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Magic In An Urban Setting
The Realm of Darkness follows a team of Guardians competing in a tournament where they must uncover secrets, fight corruption, and face off against a powerful demon threatening to destroy humanity. What were some new ideas you wanted to introduce in this book that was different from book one?
Particularly with Book 2, I was eager to explore magic in an urban setting. The setting of Book 2 is in a large city where there are cars, firearms, phones, televisions, etc., but magic is also very present. I was very excited to show magic in that setting, particularly as the main villain reveals himself to the main characters and exhibits his power.
What scene in the book did you have the most fun creating?
I enjoyed everything surrounding the first time the main characters come face-to-face with the main villain of the series. It was fun having the characters go through such a grueling rescue mission only for that rescue mission to be a trap just to get them in position to meet the villain face-to-face for the first time. Those chapters were definitely the most fun for me to write.
Was there anything that developed organically while writing the story that surprised you about your characters?
As I wrote further into Book 2, the friendship dynamics between the five main characters solidified in the story, and even though they are becoming closer as friends, it was very organic to have the main character and leader of the team, Dalton, respect the privacy of his more secretive teammates rather than push them to reveal things they are not ready to share. It was a part of his character I did not expect to happen so organically, considering he is trying his best to learn as much as he can about his mission and the colleagues helping him fight the antagonist.
What can readers expect in book three in the Dimension Guardian series?
Book 3 starts off with a period of levity and silliness only for the team to delve further into the darker parts of their mission. There is more danger, more growth, and the characters have to learn to walk the line between their jobs as Guardians and their private lives as those who are closest to Dalton are directly threatened for the purpose of bringing Dalton and his team closer to a destined battle with the demon trying to destroy the realms.
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Dimension Guardian: The Realm of Darkness – Blind Ambitions
In the gripping sequel of The Guardian Tournament, Team Dalton returns to battle against other Guardians for the next part of the competition, all while trying to investigate the larger threat that continues to invade the world they live in. As the group gets closer to discoveries, they also find out a lot of things about each other, and not all of them accept what they find. Cooperation and trust are tested within the group, making the work much harder, and giving the god-like enemy time to prepare to wreak havoc across demons, beasts, darkness, light, and humans. The team must put aside their differences and ready themselves to confront the villain before it is too late.
Dimension Guardian: The Realm of Darkness – Blind Ambitions by K.J. Amidon is another exciting journey that takes us back to our beloved characters from a well-received novel. The sequel brings us to the same place but different time, where we find out what has happened to the characters after the last page of The Guardian Tournament, and what new adventure is in store for them. This does not just include their mission, which gradually gives anticipation and nervousness at the same time, but also their personal relationships with one another and their families. K.J. Amidon continues to give the right amount of world-building to introduce the second book, as well as references from the first book to keep it all accurate and flowing smoothly.
The second novel deserves the same attention as the first, not just because they are connected, but because this one offers another excellent reading experience to fans of the series. Each conversation, thought, and line in the novel contributes to the story it offers, and in the end gives a well-rounded idea about the happenings of the past, present, and even the future. Despite the increase in the number of characters, Amidon makes sure to give each one ample time to be highlighted, so readers can comprehend their personalities and significance in the narrative. Perhaps what stood out to me the most was that, as we get to know the characters more, we can clearly see that they are not all black and white, as they are molded by their personal experiences of triumph and hardship, a humbling thought for all-powerful creatures and humans.
This riveting dark fantasy serves as a great follow-up to its predecessor and opens doors for other adventures in the world. I highly recommend this paranormal adventure to readers who are ready to take on and invest their time in lengthy novels, because the author provides gates to new dimensions (with pun intended) that her fans can venture into.
Pages: 341 | ASIN: B00HR5U5AQ
Magical Understandings
Dimension Guardian: The Realm of Beasts – The Guardian Tournament follows five guardians from the five realms who are hand-picked to discover who is behind a plot to destroy their world. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
There were a lot of inspirations for this series, the main one being that I wanted to explore magic in a more contemporary setting where it was common understanding that magic existed, but there were still modern conveniences like cars, firearms, and cell phones. When I thought about how modern conveniences allow us to explore other countries in our world, I wanted to expand the world of the book to include other realms, which allowed me to create difference creatures, magical understandings, societies, and stereotypes that I could explore. Having one main character from each realm also allowed me to explore how each of those cultures interact with one another on an individual level.
The characters in Dimension Guardian are remarkably complex. What is your process for creating such in-depth characters?
I love exploring character complexity through character interactions. Authentic characters that feel real and dynamic are always a goal in my stories, and I want the interactions of the characters to feel realistic. For these characters, I wanted each of them to fill a certain role within the team, so I built the characters backwards so that their pasts would justify their behaviors (even if they don’t go into depth about their past right away). I didn’t want my characters to be flat, or single layered, so I was sure to figure out their home lives, their upbringing, their relationship with their job, and how they view other people so that every interaction was as realistic as possible.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I think challenging preconceived notions about people and situations was one of the most important themes I wanted to explore. Each of the main characters is from a different realm and there are certain stereotypes and prejudices that I wanted to showcase. I also wanted to explore the themes of strong-silent male characters always being alone and needing to be slowly softened over the course of a story. Most of these characters have loved ones and families that they cherish, and I wanted that to be a dynamic explored in this type of adventure story.
Can you tell us a little about where the story goes in book two and when the novel will be available?
The story continues by following the five Guardians through the tournament, but they finally meet their enemy face to face after he makes himself known in a very public way. From that moment on, they learn that there are forces far more powerful than they could have imagined lining up a destined fight that could destroy all five realms. The five Guardians must navigate the tournament, the politics, and the public fear as their mission becomes more complex and leads them into a battle where everything rests on their shoulders.
Books 2, 3, and 4 are currently available for purchase. The audiobook of Book 4 should be available in the next few months. And Books 5 and 6 will be available within the next 2 months.
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In a desperate attempt to investigate the corruption in Council and find the one who fractured the seal, Dalton is forced to participate in the Guardian Tournament, a spectacle that pits the highly-trained Guardians against one another in brutal battle for sport. Using the tournament as a distraction, the Elders of Council group the five strongest and most trust-worthy Guardians into one team to infiltrate and flush out criminals within the Guardian Branch. Working with his teammates Eclipse, Mitoki, Hanyi, and Keito, Dalton is tasked with a mission of unimaginable magnitude—and one that has far-reaching repercussions.
Dalton learns that this is not the first time the Guardian Tournament has been used as a distraction to the public. Forty years previous, a horrific massacre at the Guardian Tournament devastated the Dimension Protection Council. With the tournament in practice once again, there is expectation that the same criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands is behind the unrest threatening the five worlds…and Dalton knows he has become the bait to lure him out of the shadows.
Centuries-old secrets and hidden agendas bring the strongest Guardians to question their orders, their mission, and their own loyalty as they face an enemy more powerful than they could have ever believed.
Dimension Guardian
In a world divided into five realms —Demons, Beasts, Darkness, Light, and Humans— that have peacefully lived for centuries, a sudden increase of issues arose, pitting one group against another and shaking the balance that has long been preserved. The Dimension Protection Council discovered that the threats were perpetrated by Guardians, the sworn protectors of all the dimensions, and planned to put a stop to it all by reinstating the Guardian Tournament, where the heroes of the world play their strengths against fellow Guardians, all for the betterment of the realms. Along with the decision came the choice of putting their best Guardians from each realm in a single group, who will serve as the council’s eyes and ears inside the competition. However, as the chosen five all partake in a journey that starts during their preparation and ends with an actual battle, they will soon discover that the competition and the controversies spreading about the realms are just puzzle pieces to a much bigger picture and threat for all.
Dimension Guardian: The Realm of Beasts – The Guardian Tournament, by K.J. Amidon, is an engrossing story that introduces readers to a highly complex world of magic and the politics of it all. While the presence of creatures is nothing new in the fantasy genre, this novel stands out for it starts with a decades-old mystery that was deliberately unpacked throughout the story. Readers with a diverse set of main characters experience ongoing conflict on all sides. They can comprehend the gravity of the situation and how it will affect the entire setting.
The novel’s beginning immediately pulls readers into reading more about the fuss. Each new discovery is devoured with glee as you anticipate what further information they will get on the following pages. With a lot to digest in such a short amount of time, the fact that each scene straightforwardly explained its events makes the story understandable and easier to navigate. The main characters were also well-written in that they were all given ample time to be highlighted in every scene, and readers understood why these characters were wired in a certain way. Despite the age difference between the five, they were all given amusing and relatable traits, gaining audiences’ favor one way or another.
Dimension Guardian: The Realm of Beasts – The Guardian Tournament is a gripping dark fantasy novel that hooks readers from the first chapter and leaves them astounded by its end. It is also an excellent start for a series of books, so readers can be assured that there is more to tell. I highly recommend this for anyone that is a fan of books such as The Hunger Games because they share a common theme of tournaments, and The Shadowhunter Chronicles, for it also tackles race and its conflicts.
Pages: 275 | ASIN : B00CZE0IV0
Into Oblivion
![Into Oblivion (Roadside Paradise Book 1) by [K.J. Amidon]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41tPIRpcJSL._SY346_.jpg)
The Roadside Paradise traveling circus appeared as Athena’s savior, picking her up at a truck stop and encouraging her to join the show, accepting her almost like family. Athena, however, had, to a degree, sought out Roadside Paradise, hoping that the circus would provide answers to certain events of her past and help her find her sister. It shocked her to learn that the owner, known only as V, knew why she was there. It shocked her even more to learn about the incredible happenings within the show. When V tells her that he can help find her sister, Athena must learn to put aside her doubts and suspicions and allow it to happen.
Into Oblivion by K.J. Amidon is the first of the three part Roadside Paradise series and introduces us to Athena, V, Doc, and the rest of the troupe. With Athena as the initial focus, the plot quickly establishes her as a tough, no nonsense kind of person, hinting strongly at her troubled past without revealing everything too quickly. With the introduction of the circus and its many personalities however, Athena becomes more complicated, as she navigates the waters and tries to decide how much to reveal and to whom. She is quickly forced to admit that she has an ulterior motive for being there when she’s faced with Doc and V who legitimately have supernatural abilities. Almost as soon as they’re introduced, it becomes clear that the Roadside Paradise isn’t “just” a circus. Into Oblivion is an intricately and well crafted story about one person’s personal mission amid worldwide secret societies. It escalates quickly… and is a fun ride the entire time.
Into Oblivion has a lot going on and at times it feels like it’s telling two different and distinct stories. But as it twists and turns and new reveals are made, Athena’s story slowly becomes more intertwined with that of the circus, and V specifically. Because it’s part of a series, there are few resolutions by the end, but by that point you’re invested- not just in learning if the characters reach their goals, but also in finding out more about V and his history. Athena is the main character, but V is also an equally intriguing character.
I was frustrated initially with what seemed to be an overly busy storyline, I was nonetheless hooked very early on and was excited to see how it all started to come together. I hope the next two parts of the book tie everything up well and I’ll so we can see who comes out on top!
Into Oblivion is a complex urban fantasy novel infused with captivating paranormal elements that make this a must-read for any reader looking for a book that has an alluring mystery driving it.
Pages: 197 | ASIN: B0714DDHJ6
LITERARY TITAN 