About the Book:
King Alarik Felsing. A lone wolf. A frozen heart …
Deep in the mountains of a snow-swept kingdom, an ancient beast is stirring. When a beautiful young wrangler arrives to try and tame it, she is not expecting to tame the beast that lives inside the king too. But sometimes, all it takes is an unexpected spark to melt even the iciest of hearts …
Find this book on Goodreads and Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link)
About the Author:
Catherine Doyle lives in the West of Ireland. She holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Publishing. Her award-winning and internationally bestselling work, which includes middle grade and young adult fiction, has been published in 30 languages. She has also co-written the TWIN CROWNS series with her sister-in-law Katherine Webber.
Interview:
KING OF BEASTS is our farewell to this world that has spanned five books (and over 2000 pages!) How did it feel writing this book?
I had such a blast writing KING OF BEASTS. Alarik was one of my favourite characters in Twin Crowns and I know a lot of readers loved him too, so to get to play in his kingdom and give him his own epic love story was so much fun.
CAPTAIN OF FATES and KING OF BEASTS go down the two routes for spin off novels: exploring new lands with old characters (CAPTAIN OF FATES) and looking at the consequences of the conflict in the main series (KING OF BEASTS). Was it deliberate that the two novels took different routes? What were the challenges and delights of writing a book within an established land looking at the problems caused by their losses in the big battle of the main trilogy?
Katie and I gravitated towards the characters that we liked the most, and then we let our imaginations do the rest. Because Alarik (and his kingdom) was so integral to the events of Burning Crowns, I knew I would have to address the effect of the war (and its losses) in his story. It felt like a natural progression and a great springboard for his wider story arc.
We’ve seen Gevra and Alarik through Wren’s eyes before, but this time we see the kingdom through its inhabitants’ eyes and get inside Alarik’s mind. Did this affect how you viewed the kingdom and how you wrote it?
Yes, in KING OF BEASTS, the perspective is much closer, and deeper. I wanted to build the kingdom from the ground up and offer a really clear view of the people who live there. Greta is the perfect protagonist because she has grown up in Gevra, and knows the rhythm of the land and its beasts better than anyone.
The book involves characters from new lands, particularly Vask and Halgard. What was it like working on new kingdoms after so much time in Eana?
So much fun! I love exploring new kingdoms and characters. Since Vask and its rapacious queen Regna are enemies of Gevra, I had to make sure they were suitably ferocious and powerful to challenge the infamous King of Beasts.
This series has been full of swoony moments and sizzling chemistry. Which was your favourite scene between Alarik and Greta?
I love the baby snow-leopard scene, where, after a terrifying arson attack on the palace, Alarik finds Greta in the forest, singing to his beasts to calm them. Her voice, and her soothing presence, ends up calming him too, and he starts to slip into love with her.
We get to spend time with Greta as she trains the beasts. What sort of research did you have to do in order to write these scenes?
I researched the uniforms and armour, some basic commands and battle tactics, but beyond that… there was not a lot to go on, which is probably a good thing!
If you could have a tame beast as a pet, which would you pick?
I would go for a snow leopard! Or maybe Borvil, the giant polar bear.
Please recommend a UKYA read you think readers will also love
SKIPSHOCK by Caroline O’Donoghue* – refreshingly original, romantic and totally compelling!
Thank you, Catherine!
*Affiliate link
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