Interview with Alma Alexander + The Secrets of Jin-Shei

[Carole]

Book rec for everybody - The Secrets of Jin Shei is absolutely my favorite fantasy book of all time. I'll leave the discussion open for you guys to guide because my commentary is about as astute as ZOMG LOVE. I am seriously better at discussing books than this, y'all, but there is like nothing bad I can say about this one.

I'm also doing an interview with the author in a few months and I was wondering if there was anything readers of hers were dying to know?

Thanks for any responses!

[T.S.]

Can you give us some basic information? Is it sword and magic fantasy? Is it YA or Adult? Is it low magic or high magic?

[Carole]

Oh, sorry - figured the blurb would take care of that.

It's low magic, more alchemy and spirit world type stuff. It's set in a fictional kingdom called Syai, which is based loosely on historical China. The underlying thread is a secret language passed down between women called Jin-Shei, which makes them sisters for life. Invoking the bond of Jin-Shei means you must drop everything and take care of your sister.

And it has a cast of eight female characters, too. Men play very small roles.