Audiences were instantly captivated with Mai Corland’s romantasy novel, Five Broken Blades, and are now getting even more of their favorite ensemble cast of morally gray characters in Four Ruined Realms. There is so much that goes into crafting a romantasy novel, let alone the trilogy this series will become, and Mai’s insight on her writing process and inspirations give readers a behind-the-scenes peek into the mind that created your next favorite trilogy.
Tell us about Four Ruined Realms.
Four Ruined Realms is book two in the trilogy. It continues right where Five Broken Blades left off. The group has been betrayed and now has one month to steal the golden ring of the Dragon Lord from the queen of Khitan. They are angry and desperate, but determined to win because their loved ones hang in the balance. It’s a new land with new challenges and the lies and deceptions coming back to haunt them.
How did you craft the group dynamics among the central cast of characters?
Essentially, they all have opposing wants and needs and the success of one would mean the downfall of another. Being diametrically opposed creates instant tension for the readers and for each other. Everyone is deadly in their own right and trying to disguise either who they are or what they want, but they each love something or someone above themselves.
If you could introduce one character from Four Ruined Realms to another fantasy world, which character would it be, where would they go and why?
I think Mikail would be at home in Abigail Owen’s Games Gods Play because he’d enjoy the group dynamics and challenges.
What was the biggest challenge in telling the story from multiple POVs? What did this choice afford you in the story?
I’d say the hardest part in any multi-POV story is making the voices and characters distinct so that they don’t blend in the readers’ minds. Ideally, you want the reader to not need the header. As an author you also want to make sure you rotate narrators and the character is speaking. Typically, that’s the one with the emotional weight, not always! By the time I reached the middle of drafting Four Ruined Realms it felt as natural as the characters speaking to me.
What’s your favorite romantasy trope and how did it influence Four Ruined Realms?
I love a grump/sunshine pairing and that’s evident from Royo and Aeri. But I also love enemies to lovers and second-chance romance with exes. In romantasy, enemies can literally mean “I will cut your head off if given the chance” where enemies in contemporary generally means “I don’t like you at work.” The cast of characters allowed me to explore the archetypes and how they’d interact. I also am a sucker for there’s only one bed. I will believe it every time I read it and I managed to put it in both Five Broken Blades and Four Ruined Realms.
What got you into the romantasy genre?
I started out writing contemporary teen and then branched into very light fantasy with middle grade, but romance was always the central feature because I look for the love story in everything I see or read. As a writer, I enjoy the freedom that the romantasy genre allows. A blend of romance and fantasy allows for creativity and such an array of storytelling. My series leans epic fantasy, but the romances are so important to the story.
What are your favorite romantasy reads?
It’s not often thought of as a romantasy but I would argue it is—the Black Sun series is a favorite. I loved the worldbuilding of The Serpent and the Wings of Night and the tension in Heartless Hunter.
What inspired the world-building in your latest novel?
I loved blending east and west. I’ve thought about how much easier it could’ve been to not have a place like Yusan where there were four regions that became one, and then three more realms with their own customs, money, language, etc. but I think the world would’ve been less rich if it had been simpler. I like to create a world that has the familiar tensions of real life that is vivid enough where you can imagine walking through the streets.
What comes first for you, the fantasy world or the romance?
For me, it’s the world, because the world will shape the romance. The world decides who enemies are, what is allowed and forbidden, and I loved putting classic pairings into a dangerous world.
Which character in your latest novel was the most fun to write?
Aeri! Hands down. Her voice was always the most entertaining to me because she’s a killer and a schemer but she’s also into makeup and fashion. Her feminine traits make her underestimated, but like many women, there’s so much more to her. Her light tone hides a dark past, but also provides levity in an otherwise heavy at times narrative.
What are you working on next?
I am in edits for Three Shattered Souls, the last book of the Broken Blades series, because it will come out this July! I’ll be sad to say goodbye to these characters, but there will be a spinoff coming. I have just written the synopsis for my new, spicy take on romantasy meeting murder mystery and I am so excited for it. It’s tentatively titled The Verity Guild.
Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland
Now that the evil god king Joon has his sights set on his sister’s powerful ring, and he will do whatever it takes to get his hands on it, including manipulate The Five Blades to find it for him. With his unjust wrath hanging above their heads like a steel blade, they must come together and find a way to beat Joon at his own game. The skilled and deceptive group of assassins, liars, and even a dethroned prince, must work together to stop the cruelty of this overpowered, immortal king. But, with so much on the line, how do they know they can even complete the mission, let alone trust one another?
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