Review Fix chats with author Aaron R. Allen, who discusses the first book his trilogy series, “Origin: The Nameless Celestial.†Breaking down his creative process and goals for the book, Allen lets us know what readers should expect.
About Origin: The Nameless Celestial:
Chief Ranger Cahan Devlin is no ordinary human. A dark corruption is growing inside him, clawing against the walls of his sanity. This force influences his every action, and the lines between ally and enemy are constantly blurred. Of course, it doesn’t help that the defeat of a nameless evil rests on his unstable shoulders.
After a routine mission, Cahan captures a loose-tongued demon half-breed. The prisoner implicates conspirators within the government who are colluding with demon insurgents from a foreign land. Their goal is to destabilize the Republic of Protos, her wards, and human colonies—in an effort to reseat a king upon the throne. Unbeknownst to the conspirators, their foreign allies wish to awaken a great evil, a clan of off-worlders who were previously driven from the planet before recorded history by a celestial being.
As Cahan quests to unravel the mystery of the evil off-worlders, he must diffuse the ticking time bomb that he has become—because at any moment he may murder the ally standing by his side.
Review Fix: What inspired these books?
Aaron R. Allen: These books are a culmination of many things. At the core of it, I wanted to create a fantasy novel that I would read. Books, video games, anime, and even music inspired this series. I did a lot of martial arts growing up. I trained in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, karate and shoot wrestling. My training influenced the fight scenes heavily. I wanted to apply a realism to the combat amidst the fantastical things happening on the page. I also like the weird tales genre. I have incorporated horror elements into the book because of this.
Review Fix: How do they separate themselves from similar books?
Allen: I think the setting, characters, and time period separates the series from other books. First, this is a world where the predominate species is made up of demons, both good and bad. Humans are living in colonies. They are strong but a relatively small population. At the beginning of the novel a revolution has just ended. This revolution saw the end of monarchs in the land of Protos. However, there are still dissidents in the government that want to reseat a king. I also didn’t use any of the traditional fantasy races. Many of them are made up or based on creatures that are underutilized in stories of this genre.
Review Fix: What makes the story and characters special?
Allen: The characters aren’t perfect. They are all flawed. The good guys aren’t just idealized beings who never make mistakes. They are often faced with gut-wrenching decisions where there isn’t an ideal option. The bad guys are different as well and fight amongst themselves. They don’t always operate on one unified front. I think many books portray evil in this way. Some of the factions in the book don’t think they are evil. I took the “Lex Luthor†approach on this.
Review Fix: What have you learned about yourself as a writer through these books?
Allen: I often write about personal triumphs and tragedies. I think it’s important, no matter how epic the story, to sometimes boil it down to the small moments that happen in life. There are many things that are personal to me reflected in this world. There are also many things in this story that mirror world history.
Review Fix: What did you read as a kid? How did they influence these tales?
Allen: As a kid, I read Crichton, Tolkien, Lynne Reid Banks, and a lot of choose your own adventure novels. As I started to get older, I read Ayn Rand, Brooks and Lovecraft. I also began to read philosophy books like the 5,000 Year Leap and Common Sense. Thomas Sowell and the works of Locke are also favorites. My current favorite fantasy series is the Kingkiller Chronicle.
Review Fix: What are your goals for this series moving forward?
Allen: I am currently finishing up the second book. I will be “done†by the end of August. At that point, my editor will get into with me. There is one more book left. My goal is to continue to surprise readers and make them feel as though they are in this world as they move through the pages.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Allen: I plan on writing a series of kid’s chapter books. It will be in the tradition of weird fiction. I have about 10,000 words done in the first novel.
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