Take a look at this exciting new young
adult action and adventure novel, The Student and the Slave, now available for purchase! This is
the third book in the Krillonian Chronicles,
after The Collar and the
Cavvarach and The Gladiator and the Guard.
The series is set in an alternate world that is very much like our own, with just a few major differences. One is that slavery is legal there. Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil. It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with "have a rack"), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge. Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades. You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.
First, a Little Information about Books 1 and 2:
Book 1: The Collar and the Cavvarach
Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire's most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie's escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?
Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire's most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie's escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?
Click here to read chapter 1 of The Collar and the Cavvarach.
Click here to read about life in the Krillonian Empire, where the series is set.
Book 2: The Gladiator and the
GuardBensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is condemned to the violent life and early death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty of the arena system and seize his freedom before that system crushes him?
Click here to read about life in the arena where Bensin and other gladiators are forced to live and train.
Is
this what freedom is supposed to be like? Desperate to provide for
himself and his sister Ellie, Bensin searches fruitlessly for work like all the
other former slaves in Tarnestra. He needs the money for an even more important
purpose, though: to rescue Coach Steene, who sacrificed himself for Bensin’s
freedom. When members of two rival street gangs express interest in Bensin’s
martial arts skills, he realizes he may have a chance to save his father figure
after all … at a cost.
Meanwhile, Steene struggles with his new life of slavery in far-away Neliria. Raymond, his young owner, seizes any opportunity to make his life miserable. But while Steene longs to escape and rejoin Bensin and Ellie, he starts to realize that Raymond needs him too. His choices will affect not only his own future, but that of everyone he cares about. Can he make the right ones … and live with the consequences?
Meanwhile, Steene struggles with his new life of slavery in far-away Neliria. Raymond, his young owner, seizes any opportunity to make his life miserable. But while Steene longs to escape and rejoin Bensin and Ellie, he starts to realize that Raymond needs him too. His choices will affect not only his own future, but that of everyone he cares about. Can he make the right ones … and live with the consequences?
Click here to order The Student and the Slave from Amazon for
About the
Author:
Annie
Douglass Lima spent most of her childhood in Kenya and
later graduated from Biola University in Southern
California. She and her
husband Floyd currently live in Taiwan, where she teaches
fifth grade at
Morrison Academy. She has been writing poetry, short
stories, and novels since
her childhood, and to date has published fifteen books
(three YA action and
adventure novels, four fantasies, a puppet script, six
anthologies of her
students’ poetry, and a Bible verse coloring and activity
book). Besides
writing, her hobbies include reading (especially fantasy and
science fiction),
scrapbooking, and international travel.
Connect with the Author
Online:
Now, enter to win an Amazon gift card or a free digital copy of
the first two books in the series!
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When did you realize this story was a trilogy?
As I wrote book 1, The Collar and the Cavvarach, I assumed
that would be it (and that story can stand on its own). But a year later I
thought of a new situation to put my characters in, and their adventures
continued in The Gladiator and the Guard.
I gave them a nice happy ending in my first draft, but I just wasn’t satisfied
with it. Everything else in the story had been polished and felt right to me,
and my publication date was only a few weeks away, but I knew the ending was
all wrong. It took me a long time to figure out how to make it right, but finally
at practically the last minute I changed the final chapter, making the story a
lot stronger. That meant there would have to be a third book to show how the
characters got out of the mess I left them in. Still, it wasn’t until I planned
out book 3 in detail a couple years later that I knew the story would truly end
there.
What are the basic conflicts in your story?
There are several. Steene spends
much of the book in conflict with his annoying young owner, Raymond. He also
clashes with Raymond’s dad, a wealthy businessman who sees slaves as objects
that exist for their owners’ convenience. Bensin gets involved with gang
members and ends up entangled in their problems, which include several street
fights.
What are the main themes of your story?
Freedom, family, responsibility,
morality, tough choices.
Tell us about your main character?
Bensin is a slave who is also a very talented martial artist. In
the first book, his goal is to keep his little sister safe and somehow arrange
for her freedom, which is an almost impossible task in his world, but he is
determined not to give up. In the second book, Bensin’s own safety is at stake
as he struggles not only for freedom but for the right to choose his own
identity. Now in the third book, he struggles to forge a new life for himself
and his sister and arrange a rescue
for his coach in a setting where he can’t find a job and doesn’t feel as though
he fits in.
Is there a villain in your story?
There are a few different people who
could be considered villains. I’ll focus on Axel, a gang leader who hires
Bensin to train him and his street gang in combat techniques.
What does he want? Why do you like your villain?
Axel values honesty, courage, skill,
and teamwork among the young men he leads. But when it comes down to it, mostly
he wants money and power, and he’s willing to do almost anything to get what he
wants. I guess I like him because he is just who he needs to be for his role.
He appreciates Bensin for what he can give, but when he decides Bensin’s
usefulness is over, he has no qualms about making use of him in a different
way.
Who has influenced your writing?
My high school English teacher, Mrs. Wood, was a big
encouragement to me, both personally and in my writing. She taught an after-school creative writing
club, and for various reasons all the other students dropped out one by
one. When I was the only one left, I was
afraid she would cancel the club, which was the highlight of my week. But she was willing to continue, so I met
with her every Tuesday afternoon. I
would bring in whatever poems and stories I had written that week, and she
would critique them and help me see ways to make them better. My writing improved a lot during the two
years she was there, and I will be forever grateful that she was willing to
invest so much time in me. I really
don’t think I would be where I am today if not for Mrs. Wood.
Tell us about some of your other books.
There are three main books in it so far, but each of them can stand on its own.
Each book deals with events surrounding the same major political incident: the
invasion of the kingdom of Alasia by the neighboring kingdom of Malorn. Prince of Alasia begins on the night of
the Invasion and describes what happens to twelve-year-old Prince Jaymin after
he is forced to flee for his life. In the Enemy’s Service features a girl as the
protagonist and tells the story of those who were not able to escape from the
Alasian palace when the enemy invaded. Prince of Malorn begins several months
earlier and focuses on the Malornian perspective of the events leading up to
the Invasion. In each of the books, main
characters from the others make brief appearances and interact with each other
at the point where the timeframes and settings overlap. I also have a short
ebook of “interviews” that I conducted with the characters in the other three
books. Annals of Alasia: The Collected
Interviews is not available on Amazon, but I send a free copy to anyone who
signs up for my mailing list (to receive updates
once or twice a year when I release new books).
I’ve
also written a short Christian puppet script (Squawky Learns About
Love)
and put together a coloring/activity book (Hide it In Your Heart) that uses verses from
the Bible in colorable fonts. And I’ve compiled five separate anthologies of my students’ poetry.
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Books by Annie Douglass Lima:
- Hide it In Your Heart: an adult coloring/activity book
- the Krillonian Chronicles: alternate reality/action and adventure novels dealing with slavery and martial arts
- the Annals of Alasia: a young adult action and adventure/fantasy series (click here to receive a FREE copy of Annals of Alasia: the Collected Interviews!)
- Squawky Learns About Love: a short Christian puppet script
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