Solar Element Saga
From Freepedia
The Solar Element Saga: The Legacy of Mirgard is a science fiction/fantasy novel written by William Blythe in 2004. This novel is similar in style to a Norse Saga, hence the title. It is set in present day America. The novel follows the life of Artemis, a paladin of the planet Mirgard, as a war between the royal family decimates planet mirgard and through alien technology ends up becoming present in the life of a Catholic Highschool girl named Amy Rivers. She and her friends, through genetic manipulation by alien technology, become a special forces unit called the Valkyries (Solar Element Saga). As Amy and her friends become immersed in an ancient war, they learn the price of battle, find forbidden love and learn exactly how ruthless and evil human beings can be. All of this is presented in a pseudo magical girl format popular in anime.
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Synopsis
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!Twenty-five hundred years ago, on planet Mirgard, war raged between Empress Celine and her twin, Hecate. Peace, along with Mirgard, crumbled as Hecate sought to obliterate pregnant Celine and her babies. Celine names her most trusted maid, Artemis, the caretaker of her children and empowers her body with special powers and grants her the title of Paladin. Hecate and her rebels launched an attack against Crystal Mirgara, the largest city on Mirgard containing her sister’s home, Mirgara Palace. After a grueling battle, Hecate being a sore loser summons her most powerful attack and literally crushes the planet to pieces. Celine encases the palace and the surrounding in a magical bubble the remainer of the Mirgaran space force tows the landmass to the planet Mars. Celine gives birth to the new set of Gemini twins, Brenda and Freya. Shortly after, the Empress and her newborns are nearly assassinated by one of Hecate’s agents who is slain by Artemis. After this event, Celine decrees that Artemis take the nine pair of Solar Gems earrings from the royal treasury and being training a Special Forces unit called the Valkyries when the newborns reach the age of five. Time passes and the princesses grow to be young women. On the day of the coronation four of the other Valkyrie canadates, the Sable Angels, show out to be spies of Hecate. A battle ensues and the Valkyries and Artemis are forced to enter cryogenic tubes and rocketed to earth. As Celine draws her last breath, she uses a doomsday device to entrap Hecate and her the Sable Angels in the crust of the moon. The war was over until in modern day a meteror strikes the moon and frees Hecate and her Sable Angels. The Sable Angels, Zephyr, Auster, Favon and Borelia, with the help of Hecates magic destroy the cryochambers which the Valkyries lie in save the one Artemis resides in. They simple bring her out of suspended animation so she can enjoy seeing her charge’s death and feel the pain of failure. The Sable Angel’s plan backfires as Artemis is visited by a hologram of Celine. Celine tells Artemis that she has engineer a backup plan incase Hecate escaped. Celine had implanted tiny vessels called Pearls of Venus into the X gene of four maids. The Pearls of Venus contained memories and the genome of each of the four Valkyries. The women were sent to live on earth. In order to activate the latent genes, Artemis would simply have to find the descendants of carriers and activate the Solar Gems. Artemis’s powers lead her to America and to the adoption of a little Hispanic girl named Julia. After training the girl in martial arts, Artemis gives Julia on her 14th birthday the unused pair of Solar Gems. Julia becomes Aries, Valkyrie of the Strata. Shortly after Borelia is sent by Hecate to find the Valkyrie and kill her. Aries first encounter with Borelia leaves her nearly dead as she almost succumb to Borelia’s virulent poison. Aries is revived by Artemis’s antivenin and defeats Borelia as she attempts to kill Julia’s best friend. Artemis takes a teaching job and travels the country fighting the Sable Angels and searching for the other Valkyries to help her defeat Hecate.
From here the plot becomes incredibly rich and thus for the remainder of the synopisis, I will simply highlight main turning points and events.
- Artemis finds that her students, Amy Rivers and her friend Emily Blake, to be the carriers of the princesses memories and DNA . Amy and Emily become Luna and Helios. The old memories and DNA do not overwrite the hosts mind or DNA but simply augment it.
- Artemis loses one of the final Solar Gem earrings and it is found by Zephyr.
- The Sable angels and Valkyries have a duel to determine who keeps the final pair of Solar Gems. A young student named Holly witnesses the battle and in an effort to end it, she grabs the Solar Gems and becomes Libra, Valkyrie of the Gale.
- It is revealed at this point that Aries and Auster are romantically involved.
- Zephyr uses this information to hopefully eliminate both Auster and favon, whom he hates, and an enemy by convincing Favon that Auster should be her lover.
- The Valkyries fight Hecate face to face as she comes to earth in the form of a hulking 50ft tall goddess. We learn that Amy’s family heirloom protects her from succumbing to her own dark powers.
- At the Cherry Blossom dance, Favon critically injures Julia leaving her in a coma.
- Favon has a breakdown as she realizes what she has done.
- Auster is then banned for Hecate’s palace. He forgives Favon and attempts to convince Borelia and Favon to leave the Sable Angels. Borelia believes him a trader and favon cannot forgive herself so both decline his offer
- Auster decides to aid his foes for the sake of Julia and gives the Valkyries a map and location of Hecate’s palace
- Artemis uses her powers to condense time so that the Valkyries witness Celine defeating Hecate in battle. Amy and Emily learn that they must fully awaken as Gemini to kill her.
- The heroes travel to Greece and board an ancient star craft. They pilot the craft to the dark side of the moon and free fall into Hecate’s royal garden.
- The Valkyries fight Borelia and her goons. After Luna attempts to show her mercy and compassion, Borelia attacks her and is quickly killed by Artemis.
- The Valkyries encounter Favon next. Favon, between her own guilt and Borelia’s death, has completely lost her mind. Luna attempts to reason her out of suicide, but Zephyr eggs her on for his own sick pleasure. Favon dies in an explosion of black fire.
- Sickened by Zephyr the Valkyries attack him. He using his powers he clones himself and eventually traps the heroes in a fireball. Auster comes from behind, runs his sword into Zephyr’s heart and whispers in his ear “For Julia.”
- Luna apologizes to Auster for the loss of his friends. Auster swallows his hurt and simply tells her it was there fate and that they are better off now. Meanwhile Zephyr uses the last of his strength to send a fireball at Luna. Virgo pushes Luna out of the way and suffers a mortal wound to the stomach.
- Luna Artemis and Helios enter the castle.
- Artemis fights against Hecate and loses terribly. Luna and Helios attack Hecate only to find themselves separated
- Hecate takes on a beautiful form and attempts to trick Luna into believing her fate is to become like Hecate and that her darkness is amplified by the Solar Gems. Helios is sent to fight a hideous beast summoned by Hecates powers.
- Each girl breaks free from the Illusion.
- Luna prays to God and her prayers are answers as the Gemini DNA manifests itself.
- Using the Gemini Beam, the twins destroy Hecate.
- The black palace collapses and the Valkyries sail for home
- On a private beach the Valkyries land only to find Virgo has died from her wounds
- Stretching the limits of their powers the twins revive her.
- Auster tells Artemis that he loves Julia and then travels to the hospital to see her Auster kisses her lips and her eyes open.
Characters
Gemini Twins- the Gemini are a lineage of rulers on planet Mirgard. Since the time when the first identical twins were born from the princess of the planet and an angel she fell in love with, a set of twins blesses with godlike powers has ruled Mirgard. One has power of light the other powers of darkness.
Hecate- the Dark Gemini and Aunt of Luna and Helios. Hecate was dethroned for her fascist ways and since then her entire goal in life is to kill her nieces. In fact she cares nothing about ruling Mirgara or Earth, simply bloodlust drives her.
Auster- Auster’s Taurus Solar Gems give him the powers of Earth. He truly never is evil he simply believed that Mirgard would be better ruled as a democracy than as a monarchy. He is loyal, brave, and honorable. He only followed Hecate as she promised him the democracy. Clearly throughout the novel he grows more opposed to Hecate. Having lost his home, his lover, his friends and family, Auster is the tragic hero of this novel. His weapon of choice: Sword
Favon- Like Auster, she simply wanted democracy and a good place to raise her family. She was Auster’s best friend and she loved him with all of her heart. [[Hecate]] again betrayed her trust. Her broken heart fuels her jealous and her innate goodness that drives her mad after she believes she has ruined her best friend’s life. Favon’s Pisces Solar Gems give her dark fire powers. Her weapon of choice: Whip
Zephyr- Zephyr simply enjoys evil. He relishes in the suffering of others and the truly dark thing is that he is addicted to it. Simply for his own pleasure he ruins Favon’s life and attempts to ruin Auster’s as well. He joined Hecate simply to watch others suffer. He has no remorse, no love, and no compassion. Zephyr has the Sagittarius earrings and the power of fire. His weapon of choice: Hammer
Borelia- Her poison powers match her personality. She is a materialist and yet she cares deeply for both Favon and Auster. She is ruthless, vain and extremely beautiful. She fights to win fearlessly. She joined Hecate simply out of her jealousy of the princesses. Her weapon of choice: poison-laced sais
Julia Llwelyn- Julia was just a toddler when her parents died in a horrible car crash. Life at the orphanage made her cold and calculating as well as wary of others. She is brave, fiery, and protective. Julia likes to be in control of her situation at all times. As the oldest Valkyrie, she is the leader and views the others as little sisters. She loves Auster with all her heart and refused to tell even her mother of the affair. Julia is Aries; Valkyrie of the Strata and commands lightning based powers. Her weapon of choice: the metal glove.
Artemis- Truly the main character of the story, Artemis has faithfully fought against Hecate from the start. She is clever, inventive, loyal, honorable and brave. The hard lessons in her life allow her to approach life with great wisdom and make her a wonderful teacher and mother. Not only does she serve as mentor to the Valkyries, but she fights along side them as Valartemis. She posses a great variety of powers Celine bestowed upon her including: understanding foreign languages, various energy projectile powers, healing and time manipulation. In every sense of the word, she is a paladin. Her weapon of choice: sword.
Celine: Celine is the Light Gemini. She is a fair, just and kindly ruler of Mirgard. Loved by all on her planet her military forces held Hecate’s forces in check for nearly five years before the events that destroyed Mirgard. While ruling the country is her destiny, her children always come first. Because of her godlike powers she is able to perform feats such as creating a bubble to withstand an exploding planet, sustain an atmosphere in space, and even visit Amy in the form of a spirit.
Jane Deuxpan: Jane transferred to Amy’s school when her mother came to the USA for business reasons. She has a tendency to worry a lot and finds herself often overwhelmed with anxiety. She is very feminine, bright, brave, and noble. Emily helps her overcome her social awkwardness and teaches her to relax. Jane is Virgo; Valkyrie of the Cascade and commands water and ice based powers that strengthen exponentially in her proximity to water. Her weapon of choice: the cascade boomerang
Holly Kelberg: Holly is the brains of the bunch. She attends a special school for the gifted and is considered a violin prodigy. She is very logical, analytical, and scientifically minded but very compassionate and nurturing as well. She is the smallest in stature in her human form. As Libra, Holly grows to be six feet tall, build like an Olympic athlete and her hair turns from mouse brown to a fiery red. Libra is the perfect match of strength and smarts. Libra is Valkyrie of the Gale, and commands wind based powers. Her weapons are a pair of wings that allow her to fly through the air and a magical flute with an arsenal of reality altering melodies
Amy Rivers: Amy is selfless, intelligent, puts her friends before all else, and fight with the valor of a champion. She thinks with her heart instead of her head. Often she has her doubts about the direction her life is going and seeks help from GOD. She faintly can feel her dark powers rising in her but represses it with a special stone called the Heart of Mirgara that she wears as a pendant. Her alter-ego is Freya princess of Mirgard and dark Gemini. Fittingly she is Luna, Valkyrie of the Night and commands night themed powers. She goes from black hair and brown eyes to blonde hair and blue eyes when she transforms. Her weapon of choice: Bow and arrows
Emily Blake: Emily is very excitable, passionate and the party girl of the bunch. She loves to crack jokes and enjoy her life. She is the team spirit. She is very laid back yet when provoked demonstrates she is a tremendously gifted fighter and swordswoman. Her fighting style is fueled by passionate anger. Fitting with her sunny personality, Emily is Helios, Valkyrie of Sunshine and commands light based powers. She is also Brenda, princess of Mirgard and light Gemini. Her weapon of choice: the solar sword.
Themes
In the Solar Element Saga is present a family at war with itself. The novel addresses war not in a glorifying way but address the people involved. War is treated as gray; with the exception of Hecate and Zephyr, none of the characters are truly evil. The reason for the war is justifiable on both sides; the Valkyries fight to preserve their reign and the Sable Angels fight to create a democracy initially. Most of the novel demonstrates that war extended too long losses its meaning and both sides begin to doubt exactly why they are fighting. Secondly, love is the next crucial underpinning of this work Auster, Favon and Borelia join Hecate for love of their country. It is Celine’s love for her children that allows Mirgard to be destroyed and eventually her own demise. This love also extends the war for eons instead of years. Favon’s love for Auster is exploited by Zephyr creating the catalyst that finishes the war. Auster’s love for Julia forces him from being doubtful about his side in the war to clearly understanding that Hecate was using all of the Sable Angels just for her own revenge. As in life, love is the driving force that affects many choices and decisions. Finally the novel touches on human emotion. Hecate’s jealously, hatred and bloodlust is strong enough to destroy countless lives without remorse. Favon’s jealousy and self doubt allows her to violently strike down Julia and eventually drives her mad.
References
Blythe, William. Solar Element Saga(2004) ISBN 1413724604
External Links
Books main home page [1]
Artwork from the novel [2]
