I’m going to tell you all a secret. The iliri may not be the good guys. Oh, sure, they are the protagonists of my latest series, but does that make them good? Not really.
You see, Salryc Luxx was actually designed around Sauron from the Lord of the Rings. You know, that mysteriously evil character who is charismatic and people just keep falling in with. If you pay attention, there’s plenty of hints along the way, but I wanted to see if it was even possible to write the bad guy’s story in such a way that the reader wanted to cheer him (or her) on.
Why? Simply because I think that good and evil are matters of perspective. I don’t think that any SANE person (keyword there: sane) would do unthinkable acts just because. I think they always have a justifiable reason. I think that there are always two points of view, and sometimes the more interesting isn’t the “good” one.
I’m currently in the middle of writing book 7 of the iliri series. To date, I think we’ve touched on every single taboo in existence. No, the story doesn’t focus on them, but they just kinda came up. You see, the iliri aren’t human, so I can’t help but wonder if they should be held to the same standards.
And then there’s Sal. She’s the stereotypical femme fatale. People are won over by her charm even though they’re intimidated by her. She’s dangerous yet seductive. Her followers gain power through their relation with her. Wait… doesn’t that sound like some kind of secret weapon? Some demi-god? Well, that’s kinda what I thought. Evidently Sal agrees.
But this begs the question: Is she really the villain? I think she is. I think she’s going to unleash things on that world that humanity can’t even comprehend… and I hope we all cheer her on.
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