Search

The Protagonist Speaks

Interviews with the characters of your favourite books

Open Search
Tag

Sci-Fi

Emily Branwell (of Plato’s Cave by Russell Proctor)

Dear readers, tonight with me on the interview couch is a young woman who woke up one morning to find reality disintegrating around her.

From a horoscope that is astoundingly accurate, to sausages which keep appearing out of nowhere all around her, to how she can walk through walls.

She is here to tell us about humanity’s search for truth and the meaning of existence, through the eyes of someone who wishes the Universe would just stop bothering her.

We never meet any of your family. What are they like?

My parents are lovely people. My dad works as an accountant and Mum is a registered nurse. She’s a great person, despite boring people to death with her encyclopedic knowledge of the novels of the Brontë sisters. She really should go on one of those quiz shows. Dad collects Star Wars memorabilia, which is kind of cool. I’m an only child. That is, I did have a brother but he died of cancer. I was only four at the time so I don’t really remember much about him.

What do you do now?

What I did before. Study, bitch, drink coffee and indulge my chocolate addiction. But I don’t know…things are different. The sun is…have you ever seen the Sun? I mean, stared at it for ages, felt the warmth of it on your skin—really felt it, like fingers massaging you? My senses seem to have gone up a few notches since…well, since that time. Things just appear different. It’s hard to explain. Continue reading “Emily Branwell (of Plato’s Cave by Russell Proctor)” →

0

Jay of (Suffrage by Julian St Aubyn Green

julian-green-suffrage

Dear readers, tonight with me is woman with powers beyond any human, trying to prevent the destruction of our world by her father.

She is here to tell us about her efforts to redeem herself, save the world, and about certain ancient relics that lie hidden in our world – and of the travellers who come looking for them.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I appreciate what you are trying to do, really. But you need to think very carefully about what questions you ask me. I know you feel like you have a duty to the people of this planet to find out about me. It’s admirable. But I know the purpose of this interview. The President wants to use it for propaganda, but for you it’s a record, history in the making and the reason behind all the deaths.

I’m sorry for making you feel nervous, but understand, there are some things I won’t answer. My secrets are too important to share, some of your people have already tried to kill me for them. I might have agreed to this interview as a favor for the President, but that doesn’t mean you have carte blanche. I won’t answer every question.

That said, I was born in a place I only knew as the Facility, in a crèche of my half-brothers and sisters. It was somewhere in the White Realm, that’s all I know. My slave name was Juliet. You can call me Jay. No. I know what you are thinking, my name has nothing to do with William Shakespear. It comes from the military phonetic alphabet. You know, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie…Delta. I remained in the facility until I was rescued by the Rebellion. I’m telling you this because it’s not me you need to fear. It’s the Monarchs that think they can do what they want, because they have the power, and no consequences for their actions.

What can you tell us about-?

No. I don’t consider him my Father. I call him The Inseminator. It’s an appropriate name for a monster of his caliber. You have no idea what he is capable of. He and the other Royals. He is worse than any of your history’s despots. Who was Adolf Hitler? Yes, even worse than him. During the Monarch War, he slaughtered half the world until there was no one willing to stand against him. Just let that sink in. Half the world. Continue reading “Jay of (Suffrage by Julian St Aubyn Green” →

0

Aeley Dahe (of A Question of Counsel by Archer Kay Leah)

archer-kay-leah-a-question-of-counsel

Dear Readers, tonight with us is a political leader, feeling increasingly isolated and lonely after she was forced to arrest her own brother.

Things get more complicated from there, with dead bodies, political intrigue, and the appearance of Lira, a woman she finds strangely attractive.

She is here to tell us about life as the Tract Steward, her involvement with Lira, crimes and law enforcement, and potential romantic suitors.

 

 

Tell us a little about where you grew up in the Republic of Kattal. What was it like as the daughter of a politician?

Thanks for an easy question! I like you already.

Home has always been my family’s estate in Dahena Village, a well-known town here in the tract of Gailarin. (I’m told our tracts are the same as your states or provinces.) Dahena isn’t big, but it’s friendly, always bustling, armed with gossip, and mostly peaceful. My father wanted us to live outside of our wealth and take care of people, so as a kid I spent a lot of time in the village. Dallied too long in the shops, got kicked out of the taverns I snuck into late at night whenever curfew annoyed me… and was marched right back home.

Like the rest of Kattal, our red earth is solid and vibrant like the people, and we love our rules, reputation, and reminiscence… but that’s a whole new mouthful.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child?

My wooden swords and a stick horse one of our guards made for me. I’d gallop around wearing a ridiculous paint-mucked bed sheet and a battered pot, brandishing my sword and shouting “Oh ho! I’ll save the day!” as I searched every room for someone in trouble. After the third time, my father started sending me on quests. Sometimes they required several days worth of good deeds and challenges (I tried, honest, but sometimes I failed spectacularly) or they required serious thought and I’d fall asleep working them out. Father gave me medals of honour and bravery afterwards, little tokens he’d pin on my cloak with the biggest of smiles. Continue reading “Aeley Dahe (of A Question of Counsel by Archer Kay Leah)” →

0

Zrahnz Uleryn (of Rites of Heirdron by Newland Moon)

aaron-michael-hall-rites-of-heirdronDear Readers, tonight with us is an intergalactic adventurer, here to tell us about his home-world and adventures.

 

 

 

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

Where I grew up? Well, I doubt that you could understand my world or what is left of it. The capital city is beautiful. There are rivulets, hillocks, large lakes, and gorgeous scented flowers that perfume the air. It appears to go on endlessly until you unveil the illusion. The Uleryn capital is all that remains of my world. My planet, Triaxeyn was nearly decimated during a biological attack shortly after my birth. All that remains is protected within a dome. That’s the truth of my world and of my life.

Did you have any favorite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

It’s not the toys or frivolous items that I think of fondly. It was the people who surrounded me that made my childhood memorable. My childhood was a happy one, despite our hardships. My mother, Alyahna, became queen when I was but three cycleids. Since that time, it’s her and Q-1 Raydren that I recall at my side. If not for them and my friend, Aldryn, Triaxeyn could’ve been a depressing place; even for a prince. Continue reading “Zrahnz Uleryn (of Rites of Heirdron by Newland Moon)” →

1

Hannah (of : Booting Up – Virtual Wars Series prequel by Brian Basham)

booting-up-virtual-wars-series-brian-bashamDear readers, you would have heard of the Virtual wars, that arrangement that was supposed to end wars as we know it. When diplomatic relations fail,  the armies of New Pangea fight it out in a virtual reality simulation. The winner gets the spoils, but no one is supposed to die.

Tonight with us is a young girl with a different story. A survivor of the virtual wars, she is here to tell us of her adevntures and narrow escape.

 

 

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I was in and out of orphanages as a child. Half of them are in buildings nearing collapse. There’s no reason for that. There are plenty of abandoned buildings that aren’t falling apart although much of it is located in areas where plant life have taken over. The Enforcers tried to keep me caged at these dilapidated prisons for children, but no one can cage this ninja!

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

My PEL, I guess. Everyone has one, so it’s not anything special. I did learn a lot from hackers on the dark net, but they’ve all since been arrested. They taught me how to hack my PEL device to disable tracking. It’s hard to escape when all the Enforcers have to do is track your PEL. I had to learn that the hard way.

What do you do now?

I’m currently in school studying whatever I feel like would be the most useful of skills to be a spy. That’s what I really want to be. Continue reading “Hannah (of : Booting Up – Virtual Wars Series prequel by Brian Basham)” →

1

Adam Carpenter (of Eden’s Serum by Angelique S. Anderson)

eden-serumDear readers, tonight with me on the interview couch is the Founder and CEO of one of America’s hottest technology start-ups. His development of the Identicoin, revolutionized the identification process, and now makes it so that all of our personal, medical, banking and criminal history is on one easy little disk.

Recently, however, he came across something unheard of, that enticed him beyond words. Immortality. But is the secret of Eden’s Serum all that it’s advertised to be?

He is here to tell us about his adventures and his life.

 

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

Nothing too spectacular, not like the apartment I had before I moved to Bakersfield. My father was a hardworking man, we lived menially and he did try to give us everything. I just never felt like I connected with him on a personal level. He wasn’t happy when I told him that I wanted to major in Nanotechnology, which was made further evident when I told him about my promotion at Identitech. Actually, I hadn’t talked to him for quite a while. Not until this whole thing happened with Identitech.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

Hmmm, well I guess as a kid my favorite toys were my hot wheels. I like to race them, it felt like the only thing that made sense. I didn’t really like being outside. When I was gifted an older tablet for my birthday, the first thing I did was take it apart to look at the inside… ha, ha. I forgot all about my cars, I must have had over a hundred of them. They were inexpensive, so my father didn’t mind getting them for me for Christmas’s and birthdays.

Boy was he mad when he discovered I had taken apart the first tablet I ever got. That is essentially what really sparked my love for all things technical. When I saw what it could do with the swipe of a finger, I had to know more. I still keep that torn apart tablet, in a lock box at home. It holds tremendous sentimental value for me. Probably the only thing I have ever been sentimental over, until Evelyn. Continue reading “Adam Carpenter (of Eden’s Serum by Angelique S. Anderson)” →

0

Lia (of The Veiled Soul by Abbie Chandler)

the-veiled-soul-abbie-chandler
Dear readers, tonight with me is a woman doomed to pay for crimes she doesn’t remember committing. As a grim reaper, the split of time between life and death is the only chance she gets to feel anything real.

She is here to tell us about the ephemeral transition between life and death, and of what binds her to the mortal world.

 

 

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I have absolutely no idea where I grew up. As a grim reaper, my memories of my life (and the crime that got me here) have been wiped clean, and I’m stripped of my soul. The only life I’ve ever known is the reaper realm. It occupies the same space as the physical world. Same buildings, same things, but there are no people. There is no color. I leave ghostly footprints. I could be crashing is your guest bedroom or stealing your coffee. I can’t stick around in the same place very long, so I bounce around from houses to hotel rooms. The only thing I’m meant to do is reap souls, but residual urges drive me. I eat. I sleep. I run. I have sex. It’s muted and emotionless, but I guess it’s the only way I can connect to what I used to be.

How did you get here?

As a reaper, I’m unable to connect any living being. They’re not supposed to be able to see me. Just before I was ripped out of the reaper realm and thrust back into the physical world, I was supposed to reap the soul of a murdered young girl. The only problem is that the killer was there, and he could SEE me, and he seemed to know me. Then, instead of killing the girl, he tried to kill me. It’s not even possible to kill a reaper, but in that moment, my whole world shifted, and I was in the middle of a parking lot, bleeding to death. So now I’m trying to piece together how I got out, why a human could see a reaper, and what I did in the past to be a reaper to begin with. To make matters worse, I feel a constant pull to kill. I have no soul. I feel a bit like a monster.

But it’s nothing like him. They call him the Phoenix. Before he tried to murder me, I felt his soul. It was solid. Pure evil. Continue reading “Lia (of The Veiled Soul by Abbie Chandler)” →

1

Eden Maas (of Aeon Infinitum by E. Rachael Hardcastle)

aeon-infinitum-e-rachael-hardcastle
Dear readers, for those who are blissfully unaware, the Harmony Grid has just been activated. As you know, ever since the large meteor NORA hit Earth and threw it into six months of darkness, the remainder of humanity has been living out on Titan, that purpose-built underground ark. But now that the Harmony Grid is activated people are panicking…

With us is a young lady, who will tell us about her fight for survival as she and her friends crossed a post-apocalyptic world in search of a newer, better sanctuary.

 

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I grew up in Titan, a dank underground ark built by our ancestors. It sits beneath Ad Infinitum, which is our governor Czar’s name for what was once the Earth. Titan was intended to be a sanctuary to protect future generations from the aftermath of a meteor named NORA. Although Titan is my home, I’ve been in and out of prison my entire life for petty crime, probably spending more time either working or locked up than in my dorm.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

My earliest memory is at five years old – that’s fourteen years ago. At least I think I was five. I can’t be sure; I’ve been hit in the head a lot during my imprisonment, you know? The memory is of my mother handing me a small brown teddy bear whose name I forget. For a while that bear was the only friend I had, but we were inseparable.

What do you do now?

Before my imprisonment I worked in Serenity, the back office faction of Titan. I worked alongside a man named Ginny Bede who ran Rehab. We were in partnership with the prison warden to assign orphans and offenders new factions. I helped to rehabilitate and merge them with Titan’s community. Now I’m behind bars and serving a death sentence shortly, I’m out of work. Continue reading “Eden Maas (of Aeon Infinitum by E. Rachael Hardcastle)” →

1

Nikola Tesla (of Tesla’s Signal by Laura Woodswalker)

TESLA'S SIGNAL - Laura WoodswalkerDear readers, tonight with me is a special person, one who has turned into a cultural icon of our generation. The Protagonist is honoured to welcome Nikola Tesla to the interview couch!

Tonight he will tell us about his amazing discoveries, and his almost unnatural connection to electrical currents.

 

 

Can you describe to us your affinity to electricity? How does it feel / look?

As a child I could feel the lightning building up to strike, and I ran to touch it. Miraculously, instead of being killed, I felt as if my body and soul had come alive. The sensation was like you might feel the wind in your face, or a spray of water. I did not realize that others didn’t feel this and that I was something of a freak.

Because of my extreme sensitivity to currents and light, I developed what others might call Phobias. I did not like to look at women’s jewellery because of how it bent the light. I started trying to control this sensitivity through calculations. Numbers, especially the number 3, were like an invisible structure that I wove around the world. I always had to do everything by 3’s. After I nearly died of cholera, I became terrified of germs and reluctant to shake hands. I obsessively washed my eating utensils. People thought I was quite an eccentric! Some even thought I was mad…a ‘mad scientist’ if you will.

How did this affinity affect your scientific work?

My brain was like a finely tuned receiver. I could visualize the inside of devices…and when I built them, they worked perfectly! I could travel to imaginary places and speak with the people I met. My sensitivity became so painfully intense that I thought I would surely die…and that was when I received a communication from a race of energy beings who spoke to me in currents. This was not a hallucination: the Aon were from the dimension of ‘subtle matter’. They spent their lives studying the universe, and now they wished to study and exchange knowledge with me.

This meeting stimulated my brain to make new connections, and I was struck by a most  transcendent vision of the rotating magnetic field, which would become the 3-phase alternating current motor. This was the breakthrough which led to the gift of electrical power for all of the world. Continue reading “Nikola Tesla (of Tesla’s Signal by Laura Woodswalker)” →

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑