New York Times Bestselling Author Victoria Aveyard Talks Her Latest Series for a South Florida Audience
By: Kimberly Grant
A thing happened yesterday in Coral Gables, Florida. A New York Times bestselling young adult author made an appearance for thirty lucky young ladies who love reading. The excitement of these teenage girls was infectious. Not only were they getting an opportunity to see one of their favorite authors in person, but they got to ask her questions. That author is famed fantasy novelist Victoria Aveyard. She was in South Florida to promote her latest book, Blade Breaker. Blade Breaker is the second book in the Realm Breaker series that is available now in digital download and hardcover.
The evening with Aveyard was moderated by YA fantasy author and South Florida native S. Isabelle, whose book The Witchery will be available on July 26th from Scholastic Publishing.
Aveyard, a native of Massachusetts and a resident of Los Angeles, is unassuming in appearance. But don’t let that fool you. She is a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and nerdy fandom. She took some time to speak to these young ladies who are mostly aspiring writers themselves and asked very great questions about representation in Young Adult fiction and how to write a winning synopsis. This intimate affair, designed as a relaxed evening with the author, had the energy of a teen girl reading her favorite novel and the hope of a writer with a good story.
“Lord of the Rings meets Guardians of the Galaxy. Corayne isn’t physically strong, but she is mentally strong,” said Aveyard about Blade Breaker. “It is always Lord of the Rings that I come back to. I’ve always wanted to live and be in that world, which is only possible if you’re a straight white guy. I wanted to write something that I could be in.” In the first book, Realm Breaker, the audience is following a cast of characters who seek to stop the opening of a Spindle, or alternate realm, that could spell the end of humankind.
To give you a better idea of the story, here’s a character breakdown. Corayne is the teenage daughter of a female ship captain (read: pirate). Domacridhan “Dom” is an immortal giant whose people will benefit from the end of humanity, but he’s determined not to let that happen. Andry is a noble squire who witnessed the supernatural slaughter of a band of the kingdom’s best knights. Sorasa is an assassin with a bounty on her head after being cast out of her guild. And Rhida is Dom’s immortal cousin, who’s trying to help in any way she can; despite obstacles from her own people.
Aveyard, whose Red Queen series is in development at Peacock, lovingly calls this group the “B Team”. Humanity’s survival rests in the hands of this band of “misfits”, which is reminiscent of LOTR and any other great adventure story that can be read or seen on a screen. With the story being told from the perspectives of the characters above, the author had this to say: “One of the benefits and challenges of writing with different voices is that you are telling stories from different perspectives. I always write who will manipulate the audience best with telling their side of the story.”
She went on to describe what she loves about each character. “Corayne I understand her the most emotionally. For fighting, I love Sorasa and Dom. For anger, I love Erida, who is the villain queen in the story. And, for the challenge, I love Andry; he’s one with his moral compass. He’s someone you want on your team in real life.”
Speaking of villains, the only romance in the first book belongs to Queen Erida and the evil Taristan. Both characters start their relationship as a partnership in world domination. However, their relationship will evolve into something else as the story unfolds. Not many authors can pull off a villain romance without it seeming to be cheesy. Thankfully, Aveyard really does a good job. According to the author who loves a good villain romance as much as I do, she approached this romance as two people “wanting something they weren’t given”.
Just in case you were wondering if I’m endorsing the book as a fellow fantasy novelist, the answer is a resounding “YES!”. It is reminiscent of reading a Game of Thrones series with the details as specific as a Robin Hobb novel. The only other thing I recommend is totally nerding out on Aveyard’s latest series by reading it while listening to film scores of action films. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
Until you can get your hands on the Realm Breaker books, here’s some parting words from Aveyard, herself: “I like reading royal fiction with a feminine bent. Expect a lot of female anger (in the Realm Breaker series) as it’s art imitating life right now. Those of you turning 18 soon, register to vote and vote your conscious. Also expect a dragon whose skin is made of jewels.”
Interested in other fantasy novels, you can read my first six novels now on Amazon.
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