Interview: Harry Connolly

Tomorrow one of my most expected books gets released, Games of Cages, the second book of the Twenty Palaces series. I want to thank the author, Harry Connolly, for being here today.



A SECRET HIGH-STAKES AUCTION

As a wealthy few gather to bid on a predator capable of destroying all life on earth, the sorcerers of the Twenty Palace Society mobilize to stop them. Caught up in the scramble is Ray Lilly, the lowest of the low in the society—an ex–car thief and the expendable assistant of a powerful sorcerer. Ray possesses exactly one spell to his name, along with a strong left hook. But when he arrives in the small town in the North Cascades where the bidding is to take place, the predator has escaped and the society’s most powerful enemies are desperate to recapture it. All Ray has to do is survive until help arrives. But it may already be too late.



- How long does it usually take you to write a book?

My agent would like me to finish in 9 months, but it usually takes me a year. Maybe a little longer.

- Some authors don't read the same genre they write. Do you?

Not too much. Lately I read mysteries and police procedurals.


- Do you listen to music while you write?

Just whatever is playing at the Starbucks. I try not to have rituals or special conditions when I sit down to write.

- What are you working on right now?

I don't have a contract for my next book. I have a couple of sample chapters and proposals on my agent's desk--we'll see if anyone bites.
In any event, it'll be different from the Twenty Palaces books I've been writing. I need to work on something new.


- What can you tell us about your next book, Games of Cages?

Aside from "It will be available August 31st?" :)
It's the second book in the Twenty Palaces series, and it features an auction gone wrong. A wealthy woman tries to auction off a long-imprisoned predator, but it gets free and hides in a nearby town. The bidders descend on the town to search for it, and plot ensues.
It's darker than the first novel. Some secrets are exposed and Ray gets a deeper view of the world he's entered, but he's still an outsider in a secret society that doesn't trust him.

- Ray and Annalise have a hate/sometimes a little less hate relationship. Is that going to change any time soon?

They get along better in book two--although Annalise's role is limited. There's still a lot of friction, though.


- Are we going to find out what happened between them in the past?

What's described in book one is where I'd planned to leave it: : that Annalise tried to take out a friend of Ray's and that, in defending his friend, Ray caused the death of someone Annalise cared about.

I'm surprised that so many people wanted more details about this. I wanted the leads in CHILD OF FIRE to have a legitimate reason for conflict, and I wanted it to be part of their backstory. And if Del Rey wants to publish a prequel, I'll be the first person to cheer. But GAME OF CAGES is going to have to sell well for that to happen.


- I've been very curious about the Twenty Palaces society. What can you tells us about it?

Not much. The society is part of the background of the stories, and will be revealed in the books.
I will say that they're a secret society that takes their secrecy seriously. They don't give tours of their headquarters to new recruits, and they don't introduce them to the head guy. (Sorry, but that always bugs me about secret organizations in books and movies.)

- Is Ray's magic going to evolve or is it going to stay the same?

Evolve. I don't want to give much more detail than that.


- In the first book, Ray doesn't seem to have a lot of friends (if any). Is he going to make any in the future?

This is something I've talked about with my editor. Lots of urban fantasy has a cast of recurring secondary characters to provide specific story functions--Butters (to pick The Dresden Files) provides medical exposition and Bob the skull provides magical exposition. Readers love the supporting cast, because they're often more quirky and outrageous than the hero.

My editor talked to me about this, but there are aspects of the story that work against it. The setting moves with every book, for instance, so it's not like Ray can drop in on his buddy the police chief every time.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't see this as a supporting-cast-type of series.


- Are we going to meet any new magical creatures in the next book?

I'm planning to have at least one in every new book, and sometimes more.


- Thanks for being here today and good luck with Game of Cages!

You're welcome, and thanks for your questions. I hope your readers give the books a try.



Read my review of the first book, Child of Fire, here.
You can learn more abot the author in his website.

Review: Child of Fire by Harry Connolly

Child of Fire
Twenty Palaces #1

Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He’s the driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him–or let someone else do the job.

Unfortunately for both of them, Annalise’s next mission goes wrong, leaving her critically injured. With the little magic he controls, Ray must complete her assignment alone. Not only does he have to stop a sorcerer who’s sacrificing dozens of innocent lives in exchange for supernatural power, he must find–and destroy–the source of that inhuman magic.


Ray is an ex-con and he works for the Twenty Palace Society. He made a deal with them and now he works for Annalise, a member of the group and a woman he once betrayed and who now wants him dead. The mission is to find out what is happening in a little town. Childs are disappearing, or more accurately, are being killed by some kind of magic that makes them burn, and then makes people forget that they ever existed. When Ray and Annalise see what happens with their own eyes, they know that what's happening is big and powerful.

When they both arrive at the town, named Hammer Bay, the first thing they do is find out where the toy factory is, because they are pretty suspicious of how toys that are so antiquated are in high demand. As soon as Annalise starts asking questions to the owner, the workers from the factory are somehow controlled and they try to kill both her and Ray. Annalise is severely injured and can't be properly healed by her usual methods, so Ray is left alone to figure out what's wrong in the town and who is responsible.

This is a very dark urban fantasy. Ray is an ex-con who does everything is his power to help Annalise, even though she ignores him most of the time. I liked how he tries his best every time, and when things start to grow worse, he makes the best of them, even though it means that he probably is going to get killed. When people get murdered, he worries about getting back in jail, seeing as how the cops in the little town are also very weird and suspicious. Also, the weapon he uses is unusual but very efficient.

We know that there's a back story to Ray and Annalise, but we don't really find out what it is and only get little glimpses of the issue. Annalise is cold and sees the world through a very narrow mind. She wasn't always that way, but some events from her past made her like that. There isn't a lot of worldbuilding, there was only the town, the characters and all the problems that happen when they are there. The magic is not very flashy, especially the one that Ray has. We don't really know a lot about the Twenty Palace Society and I expect that we're going to find out more about them in future books. Sometimes this book had more horror than fantasy. I didn't have any problems with that, because I like the genre, but some readers might find that it is a little too much. I know some people might start reading it because Jim Butcher recommended it, but I have to say, this is NOT a Dresden novel or anything that resembles it. If you're expecting something exactly liked that series, you're going to be disappointed.

All in all, I loved this book. I think it was a great start of a series that I will definitely follow and I would recommend it to someone who likes very dark urban fantasy, horror and mystery.


Memorable Quote:

I felt a pressure against my chest, just below my right collarbone. Strange. I tried to ignore it and said, “Do you folks need any help?”
The woman glanced up, noticing us for the first time. She had a terrified look on her face, but I knew it had nothing to do with Annalise or me. Her husband glanced back as he came out of the backseat. His glasses were smeary from the drizzle. “No,” he said too quickly. “We’re fine.”
The pressure against my chest increased.
Then their little boy climbed out of the car.
He was a good-looking kid, maybe eight or nine years old, although I’m no judge. His hair stuck up in the back, and he had scrapes on both elbows. “I feel funny, Dad,” he said. He laid his hands on his chest and pressed. “I feel squishy.”
Flames erupted around his head. I felt light-headed suddenly, and the pressure against my chest vanished. Before I could think about it, I ran toward them, stripping off my jacket.
The woman screamed. The flames around the boy’s head spread downward past his crotch. In an instant, his whole body was ablaze..


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