We Should Be Like Bander @Solsticepublish

If only more people in this world were like Bander Greenlith.  He is one of the two fraternal twin brothers in “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and “The Sapphire Crucible.”  For those of you unfamiliar with him let me paint a picture.  As elves go he his big and strong.  He chops down trees for a living.  In some ways his greatest weakness is also his greatest strength.  He is not the most intelligential fellow that has ever been in a book.  The bad part of that is he is easily led astray, particularly by his brother Rander.  Bander can be tricked and cajoled into many things.  If he actually spent the time to consider the matters, he might act differently.  On the other hand, Bander never gives matters serious thought unless he is forced to do so.  He is blissfully ignorant and sees no reason to change.  While some people value money and others think only of power, Bander is happy so long as he is well fed.  A good meal in vast quantities will do more for his mood than all the gold in the world.  In this way he is a simple character and one who is easy to like.  Many fans have told me he is their favorite person in the stories.  As the books go on, however, we learn that there is much more to him when he is forced to consider the situation at hand.  He is thoughtful and does not get caught up in the drama of their trials.  When everyone else is analyzing every angle of a problem, he looks at things from a basic level and often finds the obvious points that have been overlooked.  It is not always the most intellectual person in life who comes up with the answers.  It is sometimes the simplest, most logical one who sees things clearly.  Bander is a reminder that we shouldn’t need many material things to be happy.  If you have good food and good family and friends, there isn’t much more you need.  The books have plots and subplots with many different characters trying to further their own position in life.  Bander is along for the ride and there to help at a moment’s notice.  What more could you ask for?  He’s an honest, generally happy fellow.  If more of us were like him, I think it would make for a happier world.