About the Book:
Having survived three treacherous trials to win her crown, Blaze is now Queen of the Aquatori. But before she can take the throne, she must set out to find the Eye of the Soul, one of the realm’s most powerful weapons, before another claims its power for themself.
Her journey will take her deep into the forests of Ostacre and into a temporary alliance with the infuriating but undeniably compelling Fox. She can’t help but feel drawn to him. . . but can she trust him? Fortune favors the brave, but will it protect the Storm Weaver on her most dangerous mission yet?
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Lauryn Hamilton Murray grew up in Scotland writing stories about sad girls, secrets and storms. She holds a BA Hons in English Literature from the University of Stirling and a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. She is happiest when reading in the sun and hiking with her dogs, Huxley and Ziggy.
Interview:
Pitch your book in 10 words!
Outcast girl. Outlawed boy. Dangerous quest. Multi-POV adventure. Tension! Trauma!
In this installment, Blaze is joined by her brother Flint and serf – and beloved of the Crown Prince – Elva as narrators. How did you choose who the new narrators were? Why did you want to continue this story through multiple perspectives?
After the events at the end of HEIR OF STORMS*, it was clear to me which characters would be taking up the mantle as Blaze’s co-narrators. Flint’s defeat and the injury he suffered, along with the discovery of both Elva’s magic and forbidden love affair gave me a lot to work with in terms of character arc, plot and romance, especially since each of the three POVs follows a different love story. The narrators also spend the majority of the book scattered around the empire, which allowed me to widen the scope and deepen the worldbuilding. While Blaze remains at the forefront, the story has become bigger than her, and I knew I had to dive into the heads of other key characters in order to tell it.
After spending HEIR OF STORMS in the palace in Cor Caval, much of this book is spent travelling the empire, from the Ridge tunnels to the Greenwood and beyond. In any series, there is a tension between wanting to introduce new places while not making the reader feel like they are in an entirely new tale to the one established in a previous book. How did you approach this balancing act?
Exploring different locations was something I was really excited about when writing TIDES. Since this book centres around a quest, the majority of Blaze and Flint’s POVs are spent travelling the empire. While readers are introduced to a number of new places in this second instalment, they experience them along with characters who feel familiar, and it was this merging of setting and character – the external with the internal – that allowed me to strike the right balance. There’s also a brilliant map inside the book which comes in very handy! Moreover, Elva’s chapters take place entirely within the Golden Palace, so there is always one POV that remains fixed in an established location.
Of the locations Blaze and Flint travel to, which one would you most like to visit? Any you would most certainly like to avoid?
I’d like to visit the Rain Singer territory, Brava, and also the cottage in the Wildlands. I’d quite like to live in that cottage actually! And in terms of places I’d avoid, I’d definitely steer clear of the Greenwood, which is a haunted forest in the Wildlands crawling with dryads and bandits.
Circumstance has split the cast up, pairing Blaze with Fox, Flint with Spinner and Sheen, and leaving Elva and Hal in the palace with few allies. These small pairings allow the characters little room to escape one another – or their own shadows – unlike the ensemble nature of HEIR OF STORMS, and so tensions flare in sometimes unexpected ways. Were any of the groups more fun to mess with emotionally? Were any particularly hard or unpredictable to write?
I had a blast exploring the different character dynamics! Many of Blaze and Fox’s scenes involve a lot of angst and banter, but others lean into emotional vulnerability, and I enjoyed balancing moments where they clash and moments where they connect. Elva was the most unpredictable for me initially because out of the three narrators I felt as though I knew her the least, but this changed quickly during the drafting process, and I really dig deep into her internal struggles. As for Flint, his accidental love triangle with Spinner and Sheen was definitely the most fun to write. I loved messing with this group and putting them into situations that were intended to make sparks fly – whether from irritation or attraction!
Elva is torn between her love for Hal – and the hope he represents for the future – and the reality of life for her fellow serfs. Did her decisions, or those of the people around her, change at all during the editing process?
With Elva’s arc in TIDES, I always planned to focus on her moral dilemma in relation to her forbidden love story with Hal. While nothing changed drastically during the editing process, when I was drafting I ended up making one character’s part a lot bigger than originally intended – Elva’s friend and fellow serf, Ingra, who went on to have a significant impact on Elva’s conflicted sense of loyalty.
Can you give us a hyper-specific, out of context hint related to each of the Etheri magics of what to expect in the finale?
- Water/Aquatori: It’s no fun having a dead fish thrown at you.
- Fire/Ignitia: Sometimes who you wanted to be is not who you’re supposed to be.
- Earth/Terrathian: Beware of earthquakes while crossing bridges.
- Air/Ventalla: Feathers make for frightening threats.
Please recommend a UKYA book you think readers will love.
THE NOTORIOUS VIRTUES* by Alwyn Hamilton – a glittering story of magic, mystery and betrayal that had me hooked from the very first page.
Thank you, Lauryn!
*Affiliate link
#UKYASpotlight 
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