Curse of Time: Book One of the Agnavina Series
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Abstract
This Master's thesis contains the first five chapters of my novel in the young adult fantasy genre. The story revolves around a young man named Kieran and will explore themes of identity, depression, and family (both biological and chosen). The novel can be categorized as a "hero’s journey," as the main character begins as a reluctant, disoriented foreigner of a fantastical world, and develops into a hero whose skills and abilities turn the tides of a bloody war between Agnavina and the invading Harkin Empire. The story will initially take place on Earth in America but will quickly transition to Agnavina early on in the story. Agnavina is a world rife with magic, diverse races and monsters, and various locales, all of which I have built since my teenage years. The transition from Earth to Agnavina and Kieran’s feeling of vague familiarity in a world he’s never been in parallel with my personal experiences as an international student living in America from 2016, which, for lack of a better phrase, was a time full of unease. The characters Kieran meets and the relationships he forges with them change him from a distrusting and jaded young man into a more caring and responsible individual. These reflect some aspects of my personal life, and as such this story can be considered a symbolic meditation of my trauma, emotions, and relationships, through exaggerated and fantastical representations of my experiences in America. On Earth, Kieran has nothing left. He is a high school dropout who has recently lost his loving mother. He barely has any memory of his biological father, and the only male figure in his life has been his abusive stepfather. A depressed, laggard teenager, Kieran has meandered through life ever since his mother’s tragic passing. Left with nothing but the keys to his parents’ old cabin in the Appalachians and an obscured polaroid of his father, he leaves for the mountains to escape the law after an altercation with his stepfather. In the cabin, he discovers a hidden, mysterious artifact that gives him the untapped power to control time, and he stumbles into the world of Agnavina. His journey will take him through a land of opportunity and danger, where he will learn to process his grief, trust and care for others, and develop a sense of belonging and personal responsibility. Curse of Time is a story about a wanderer discovering himself and finding his own place in the world--or rather, multiple worlds.