Guest Post Lament of the Fallen-

Bucelarii 2 SmallI’m hosting a guest post today by Andy Peloquin, author of The Last Bucelarii (Book 2): Lament of the Fallen. The book also launches today. Congratulations! I’ll leave the word to Andy Peloquin now.

The Challenges of Writing an Anti-Hero

Writing heroes and villains is something I find fairly simple. Each hero has to have a few flaws to make them human, and each villain has to have something good or noble to make them more interesting. But an anti-hero, a character who is neither good nor bad, hero nor villain, that is a challenge I find absolutely fascinating!

What is an anti-hero? Wikipedia defines an anti-hero as a character “who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, or morality”. They may have heroic and villainous tendencies, but they cannot be qualified as either good or bad.

Take a look at one of the most famous anti-heroes: the Punisher. The Punisher does horrible things–he kills people by the dozen. Yet look at WHO he kills (mobsters, gangsters, drug lords, criminals). He faces off against Marvel’s heroes as much as he fights the villains. His actions are too dark and depraved to be accepted as an Avenger or a “hero”, yet the villains fear him more than they fear Captain America or Wolverine.

Writing an anti-hero is like walking on the edge of a sword. If you’re not careful, you could step off and slip into the realm of heroism or villainy too easily. A good anti-hero does the right thing, usually for the wrong reason or in the wrong way. But there’s an element of heroism about him that makes him relatable.

But to write a good anti-hero, the heroic traits (nobility, sacrifice, courage, etc.) can’t be overdone. There has to be just enough about him to make him sympathetic to the reader, yet not so much that he slips into becoming a true “hero”. An inexperienced writer may convert their anti-hero into a proper hero, but a true anti-hero will never have the sense of morality or convictions to be a hero.

And yet, they cannot slide into the realm of villainy either. Readers want to empathize with the anti-hero, which means they can’t ever go truly “bad”. Their actions always have to lean just on the right side of “good”. Too far to the “bad”, and you risk losing the audience’s empathy for the character.

That, for me, is the most challenging–and thrilling–part of writing The Last Bucelarii series. The main character (the Hunter) is a half-demon assassin, one who begins firmly on the “villainous” side of the line. Yet, quickly you see that there is something heroic and noble about him, which puts him just on the heroic side of things. Throughout the course of the book (and through the series), he will make decisions that send him into the realm of villainy, but he always has to return just enough to the heroic side to make him a character to root for rather than despise. THAT is the true challenge of writing an anti-hero, and one I enjoy every moment!

About the Book

Title: The Last Bucelarii (Book 2): Lament of the Fallen

Author: Andy Peloquin

Official Launch Date: August 19th, 2016

Publication Date: July 21, 2016

Paperback Price: 15.99

Digital Price: 3.99

Pages: 340

ISBN: 1535388668

The Hunter of Voramis is no more.

Alone with the bloodthirsty voices in his head, fleeing the pain of loss, he has one objective: travel north to find Her, the mystery woman who plagues his dreams and haunts his memories.

When he stumbles upon a bandit attack, something within urges him to help. His actions set him at odds with the warrior priests commanded to hunt down the Bucelarii.

Left for dead, the Hunter must travel to Malandria to recover his stolen birthright. There, he is inexorably drawn into direct conflict with the Order of Midas, the faceless, nameless group of magicians that holds the city in a grip of terror. All while struggling to silence the ever-louder voice in his mind that drives him to kill.

From feared assassin to wretched outcast, the Hunter’s journey leads him to truths about his forgotten past and the Abiarazi he has pledged to hunt. His discoveries will shed light on who he really is…what he really is.

Fans of Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson, and Brent Weeks will love the Hunter…

Author Bio

Andy Peloquin: Lover of All Things Dark and Mysterious

Andy Peloquin–a third culture kid to the core–has loved to read since before he could remember. Sherlock Holmes, the Phantom of the Opera, and Father Brown are just a few of the books that ensnared his imagination as a child.

When he discovered science fiction and fantasy through the pages of writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.R.R Tolkien, and Orson Scott Card, he was immediately hooked and hasn’t looked back since.

Andy’s first attempt at writing produced In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent. He has learned from the mistakes he made and used the experience to produce Blade of the Destroyer, a book of which he is very proud.

Reading—and now writing—is his favorite escape, and it provides him an outlet for his innate creativity. He is an artist; words are his palette.

His website (http://www.andypeloquin.com) is a second home for him, a place where he can post his thoughts and feelings–along with reviews of books he finds laying around the internet.

He can also be found on his social media pages, such as:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyPeloquin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andyqpeloquin

www.linkedin.com/in/andypeloquin/

https://plus.google.com/100885994638914122147/about

https://www.amazon.com/author/andypeloquin

https://www.facebook.com/andrew.peloquin.1

10 Things You Need to Know About Me:

  1. Hot wings, ALWAYS!
  2. I never forget a face, but rarely remember a name.
  3. I’m a head taller than the average person (I’m 6′ 6″)
  4. Marvel > DC
  5. I was born in Japan, and lived there until the age of 14.
  6. Selena Gomez, Skrillex, Simon & Garfunkel, Celine Dion, and Five Finger Death Punch are all in my writing playlist.
  7. Aliens are real, but it’s self-centered of us to believe that they would come to visit Earth.
  8. Watching sports: suck. Playing sports: EPIC!
  9. I earned a purple belt in Karate/Hapkido/Taekwondo.
  10. I dislike most Christmas music, aside from Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Favorite Books: The Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch, The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson, Sherlock Holmes by A.C. Doyle, Warlord of Mars by E.R. Burroughs

Favorite Songs: Wrong Side of Heaven by Five Finger Death Punch, Prayer by Disturbed, I’m an Albatraoz by AronChupa, Look Down from Les Miserables, Shatter Me by Lindsay Sterling and Lizzi Hale

Favorite Movies: 300, Red Cliff, Shoot Em Up, Love Actually, Princess Bride

Favorite Comics: Anything with Deadpool, Wolverine or Doop in it

Favorite Foods: Hot Wings, Meat-Lover’s Salad, A good sandwich (made by me), Yaki Soba, Sushi

Favorite TV Shows: The Flash, Daredevil, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hawaii Five-0, Brooklyn 99, Firefly (too soon!), The Last Ship, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones

Reviews

“Creative, gritty, and beautifully dark…fantasy addicts will love it!” — Peter Story, author of Things Grak Hates — http://peterjstory.com/

“The fantasy world has a compelling new antihero…the Hunter will terrify and captivate you.” – Eve A Floriste, author of Fresh Cut

“From the first words on the page this fantasy holds the reader spellbound even after the book is finished…his character is very well-defined even if his past is a mystery. Root for an assassin? Oh, yes, one must!” — Carol Conley, for InDTale Magazine

“Oh the carnage! Fantastic bloodthirsty carnage! The fight scenes in this book were fast-paced, detailed and thrilling. I love a good sword fight and there is plenty of that here.” — Ami L. Hart

“One could get lost in this novel for its twisting plots, seemingly endless imagination, dark yet irresistible characters, or the mind-numbing paradox of its simultaneously dark and romantic world. One could follow the long and winding road of the dusky, fierce protagonist and fight tooth and nail not to sympathize with him. One could dance in the dizzying, intricate circles of Peloquin’s neo-mythology, or even basque in the black sunlight of a well-crafted gothic novel that both entertains and enlightens.” — Jesse G. Christiansen

Links

Amazon Paperback

Amazon Canada

Goodreads

Book Launch Event:

Facebook

Join my Thunderclap:  https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/44830-the-hunter-rides-again

Speak Your Mind

*