As part of my Guest blog series for authors and fellow bloggers I am proud to present another guest blog spot. Jeffrey L. Kohanek the author of The Buried Symbol (The Ruins of Issalia Book 1) has been kind enough to write a guest blog post for MightyThorJRS today. I am very excited and I would like to thank Jeffrey for the opportunity to host this Guest Blog.

The Buried Symbol (The Ruins of Issalia Book 1) by Jeffrey L. Kohanek

is out NOW!

So go grab a copy!

DON’T LET THE DARKNESS WIN

by Jeffrey L. Kohanek

The darkness is seductive, luring readers into a world of ruthless and selfish characters. This has been particularly true in epic fantasy novels, as the moral gap between protagonist and antagonist has narrowed dramatically over the past two decades.

Years ago, the dark lead character was far less common. There was a time where most fantasy novels featured a protagonist with a good heart, imperfect but well intentioned. Somehow, the cynical nature of the real world around us has prevailed, compelling readers toward the morally ambiguous lead who would just as soon slit your throat as shake your hand. As an example, this type of character dominates The First Law universe. The edginess of it all can become a rush for the reader, making him or her feel that it’s good to be bad.

As a reader, I found myself caught in this fishnet, drawn into a sequence of fantasy series featuring dubious characters driven by their own selfish personal agenda. Not every character was outright nasty, some landed in an ambiguous region where black and white blurred to gray. Even worse, some authors opted to include a few honest characters for me to love, only to kill them off and leave me destitute and in search of replacement within the story. Yes, Game of Thrones, I’m looking at you (A Song of Ice and Fire series).

After a few years of enduring tales featuring individuals who were as bad as they were good, I decided I could take it no longer. It’s one thing to read a novel or series and find a character who is good at heart, but goes through a troubled period. A good example is the Wheel of Time series. There were times when I really disliked Rand, feeling frustrated by his arrogance and self-pity. However, he eventually got past it and found balance to show that he remained the good person we remember from when the series began. I get it. Behavior changes and internal conflict are natural human responses to the events that impact our lives.

However, I would like to know when and why it became unpopular for the main character to be a good person. Books featuring a protagonist who tries to do right, using a moral compass to guide them, often find reviewers labeling the protagonist as shallow or one-dimensional.

What is wrong with the main character in a novel being likeable? Shouldn’t readers gravitate toward a likeable character? I’m not saying that darker tales featuring cold-blooded lead characters shouldn’t exist, it just shouldn’t be at the expense of stories intended to inspire.

It’s obvious that a morally conscientious protagonist provides a good role model for young readers. However, I believe that even adult readers need a reminder that compassion and integrity are traits that define humanity and without them, we will at some point cease to be human. For the sake of making all worlds better, real and imaginary, I beg you not to allow the good guys fade from the pages that feed our imagination. Embrace the light, don’t let the darkness win.

This article was written by Jeffrey L. Kohanek, author of The Runes of Issalia epic fantasy series. Book one, The Buried Symbol, released in May 2016.

You can purchase a signed copy for 20% off the retail price at www.JeffreyLKohanek.com by using discount code LostMagic at checkout.

If you prefer a digital copy, it is available on Amazon using this link: https://www.amazon.com/Buried-Symbol-Ruins-Issalia-Book-ebook/dp/B01FE1MMYQ?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01FE1MMYQ&linkCode=as2&linkId=JVOEXRXMCHXPKFM7&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_tl&tag=jeffreylkohan-20

Jeffrey L. Kohanek grew up in rural Minnesota where comic books sparked his young imagination, inspiring fantasies of heroes with super-powers saving the day. His tastes later evolved to fantasy epics featuring unlikely heroes overcoming impossible odds to save worlds born from the writer’s imagination.

Now residing in southern California, Jeff uses that imagination to weave tales of engaging characters caught in fantastic plots to inspire young adults and the child within us all.

Website

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Discover a lost magic, long buried and forgotten… Without a rune marking his role in society, Brock is doomed to a life below the lowest rung of the social ladder. Unwilling to accept his fate, the teen risks his life to obtain a fake rune that marks him as a member of the Empire’s ruling class. He then embarks on a quest to join an institution where the Empire’s future leaders are trained. As a student of the Academy, he soon uncovers a chain of secrets kept hidden for centuries, secrets that expose cracks in the foundation of Empire society. Among his discoveries is a powerful magic, long buried and forgotten. Brock’s compassion and sense of justice are seeds that sprout tight friendships and a blossoming romance. An unwillingness to be bullied earns him a dangerous enemy, growing into a feud that escalates to a climactic showdown.