Kyrin Altair--Ilyon Chronicles

Yes, I'm back to Resistance again. It's a great book with some really great characters. My favorite character is Kyrin Altair. She's the main girl in Ilyon Chronicles, and the one I relate to the best. She is one of the handful of characters whose story I have acted out in my bedroom. I like to do that, but the characters who have made it to that are few. Resistance spoilers follow.

Kyrin has an unusual ability that places her in service to Emperor Daican: She remembers everything. Ever since she was four, she has remembered everything that happened. She and her twin brother Kaden are both very smart, and so they were taken from their home at a young age and brought to Tarvin Hall, the emperor's school for exceptional children. All Kyrin and Kaden had was each other, so they were very close. I want a Kaden. He's a great brother. Kyrin depends on him a great deal.

Though young, Kyrin is chosen to be in direct service to Emperor Daican. She is required to "read" people, to tell Daican if people lie to him, or if he is in danger. It may not seem like a bad job, but when one considers that Daican is an idol worshiper who will kill people for faith in the one true God, you realize what Kyrin is really being asked to do.

Kyrin in the palace. She is insecure, hates the fancy dresses and make-up they insist she wears, is trying to figure out if Daican really is who they thought he is or if he is the kind personable man he acts like, hiding her faith, and bearing with the guilt of seeing people in dire circumstances and doing nothing to help them. One incident in this section of the book really resonated with me. Prince Daniel vented his frustration about his father to Kyrin, even going so far as to voice doubt about Aertus and Villai, the false gods Daican makes everyone worship. She was presented with the perfect opportunity to tell Daniel about Elom, the true God, but she was scared, and she missed it. She feels terrible about it. It always makes me remember the time I had an opportunity to share the Gospel with my cousin and didn't because I was too scared.

But when her faith was tested, Kyrin stood up for it. Though she faced death, she held firm. I can only hope I would be as brave. It was not the end for her. Though she faced execution, Elom provided a way out. She became a refugee, but going to Trask's refugee camp presented her with a new mission: Jace.

Kyrin always wanted to help those less fortunate. Her care of little Meredith at Tarvin Hall was a part of that, something else to which I can relate. I'm always wanting to help take care of children, and there are many people with whom I wish I could share my life because theirs is miserable. Jace evoked that sympathy in Kyrin. He was different from everyone, being half ryrik, and despised. He hated himself for it. He was mourning the deaths of two people very dear to him, and struggling with an immense amount of doubt as to whether he even had a soul. Kyrin saw him struggling and was moved to help him. He needed her, he really did, and she needed him.

And that isn't quite the end of Resistance, and certainly not the end of her story, since there are five more books to come.

I think I like Kyrin so much because I see so much of myself in her. She is a well rounded character. She isn't perfect, but she's kind and compassionate, brave and faithful, and a character whose full story I can't wait to read.