Chapter 5 - Setting the scene
Once the detail of the world was set, I started getting on to the really fun bits; firstly, the backdrop. I knew I wanted to write a love story, the kind I would love to read, or even better find myself embroiled in. It would have to be something brooding and full of tension, but once again pushing our human boundaries, making more overt the butterflies, prickling skin and electricity we feel when in the throes of crazy attraction.
But everyone knows the best part of a love story is the courtship, the excited anticipation to see what will happen next. Nobody wants to read about long term relationships; the peaceful monotony of happily (or even turbulent monotony of unhappily) married life is not my idea of a fun read on a Sunday afternoon. So I started to think about how to keep things interesting, how to extend the initial tension without just throwing problems at a linear relationship and not surprisingly came up with multiple love interests (powerful, good looking ones naturally) to add a bit of spice. They all bring something different to the table and reflect the time old conundrum of what to look for in a relationship - fun, flirty escapism, grounded, brooding power, or solid, reliable safety.
Equally, I wanted to touch on our very modern obsession with celebrity, how we turn rulers into these too and our fixation on overnight fame. These themes are juxtaposed against an extremely talented main character, who far from coveting, shies away from the limelight, caring only about the pure joy of winning against the most tenacious of adversaries. And in the world of Legacy, the most tenacious of adversaries are the Descendants; three ruling families, each representing one of the three Gods. They pass their rule down to their children, monopolising power and ensuring its concentration in the hands of a privileged few. The only way for others to get close to power is to be born into one of the Council families (those who are entrusted to help the Descendants run the world), do something great and be appointed a Councillor, or climb the academic ladder and become a leader within the Temple to which you belong.
I split the world into three broad areas; Kingdom, Empire and The Wildlands. Empire, where the first book is set, is a quiet, sedate-paced, former premier city. It provides a degree of separation and difference from cosmopolitan Kingdom; a more imposing metropolis and home to the Descendants. The Wildlands are really a place of mystery in the first book, primarily because for Anita, they’re a vast unknown too; they will become much more familiar in the rest of the trilogy.
But a good story wouldn’t be a good story without some kind of villain, and villains, I think, are especially powerful when the reader has cause to question what their real motivations are. I wanted to reflect that nobody is all good or all evil and trying to navigate our way through the black and white of right and wrong is a minefield, through which (although we pretend otherwise), no unequivocally correct path exists. The only certain outcome is that we will all lose a limb or two along the way.
But everyone knows the best part of a love story is the courtship, the excited anticipation to see what will happen next. Nobody wants to read about long term relationships; the peaceful monotony of happily (or even turbulent monotony of unhappily) married life is not my idea of a fun read on a Sunday afternoon. So I started to think about how to keep things interesting, how to extend the initial tension without just throwing problems at a linear relationship and not surprisingly came up with multiple love interests (powerful, good looking ones naturally) to add a bit of spice. They all bring something different to the table and reflect the time old conundrum of what to look for in a relationship - fun, flirty escapism, grounded, brooding power, or solid, reliable safety.
Equally, I wanted to touch on our very modern obsession with celebrity, how we turn rulers into these too and our fixation on overnight fame. These themes are juxtaposed against an extremely talented main character, who far from coveting, shies away from the limelight, caring only about the pure joy of winning against the most tenacious of adversaries. And in the world of Legacy, the most tenacious of adversaries are the Descendants; three ruling families, each representing one of the three Gods. They pass their rule down to their children, monopolising power and ensuring its concentration in the hands of a privileged few. The only way for others to get close to power is to be born into one of the Council families (those who are entrusted to help the Descendants run the world), do something great and be appointed a Councillor, or climb the academic ladder and become a leader within the Temple to which you belong.
I split the world into three broad areas; Kingdom, Empire and The Wildlands. Empire, where the first book is set, is a quiet, sedate-paced, former premier city. It provides a degree of separation and difference from cosmopolitan Kingdom; a more imposing metropolis and home to the Descendants. The Wildlands are really a place of mystery in the first book, primarily because for Anita, they’re a vast unknown too; they will become much more familiar in the rest of the trilogy.
But a good story wouldn’t be a good story without some kind of villain, and villains, I think, are especially powerful when the reader has cause to question what their real motivations are. I wanted to reflect that nobody is all good or all evil and trying to navigate our way through the black and white of right and wrong is a minefield, through which (although we pretend otherwise), no unequivocally correct path exists. The only certain outcome is that we will all lose a limb or two along the way.
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