Brigid Kemmerer is the author of the New York Times bestselling Cursebreaker series, which includes A Curse So Dark and Lonely, A Heart So Fierce and Broken, and A Vow So Bold and Deadly. She has also written the contemporary young adult romances Call It What You Want, More Than We Can Tell, and Letters to the Lost, as well as paranormal young adult stories, including the Elemental series and Thicker Than Water. A full-time writer, Brigid lives in the Baltimore area with her family.
Today, Brigid Kemmerer is here to share a little bit about why she wanted to return to Emberfall, the world of the Cursebreaker series, in her new YA novel, Forging Silver into Stars (slight spoilers for Cursebreaker ahead!). Read on!
Brigid Kemmerer
Why I’m returning to Emberfall in Forging Silver into Stars
When I first wrote A Curse So Dark and Lonely, I wasn’t sure it would be a trilogy at all, much less that it would eventually spawn a spinoff series. The original inspiration for Curse was my favourite fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” which I realise isn’t very unique on the surface. (It is a tale as old as time, right?) But for me, what most captured my imagination was the kingdom outside the castle. We always heard about the prince being turned into a beast, but what about the rest of the royal family? They were gone! Who was ruling the country? Who was in power? Would other kingdoms try to invade? I had to know! When I started writing Curse, I immediately took Harper (my “beauty”) out of the castle and put her among the people to see if she could help them. But once I created the kingdom of Emberfall and the neighbouring queendom of Syhl Shallow, I realised I had worlds and characters I was going to want to keep visiting again and again—and I hoped readers would, too.
The Cursebreaker trilogy ended with our protagonists in love and the warring territories of Emberfall and Syhl Shallow finally at peace. That story was done—but I still had so many more stories to tell. In the original trilogy, I’d introduced a character named Tycho, who was a fifteen-year-old stablehand. Tycho was only supposed to be a minor character, a boy who wasn’t supposed to live long at all. But the very instant I put Tycho on the page, I just fell in love with him. He was so loyal and so earnest, despite his tortured past. In Forging Silver Into Stars, Tycho finally gets a chance to be the main character. As the new trilogy is set four years in the future, he’s now nineteen years old and he’s had quite the ”glow up”: his devotion and loyalty have paid off, and he’s earned the title of King’s Courier, the only man trusted to carry secret messages between the royal families of Emberfall and Syhl Shallow.
‘Once I created the kingdom of Emberfall and the neighbouring queendom of Syhl Shallow, I realised I had worlds and characters I was going to want to keep visiting again and again—and I hoped readers would, too.’
But Tycho isn’t the only star of the story. I love showing multiple perspectives so I can really dig into all sides of a story, so in Forging Silver Into Stars, readers will see the royal courts from Tycho’s point of view—and the poor town of Briarlock through the eyes of best friends Callyn and Jax. One of the greatest things about writing fantasy is that you can be imaginative and escapist but also still dig into real world issues. What I started with the Cursebreaker series (where characters challenge magic and face adventure while exploring themes like family obligation, grief, personal responsibility, found family, and first love) I took to another level in Forging Silver into Stars, where readers will find more adventure and magic and swordplay. But underneath all the fun, readers will find that Tycho, Jax, and Callyn are dealing with themes tackling consent, sexual trauma, abuse, and class differences.
It’s been an amazing journey creating these characters and these worlds, and I’m so excited for my readers to join them on their adventures. I can’t wait to see where else they take me. Readers who are new to my books shouldn’t hesitate to jump right in with Forging Silver into Stars, either—reading the previous trilogy isn’t required.
—Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer (Bloomsbury) is out now.
Forging Silver into Stars
Tycho of Rillisk has been a lot of things: son and brother, stablehand, prisoner, soldier and friend to the king. Now, four years after Grey took the throne of Emberfall, Tycho has taken on a new role: courier and spy. As the only person the king can trust, Tycho carries secret messages back and forth between the kingdoms of Emberfall and Syhl Shallow.
But even though the war is over, peace still seems far away. A dangerous anti-magical faction is rising, and when Tycho discovers a plot to assassinate Grey and Queen Lia Mara, ruler of Syhl Shallow, he must fight for everything...
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