Author's Thoughts Upon Completing Vengeance Quest
Warning: There may be some spoilers. And this may be rather boring. But I want to write it. So nyah. :P
It's amazing how my style has evolved over time. Vengeance Quest is a record of my writing progress throughout high school - from 8th grade to just before my freshman year of college (And if you want a record starting in 6th grade... visit Chains of Hate and check out the original Vengeance Quest... Warning: It's horrible). It's been quite the journey! I read over VQ and realize how much I've changed, both in my ideals, my writing style, and my maturity.
I've explored quite a few themes, as well. The main theme underlying Vengeance Quest, if you couldn't tell, was the effect hatred can have on a person, how it can take over your life. But other themes appeared, too, as the story progressed--things I didn't realize until I'd almost finished the story. The effect love can have, as evidenced by Malaya's affect on Riala, for instance. And in the subplot centering around Kiern, there's a lot of struggling about honor vs. duty, the nature of honor, and choosing between beliefs and society. Plus throughout the story, more in Kiern's but also in Riala's plot, there's a minor underlying theme about seeing people as they truly are, seeing past the mask...
The subplot with Kiern and the horde was originally just an experiment, a foray into the minds of the "bad guys", an attempt to humanize the "villains". But Nightdeath stayed as villainous and vile as before... if anything, he became more villainous! And somehow that seemed ... right. I don't know. And my "experiment" grew into much, much more--I became fascinated with the horde, I fell in love with Kiern and Stormsong and Skyfire and Astarte. I almost didn't want to go back to Riala and Malaya!
Will there be future stories with Riala, Kiern, and company? I hope so. Riala still has a whole life to live, after all... there's a lot of stories in her life left untold. I'd like to flesh out the story told partially in "Soulfire", with her and Aeloein... and I have a plan for her redemption. And Kiern--his story has barely begun! There's the question of his sister, after all, and where he came from, and his future leading the horde. And there's always Stormsong's past, too, that might be interesting to write.
But who's to say if those'll ever get written...? I have a lot of other stories I want to tell, after all, outside the world of Redwall.
Well, that's enough of this over-long discourse. I hope you enjoy reading Vengeance Quest as much as I did writing it, and thanks for joining me on this long and wild ride!