I got to thinking about writer morality this morning while lying in bed--specifically, the fact that I have rooted for Dyan Ardais, Professor Snape, and Dr. Lecter at various bizarre moments.
No, I do not think that pedophilia, murder, and seducing an FBI agent to the Dark Side are laudable things. But man, those actions were awesome plot points in books I've read. I was applauding their authors' genius.
It occurred to me that Avriet does not have a villain--not really. The curse is more like Thread is on Pern--insidious, ever-present, but not really a villain that the hero can oppose on a mind-to-mind level. The real villains of the Pern novels are people like Fax, Lord Meron, and Weyrwoman Kylara.
So now, I have figured out the villain for Avriet--who was staring me in the face, all along.
This might change the protagonist from Micaul to Allistaire. Allistaire has a far greater stake in combating and in losing this antagonist than Micaul does.
I can't wait to get to work on it tonight!
Novels are slowly unfolding universes of discovery.
energetic