On Shevata’s Continuing Journey

As I’m putting together the third novella of the Gastar Series, I noted on some of the reviews of “Children of Discord” about how the city and people of Gastar change with each novella.  As I’ve written before, the Gastar Series is not an epic, not a mainstream/paranormal romance, and not lengthy books. The lead character makes a journey from killing and war to love and family.  For the readers that have met Shevata, it’s clearly a challenging effort.

In “Act of Redemption” the story began two hundred years following her actions that resulted in the fall of Gastar.  In the second novella, “Children of Discord,” Shevata returns to her home city, again after two centuries, so it’s understandably changed by growth and development.  In the third and fourth (four in all) novellas, she returns to Gastar under very different circumstances and following the passage of a shorter time period.

Note:  The city of Gastar changes through the years.  The people change; therefore, the human characters change.  But what doesn’t change?  Shevata.  Her problem isn’t with an inability to destroy her enemies (most of the time); instead she’s unable to blend into the civilized world she fights for.  After spending so much time as a wartime assassin and various journeys into the underworld, the irony is that she cannot adapt to her own world. 

Shevata hasn’t given up on the idea of putting away her weapons for a normal life.  But it isn’t easy for her as she is headstrong and set in her ways.  Like anyone who’s been to war, she cannot forget the past.  But she continues to reach for her future.  Above all, she values the safety of her home city even if she’s not a part of it.  The challenges she’s yet to face will be what she’s willing to sacrifice to protect the people of Gastar.  The closer she gets to reaching her goal, the more she finds herself at risk of losing her opportunity for the greater good.  If you can imagine what it would be like to put behind everything you’ve ever known and experienced in order to begin your life completely over, that is Shevata’s journey.  In light of the numerous non-human characters in the series, the underlying message is all about humanity.