The Heart Forger
by Rin Chupeco
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: March 20, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Synopsis:
In The Bone Witch, Tea mastered resurrection―now she's after revenge...
No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life...and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her―and took the life of her one true love.
But there are those who plot against her, those who would use Tea's dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can't kill someone who can never die...
War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe.
The First Book in the Series
The Bone Witch (#1)
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer.
Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.
Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves.
Rin! We are so excited to have you back!! We loved the first book in The Bone Witch series and can’t wait to catch back up with you and Tea!
A: Thank you! It’s fantastic to be back!
What 3 recent books would you recommend to our YA fans?
A: Holly Black’s Cruel Prince was amazing! Also grab Blood of a Thousand Stars by Rhoda Belleza because it’s a fantastic sci-fi read filled with all the political intrigue and action I love, and of course, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi!
What books/authors have most made an impact on you/inspired you to write?
A: I’m a huge fantasy book fan, and the two from that genre that inspired me the most growing up was David and Leah Eddings’ Belgariad/Mallorean series, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. I have a soft spot for the Eddings, and my love for convoluted prophecies sort of stemmed from their works. Their books also taught me a lot about how to write (funny and snarky!) character interactions, which has some of the best I’d ever read.
Terry Pratchett taught me to think of ideas so completely outside the box that they’re in some weird dimension where boxes don’t even exist. I love how he takes common tropes and just twist them beyond recognition so he can present them as new ideas entirely.
I also can’t finish this without mentioning Neil Gaiman, who I met a couple of times in the Philippines and who told me to that if I was a writer, then I should write, and that it was as simple as that. I don’t think I would have been one without that encouragement.
Could you tell our readers a little bit about THE HEART FORGER?
A: Tea has finally amassed all seven of her daeva, regained her lost love, and is out for revenge. Her target is the kingdom of Daanoris, where the Heartforger was last sighted, though her reasons for seeking him out remain unclear. But the kingdoms’ armies are on the move, with former friends believing her another renegade bone witch whose heartsglass has been corrupted by her runes. Marked for death and surrounded by enemies on all sides, Tea is poised to seize forbidden magic that could give her rulership of all the lands. But is Tea truly willing to go that far for absolute power, especially if it means sacrificing all eight kingdoms in the process?
Tell us your favorite quote from THE HEART FORGER.
A: “Some days will be better than others. Some days you will wake up crying, his name the first to fall from your lips. Some days, you will look up at the stars in the sky from a lonely beach and know none of them look down on him. That is the nature of grief. But to grieve means you have loved. To love opens up the possibility for grief. There cannot be one without the other.”
What 3 hashtags would you most associate with THE HEART FORGER? (Could be a word or phrase or anything that would instantly make you think of THE HEART FORGER or THE BONE WITCH series.)
A: #magicalgeisha #Iwantapetdaeva #lovehateromance
Can you tell our readers 3 things about the magical world in which the series is set?
A: 1. Magic in the Eight Kingdoms is considered “life” magic, which is why bone witches, who use necromancy and therefore “anti-life” magic, can’t use most of the other runic magic. Life magic gives, but death magic takes - from its user as well as from everyone else.
2. Familiars (dead people resurrected by bone witches and tied to their lifeforces) are taboo and not considered real people in certain kingdoms, but not in others. Kion, in particular, has had a history of bone witches raising and marrying lost loves, albeit rarely. At least one royal marriage with a familiar has been documented. Unfortunately, familiars cannot sire children.
3. The legend of Blade that Soars and Dancing Wind was slightly inspired by old Chinese myths and retellings of legendary lovers.
If you could have one magical talent, what would it be?
A: Hands down, some sort of technopathy magic. For one thing, combining magic and tech always sounds like a cool idea to me. For another, maybe I can finally stop destroying my routers whenever they putter out on me every six months.
If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for THE HEART FORGER (or the series in general) – Which one would you pick?
A: Hozier has been a constant in my playlist for this series, and “Like Real People Do” really hits home.
What’s next for you?
A: The Never Tilting World, my Mad Max-meets-Frozen/The-Last-Airbender series will be out in 2019! It has twin goddesses and extreme weather and elemental magic and really giant worms.
Also, I’m working on a WIP tentatively called Firekeeper, which I hope will be out by 2020, about a Scottish-Filipino teen descended from the legendary Maria Makiling who is called to help an exiled prince regain his kingdom, Avalon, from the Snow Queen after his family’s most powerful weapon - a firebird - lands on her doorstep.
Thanks so much Rin!! We think technopathy magic sounds really cool & now we want to figure out all the powers that that could include!! Also, OMG THE NEVER TILTING WORLD sounds so cool!! We'll definitely be on the lookout for it in 2019!!
- 3 winners in total
- 1 winner will receive a signed copy of THE HEART FORGER (The Bone Witch #2) by Rin Chupeco
- 1 winner will receive a signed copy of THE BONE WITCH (#1) by Rin Chupeco
- 1 winner will receive all 3 dolls pictured abover (Tea doll, Fox doll, & azi doll)
- Open Internationally
- Please read the rules in the Rafflecopter
Both books are on my TBR. I think they sound exciting and suspenseful to read.
ReplyDeleteI'm so so excited to read The Bone Witch, it sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteMegan S.
I haven't read these, but those facts about the world are super interesting! And I love the covers! Technopathy would come in really handy for me since my electronics are just always breaking lol. Great interview!
ReplyDeleteA powerful heroine and a gorgeous cover definitely make me interested in giving The Bone Witch a try.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting! I'm surely adding it on my TBR.
ReplyDelete