Guest Post:
Fear Is Not Enough
I wrote a YA
book recently, my first, and it is full of monsters. On page after page, demons of various size and shapes – but
with a single predatory instinct – chase people through the streets of a vast
city. Sometimes they catch
them. The results are horrifying.
Why would I
write this? There are two possible
answers. One: I’m a truly terrible
person, or, two: I know my audience.
For obvious reasons, I’m going with the second explanation. Besides, everybody knows YA readers
like to be scared. Demons,
vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and anything else an author can dream up jump off
the covers of YA books. Ignore the
supernatural novels, and you replace the monsters with bullies, illness, and
even (natural) death.
So YA is all
about the fear factor. Why?
The simple
answer might be that we love the adrenaline rush we get from a fright, and
teens and tweens love it even more, but I think there is more to this than a
simple answer. I think the YA
audience wants the same thing Shakespeare’s audience wanted, the same thing
Euripides’ audience demanded: courage in the face of fear.
Think about it,
even if the only thing young people want is the experience of fear, they don’t
have to open a book (or switch on an e-reader) to get it. They can just, well, live. What is more consistently terrifying
than being young? Forget the
vampires, you’ve got tests and team tryouts, bullies and fickle friends, and
looming over the horizon is the adult world that your parents don’t seem to
like very much. What a YA novel
provides is the characters’ response to terror. The audience already knows fear; they want to know if fear
can be faced.
This is
something I wanted to explore in my novel, City of Demons. The creatures in it use fear as a
weapon, projecting it into the thoughts of their prey to paralyze them. A familiar concept for my readers,
since I know they will have a paralyzing fear or two of their own. The book’s protagonist and his
companions can fight the demons, but only if they are willing to stand up to
this transmitted terror. If they
succeed, they will become Demonbanes, if not they will become demon
dinners. An interesting consequence
of this fight is that conquering an artificial panic means they can also defeat
more natural horrors.
And that’s what
our readers want to know, “can I face my everyday fears?” Can they? From The Wind in the Willows and The Hobbit, through The
Hunger Games and to whatever comes next, we have been answering, “yes, yes you
can, and this is how you do it.”
City of Demons by Kevin Harkness
Demons are invading the Midlands for the first time in
centuries.
The farmers have no defences against the murderous
creatures. Swords in the hands of ordinary soliders have no effect against
demons, for the ability to resist a demon's power - a projection of paralyzing
fear - cannot be taught.
Garet's life is forever changed the night his midlands
family is attacked. Demonstrating a rare talent for resisting demon fear, Garet
is taken to the city of Shirath to become a Demonbane: one who can withstand
the demons' psychic assault, trained in combat, and learned in demon lore.
But the ancient city isn't a safe haven, it's a death
trap. While opposing political forces vie for the throne, a new demon
terrorizes the citizens. To save Shirath, Garet must find friends and allies
quickly, because the biggest threat to the city isn't the demons, but the
people living within the city's walls. (Back cover)
Buy Now:
About Kevin:
Kevin Harkness is a Vancouver writer who has just finished a
third career as a high-school teacher.
His first two careers: industrial 911 operator and late-blooming
university student, were nowhere near as dangerous and exciting as teaching
Grade 10s the mysteries of grammar and the joys of To Kill a Mockingbird. He also taught Mandarin Chinese – but
that’s another story. Outside of
family and friends, he has three passions: a guitar he can’t really play,
martial arts of any kind from karate to fencing, and reading really good
stories. In this fourth career, as
a writer, he attempts young adult fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and
horror.
Find Kevin:
2016725meiqing
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