Women Crush Wednesday: Mena Akaran
This week's #WomenCrushWednesday pick is Mena Akaran from the Acacia Trilogy by David Anthony Durham.
What if Daenerys Targaryen and Arya Stark from Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire were merged into one character? The answer: you'd get someone similar to Mena Akaran from David Anthony Durham's the Acacia Trilogy.
Mena starts off similar to Arya: a princess with a more adventurous and less ladylike personality than her older sister. After some bad stuff happens to her and her family (no spoilers!), she becomes a warrior of sorts. So we're steadfastly in the "Arya" camp here.
After some more bad stuff happens (again, no spoilers!), Mena befriends a creature similar to a dragon and becomes protective of her. Between that and fighting to get her kingdom back, she reminded me of Daenerys (or at least early-A Song of Ice and Fire-book-Daenerys).
In my mind, Mena embodies the best of both Game of Thrones characters. Like Arya, she's a feisty fighter who doesn't let her gender hold her back. But Mena can also be gentle and caring with her animals like Daenerys (or at least like early-books-Daenerys).
Better yet: Read the Acacia Trilogy. I read all three books and recommend it to anyone who enjoyed A Song of Ice of Fire. (Warning: the last book gets kind of weird but it didn't spoil the whole trilogy for me.) Start with Acacia: The War with the Mein (Acacia, Book 1).
Want more Women Crushes for your Wednesday? Check out last week's Women Crush Wednesday pick.
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