Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels Archives - Page 34 of 41

Tell yourself it is only fable, if that will help you sleep #SciFi #MFRWhooks #SpaceOpera

Kayelle Allen 08/01/2018 Fallen Empires 9 Comments

Fable: A deliberately false or improbable account, a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events.

When the Chancellor of the Ultras, an immortal race, says he is coming for you, that’s a promise you can write in stone. In this foreward from the book, Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas, he lays out that promise. The twist of these words won’t become apparent until the end of book 3, Watch Your Six, but it has its beginnings here.

Fable, that’s all it is (from Pietas)

This book you hold is being presented as fiction, but it did happen. It is as real as the air you breathe. While this is not a first-person story, it follows my point of view.

I would never have allowed a human to know these things, but a friend persuaded me there can be no vengeance unless those in the wrong know what they did. When one has wronged another, one must face the consequences.

Having been persuaded to tell the story, I now allow it to be placed into your hands. I want you to know the truth. Why? Because other Ultras have hidden the truth. Buried it beneath fables and false retellings, as if you were a child unable to bear harsh reality. Unwilling to face the consequences of what your kind has done.

Above all, because I will not lie to you.

When I come for you, I want the satisfaction of seeing your regret for what your ancestors did to my kind. I want to see your fear, and taste your terror.

This is no horror story. It’s merely science fiction. Tell yourself it is only fable, if that will help you sleep. By all means, human, do sleep.

Read this, if you dare to know the truth.

Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas

A captive of the people he loathes, the immortal Pietas is left for dead on the planet Sempervia. Six, a human soldier who is abandoned with him, offers food and water. Is this man worthy of friendship? Or is this another trap?

Either way, Pietas must do the one thing he detests. Trust a human…

Universal book link https://books2read.com/u/4DovO7

JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS
Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

Charon’s Blade and Watch Your Six #SpaceOpera #SciFi #MFRWhooks

Kayelle Allen 07/25/2018 Sci-Fi Art 12 Comments

There were surprises as I started putting together Bringer of Chaos: Watch Your Six. This is the final book of the Bringer of Chaos trilogy, so tying up loose ends is important. I went to great lengths to ensure everything was covered, right down to creating weapons like Charon’s Blade (shown here).

As I wrote, I got to thinking, what would humans need ghosts for with all the Ultras in exile? How many ghosts had there been? Would the Ultras who’d been captured be released? How many Ultras were there? What were the powers they imparted to the various ghosts? Why didn’t Six get much of those powers?

The biggest surprise to me was discovering Pietas’s real agenda for humans. I’d always known he wanted to destroy them, but why would he after coming to respect and love Six? And if he wanted to kill them, why hadn’t he already done it? After all, he holds the title Destroyer of Worlds. He could do it. What’s stopping him?

I wrote a spinoff short story about Ghost Corps. Lights Out will release in mid September inside The Expanding Universe Vol 4, edited by Craig Martelle. The anthology will feature multiple authors, all with stories in the sci fi and space opera genres. It’s going to be a real treat for fans of the genre.

Charon’s Blade

I hired an artist to create images of the Ghost Corps weapons. They were designed to kill Ultras, so they’re formidable (and nasty). Livius designs scifi weapons as art. I found him on DeviantArt.com. Having the images and the technical aspects of these helps me create the people who wield them.

What kind of person would carry a weapon called Charon’s Blade designed to stab and then inject the victim with poison? Why such an extreme weapon?

Considering it was designed to wound creatures who come back from the dead, it’s at least a little bit understandable. Even so, Charon was the mythical guide to the underworld in ancient mythology. This knife has quite a legacy just in its name.

I know the answers to all these questions and have the basics of the journey plotted. But as I write, this story reveals more and more. I plan many more books featuring Pietas, his family and fellow immortals.

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Do you love dragons? @Nano_Core #MFRWauthor #MFRWhooks #SpaceOpera

Kayelle Allen 07/11/2018 Character Insights 8 Comments

Do You Love Dragons?

I love dragons. Funny thing, several of my characters love dragons too. Gee, how about that? *wink* How about you?

In the Bringer of Chaos series, the character Six has a dragon tattoo that covers his entire back. Pietas keeps dragon statues in his quarters, everything from small egg-sized ones to larger pieces. His sister wears a pendant with a blood-red dragon that has gold wings. The dragon symbol is throughout the story. After all, who wouldn’t love dragons?

The Drachensturm Dagger (dragon-storm) on the left belongs to Pietas. In the first Bringer of Chaos book, he performs a ritual with it. I wrote only that the dagger was new and that it had turquise stones the same color as his own eyes. I decided to commission Nano-Core (aka Livius) on DeviantArt to create the dagger. He listened to my description, then spent nearly a day playing with designs. He would show me dragon pictures and get my feedback. Because he’s in Germany and I live in Georgia in the US, we had a time difference. Livius is a night owl, so it worked out well for us.

If you want something unique for your scifi world, from dragons to ships, I recommend him. He is super easy to work with. You can find him on this page: Nano-Core on DeviantArt. While you’re there, check out other art Livius has done. This is the sixth sci fi weapon he’s created for me that show on his page. He’s creating a special weapon series for the Kin that will be revealed in my next newsletter. You won’t find them anywhere else until then. And wait till you hear the origin story of this dagger! Meanwhile… here’s a snippet for you.

Excerpt from Bringer of Chaos: Origin of Pietas
Pietas and his sister, Dessy, are about to complete a ritual using the dragon dagger pictured.

I’ve been dreaming about dragons.” His sister unzipped her leathers down to her rounded bosom, and pulled out a fine chain dangling a dragon charm. “In the dreams, yours are teal and silver. Mine are ruby and gold.”

He took the pendant in hand. The golden creature sparkled, its eyes glistening as if wet with blood. “Beautiful.” He rubbed a thumb over it, and the dragon warmed to his touch. He smiled into Dessy’s pale eyes. “How often do you dream them?”

“Every night. Tas, what does it mean?”

At hearing her childhood name for him, he dropped the pendant. “Dragons are primal protectors. They symbolize defeat of the beast within and show selfless courage.”

She tucked the chain back inside her top. “How do you know that?”

“How do you not?”

Dessy called him a rude name, and shoved him

Meeting her thief at the starport #SciFi #MFRWauthor #MFRWhooks

Kayelle Allen 06/13/2018 Deleted Scene 8 Comments

This scene was deleted from At the Mercy of Her Pleasure.

In the published book, Captain NarrAy Jorlan meets with Senth at a coffee shop adjacent to the Thieves’ Guild. But in this version, she met him at the Starport.

Inside secret: the starport on Kelthia is named Starhaven Leojnimaj. Those are my sons names combined, backward (Joel and Jamin). NarrAy’s last name, Jorlan, was chosen in honor of the hero of Dara Joy’s book Ritual of Proof.

Kelthia, Miraj City, Starhaven Leojnimaj
Coffee Shop, Concourse D

NarrAy sat, holding a cup of coffee she didn’t want and had no interest in tasting. A plain dress hid beneath her black hooded cape, covering every inch of skin as the law required for Betters. How long would it be before they forced her to hide her face too? She blew on the coffee. Where was her thief?

“Anything yet?”

“Nothing.” Broxus answered from the south terminal.

“No sign.” Encie made ticking sounds into the transmitter. “Your pretty boy thief is late.”

“We’ll give him two more minutes.”

“You’re too easy, boss.” More ticking.

What was that noise? NarrAy scanned the area. “Encie, I thought you quit biting your nails.”

“I’m not bi– Hey. How’d you know I was doing that?”

“You may be on the north side of the concourse, but I can see you between the lockers.” She blew on the coffee.

Her assistant stood up straight and glanced around. “I forgot about those eyes of yours.”

“Yes, well, it was my ears that heard you nibbling.”

“Nibbling what?” Senth asked, dropping into a chair.

NarrAy set down her coffee so fast it spilled. “Where did you come from?”

“Cohorts didn’t see me?” His inviting mouth stretched into a smile. “Level nineteen thief, remember? If those two could spot me, I wouldn’t be worth what you’re paying.” He used her napkin to sop up the coffee.

Brox’s and Encie’s questioning voices broke into her concentration.

“He’s here. We’re leaving.” When she rose, Senth assisted her with her chair.

Not that she wanted or needed help, but imagine a thief with manners. Well, well… This could be interesting.

Heroes Using Weapons: writing a story with guns #Pietas #SciFi #MFRWhooks

Kayelle Allen 05/16/2018 Fallen Empires 11 Comments

In today’s society with arguments for and against gun control, is it smart to write a story in which weapons play a large part? What if heroes using weapons is the wrong thing to write about?

I’m working on a short story that might never see the light of day. The hero keeps hiding his motives from me, which makes it difficult to write about him. But if it does manage to burst into being, Lights Out will have a lot to do with weapons, guns, soldiers, and war. It’s the tale of a soldier who dies and is brought back to fight again.

Heroes Using Weapons

In the Bringer of Chaos series, the sidekick of the immortal hero is a human warrior who’d been killed in action and then revived.

To accomplish the rebirth, all the blood in the soldier’s body is replaced with the blood of an immortal. When he or she comes back to life, the training and natural abilities are all still present, but so are abilities of the immortal. If they were telepathic, so is the soldier. If they possessed enhanced speed, so does the soldier. There are dozens of “gifts” and each has both a benefit and a drawback. If you can hear the thoughts of others but can’t forget them, life could get uncomfortable fast.

With my heroes using weapons it meant I needed to understand what they do. As I prepared to write this new short story as well as book three in the Chaos trilogy, I had to understand how these weapons were used. To do that, I researched weapons of today and weapon concepts of the future.

I have a military background and enlisted in the Navy during the Viet Nam era. When I write a military sci fi or romance, I’m speaking from experience. My heroes using weapons is a result of that experience.

I’m going to take shooting lessons and learn how to use weapons myself. I want to write from experience with this as well.

Rather than shy away from the topic, I thought I’d see what my readers think about stories concerning guns. Do you read them? What do you think about stories concerning them? Do you look for stories that have a moral implication or do you prefer a rock-em-sock-em robot sort of tale?

Image credit: Nano-Core (commission for KayelleAllen.com)

Time Travel (part 2): Sci Fi or Historical? #SciFi #Historical #Book

Kayelle Allen 05/06/2018 Kayelle Allen

In this two-part discussion on time travel, I’ll share a fascinating discussion in my reader group. I love science fiction and fantasy, space opera, whether film, TV, book, or magazine. Likewise, time travel has always fascinated me. But is it sci fi or historical? I decided to ask my readers. Here is the winning response, from Jackie. We had a great discussion.

QUESTION: Is a time travel in which characters travel to the future a Sci Fi? Would one in which they traveled to the past be historical?

I offered a $10 gift certificate to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon (winner’s choice) for the best answer. One of my readers is author Dariel Raye, who in turn asked some of her readers. I got responses from both groups. (read part 1 of this discussion)

Jackie:

Your description of sci/fi and historical time travel seems right. Also if its not too far into the future or past then I suppose it would just be plain old time travel. I guess one would have to know how long ago historical really is, and how far into the future is really sci/fi. Interesting time line question to think about.

Kayelle:

Hadn’t considered that. So maybe there could even be levels of historical or futuristic. Maybe ancient history or far future? I like that!

Jackie:

Yeah I think there would have to be different levels. Not as simple as 1 2 3 or A B C. Maybe more like middle ages or maybe even just a simple as a year like 1800’s historical. Now future we would have to come up with different era names.

Kayelle:

Any in mind? What would you call them?

Jackie:

I am not sure what I would call them. Maybe something involving destiny, or future generations, or the coming of? What do you think?

Kayelle:

Well now that’s different. A time travel to the future wouldn’t affect the past, until you were in the future — and then your actions would be in the past. So the new future’s past would definitely be altered. Kind of makes your head spin, doesn’t it? 😉

Jackie:

LOL yes it does. I actually read what you wrote twice. I am reading a series now that has time travel involved, both past, present and future. So many things change and sometimes one doesn’t realize when you change one thing it can bring about a much different out come than you expected or wanted.

Kayelle:

I love the idea of time travel. Time is moving, but so is space — the Earth will never again be physically in the same place it was when we leave a specific time. Which means if we tried to go back in time, we would also have to go back in space. So not only would time travel be traveling within time, but also everything time affects. Wear, distance, surroundings… how could we ever create something complex enough to take all that into consideration?

Which just fascinates me. I don’t think I’ve come across time travel that deals with that aspect. What about the series you’re reading now? What is it?

Jackie:

Wow I had not thought about that. The series I am reading did take some of those thoughts into consideration. Not only did circumstances change but so did the surroundings and also the people. They looked very different as well. I am reading a YA book series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Its called the chronicles of Nick. Very cool with a dark humor to it. It was fun picking each others brains and trying to come up with a creative idea.

Pietas: Embrace pain. Make it your lover. Make it your own #SciFi #MFRWhooks

Kayelle Allen 05/02/2018 Fallen Empires 12 Comments

In this scene from the first book in the Bringer of Chaos books, fans of the Tarthian Empire series will recognize the origin of Peril. Pain and death have an intimate place there–and here.

Pain and death

Pietas must have fallen asleep, because he woke with a start. He took quick stock of himself and his surroundings. Black parachute cloth arched above him, flapping in a gentle breeze. The rain had stopped, and there was sun. A few scattered clouds. Still no movement in his extremities. Limited movement in his neck. No feeling anywhere. He tried speaking. Not even a croak.

Under the same stretch of cloth, Six sat cross-legged, thumbing through a notebook. He glanced up, and set the notes aside. “You look better. You ready for water?”

Without waiting for a reply, Six brought him a tube, and held it while Pietas sipped.

“Good job. You didn’t choke this time. You look less shrunken. Let’s get some food in you and then we’ll both clean up.” He brought out another tube, broke off the cap, and held it for him. “Slow and steady. There we go. Good job.” He propped an elbow on one thigh, and held the tube while Pietas sipped the nutrient. “You had multiple fractures from the fall, but your bones set fine all by themselves. Your face was bad when I opened the pod. Nose all squished and off to the side. Jaw broken. Cheekbones crushed. Skull fractured. When you looked up at me…” He gave a long whistle. “All I saw was blackened skin against the black background of the pod, and two huge turquoise eyes staring.” He brushed away a glimmer of tears.

Were those tears…for him? Humans cried because of him. Not for him.

“Man, Pietas. I can’t believe how fast you’re healing. All your bones are where they belong. I wish I healed like you do.”

Pietas had wondered what it would be like to feel pain for more than a few minutes. To feel pain that didn’t end.

The pod had shown him that.

Was that what it felt like to be human? He’d learned long ago they feared pain. Would do anything to avoid it. To avoid death. Threaten torture and most humans caved. Most surrendered anything they knew as soon as they saw the first tool of torture. Some managed to withhold until they were injured. Most talked. Not all, but enough to make it worthwhile. He used torture if it shortened the wait for information, but never to be cruel. He had no compunctions about killing, but unless they threatened him or his mission, he had let humans live.

He wouldn’t do that anymore. After what they’d done to him, from now on, he’d make them beg for death.

On him, torture had no effect.

Pietas had taught himself, disciplined himself never to fear pain. To welcome it. Invite it. Embrace it. Make pain and death a regular part of his life. Whatever frightened him, he ran toward. Pain was joy. He conquered it. Made it his lover. Made it his own. Absorbed it into himself.

When you fear nothing, nothing is a threat.

Now? Did he fear pain now? Pietas mulled that. Well, he no longer had to wonder about pain that didn’t end. He’d experienced it.

Conquered it.

Did he want to repeat it?

Pietas finished the food, and took a long, satisfying breath of clean air.

Not if he could avoid it. But dying every day for a year would be a good exercise for his soldiers. If you survived that kind of peril, you’d survive anything. And no threat the enemy brought would be worse than what he could do to them.

He’d have to give that some serious thought. Maybe train them that way, one soldier at a time. Teach them to embrace death the way he did. An army of soldiers like that…the galaxy could not stop.

Pietas is also in books set in the Tarthian Empire and the Bringer of Chaos series including the Origin of Pietas, Forged in Fire, and Watch Your Six (in progress).

JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS

Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.

Time Travel: Sci Fi or Historical? #SciFi #Historical #Book

Kayelle Allen 04/29/2018 Book Specials

QUESTION: Is a time travel in which characters travel to the future a Sci Fi? Would one in which they traveled to the past be historical?

Jean:

Anything that removes you from your present time, whether it be future or past, in my opinion is SyFy.

Kayelle:

Good point! I suppose that is quite true. 🙂

Donna:

I think they both would be Sci Fi as the ability to time travel does not exist at this time.

Kayelle:

ooh very clever answer! So true. Do you think it’s something we’ll ever have?

Donna:

At this point in time, I don’t think it is possible (who knows what the future holds) but it would sure be nice to be able to go back in time to experience history (there is so much I would like to experience) without changing it (be like a fly on the wall). One can dream. I’m not sure how going forward would work — would we be going into our own future or the future in general is the question. Would we be able to change anything in the future if it was bad? Future time travel generates a lot of ethical questions. What do you think?

Kayelle:

I know current science says it’s impossible. But 500 years ago, smartphones would have been considered witchcraft. Who knows? But wow I would like to be that fly on the wall myself. Long as someone didn’t swat me! LOL

I’d love to go into the past. Always been fascinated by Alexander the Great. I think a time travel story about a doctor going back in time to save Alexander’s life might be good. Except maybe it turns out that his being there is actually what killed him… Which means he had already gone back before he decided to take the trip. No matter how you look at these stories, you get mental vertigo!

Lacey:

I think that while time travel is Sci-Fi a book that uses it as part of the plot doesn’t have to be in that category. There’s a big difference between a story based on a time-traveller (where the main point of the story is that the character time travels and their adventures doing so) and a story where time travel is used as a plot device to get a character to a specific period of time (where the main point of the story is what happens to the character after time travelling).

I don’t think a book where the character gets to the past through time travel would be a historical novel because the character’s perspecitive and attitudes would still be from current times even after arriving in the past.

Kayelle:

Nice insight! You make great points. It’s still contemporary to the time traveler in a sense. And since it’s not the main plot (necessarily) it could be just a plot device.

I hadn’t considered that traveling to the past would still keep the person with a contemporary attitude. That’s excellent! Have you read any good time travel stories lately?

Lacey:

This one is awesome. It’s actually part of a series but I read them out of order lol, I bought the first one but haven’t gotten into it yet but they can be read stand-alone.

https://www.amazon.com/Chronothon-Time-Travel-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00QHIYBZ4

Kayelle:

Wow that is one different idea. A time traveling Amazing Race. I can see that could be totally misused and abused. I put that on my wishlist. Thank you. 🙂

Glenda:

I did see what Wikipedia said (the first paragraph) which is very similar to what I learned. The last sentence sums up the total.

Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre encompassing narrative fiction with supernatural or futuristic elements. This includes, but not limited to, the genres science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, science fantasy, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, supernatural fiction, as well as their combinations. Anything using speculative science– something that hasn’t been invented– is also Science fiction. (Science- not invented- speculative- fiction)

Kayelle:

Good answer! So by these standards, you think time travel is always scifi?

Glenda:

Yup… It can be historical Science fiction (Yes, it really does exist) as well as speculative fiction. I would go with historical science fiction but I have seen time travel to the past and it is always in the science fiction/romantic section – if that is the premise.

Kayelle:

I can believe that. I have a sci fi that has a major plot of archaeology. Trailing Kaiwulf is about a character who’s trying to discover the history and meaning of these huge “gates” they are finding on multiple planets. Think mini size St Louis Arches side by side. So while the story is very much sci fi it is also very much archaeology. I guess you could have historical sci fi as well.

Kind of spins your head around, doesn’t it?

Glenda:

All if it does. I go with science fiction when anything has hard science and fantasy if it is based on ‘magic’. If it can be explained with speculative science—SciFi. If it relies on anything of the paranormal—fantasy. Of course, that all spreads over into other branches. Mind boggling possibilities with all of it. 😀

I would love to read it when you have it completed.

Kayelle:

Oh, that book is done. Want it in Kindle, epub or pdf? I’ll send you a copy.

Glenda:

Kindle and thank you!

Kayelle:

Here you go. This is the story concept:

Find an invisible man in another dimension? All in a day’s work at TRAIL.
Travel to a godforsaken planet on the outskirts of space. Check. Hold intrusive military goons at bay. Check. Find an invisible man in a different dimension. Check. Finish the vacation TRAIL yanked you back from to do it? Easier said than done…

I plan more books in the TRAIL series. Trace, Rescue and Identification League is a group of bounty hunters, missing person investigators, and agents who recover the unrecoverable.

Characters from this book will cross over to another book’s sequel. The “gates” they are investigating were created by the immortal king in my current Bringer of Chaos series. I write in a huge universe and it’s all tied together by this king, either as his loyal followers, his enemies, or someone being manipulated by one of the two. The one thing I haven’t done yet is a time travel. I’d like to try it one of these days.

Glenda:

Thank you! I will definitely read and review. Time travel has a wide variety of possibilities. Research whatever time period is going to be time consuming but it will definitely be worth it. I do read a lot of historical fiction and if something seems off—I research. (I can’t stand glaring errors! LOL) Of course, I like research so that is a plus or negative depending on what side of the book you’re on.
The bottom line that I have found over time – As long as you don’t make glaring mistakes–it is your world, your mind, and your creation. Have fun!

Tune in for part two next week…

What do you think?

All these comments spurred wonderful discussion and thoughts. I’m more fired up than ever and eager to write a time travel. Someday! Not sure when.

What is your favorite time travel book, film, or TV show? Share it in the comments.

What Humans Say — What Humans Mean about Immortals #SpaceOpera #MFRWhooks

Kayelle Allen 04/18/2018 Fallen Empires 2 Comments

I’m writing Watch Your Six, book three in the Bringer of Chaos series. The others are the Origin of Pietas and Forged in Fire. When you have a huge story that unfolds in sections, it’s helpful to give readers a place to start. That’s usually the job of a prologue. Sometimes, it’s a foreword or another intro of some kind.

I’m considering a bit of the story’s history by listing what humans say about the immortals they created, and compare it to what humans mean.

What Humans Say

We fashion creatures genetically designed for toil.
We make them strong, vital, robust, able to work hard.
We ingrain them with abilities to make mundane jobs easier.
We create soldiers who recover from every injury.
Genslave scientists design more genslaves to enhance our way of life.
Renegade scientists design genslaves without proper safeguards.
Soulless rebels refuse to accept human authority.
These ingrates reject their proper name.
The so-called Ultras usurp mankind’s authority.
Surprisingly, genetic enhancements result in failure.
We purge ourselves of the taint of genetic enhancements.
We take back our birthright: Human Pure is our battle cry.
We discover ways to kill immortals and keep them from rising.
We wish we could turn back time and correct our folly.
We regret our lack of wisdom in creating such beings.

What Humans Mean

We create genslaves.
We permit them no rest.
We make sure they can never rise above their station.
We create savage warriors.
We hand over to slaves the means of creating more slaves.
Rebels overthrow the genetic shackles keeping them enslaved.
Renegades lead other genslaves to freedom.
The rebels call themselves Ultras: ultra smart, ultra strong, ultra powerful.
Ultras dominate every part of the galaxy.
Obviously, we can no longer control what we created.
We destroy anyone with non-human traits and enhanced sensory perceptions.
Anyone enhanced or genetically altered or “different” is the enemy.
We burn anything and anyone “unnatural.”
We don’t know how to undo what we’ve done.
We made a mistake…

Pietas

Immortal. King. Exile. All are what humans say about Pietas. None show the depth of the man known by his peers as the Bringer of Chaos. This series is military science fiction with elements of humor, a small touch of romance, a ginormous black panther “kitty”, a telepathic weapons designer, one used-to-be-human, and the most dysfunctional family since forever.

The Bringer of Chaos series focuses on Pietas and his friendship with the human, Six. In books set in different series in the far future, Pietas is king, and he terrifies everyone. I wanted to understand why his people were so steadfastly loyal to him despite that, so I started this series to find out.

If you want a good read, check out the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group. You get four free books right away and you’ll be first to know when the new book about Pietas is released.

[bctt tweet=”What humans say is not what humans mean #SciFi #SpaceOpera” username=”kayelleallen”]

Hero Wanted: must be dark and dangerous. Insight into writing an antihero #Pietas #MFRWhooks #MFRWauthor

Kayelle Allen 04/11/2018 Fallen Empires 5 Comments

When I started writing Bringer of Chaos, it was supposed to be a book about Pietas, king of the immortal race called the Sempervians. About a third of the way in, I realized I needed more than one volume for my dark and dangerous hero. I changed the name to Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas. Book two was Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, which came out in December last year. Currently, I’m working on Bringer of Chaos: Watch Your Six. I’ve written about 10k words so far. Pietas — who is a villain in books set in the far future — is descending into darkness.

Pietas is not a true villain. He’s a flawed hero and an antihero. He was a complex enigma when I began the first book. I know him now. My dark and dangeous hero suffers in the Chaos series. I’m not kind to my characters. I’m sure he would gladly throttle me if he could, but his story is richer and more layered because of his trials.

In Watch Your Six, he’s decided that his mortal friend, Six, must not be allowed to die. Pietas believes he can impart his own immortality to this “ghost” — a human warrior who has been resurrected with immortal blood. He refuses to part with this man he has come to trust, depend upon, and even love. He has never had a friend who treats him like he’s just another man. Though he doesn’t know how to deal with that at times, he loves their camaraderie. Anytime he interacts with Six, there is a thread of humor. Sometimes, it’s almost a rope!

In the part below, from my work in progress (subject to final editing), Pietas and Six have had a serious falling out over the imparted immortality. Six does not want it — Pietas refuses to accept that decision. Their disagreement has led to blows that both regret and Pietas, always the gentleman, has apologized.

“You’re only sorry I haven’t given in yet, but apology accepted.” Six offered his hand.

Pietas took it.

The mortal clasped his forearm. “Warrior to warrior, Pi.”

“Aye, my friend.” He could not say more without his voice breaking. How much longer would he have with this man at his side? This brother who reached him in ways no friend ever had? How would he ever survive on this world without Six? Pietas gave himself a moment, squeezed his friend’s arm. “Always. More than brothers. I should not have hit you.”

“Actually, you missed me completely.”

He jerked Six closer. “Rub it in, why don’t you?”

Deadpan, the man stood stock still, but then burst into a smile. “I just did.” He nudged Pietas with a shoulder. “Doesn’t mean this is over, Ultra.”

“I never thought it was.” He released his friend. “Ghost, I am sorry.”

“The minute you said the words, I knew you didn’t mean them.”

“Yet you punched me anyway.” He rubbed the tender spot on his chest. “That was a lucky hit.”

“Yeah, lucky. Here and on Enderium Six.” Six tossed up a dangerous hunting knife and caught it. “Where you surrendered.”

“Stop saying that.”

“What? ‘Where you surrendered?’ You prefer ‘Where you were defeated’ instead?”

He narrowed his eyes in warning. “You caught me off guard. Both times.”

“The mighty Pietas, War Leader of the Ultras, Chancellor of the High Council. Caught off guard by a dead human.” He held up two fingers. “Twice. Wow.”

“Ghost!” Pietas tightened his fists. “Did you not hear me say I want you to live forever? Don’t make me kill you.”

[bctt tweet=”Hero Wanted: must be dark and dangerous #Pietas #SciFi #SpaceOpera” username=”kayelleallen”]

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Tag: Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

Fable, that’s all it is (from Pietas)

Bringer of Chaos: the Origin of Pietas

Charon’s Blade

Do You Love Dragons?

Heroes Using Weapons

QUESTION: Is a time travel in which characters travel to the future a Sci Fi? Would one in which they traveled to the past be historical?

Jackie:

Jackie:

Jackie:

Jackie:

Pain and death

QUESTION: Is a time travel in which characters travel to the future a Sci Fi? Would one in which they traveled to the past be historical?

Jean:

Donna:

Donna:

Lacey:

Lacey:

Glenda:

Glenda:

Glenda:

Glenda:

Glenda:

What do you think?

What Humans Say

What Humans Mean

Pietas