In this book I wanted to rethink the idea of anachronism, to resist the idea of a fantasy setting as a fully-realised simulation, with a defined “tech level” and a little snowglobe of geopolitics. This all seemed really important and meaningful at the time for reasons which are now opaque to me - why should an invented world share the geography, botany and colonial history of our world, unless that’s something you want to meaningfully engage with? I’d had to rewrite a scene I really loved because, as it turns out, sunflowers didn’t arrive in Europe until the 16th century. I was always looking up the origins of different plants to avoid the classic 'why are there potatoes in Lord of the Rings' trap, which I saw at the time as an anachronistic gaffe. I’d shelved a project which ran on desperately conventional lines, in a vaguely Medieval European setting. How did you know what classic fantasy elements to keep, which to ditch, and which to reinvent entirely?Ī.K.L.: There was definitely a tension between my deep and abiding love of classic swords-and-sorcery, and my eagerness to do something new.īefore working on The Unspoken Name, I’d had the idea that a fantasy setting should be almost independent of its story, a place with predictable rules in which you could run a tabletop RPG if you so chose. NOAF: The Unspoken Name has some classic fantasy adventure trappings - old magics, watchful gods, assassins, warring wizards, and such. Larkwood (photo credit Vicki Bailey / VHB Photography ) She was kind enough to answer my questions about what inspired her to write this series, her unique approach to developing magic systems, the joy of writing Csorwe and Tal's relationship, her favorite fantasy reads, and more.Ī.K. She's worked in media relations, higher education, and is now studying law.

Larkwood lives in England with her wife and their cat. I realize now, I am forcing you to choose between reading this interview first, or reading the excerpt first.Ī.K. The better news is that this is the first book in a series, so you'll get to spend more time in this world.

The good news is that there is a lengthy excerpt available at Tor.com. If that didn't get your attention, when Tor announced the deal with Larkwood last May, her quote was “ The Unspoken Name grew out of my long-standing curiosity about villains’ sidekicks: what might it take to stay loyal to a boss who is clearly bad news? What do you owe to someone who saves your life, and what do they owe to you?” Consider my attention grabbed and owned! A novel that offers Gods who may not have your best interests at heart, a sacrifice who becomes an assassin, witty dialog, complex relationships, and characters who have to deal with escaping their own destinies, this is the kind of story that pulls you right in from the first chapter.

Larkwood's debut fantasy novel, The Unspoken Name, is already garnering rave reviews ahead of it's February release.

The unspoken name series