Character designs

It was fun trying to visualize a few of the characters in the book. I took some inspiration from old school video games I enjoyed as a kid. One of them was called Phantasy Star, a role-playing series developed for the Sega Genesis back in the 80s/90s.

I fondly remember my dad buying me a computer gaming magazine that previewed Phantasy Star 3, which was released in 1990/1991. I was about 6 at the time and in the magazine, was some wonderful character artwork including this robot soldier named Wren (pictured second below).

Phantasy Star 3 isn't considered great game, but the follow up, Phantasy Star 4 is one of my favorites. It also features another android also called Wren (pictured top).

I won't spoil the story, but it's an epic tale with our heroes trying to defeat a great and ancient evil. What I loved about this world was that it's mix of both fantasy and sci-fi, with characters using both swords, magic, along with spaceships and energy blasters.  

You can probably tell that Wren influenced the character design to Arendi in my novel. (This is the original sketch I used with a mechanical pencil and paper. I wanted to honor the game.)

In Phantasy Star 4, there's also a character named Alys Brangwin, a hunter who uses a boomerang type weapon. I think I based a little bit of Specialist Alysdeon on her. 

I named Specialist Alysdeon after both Alys and the legendary sword used in the game, which is called Elsydeon. It's probably a bit silly, but Phantasy Star 4, along with many other sci-fi works, got me thinking about writing in the genre when I was young kid. I remember being about 10 years-old and scribbling down some fan fiction related to these games. 

Unfortunately, Phantasy Star 4 never received the proper sequel it deserved, although I don't think it really needed one. (The Phantasy Star series has also continued in the form of other games). Still, I suppose I wanted to rekindle those experiences. 

That said, my illustrations are just my own personal interpretations of the characters. Readers should imagine them however they wish.