Dragons, magic and love. After his release in February, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, the first volume of her saga The empire, quickly became the best-selling book in France. The second volume is about to be published and an adaptation of the series is in preparation… Meet the queen of romance.
It is the perfect blend of a romance and adventure story in an imaginary universe. Since I was a child, I loved delving into these kinds of books, like those of Mercedes Lackey and of Marion Zimmer Bradley. They teleport me to worlds that look nothing like ours and cut me off from the chaos in which we live. But I’m also a big romantic. In my books, I therefore realized my own fantasy by bringing together the two ingredients that I liked the most. I’m not alone in doing it romanticism. I am also a big fan of the books of Sarah J Maas.
Romance is very popular, especially among young readers. Did you know your books are going viral on BookTok?
It’s amazing! I think TikTok it is a great platform when it allows emerging authors to make themselves known. It’s like word of mouth, but on the Internet! If it can encourage young people to read, even better. In my opinion, reading is essential, since it allows us to develop our sense of empathy and our curiosity for others and different cultures. This is, in any case, what I defend in my books.
What I like when I start a new story is to imagine the characters, discover their character and the motivations that drive them. The empire tells the story of Violetta. This heroine is a lot like me, except she lives in a fictional world where dragons and magic are part of her everyday life. Passionate about history, like me, she is destined to become a scribe, who are the guardians of the memory of this world. But her mother, who is also the General and a famous dragon trainer, has other plans for her daughter and Violet must then join the prestigious, but very dangerous, squad of dragon riders.
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Beyond the plot, I wanted to tackle topics that are dear to my heart. The first is the autoimmune disease of heroin. Like me, he has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which makes his bones very fragile. Which is not easy when you ride dragons all day… In the book, I wanted to experience the limits of this disease with her. The second is historical revisionism. It was my favorite subject when I was a history student and I made the heart of the plot of Fourth Wing.
Your readers love the character of Violet. What is so special?
I think she is less special than determined! I really wanted her to be a girl like the others and not an ultra-heroine.ugly as often in fantasy novels. Violet is like everyone else, she has good days and bad days. But she is tenacious, especially in the face of illness. The writing of Fourth Wing it was really cathartic and powerful on that level.
Violet fights every day, whether against the disease or the sometimes terrible events that occur in the story – no spoilers ! No matter the nature of these obstacles, I believe that courage is a universal quality that many can maintain.
The empire will be adapted into a series by Amazon Prime Video. What can you reveal to us?
I am bound by absolute secrecy! However, I can assure readers that the team that produces and directs the series is really committed to preserving the original work and transcribing on the screen what they loved in the books. Sometimes I sneak in the writers room to make sure certain elements don’t interfere with what happens in future books.
The empire is a five volume series. In anticipation of this adaptation, I had to develop the synopsis of each volume. It’s an incredible project that started even before publication Fourth Wing, since Amazon didn’t even wait for its release for options. I am very curious to see what this adaptation will be like!
You started writing novels ten years ago. You have published more than twenty of them. To ensure such production, what is your writing routine?
I have ADHD (attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, editor’s note). Once I start writing a book, I can spend more than 16 hours a day. Sometimes I forget to sleep and eat… It’s not the healthiest routine out there! But writing is like a memory muscle. The more consistent we are, the more creative the mind.
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Iron flame, the second volume of the saga, is released on June 5 in France. Can you tell us more?
We find Violet troubled by what she learns in the end Fourth Wing. Her entire existence is called into question when she realizes that everyone close to her has been keeping secrets from her. How will he find himself? That’s the whole point ofFlame of iron. And, of course, there are dragons!