Welcome to my world of uncertainty.
I didn't know- and still don't- why I wrote this series. It was born of an idea that had gestated for some years before I wrote it, but at the time that was an idea mostly focused on the first story, Summer Sky, and didn't have enough impetus for the rest of the series. I thought I had worked out a way to give it impetus.
I thought I had.
In the end, this is probably the weakest of my major series, with Aqua and Cobalt in particular not turning out the way I wanted them to turn out. On the other hand, I believe Cerulean one of my stronger efforts, and the other two aren't bad. I think it would probably have served matters better if my original story conception had stayed the way it was, and if the series had been more united, as it was in my original idea, then episodic, as it became.
The story follows Zar, a duazad or falcon Elwen, as he deals with five blue-eyed women. Eventually he finds out that he is tied to them by a curse that fates him to destroy them or have a part of himself destroyed in his confrontation with them, or both. Nice, happy story idea.
As I said, it became episodic. The "original" story didn't really start moving until Azure, the second book, and then didn't last long enough, although odd little echoes of it were still showing up in Cerulean. Zar became the connecting character for five separate stories, dealing with the women as well as his own reactions to and changes because of them, while all the time staying in Zar's point of view save for the prologues. Weird.
At the same time, I enjoyed writing Zar, for some reason. His sharply defined characteristics made him a little static, but at the same time I knew where I was going with him. He surprised even me while at the same time never unseating me; the surprise was the result of a long series of slow changes rather than one sudden, huge one.
I like to think I make characters that grow, and Zar was another of them.
(All prologues and novel chapters linked off this page copyright 1998-2003 by Anadrel).
Summer Sky- Zar Feathermaster finds himself unexpectedly recruited to train Kalimarina Hervesheir, a young part-Elwen (but mostly human) princess who wishes to learn falcon Elwen magic. Zar doesn't really want to do this, but it seems a straightforward task, as long as he doesn't get involved in the various court conspiracies around Kalimarina. Unfortunately, Kali's enemies aren't as discriminating as Zar, and are more than happy to involve him in their battles. And then Zar starts feeling uneasy about the princess himself...
Azure- On the run from bounty hunters, Zar decides to return to the home he was exiled from- for a crime he cannot remember- centuries ago. However, his people are reluctant to accept him back, and one has hired a bounty hunter named Dhandra to win Zar's heart and thus destroy him. If a falcon Elwen falls in love, and the love is unrequited, he dies. And how can a bounty hunter willing to accept such an assignment give love back?
Aqua- Zar flees once again, this time to the plains of Minamar and the cheernmai, the cheetah Elwens. A preistess named Eara becomes interested in helping him, but she may have less to do with Zar's destiny than he has to do with hers.
Cobalt- Zar has followed his friend Lamara back to her world, Lohtan, in hopes that she might at least end her own exile. But his magic has not crossed the boundaries of the worlds with him, and he finds himself near-helpless in a land where Nightwalkers exist and Runeworkers plot in a tight circle that either ignores Zar or tries to use him. He is far away, too, from the woman he has come to love, and if he does not return to Arcadia he will not see her again.
Cerulean- Zar returns to Arcadia, and goes to Rowan, a city he hates because its Lady held him as a slave for several centuries, to seek his love, Silminja. Silminja is working there as a creator of crystal stars, and Zar feels it can do no harm to watch over her. Of course, when dealing with the lords of Rowan- the Councilmaster Herran Turnlong, and the master torturer Quirrin Shennalor- nothing ever does "no harm."
