Aurelious’ life changes in an instant when an impulsive decision forces him to abandon everything he has ever known. Choosing to follow strangers into a new world, he discovers he was born with a gift so strong, so unique; it could give him the power to change humanity.
Aurelious Forty has led a lonely, troubled life. He stays disconnected from the world around him with no family and no friends. He lives merely to exist…to survive.
Aurelious’ life changes in an instant when an impulsive decision forces him to abandon everything he has ever known. Choosing to follow strangers into a new world, he discovers he was born with a gift so strong, so unique; it could give him the power to change humanity.
But the shadows of his childhood are long and dark and run through every fiber of his soul. Can Aurelious break the chains of his past and use his gift for good? Or will the nightmare of his tormentors set him on a path of revenge so fierce it could destroy us all?
GUEST POST
A Deeper Look at a Main Character: Aurelious Forty
Aurelious is, at times, a bit of an enigma. He is a very emotional character and while he shares his emotional experiences with the reader, he tries desperately to hide them from the characters that he interacts with on the page. He is typically unsuccessful in masking his own emotions from those around him though he’s generally unaware of how unsuccessful he is because he’s fairly self-absorbed, at least in the beginning of the book. Enigma.
There is a lot to love in Aurelious but he makes you work at loving him, he doesn’t give it right away. There are times when you might think it’s easier to dislike him but then he draws you in and you’re reminded of what he endured as a child and you’re proud of how far he’s come.
Although he is the main character and the one telling us his story, he isn’t the hero. He is really more of a sidekick who has to learn from the hero and finds himself fumbling along the way, a lot. He fumbles so much that he makes the hero a little less heroic for a minute. But, when he starts to look outside of himself, when he starts to connect with and care for the people around him, when he shows us how much he changes and overcomes, then he does become a little bit more of a hero himself. Or at least makes us question how a hero could be defined.
Aurelious Forty struggles. He learns. He grows. He changes. He is an imperfect character, just like the rest of us. And, in his imperfection, he is worthy of being loved, just like the rest of us. As the person who created him, I must confess, I hope people will embrace his flaws and love him.
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About the author:
Dianna Beirne lives in a fantasy world. Okay not really, but part of her wishes she did and, since that’s technically impossible, she writes about fantasy worlds instead. Her first Young Adult novel entitled Aurelious Forty; Volume One quickly turned into her first Young Adult series with the addition of Aurelious Forty; Volume Two and, Aurelious Forty; Volume Three.
When not writing, she’s generally daydreaming which morphs into wondering if that last daydream could turn into a book. She has also recently discovered podcasts but doesn’t exactly understand what they are or why they’re different from regular radio shows. So it’s safe to assume that her next book won’t be about a podcast. Instead she’ll just keep listening to the ones that she finds that hilarious because laughing is one of her favorite pastimes and she finds way too many things funny!
Prior to dedicating her time to writing, Dianna taught undergraduate and graduate courses about using literacy in the elementary, middle, and high school classroom. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s degree in Literacy and a Doctorate in Education specializing in Curriculum and Teaching.
Dianna lives in New York and is the grateful mother of a son whom she misses terribly when he is away at college.
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12 comments:
He stays disconnected from the world around him with no family and no friends. He lives merely to exist…to survive. How many times have I felt this way too? I need to read this book. Thank you for writing it :)
Agreed, Jan Lee. I feel like the essence of who Aurelious is, his background, how he relates to the world, is present in a lot of people. Often, those of us who are like him are overlooked or disregarded, just like he is. Aurelious is for everyone that thinks they are alone in the world or feels that they don't belong anywhere. We do belong, even as individual as we may be, we do belong and we all need to pay attention to each other. I hope you do read the series (there are three out right now all published between December and May and I'm working on the fourth) and I hope connect with it. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts :)
This book sounds awesome. Hope to read it soon.
Sounds amazing!! Also thanks for the chance!
I look forward to reading your books and keep up the great work.
Thanks for your kind words and support Robyn, Bonny, and Stephanie! If you use an e-reader, all electronic copies of Aurelious Forty Volume One are on sale for the month of July for only $2.99! If you choose to read it - thank you and I hope you like it!! D
I like that the character isn't just flawed or just perfect and that he learns and grows
Thanks for saying that, he is both as flawed and as perfect as real people are in real life. To me that kind of means that it's the individual who is viewing/judging/looking at him that will decide where he falls on the flawed/perfect scale, as they bring in their own biases. The important thing about Aurelious as a character is that he changes not only through the first book but throughout the series and just when he thinks he has things figured out, some kind of curve ball is thrown in and he's tested again. Sometimes he doesn't always handle those curveballs very well. I should say that his changes and development were important to me because it kept him interesting in my mind. Hopefully he will be interesting in everyone else's as well :)
I like the character and title name. It sounds like an interesting story.
Thanks Dan, there is actually a reason for his last name but you have to read Volume Two to find out that reason! Volumes 1-3 are all available :)
Thank you for the chance.
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