I tend to read more science fiction and fantasy than other types of fiction. When I really enjoy a book, I usually find it is a book that involves good characters in a fantastic setting. But what makes a good character?
In the good stories, with strong characters, they are stronger, it seems, if they have flaws. The protagonist of a story should have something they struggle with. Thinking of some of the best stories I’ve read, the protagonist usually has to face or attempt to overcome their flaws. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out, but in most cases, the characters gain strength.
In much the same way, our individual weaknesses can help us remain humble. They keep us grounded at times, but they don’t have to limit us. In good stories, the protagonists work hard to overcome their weaknesses. If they didn’t, they would be tragedies.
I really like fantasy and science fiction for the way the stories can deal with issues and problems through settings that make people think.
Check out some of my books on Amazon.
My fantasy, A Map, a Mage, and a Sacrifice, is set in a world with limited technology, but where sacrifice is a necessary element to magical power. The greater the pain and suffering, the greater the magical power generated. The few mages in power use voluntary sacrifice of the citizens to generate power they use to protect and defend the empire. But their rule may be coming to a close.
Malignance, my third book in my time travel series that began with Resonance and Dissonance, is on Amazon as a kindle and a paperback. That was a fun series to write, and for now, it is completed. I have also placed all three books from that series into one volume titled The Machina of Time.
If you’re looking for a science fiction story, try my book The Promise of Dust, which takes place in a cloud city floating in the atmosphere of Venus. Or Progenitor’s Legacy: Deceit, which takes place many years in the future on a tidally locked world that orbits a red dwarf and has been reached by humanity in their search for the alien progenitors who seeded the galaxy with nano machines.
If a young adult science fiction is more to your liking, check out my series This New Earth, that starts with Demons of a Dead World and Secrets of a Dead World.
If you are looking for a young adult fantasy, check out my book The Threads Unbound.
DANIEL R. BURKHARD 