Babel Clash

So, as most of you reading Babel Clash probably know by now, I have a new book out this week. It’s The Prodigal Mage, the first part of a two-part sequel to my very first fantasy series, Kingmaker, Kingbreaker. When I first sat down to tackle a fantasy novel, I was both enthusiastic and yet somehow hesitant. I loved the idea of the story and the characters but I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my ability to tell a big story. So the very first draft of that story, which was actually called Kingmaker, Kingbreaker, was a standalone novel. It took me some time and a helpful publisher’s rejection to show me how badly I’d underwritten the story. After a break away from it, to write something else (what eventually became The Accidental Sorcerer, actually) I looked again at KK and realised I could turn it into a two-parter. So I did. I found what was — to me — the most logical breaking point in the story as it stood (ha! A literal cliffhanger!) split it, and focused on expanding and exploring the hints of story I’d been too inexperienced to tell properly the first time around. And those books sold. But even as I looked ahead to other projects, in the back of my mind I was always wondering … hmm, what happened next?

The short answer would be, well, nothing much good. Because hey, this is drama, and you don’t get drama without a lot of things going wrong!!!

I realise I run the risk of sounding self-serving, but if you haven’t read the first 2 books then I think that would be a good idea because Prodigal Mage spoils some huge story events that occur in the previous adventures. But it’s true, you don’t actually have to.

If you’re not sure what you’ll get when reading my work, well, it’s not your typical epic fantasy. At least, these books aren’t. The scale’s not huge and sprawling, there aren’t massive battle scenes, no sword fights. Someone recently described my work as  ’Doorstopper Fantasy by way of a buddy movie, with the threads weaving together and getting you good and involved in their lives.‘ And really, that about sums it up. There are huge and epic events unfolding, world-changing events, but they’re told through the prism of a few people’s lives. I’m writing about friendship and sacrifice and betrayal and love and honour and heroism and cowardice and changes of heart. The good guys aren’t perfect and the bad guys aren’t always entirely bad. So if that’s your cup of tea, well, you might enjoy the read!

Related posts:

• Prodigal Mage
  Karen, thank you for participating on Babel Clash and chatting about media tie-ins with us.  Would you like to take your last post or two to tell us more about Prodigal Mage?  Is your new book a good starting point for new readers, or would you recommend readers first check...
• And our next guest is…
  Thanks again to Brent & Joe! I’m very pleased to announce that our next feature guest is Karen Miller, author of the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series and the Godspeaker Trilogy. Her new novel, Prodigal Mage, is on-sale 8/10. Karen has also written the Star Wars novel Wild Space and two excellent...
• And our next author is…
  Thank you, Karen, for contributing to Babel Clash!  Best of luck with Prodigal Mage. I’m very excited to announce that our next feature guest is Lev Grossman, author of the Magicians.  Tune in tomorrow, and I’ll have more content to share.  Lev has provided some video footage for Borders, and...
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  If you could play in any franchise, is there a dream project lurking out there for you?  Craving a shot at Halo, Warcraft or Hello Kitty? And if I say I don’t know Hello Kitty, will you smack me? *g*  Actually, I don’t do computer games or anything like them....
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