About The Book
The prophecy foretold they would be enemies … it didn’t mention they’d be flatmates.
At fifteen, Dirk Earnest led the world to victory in a savage battle against the evil overlord Rárog and his demon horde. Now he’s just a normal university student – or he’s trying to be. As the poster boy for fighting evil, Dirk has many adoring fans who follow his every move, but he’s crushingly lonely.
Cue his new housemate, Medusa de la Nuage: art student, former demon soldier, war criminal … and Dirk’s nemesis.
With Dirk haunted by the ghosts of his past, and Medusa’s desire for human connection battling her demonic nature, the two are about to discover that the best friend you need most might be your (ex) mortal enemy.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Wren James is the Carnegie-longlisted author of many young adult novels, including Last Seen Online, Green Rising, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker, The Quiet at the End of the World and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. They are an RLF Royal Fellow at Aston University and the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper (Seasons 2 and 3). Their books have sold over two hundred thousand copies worldwide in seven languages. The Quiet at the End of the World was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and the STEAM Children’s Book Award.
Wren is the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League, and a member of the Society of Author’s Sustainability Committee. They are the editor of the Future Hopes anthology and work as a consultant on climate storytelling, with a focus on optimism and hope. Wren also runs a Queer Writers group in Coventry, where they live.
About the Illustrator:
Beth Fuller is an artist from Dublin, Ireland. Accustomed to getting into trouble for drawing in school, she then decided to subvert that by going to art college, graduating from DJCAD with a degree in illustration in 2022. Now based in Copenhagen, she draws anything from concept art to comics, and is interested in art for video games and animation. She can usually be found somewhere between the wine and biscuit aisles of her local supermarket or taking bad black and white film photographs of her friends.
Interview with Wren James:
Hi Wren! The world of THE VICTORS is full of magic users and demons. What magical power would you like to wield?
Ooh, great question! I’d love a flock of ravens to chat to, like Medusa’s corvid army. I feel like a big power like time travel or invisibility would end up being more chaotic than useful if you actually had it in real life, so it wouldn’t get used much once the fun wore off. So I’m going to go for something small and helpful… I’d love magic that keeps my house clean and tidy without any effort!
The world is queernormative, and Dirk is trans, but beautifully this is not a part of his character arc – it’s just him. Why was it important for you to show trans characters just living life rather than the story being their transness as it often is?
I’ve been searching for more trans-inclusive narratives about magical schools for a few years now. It was important to me to create something that shows trans joy, quiet happiness, and affection for trans people – in the UK especially, that’s something we really need to see represented right now. As the old campaign goes, ‘it gets better’. Dirk’s story is an example of that that I hope everyone can relate to. As a queer teenager searching for fiction that represented me, I always wanted adventure stories with queer characters, rather than stories about being queer. I wanted to see them living happy lives!
THE VICTORS is your first graphic novel – though you were a script editor for HEARTSTOPPER. The process of realising a graphic novel in some ways looks very different to a prose-only novel, going from script to story boards to rough sketches and then a final product. What was it like telling a story in a different format? Were there any parts that surprised you in their difficulty or ease?
It’s a very different process – I think it’s like being a combo director and writer, because you have to really think about how you can clearly instruct the artistic team to create the vision you’ve got in your head. That’s surprisingly difficult, as we all have different touch-points and references. A lot of the development process for THE VICTORS involved trying to dig into my own mental images and work out how I can frame things for a new person to understand with clarify.
The easiest part was working with Beth Fuller on the comedy – it came so naturally to her, she added in a lot of humour that really made the story pop! It was like Christmas each time I got some pages back from her, because she pulled it off with such panache.
You’ve spoken of your love for visual storytelling and how Edgar Wright’s style made you want to create the funny, cozy, gothic world of The Victors. What is your favourite Cornetto film and will this inspire your own Cornettoverse of graphic novels?
Ooooh, great question! I think Hot Fuzz is my ultimate favourite. (We agree!) There’s just something about a cosy English village hiding a criminal ring that warms my heartstrings.
I like to think that all of my books are interconnected, regardless of format. There are a lot of easter eggs for my other titles in The Victors. And there will be more of Dirk and Medusa in future stories, for sure.
The story is at pains not to glorify the victors of the demon war, or demonise the vanquished child soldiers, instead the story looks at the harms on both sides and actually takes a fascinating and unexpected turn in the climax. Why was this important for you, especially in the current climate?
Absolutely – it was really important to me to show that there’s not a ‘good’ way to carry out acts of violence. Seeing the attacks that are being carried out around the world over the last few years definitely shaped the narrative as I was writing it. I really wanted to look at the effect that war has on children especially. It’s a difficult issue, but I think the biggest issues – war, climate change – hit hardest when they are addressed within lighter, more hopeful narratives.
Please recommend a UKYA book you think readers will love.
Arcana: The Lost Heirs* by Sam Prentiss-Jones – a really fun, fresh, queer magic graphic novel series that’s just released!
Thank you, Wren!
Interview with Beth Fuller:
Hi Beth!(cool name – all the best people are called Beth):
Hi Beth! We should make a committee of all the Beths out there (with potential sub-committees of Elizabeths and
Bethanies).
When you got the summary from Wren, what did you think was going to be the biggest challenge in bringing their vision to life, and what actually turned out to be the biggest challenge from an art perspective?
When I saw the description back in 2023 I was certain the Gothic architecture was going to take a thousand hours of painstaking detail, so I loaded up a few audiobooks to prepare. Turns out it was people that tripped me up – there are quite a few crowd scenes with lots of shocked faces. Also foreshortening. Always foreshortening.
How much going back and forth does it take to develop the amazing layouts and the appearance of the world and characters?
Our fantastic editor, Jamie, worked with Wren on the layout ideas and I would sketch them out. Then I’d present my design and the team would either sign off or ask for something to be tweaked. Most pages were a straight line from empty panels to sketch to linework to final inks, with the odd reworked panel.
The magical supernatural elements in THE VICTORS mean we get fabulously visually interesting characters such as Medusa, but who was your favourite character to draw and why?
Medusa was a joy to draw, especially her wings and the mix of modern and medieval clothes. I was always eager to draw Bijal and Magog too – you can see in Magog’s introduction scene that he’s wearing Gazelles. It’s always fun to put a slightly intimidating character in runners.
And of course, if you were in the world of the Victors, what magical ability would you like to have?
The folklore aspect of The Victors really drew me in, so I’d love to say something like scaring people with a banshee scream. If I could have any ability at all though, it would be my own pocket dimension so I never have to bring a bag with me. Maybe Wren can make that work in-universe?
Please recommend a UKYA book you think readers will love.
I SHALL NEVER FALL IN LOVE* by Hari Conner is a well-written, beautifully drawn, funny and memorable graphic novel,
great for fans of Austen.
Thank youBeth!
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