Writer's Grove

A Curse of Krakens

Epic fantasies are hard. Some of them never get finished, because dang, they’re long and difficult to write, especially if you’re trying to take the road less traveled. But I’ve finished the Seven Kennings trilogy, and the third book, A CURSE OF KRAKENS, comes out November 7. I’m super proud of it and have given myself a pat on the back for Doing the One Big Thing I Always Wanted to Do. Here’s the cover:

That’s the zephyr Koesha Gansu featured there, one of twenty-two narrators we meet throughout the series. Choosing just three of them to appear on the covers was difficult, and writing the flap copy was likewise a challenge—we wound up choosing three characters to feature for each book because we couldn’t possibly fit all the story threads in such limited space.

So how does this trilogy represent a road less traveled? Well, in terms of its structure, it might actually be unique. I don’t want to say definitively that it is, because maybe I’ve missed that someone else has already done it, but so far as I know, this is the first epic fantasy told through twenty-two first-person points of view. It jumps around in time as well, so that’s fun. Twenty of the points of view come to us courtesy of a bard, who can magically take on the physical appearance and voice of others, and he does this to weave a tale for a live audience over the course of fifty-four days, involving a war against giants and wraiths and including extraordinary animals, spies, love (all kinds), a revolution against a monarchy, and lots of cheese and mustard. The points of view feature the young, middle-aged, and seniors from a variety of backgrounds and identities. We’re not just hearing from political leaders or great warriors, either: we’re hearing from a language scholar, a lovelorn courier, an unhoused girl who slept on a muddy riverbank, and more. It was my attempt to update the experience of Homer sharing The Iliad and The Odyssey for a modern prose audience—could I give readers the chance to experience an epic in that way? And could I maybe try some other different goodies?

For example, lots of epics deal with maintaining or restoring a monarchy, a horrific system of government in which the masses are exploited for the benefit of the rich. That’s not so very different from capitalism, so those stories have their useful parallels! But what if we could try some new shit? Like, a system of government formed on the principle that compassion is the only moral use of power? Very few revolutions in fantasy are progressive, so what would that look like? I gave it a shot.

Other things I did are not unique or even unusual but rather things I heartily agree with and appreciate when I read them: There’s no sexual assault, no slavery, and queer folks get happy-ever-afters.

AND THERE ARE MAPS. I love fantasy maps. I especially love that I got to do my own. The same map appears in the first two volumes, but in A CURSE OF KRAKENS, there are two new maps to enjoy! Yeah. I geeked the heck out.

I must give enormous credit to my editor, Tricia Narwani, for her support of a project that was not the usual. If no one had ever written an epic with 22 first-person points of view before, nobody had edited one before either. She’s brilliant. And to help readers keep the narrators straight in their minds, she commissioned portraits by artist Yvonne Gilbert to be included at the beginning of each volume. Gonna give y’all a treat and show you the new portrait of Nara du Fesset, who was featured in the first two books in others’ narratives but becomes a narrator herself in book three:

For those of you already familiar with the story, Nel Kit ben Sah’s cousin, Pen Yas ben Min, becomes a narrator in this volume, as does Hollit Panevik, the chef and owner of The Roasted Sunchuck who happens to be a firelord. When she puts down her wooden spoon and gets involved, things happen. And of course you’ll get to enjoy the return of favorites like Tallynd, Abhi, Hanima, Gondel, and Daryck. Please spread the word and get your friends on board, eh?

For those of you who aren’t familiar yet, the Seven Kennings begins with A PLAGUE OF GIANTS and continues with A BLIGHT OF BLACKWINGS. I hope you’ll give it a try, especially now that you know it’ll be completed. Thanks so much for reading and sharing—it means the world and I appreciate you.