing in common: they employ common character archetypes to achieve the element of surprise. If the villain hides behind a mask that we all recognize and take for granted, it is easier for them to be looked over. For example, if the surprise villain poses as the: wise mentor, geeky sidekick, or comic relief character, readers are more apt to say, "Well, I already know the role of this character, so it can't be him."
Surprise!

                                
   
​     Sometimes I get confused about the purpose of a certain character's actions – for the reader. When characters do something radical, unusual, or questionable, I wonder if the author is advocating their choices, or if they are teaching a lesson through them. Sometimes it can be neither, or both. Many authors set up characters as examples for us to identify with and to follow in their footsteps. But other times, the character's choices are not as honorable and are simply meant to make a point. Other stories even set up the entire book as a metaphor, or as a clear depiction of "what not to do".
How are we always supposed to tell the difference? Usually, the author will try to make the distinction clear. With some stories, it is harder to spot. The most important thing to me is always consequences. What happens because of a character's choices? Some stories that are set up to tell negative character arcs spell out with the catastrophic consequences why the character had set their course toward destruction.

I am constantly reminding myself as I write that idioms change and evolve constantly. Every aspect of culture plays a part in creating our speech, year after year. I write a lot of stories that takes place in "ancient times", before many modern idioms came into being. Things we say all the time suddenly don't fit in these simpler times.
Here are some phrases and words that I tend to trip over:
    "Scanning" a room
    My brain was "fried"
    Switching tracks
    "train" of thought
    Roger that
    SOS
    "Pause" and "Rewind"
    On repeat

It makes a lot of sense in retrospect that medieval characters wouldn't know about these things, but they are engrained in my mind, seeing that I live in the twenty-first century. The two main subjects that writers should look out for are references to trains and computers. It is surprising how often those two pop up. The list is much much longer than my sample, but it is good to keep this concept in mind for the future–er–I mean, for the past.