Garenth is Lorelei’s father and he has always been part of the cast for the first book, Rise of the Winged Assassin. I can’t even remember how many times I rewrote chapter one with Lorelei and her father. He’s a rough and tumbly kind of guy who is very strict and expects the most out of his children. I’m not giving away any spoilers by telling you that he is infected with the disease called the Renai because this this shows up in chapter one. Because he has the Renai he has to enforce upon himself an even stricter control over his emotions and actions. This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a tremendous amount of love for his children, and even though as a parent you aren’t supposed to pick favorites, Lorelei is his.
It was a bit of a challenge to balance out a man like this and to also show the reader the side of him that still loves her. The disease challenges and tried to suppress feelings like love and compassion, but through his actions and dialogue, I hope, you can see that he works very hard at not allowing the disease to completely take him over. He has a nickname for her and shows restraint when they are together, he’s taking time to train her on the side and teach her tactics that haven’t been taught to her class yet. He wants the best for her.
In their world there is a war raging between them, the Keyou, and the Toraveru, and because of this they are trained from a very young age how to wield a sword and battle their enemies. They are also taught to manage an extreme amount of discipline and control to keep themselves from falling prey to the disease, which comes to the surface when exposed to all the violence the warriors are subjected to. While out in the field Garenth begins to show signs of the disease but the only person so far that knows this is his fellow warrior and long time friend Shaye. When they come back from this particular battle the villagers start to whisper behind his back and there is a general suspicion that he has it but no facts to act on it.
The Elders, for a century, dictate that anyone who comes down with the Renai must be executed. If you voluntarily subject yourself to this form of death, your family remains in their current social standing but if you flee, they are exiled. Out in the world alone, during a war with the Toraveru, basically leads to their death. Really sad. I’m glad that I found a more honorable death for this complex, strong and deeply loving man.
To find out more about Garenth and the rest of the cast, please pick up a book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
It was really hard for me to find a picture of Garanth that fit how he looks in my mind. This picture of Michael Fassbender is pretty close.
Until Next Time. Have a great weekend!