Where the fantastical and the occult are concerned three is undoubtedly the magic number. So when we were lucky enough to get not one, not two, but three of your favourite Orbit authors talking in their own words about, you’ve guessed it – their trilogies – well let’s just say we were happy!

In this bumper edition of ITOWs: Sean Williams talks candidly about the artistic influences, deep life questions (and of course the kick-ass space battles) that went into the writing of the finale of his Astropolis trilogy, Brian Ruckley speaks bloodshed, heroics, and the joys of treating his protagonists mean as he brings his Godless World trilogy to its epic conclusion, and Kelley Armstrong talks raising hell, writing for the young adult and the power of the ‘true trilogy.’

To quote Kelley ‘Happy Reading!’

All three titles are available from Orbit this month!

The Grand Conjunction: Book 3 of Astropolis [UK|AUZ], Fall of Thanes [UK|US|AUZ] The Awakening [UK]

The Grand Conjunction: Astropolis 3

Sean says:

The Grand Conjunction is my sixteenth space opera novel.  It’s the culmination of two million words of galaxy-spanning conflicts, far-future speculations, variations on the post-human theme, and, of course, giant explosions.

When first I sat down to map out the finale of Astropolis, I was sure of just two things.  First: that it would contain the biggest kick-ass space battle I could imagine.  Second: that it would at the same time be the most intimate exploration possible of my protagonist’s inner world.

What could be bigger than two galaxies colliding?  What could be more personal than changing gender and falling in love?

Imre Bergamasc’s story has opened up some pretty strange possibilities for me as a writer, and these two have been the most challenging.

There’s no limit to what space opera can do, what it can contain.  My favourite moments in The Grand Conjunction (apart from the kick-ass ending) come at the beginning.  It seems about as far from the planet-busting brawls of the previous books as it’s possible to get, but it is in fact a crucial piece of the puzzle that is Imre and humanity.  Without one long, hard look at the past, neither the present nor the future will ever make sense.  That’s why Astropolis is steeped in film noir sensibilities, and also why it draws inspiration from particular classic Gothic novels.  We’re standing on the shoulders of giants, we writers of the 21st Century.  The view from up here is simply marvelous!

Fall of Thanes

Brian says:

Fall of Thanes brings down the curtain on my Godless World trilogy, and as readers of the previous two volumes might expect, that means quite a lot of bloodshed, heroics, deaths, chaos.  All the usual fun stuff.

Way back when I started the trilogy, I had a pretty clear idea of the individual story arc for each of the main characters, and this is where they all come together, collide, or – in some cases – come to a very definite and permanent end.  And this is where I get to write some stuff I’ve been looking forward to ever since I started book one: my version of a traditional fantasy dark lord (sort of); big fights in the ruined city of Kan Avor; what happens when the aforementioned dark lord goes up against an incorporeal spirit of the forest.

And yes, the title – Fall of Thanes – does count as a little bit of a mini-spoiler, because I can confirm that a number (I couldn’t say what number, of course) of Thanes do indeed encounter distinct misfortune, of one kind or another, in the course of the book.  But somehow I doubt that will come as a huge surprise to anyone who’s been following the trilogy up to this point.  My track record isn’t exactly one of being gentle with my characters …

The Awakening

Kelley says:

This is the second book in my Darkest Powers trilogy.  True trilogies—one story told over three books—have a long tradition in fantasy.   With my adult urban fantasy series, I’ve always stuck to the “one story per book” format, but when I had an idea for a young adult plot, it quickly became clear that a single novel wasn’t going to be enough to tell it.

Chloe Saunders is a typical fifteen-year-old girl…until she starts seeing ghosts.  She’s taken to a group home, where she discovers that she’s a necromancer (someone who can speak to and raise the dead). Through the other kids in the home she’s introduced to a world she never knew existed—a world of witches and demons and werewolves.

That would make a decent book.  Not terribly original, but it would do.  Except that’s only the start of what I had in mind for this story.  Chloe isn’t just a necromancer—she’s a genetically modified one.  She’s a failed subject in an experiment that has unexpectedly given her dangerous, uncontrollable powers.

There are two ways Chloe’s captors deal with their failures: rehabilitation or extermination.  Neither is an option for Chloe and her friends.  So what are they going to do about it?  That’s where The Awakening takes off.  And as the second book in a trilogy, it takes off fast.  If you haven’t read The Summoning, I’d strongly suggest checking out that one first.

Happy reading!