Deborah A. Wolf Quests Through The Forbidden City

We all love dragons!

But it is often the world around the dragons that captures us.

The Forbidden City by Deborah A. Wolf continues the story she started in The Dragon’s Legacy and it is filled with other great fantasy elements. Elite warriors. Desert people. Magic. Kings. Dreamshifters. And sinister plans wrapped within sinister plans. It is a world on the cusp of a terrible conflict and only a few characters are able to prevent it–

Those characters are amazing creations by Wolf, who is able to put great humanity in them. The first one? Sulema Ja’Akari is an elite warrior, one of the desert people known as the Zeeranim. She is also the daughter of the Dragon King of Atualon, whose magic is the only thing that prevents the earth dragon from waking. Another is Jian de Allyr, the half-dae prince born of a human mother and a twilight lord. If they are to challenge the emperor in his stronghold, however, Jian and his co-conspirators must secretly raise an army…

That army must rise! Here is Wolf talking more about her series and who should give it a read!

Enjoy!

Unbound Worlds: The Forbidden City is now published, the second book in the Illindriverse. First, tell readers about the characters, setting, and world found in The Dragon’s Legacy?

Deborah A. Wolf: The Dragon’s Legacy is a world which is, as you said, set in my Illindriverse. It mirrors our world for reasons I’m not going to explain now (if ever). It’s a hot planet in the middle of a mass extinction. Kings and emperors, sorcerers and shamans vie for power even as the dragon who lies at the heart of their planet prepares to wake and destroy them all.

This world has matriarchal horse warrior societies, a patriarchy ruled by the one man who is currently able to keep the dragon asleep, a slave empire with a frightening half-human emperor and armies, and an ancient civilization buried far underground. The monsters are ferocious and terrifying, and so are many of my characters, who can be said to be ambiguous on a good day.

UW: Sulema is a wonderful character, caught between dragons of a different sort. What made you want to include dragons in your series? And how did you use them that is different from many other examples in the fantasy genre?

DAW: I have always loved dragons, from Smaug to Ruth to Arzosah Sorthy Lorezohaz. My dragons are a bit bigger than any of these beauties, being celestial beings able to transform from energy to matter and back again, and whose memories of worlds they have shattered are used to seed life on new planets throughout the Illindriverse.

UW: The Forbidden City is the sequel to The Dragon’s Legacy, which was widely and favorably reviewed. Second books are notoriously hard to write though. Did you find the writing happened the same way? Or was it more difficult to create that second part?

DAW: It was both more difficult and easier. More difficult because there were deadlines and expectations hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles, and because I had to remember stuff I’d already written (I have a crap memory). But it was easier in that now I know I can write a book–The Forbidden City is my third novel now–and I can be reasonably sure that the end product will not necessarily suck. Plus, it was already sold, so I didn’t have that to fuss about.

I was living on student loan money while I wrote The Dragon’s Legacy, so I had hours every day to devote to writing and rewriting. I have a full time day job now, which keeps a roof over my head and whiskey in my shot glass, but that necessitates my getting up at ungodly hours in the morning so I can get my writing done. I had to get back into regular exercise just so I would have the energy to pull this ridiculous schedule off, so I’ve lost about 45 pounds, which is a good thing.

UW: You are a new author and with that comes comparisons to other writers. Who would you say you draw the most influence from? And what fandoms should definitely read your book?

DAW: I probably draw influence from CJ Cherryh, Pat Rothfuss, Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, and GRR Martin…and, of course, from Tolkien. These authors are all, in my opinion, very fine storytellers who have invited me along on some fine and fantastic adventures, and who have shaped my thoughts as well as my writing.

I think that fandoms of Gaiman and Martin, Hobb and Rothfuss should all find things to like in my Illindriverse. I strive to weave surprising and unusual stories about people and relationships, and to tell them in a lyrical voice.

UW: What are you working on now? What do you have publishing soon? More in the Illindriverse? Do tell!

DAW: Every story I tell, whether epic or urban fantasy, is, in some way, set in my Illindriverse. The relationships are subtle, but should be fun for readers who notice the common threads.

The Forbidden City debuts in May 2018 and a nice buzz has already begun. I think that people who liked The Dragon’s Legacy will absolutely love The Forbidden City. I’m currently writing The Seared Lands, book 3 of The Dragon’s Legacy. A lot of my original story wraps up in this third volume.

Hint: I have a dragon, and I’m not afraid to use her.

The Forbidden City by Deborah A. Wolf is now available and in fine bookstores now!

Beware a new kind of dragon!