I was reading some old notes in prep for some final edits on Deathless Council and I need you to know that parts of Tamara's internal monologue re: Sean in the first book goes like this:
Tamara, seconds after bursting out of the wall: This guy's the tallest and biggest one here. He's probably the biggest threat. I estimate he's late twenties, early thirties.
Tamara, after Sean has opened his mouth: He's under twenty-three.
Tamara, by the end of Immortality Thief: I have taken custody of a large teenager.
(Tamara, in Unkillable Princess, right after Sean has casually mentioned he's twenty-five years old: ???!??!??!?!?????)
You know, I was gonna say “clearly this is Sean and Tamara” or “this is Sean and everyone” but to be very real with you, this is Sean and Benny. Benny’s sense of humor is extremely limited and his sense of whimsy is nonexistent. He endured this on a daily basis alone with Sean in an enclosed space for eight years. I cannot condone the betrayal and attempted murder but, I mean, I can draw a line from cause to effect.
In the affectionate, non-murderous form of this meme…this is Sean and Tamara.
Hi Hi Heloo! Saw your little note about birds in a prev ask, and so, for no reason at all, what kinds of birds would you associate with your characters (as many as you want or think of)?
This ask made me realize that I mentioned the bird symbolism for the Ministers in the last ask but somehow forgot to mention Sean WREN.
Sean: wrens, sparrows, finches. Harmless little social creatures that chatter a lot. Prey to larger birds.
Tamara: Probably a corvid (crows and ravens). Smart animals. Omnivores.
Indigo: I need you to know that I spent a very long time today reading Wikipedia articles on various kinds of hawks, falcons, and eagles in an attempt to nail down what kind of raptor he should be. This became very important to me. I’m going to blame the importance of this decision on the Animorph novels, which I was obsessed with as a child, and in which the bird of prey morph of each of the main characters revealed key features of their personalities. I’ve narrowed him down to a gyrfalcon or a Eurasian sparrowhawk. Both target smaller birds. Both are used by humans to hunt.
(I also briefly considered a kestrel but, unfortunately, I have seen an American kestrel before. They are the silliest looking little murder birds. I couldn’t do that to Indigo.)
Honorary mentions: Number One/Kora is, of course, associated with owls; Brigid, with peregrine falcons.
I loved your books and just finally finished The Unkillable Princess last night. Since I am clearly going to age to death before book three, would you please bless me by telling me The Gang's (tm) favorite ice cream flavors?
(Also I am curious if the bird symbolism was intentional)
--Sincerely, A Fan
I am actually working on edits for The Deathless Council on this very day, so stay alive. IT WILL COME.
Now for the important part, i.e. ice cream:
SEAN: I think Sean is capable of eating an objectively disgusting ice cream and genuinely enjoying it. The more the people around him say things like "what are you eating?" and "are you crazy?" and "no one could possibly enjoy that", the better that ice cream would taste. This is because the social aspect of ice cream eating is more important to him than the flavor. Sean is starved for love not sugar and negative attention is easier to attain than positive.
That said, if he had to pick an actual favorite flavor, it would probably be a flavor he liked as a kid. I want to say strawberry--especially since strawberries can be grown locally on Kystrom. I, Taran Hunt, think that strawberry ice cream is gross, so I can't personally relate. But my wife loves it so I'm forced to admit that there are people out there who do. One of them is Sean Wren.
TAMARA: Chocolate. But dark, rich chocolate. The kind of ice cream that has a little bit of bitterness to it.
INDIGO: Indigo is so old that he has lived through hundreds of years of dessert evolution. Flavors shift as the availability and quality of ingredients change. He wouldn't identify a particular flavor as his favorite because, from his perspective, flavor isn't a constant. Instead he would pick a specific flavor from a specific time and place. He likes interesting flavors with depth. I once had an incredible olive oil and rosemary ice cream at the wonderful (and unfortunately closed) Morgenstern's in NYC. Indigo would like that.
On the other hand, he'd also enjoy a really good vanilla. Which means that the three leads could eat a Neapolitan ice cream together and all leave happy.
The bird symbolism for the Ministers was intentional! Sean is afraid of the Ministers, especially at the start of The Immortality Thief, and he sees them as predators. Predatory birds are visually fragile but fierce, swift, and deadly. They're not mammals, so they come off as slightly alien. Because birds are what remains of dinosaurs, there's a connection to a past that is immense, deadly--and extinct. All of that worked for what I wanted to convey of the Ministers.
Thank you for your message! I really appreciate hearing from people who enjoyed my books. Now I'm going to go back to working on The Deathless Council. I promise.
Addendum: Brigid’s favorite flavor is also vanilla. She locks eyes with Indigo across the ice cream parlor, sees him eating vanilla, and immediately throws her almost-completely-untouched cone into the nearest trash can. Eye contact remains unbroken.
I loved your books and just finally finished The Unkillable Princess last night. Since I am clearly going to age to death before book three, would you please bless me by telling me The Gang's (tm) favorite ice cream flavors?
(Also I am curious if the bird symbolism was intentional)
--Sincerely, A Fan
I am actually working on edits for The Deathless Council on this very day, so stay alive. IT WILL COME.
Now for the important part, i.e. ice cream:
SEAN: I think Sean is capable of eating an objectively disgusting ice cream and genuinely enjoying it. The more the people around him say things like "what are you eating?" and "are you crazy?" and "no one could possibly enjoy that", the better that ice cream would taste. This is because the social aspect of ice cream eating is more important to him than the flavor. Sean is starved for love not sugar and negative attention is easier to attain than positive.
That said, if he had to pick an actual favorite flavor, it would probably be a flavor he liked as a kid. I want to say strawberry--especially since strawberries can be grown locally on Kystrom. I, Taran Hunt, think that strawberry ice cream is gross, so I can't personally relate. But my wife loves it so I'm forced to admit that there are people out there who do. One of them is Sean Wren.
TAMARA: Chocolate. But dark, rich chocolate. The kind of ice cream that has a little bit of bitterness to it.
INDIGO: Indigo is so old that he has lived through hundreds of years of dessert evolution. Flavors shift as the availability and quality of ingredients change. He wouldn't identify a particular flavor as his favorite because, from his perspective, flavor isn't a constant. Instead he would pick a specific flavor from a specific time and place. He likes interesting flavors with depth. I once had an incredible olive oil and rosemary ice cream at the wonderful (and unfortunately closed) Morgenstern's in NYC. Indigo would like that.
On the other hand, he'd also enjoy a really good vanilla. Which means that the three leads could eat a Neapolitan ice cream together and all leave happy.
The bird symbolism for the Ministers was intentional! Sean is afraid of the Ministers, especially at the start of The Immortality Thief, and he sees them as predators. Predatory birds are visually fragile but fierce, swift, and deadly. They're not mammals, so they come off as slightly alien. Because birds are what remains of dinosaurs, there's a connection to a past that is immense, deadly--and extinct. All of that worked for what I wanted to convey of the Ministers.
Thank you for your message! I really appreciate hearing from people who enjoyed my books. Now I'm going to go back to working on The Deathless Council. I promise.
I’ve been watching Deep Space Nine for the first time and so far it’s delightful. I’m excited to get deeper into the series, I’ve heard a lot about the long-running show arcs.
Some thoughts:
1. I would die for Kira Nerys
2. I think Kira should get to say “fuck” every now and again. As a treat
3. The episode I just watched featured the senior staff trapped in a board game together. This is the most Star Trek ass plot I’ve ever heard. I loved every second.
4. Every Star Trek series has at least one dumbass whose (lack of) impulse control and naïveté causes constant damage. I’m delighted to discover that in DS9, the dumbass is the doctor.
Now that THE DEATHLESS COUNCIL news is public I can share with you all the first—and for many months, only—note I left myself for the plot of this book
Solaris is delighted to announce the acquisition of The Deathless Council by Taran Hunt, the third and final book in The Kystrom Chronicles.
I’m so excited to share that there will be a third book in the Kystrom Chronicles: THE DEATHLESS COUNCIL!
Linguist and thief Sean Wren must venture deep into enemy territory to unravel the mysteries of the immortal Ministers, still at war with the remnants of humanity in a distant star system, and find a way to save a friend who has become family.
hewwo! i devoured both of your books in the last few days and i don't know what you put into them, but i love them and all of your characters (even fucking todd i guess :/ ) but especially the main three, and also the language nerdery (你也学习中文啊？加油！), and i wanted to thank you for writing them. i'll sign off with the following, appropriate meme:
Hello! Thank you so much! This meme is exactly accurate and is my personal favorite dynamic in fiction. Todd is the worst, but as he is one of my creations I am also forced to love him anyway (unfortunate). Letting Sean scare the shit out of him in the final chapter of Unkillable Princess was personally cathartic.
Thank you so much for your message and your meme--it means a lot to know that someone has read my books and enjoyed them!
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
areudirty
stormborns
izzy806
dailybridgerton
