When I got the invite to participate in a mega blog tour showcasing the Fallen Kingdom books until the release date of Immortal Reign {the final book in the series}, I couldn’t sign up fast enough. For me, each of these books is better than the one before it and I couldn’t wait to get Morgan on the blog.
Before we get to Morgan’s interview and kick off the start of this blog tour, let’s check out the first book of the series!
Title: Fallen Kingdoms {Fallen Kingdoms #1}
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Pub Date: December 11, 2012
Pages: 412
Publisher: Razorbill
Find it: Penguin | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | GoodreadsIn the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest now simmers below the surface.
As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed… and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.
The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?
It’s the eve of war…. Choose your side.
Princess: Raised in pampered luxury, Cleo must now embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of magic long thought extinct.
Rebel: Jonas, enraged at injustice, lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished. To his shock, he finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.
Sorceress: Lucia, adopted at birth into the royal family, discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.
Heir: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, firstborn son Magnus begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword….
Sounds good, right?
1. Please give the elevator pitch for the Falling Kingdoms series.
I’ve always had a hard time describing FK since there’s so many subplots and so much going on, but here’s an overview: Rebels and royals both race to awaken a dormant magic that will imbue ultimate power to its possessor, and find themselves entangled in a web of war, betrayal, and forbidden romance.
2. What came first: the world or the characters?
While I’m writing, the characters take the lead, but when first developing the FK world, the mythology and magic came first. I remember sketching out a map of the place that would be called Mytica with three separate kingdoms, at the time called just “Blue,” “Green,” and “Red” (I kept the blue and red as Auranos and Limeros’s go-to colors). Once I had a decent idea of the places, the characters best suited to such a world came next.
3. You have a pretty large cast of characters here. Who is the easiest and hardest to write and why?
It’s kind of funny because the easiest character to write has also become the fan favorite—Prince Magnus Damora, who initially aspires to be exactly like his cruel and ruthless father, King Gaius. Magnus revealed so many hidden depths to his character, starting with the story behind the scar on his cheek, which was not in my original outline, it just happened on the page as I wrote the scene. From that, and Magnus’s angsty and amusingly sardonic view of the world, every scene of his has been a pleasure to write. The hardest to write is Princess Lucia (Magnus’s sister) since she tends to make poor decisions, even though they are true to her, and this makes her….well…kind of hard to like, I guess? As the writer, part of me wants to shake her and tell her to do something smarter and more thought out, but as a girl who’s been secluded and protected all of her life, to have to deal with both teenage issues AND juggling the newfound truth about her past has been something Lucia hasn’t exactly handled with grace. So Lucia is tricky, but I’m very proud and satisfied with her character arc through the series.
4. What was the weirdest thing you googled while researching?
It’s probably a tie between “medieval torture techniques” and “how did medieval people go to the toilet?” Both fascinating, but probably not for the squeamish.
5. When working on a series this large and detailed, how do you keep track of everything?
I have tried to keep a series “bible” with all the pertinent facts, but I have started to skim the previous books during edits to help keep things as fresh as possible in my mind.
Speed {ish} round:
1. You find out that you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next 5 minutes.
Wild joy! Followed quickly by an unpleasant tug of war between my fear of success and my fear of failure. #truestory
2. What three things would you take to a desert island?
A yacht, a personal chef, and Ian Somerhalder.
3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?
Probably Ulysses. I’ve been trying to get through it for 20 years, so I’m probably going to need the rest of my life to reach the end.
4. What book character would you want to date and who would you want to be your BFF?
Okay, I’m going to choose character from Falling Kingdoms, just because. For my BFF, Princess Cleo, of course, because we both love to shop and I think she’d be fun to hang out with. For my boyfriend…ex-assassin Felix since he’s over eighteen (heh) and funny AF and he could kick anyone’s butt who messed with me.
5. What is the one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?
To hold tight to the joy of writing because the business side of it can be distracting and a roller coaster of emotions.
6. You wake up and discover you are Bella in Twilight. You know how it plays out. What do you do differently? {Huge thanks to Bookish Broads for letting me use this question!}
Nothing, lol. I’m a shameless fan of those books.
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Morgan Rhodes lives in Ontario, Canada. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess — the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous.
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Huge thanks to Penguin for the invite and to Morgan for taking the time. Make sure you’re checking out the rest of the tour for all sorts of goodies!
YAY :D Gorgeous interview post Stacee. <3 I adore Morgan too. But ahh, I have only read book one. Which I loved. And I do own all of the books :D Will be reading them once the final one is out, eee. I'm excited. <3 And haha, love the Twilight answer :D And I agree with it too ;)