The author commentary of A Circle of Shadows continues! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Theme in a larger sense…
I always hated this part of English Lit; determining the theme of a work. How do you summarize 300 plus pages into a single overall concept?
Now I can’t help but do it constantly. Much to my chagrin.
Big picture, Greystone has always been, to me, about good against evil. About standing for something, about being a light against the constant darkness. Loren and Soriya made up the light and with it they battled the shadows of Portents for the safety of all others.
Constant. Never yielding. No matter the menace. No matter the cost.
Loss and sacrifice.
Death holds meaning.
It has to, and I’ve done my best to exemplify this throughout the series. Soriya’s ruminations on death, on the concept of the afterlife as it ties to the ever-present Bypass, are constantly in the background of the stories. She is always wondering about coming back, about bringing people back, about righting the wrongs of those she’s lost over the years.
That need, those conversations early on in Signs of Portents and Tales from Portents, paved the way to the finale of this novel.
Soriya’s fear of death, that early memory of Gilgamesh taking the soul of the girl in the orphanage, made it clear this was a fight she needed to face.
And ultimately lose.
Not by surrendering and not by defeat. But by sacrificing herself for her ideals; for Portents.
For Loren more than anyone.
Killing a major character.
I didn’t want to shy away from this. I tried, Lord I tried, to change it. There are some terribly written hospital scenes buried somewhere in my recycle bin if you want the evidence.
Truth be told, I think death for Soriya was just another journey and she was willing to take it now more than ever.
She stopped the threat, survived the menace of the Heads of Cerberus, and had nothing left to give.
Loss and sacrifice. What Greystone means to me. For the greater good, sure, but for ourselves more than anything. The betterment of ourselves. Never out of fear but love.
When Soriya tosses the Greystone out to Loren, knowing the journey continues for him; knowing he will pick up the mantle and do the work she has since she was four, she lets go of the world with love in her heart and a smile on her face.
The way any of us would like to go.
So what happens next?
I want to tell you. Really, I do. But I won’t. There are clues in the books. Things Soriya has said herself about the Bypass and what lies beyond the veil.
Is Soriya’s story done?
What do you think?
