KY

Every good hero needs a villain. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the villain is often even more important than the hero in a story. Does every story need a "big bad"? No. But if your story does need one, he or she has got to be impressive, or your hero/heroine will end up falling short.

How to write about Ky without giving too much away or letting a spoiler slip?

Ky is not really the "villain" or the "big bad" in The Minstrel's Song, although he appears to be just that in King's Warrior.

In reality, however, Ky is the tragic figure of the series. While his own actions cannot be excused, he really did have a lot of factors conspiring against him throughout his life. And the fact remains that where he ended up was not where he started.

He started noble. Ky was a great big brother and a dutiful son. He grew into a man who commanded the respect of his troops because of his intelligence, fearlessness, and skill.

But throughout his life and his training, there are whispers. Whispers that perhaps the world is not as he thinks it is. Whispers that convince him to believe his loved ones are scheming against him.

That these whisperers are the truly untrustworthy ones... well... that is the great tragedy.

Ky is quiet. Strong. He's not a big talker. Steve Bacic could definitely do a fantastic job playing Ky (actor pictured above - I fell in love with him in his role of Telemachus Rhade in Andromeda... which, yeah, was kinda cheesy (so why does it surprise you that I loved it?!)). Ky was never one of the characters who argued with me... though he had every right, considering what I ended up doing to him. He took it stoically. Of course he did, that's who he is. And I wouldn't change him, even though I dearly wish I could have written him a happily ever after of some kind.

However, he does eventually get redemption of sorts. I have the Battle of Ebulon collaboration to thank for that. I got to write one more story with Ky, and I'll be sharing it on here with you next week - so you can look forward to that. The story in that takes place between books 3-4 of the Minstrel's Song... and has a few minor plot spoilers if you haven't read book 3, but they're very small.

And that's really all I can say about Ky without giving away too much about books 1 & 2. So, I guess you're just going to have to read the books to find out more :)