~M~ is for Marissa Coulter

My Theme for the 2014 A to Z Challenge is: SciFi/Fantasy Characters in Novels

I'll introduce you to a new scifi/fantasy character from the plethora of novels I've read over my lifetime. My goal is to entice those who maybe haven't read much in the genre I write and share why I find these characters so interesting. I hope you'll enjoy taking the ride with me.

~M~ is for Marissa Coulter from Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass

In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.

I chose to highlight Marissa Coulter because she is one of my favorite villains. In the beginning she appears a glamorous, agreeable and charming woman with a sharp intellect. At the same time, we see moments of a determined and rather cold-hearted person who rarely shows her true feelings and is very much used to getting her way in all situations. Her double nature immediately set me up to view her with suspicion. Just when I'm convinced she is a cold-hearted and thoroughly evil woman, she does something to make me pause and rethink my opinion. Overall I found her well rounded and loved the series.

Shine 7: Lost Haven by Sabrina A. Fish is available on Amazon as an e-book. This is my very first published work, so please so some love and check it out! If you like it, please check out the rest of the series written by other contributing authors.

In the near future, a few young women manifest extraordinary abilities called "Shine." Each girl's ability is different. Some develop extraordinary mental abilities. Some become physically strong. Others have powers that defy description. But the world does not embrace these Shines. It fears them.

Camille’s life hasn’t been the same since her parent’s supposed murder suicide. When an intruder ransacks her home and she discovers a mysterious thumb drive hidden in her father’s office, she realizes the unwanted changes in her life are just beginning. Politics and conspiracy, betrayal and abduction. Camille is about to discover that change is inevitable and hiding is not an option.