Melanie "The Eyes of Love": MELANIE, #1

By Wilian Arias

Melanie.

Summary by: Frank Besnier.

The Melanie saga, by the writer Wilian Arias, is a great story, an endearing narration with intense and well-developed characters, and at the same time a story with an unparalleled degree of complexity. In the complete development of Melanie's tetralogy, Wilian Arias plunges us into a convoluted plot line, which is full of narrative twists that make the story more complex, but at the same time, close circles and complete narratives in an elegant way and in its fair and precise time.

There is a maxim in storytelling that a story is only as great as its best villain. In that sense, and in simple terms, the villains of most stories are made by a web of evil inherent to their being; beings who seek to cause evil and suffering for the mere fact of doing so and for the enjoyment that this produces. However, Wilian Arias shows us villains who are not villains, beings of light that can become villains and victims who, with the right twist, become victimizers and who, with the precise reason, show the reader why their actions, making them human and making the reader empathize with them. Thus, Wilian makes master use of a villain, putting good and evil in interchangeable positions.

The complete Melanie saga is full of magic, fantasy, reality and social criticism, but in which Wilian Arias impeccably amalgamates, from beginning to end, the crudest aspects of reality, achieving a new style of modern magical realism. a sort of magical neo-realism, in which the fusion of value and anti-value, social, gender-sex and human behavior themes are intertwined in unexpected ways with a story that, from its beginnings, suggests an idyllic and chivalrous narration, but that with the passage of the first chapters is fully introduced into the deep message and human criticism that Wilian seeks to capture in his most extensive work.

In the first book, we are introduced to the main characters, and with the use of a lively and changing narrative rhythm, the author establishes a fantastic and magical narrative voice and style, which will quickly transmute into what he visualized while creating his work: a text loaded with allegories, metaphors of life and criticism of human behavior.

The second volume, Wilian delves into the story, the characters, the roots of the strongest and most intense antagonisms, through the use of an elaborate, mature, delicate and worked language, and opens narrative circles and character arcs that will masterfully work with the subsequent development of the work.

In the third book of the saga, the narrative focuses primarily on the use of the retelling resource, going back steps on the story, providing explanations, reasons and elements that enrich the arc of the previously introduced characters, and that opens new nodes of interaction. For the fourth and final book, Wilian ends up impeccably closing the characters, their journeys through history, and their transformations and, in a unique way, manages to return to the main theme of the story, giving it a closure that produces very intense emotions for him.

The Melanie saga is a tetralogy that is structured with novel elements, classic archetypes, its own narrative style and a unique voice, working on a story as old as time itself, but developed with a honeyed voice, an acid critic, a deep love for the lyrics and a message that should not go unnoticed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AWABOOKS
• Release date: Nov 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215166604

Wilian Arias

Wilian Antonio Arias nació en el municipio de El Sauce, en el salvadoreño departamento de La Unión, en 1987. Aunque en un principio se estableció en Washington, D.C., y Virginia, actualmente radica en el Estado de Los Ángeles, California. No hay duda que Arias añora el lugar donde tiene sus raíces: San Juan Galares; ya que todas sus novelas y cuentos giran alrededor de hechos —algunos reales y otros producto de la imaginación— que suceden en los sitios que fueron parte de su vida: ríos, haciendas, caballos, vacas y todo tipo de animales domésticos que son parte del quehacer diario en los hogares campesinos de los países latinoamericanos, en especial en el oriente su país. Arias solo logró finalizar sus estudios de secundaria (bachillerato) para emprender junto a su madre el viaje con rumbo Norte. Su travesía por Guatemala y México hasta llegar a Estados Unidos estuvo llena de todo tipo de obstáculos, como sucede con la mayoría de inmigrantes. Pero también ha sido un obstáculo su adaptación a una cultura diferente. Sin embargo, a pesar de la dureza de los cambios, Arias encontró el ambiente perfecto para desarrollar sus dotes de escritor autodidacta, que lo practica desde que era un niño. Hasta la fecha el joven autor ha escrito seis libros que han sido publicados por la editorial Palibrio, SHARED PEN Edition y FT Editores § Sherezade Martinez.

Book preview

Willian Antonio Arias was born in 1987 in the municipality of El Sauce, Department of La Union in El Salvador. Although at the beginning he settled in Washington D.C., he has been living in California for the last two years. There is no doubt that Arias dreams of being where he belongs: San Juan Galárea; Therefore, all his novels and short stories are based on events – some real and some mere product of his imagination -  that happen in the places that once were part of his life: rivers, ranches, horses, cows, and all kinds of domestic animals that take part in the daily chores of farmers’ homes in Latin-American counties; especially on the east side of his country.

Soon after Arias finished his secondary school, he along with his mother, set out on a journey toward the north. His voyage through Guatemala, Mexico and all the way to USA was full of all kinds of hurdles; including the struggles of having to adapt to a new culture, just like any immigrant. However, despite the hardship changes brought along, Arias found a perfect environment to develop his skills as a self-taught writer which he has been practicing since he was a child. Up to this day, the young writer has written a vast series of books.  He has edited some of his books and got them published by Palibro publisher and Argenta Sarlep Publisher. Most of his books have been presented to the public in the Salvadorian consulate facilities in the USA.

This time Arias shares his world of reflections; a complex story revolving around vanity and the fragility that separate our interior from our exterior. The essence that makes us differs from others when we find our own reflection. Hereby I give you the magical world of Melanie which, I personally consider, must be seen only with The Eyes of Love.

In El Salvador, we have a great variety of mythical characters. In all the books I have read, the bad character is always bad. Melanie, in The Eyes of Love by William Arias is the first book in its genre that shows a good side of a character who, historically speaking, is bad. - ‘don’t you be afraid; I came to protect you from the queen’ Said the Siguanaba.

Angel Hernandez

Writer

Melanie, The Eyes of Love, is a story that shows us how banal human can become when they care more about things that are only temporary in life, such as youth and beauty; human characteristics that diminish as time passes and little by little they fade away as water in our hands.

Melanie gave precedence to all physical traits where beauty is measured through sight and, moreover, she ended the revenge she once swore to an unrequited love. She never noticed that this feeling was destroying the most valuable possession she had; her soul. Anahi noticed the mistake on time; she stopped being a curious and disobedient girl to start fighting for the future of the kingdom she would shortly rule by heritage. She matured spiritually and mentally to the point that she rooted out the evil that threatened her family, friends and the perfect world she had created.

Ercy Francisco Aparicio

Writer

The charming princess Anahi del Ceibo was shy and not very sociable. Her curiosity was so intense that it always made her be disobedient and ultimately, it led her to the dark side of an attic where her life was at the mercy of evil.

An epic and wonderful adventure that will follow you wherever you go until it catches you with ‘The Eyes of Love.’

Anahi never thought that her disobedience would lead her to dead ends. Early in her life, she started to feel the strong necessity of going into a strange attic located on a nook on the palace; a place that, even for the servants of the kingdom, was an unknown.

I

N A CORNERED PLACE in Central America existed a place known as The Kingdom of Flor del Ceibo. In it, there was a magical forest hidden in the mountains. It was surrounded by waterfalls, majestic rivers, pleasant lakes, magnificent volcanos, calm seas and purple and golden skies where animals and humans lived in harmony.

In the forest, a female Zarzal called Estrella and a so charming Dove called Miel lived. Estella had always dreamed of being a TV show presenter and Miel´s story telling talent had never been discovered until one day when she and Estrella were playing around and she decided to say her first story. Soon after, she became a memorable icon in the Central America Mountains. Their fans club was made up by three insects: a worm, an esperancita and a cricket. The three of them were so inquisitive and talkative. The intrepid insects usually gather in a Ceibo mountains’ tree to have fun playing childish games.

Estrella was ready, as a good TV show presenter, and she was expressing herself as follow:

– Hello, hello! I am a girlish Zarzal; a spectacular and brilliant female. My name is Estrella, in English you say Star. Well, like in any story, there is someone like me, unique, divine and special. The eyes are the reflection of the soul, therefore, see my eyes and appreciate them now that you can do it for free because when I become famous, you will have to pay just to see them. She was prattling on her future fame while the dove that was flying landed on the same tree branch and right after she took off, she added:

– Oh, dear! Shame on you! Are you playing the super star game once again? You are a star without shine.  You are a star not starred.

Of course, the diva of the imagination’s big screen answered to the chit chat of her friend, the dove.

– Soon, I will be a shining star. I will shine so bright that I won’t even tell you the time. Did you hear me bitter Miel? Suppressing the desire to make fun of her, the dove answered:

– Of course, you will be light but of the darkness of the afterlife, and that will surely be one day since many wait for that moment to come.

– Hush, Bee’s Mile!

– My name is not Mile, it is Miel. I am the sweet bee´s honey, Miel. Answered in a bad mood because her friend mispronounced her mane

Estrella paying no attention to Miel’s bad mood said:

– I know! I have a great idea. How about if we play a game where I am a TV show presenter and you are a famous Central American Writer. I will interview you and you will share a beautiful story to delight my audience; what do you say?

Miel, giving a funny look to her friend answered:

– C’mon, who would like to hear your terrifying voice? Nobody would like to hear your horrible exclamations. You are just like the Raven Bad News, informing the audience in the crystal kingdom.

– C’mon! Please! Just say yes. I promise that this is going to pave your way to the stardom - Estrella begged to her friend.

Miel started to blush when she imagined her entrance on the forest’s red carpet where she would get all the birds ‘attention with interviews and pictures. Soon after her short yet beautiful dream she reacted, saying:

– Ok! It is all for the stardom. I hope I will be a famous star and not only a start.

Zarzal was so happy and started to fly up and down because she finally got a guest for her first show. So exciting, Zarzal refuted Miel’s comment.

– My motto will be: dream limitless because a dream must die when it becomes true.¨ 

Miel saw the happiness of her friend Estrella and to encourage her more she expressed:

–