Jenn Lyons Interview - The Memory of Souls

Photo Credit: Matthew & Nicole Nicholson, Dim Horizon Studio

Jenn Lyons lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, three cats, and a lot of opinions on anything from the Sumerian creation myths to the correct way to make a martini. At various points in her life, she has wanted to be an archaeologist, anthropologist, architect, diamond cutter, fashion illustrator, graphic designer, or Batman. Turning from such obvious trades, she is now a video game producer by day, and spends her evenings writing science fiction and fantasy. When not writing, she can be founding debating the Oxford comma and Joss Whedon’s oeuvre at various local coffee shops.

        

  

Series: A Chorus of Dragons (3) (Book 3)
Hardcover: 640 pages
Publisher: Tor Books (August 25, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250175577
ISBN-13: 978-1250175571

Praise for THE MEMORY OF SOULS

“Lyons has cleverly taken the epic fantasy tropes of prophecy and lineage and stood them on their heads, all while delving deep into her multidimensional characters and spinning great battles with high body counts.” ―Booklist, starred review

Praise for THE RUIN OF KINGS

"[A] jaw-dropping, action-packed story of betrayal, greed, and grand-scale conspiracy . . . Lyons ties it all together seamlessly to create literary magic. Epic fantasy fans looking for a virtually un-put-down-able read should look no further." ―Kirkus, starred review

"Rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it." ―Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians

“It was one hell of a ride. I gobbled it up and was hungry for more.” ―Glen Cook, author of The Black Company

“The Ruin of Kings is a fascinating story about a compellingly conflicted young hero in an intriguingly complex world.” ―L. E. Modesitt, Jr., author of the Recluse series

"A thriller plot of revenge and loyalty with a get-under-your-skin and keep-you-reading-all-night mystery at its heart. I loved it."―John Gwynne, author of Malice

"The Ruin of Kings revs up with the glitz of a high-speed, multi-level video game, with extreme magic and a teen hero with angst." ―Janny Wurts, author of The Curse of the Mistwraith

Greatest thing you learned at school.
That learning shouldn’t stop when you leave.

When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?
I’ve always been a creative person, but I thought my calling was illustrative art. It never occurred to me that I rarely created a painting or drawing that didn’t have a story to go with it. 

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
Without a doubt it’s been the people who have written me to tell me how much these books have meant to them. How much they needed them and how reading them helped them through difficult times. It’s meant the world to me.

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I am currently writing the last book in my A Chorus of Dragons series, which is incredibly bittersweet. On the other hand, it’s extremely validating, especially to all the people whose first comment to me upon hearing about the series was ‘Oh, I don’t start a series until it’s finished.’ People don’t seem to doubt that I’m actually going to finish these days.

Where things go after that? I have more books to write! I’ve never been at a loss for ideas.

Which character have you enjoyed getting to know the most over the course of writing A Chorus of Dragons?
That’s a tough one. There’s so many characters here I’ve really enjoyed writing. They all bring something different to the experience. 

If you could work for anyone you choose, who would it be?
Sappy as this sounds, that would be Tor Books. So you can imagine my shocked delight at discovering that dream was coming true.

In your newest book, THE MEMORY OF SOULS (A Chorus of Dragons #3); can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about the novel?
The entire series is about this young man who finds out that he’s the focal point for these prophecies, but instead of saving the world, he’s supposed to destroy it – which isn’t really a thing he wants to do, especially since there’s a trapped dark god who seems like a better candidate for that role. By the time we reach book three, that god is now awake and his prison is crumbling, so Kihrin has to head south with his companions to convince the only candidate left to conduct the ritual to send the god back to sleep. But since the ritual will kill the caster and shorten the lifespans of their entire race, they’re not so keen to volunteer. It’s a problem. What cost is too high when the whole world really is at stake?

Which of your characters do you feel has grown the most since book one and in what way have they changed?
That’s a hard one because so much of this series has been about re-evaluating and unlearning toxic belief systems for so many of the characters in it. I’ve never liked it when a fantasy story shies away from the consequences of trauma or denies its characters the chance to heal and connect with each other. So you have both Senera and Teraeth, who are fanatical killers serving god-like beings with whom they have parental relationships (literally Teraeth’s mother in his case) and who both are slowly realizing their blind loyalty is misplaced. Then there’s Talea, who goes from being little more than a rescue-the-damsel plot device in book 1 to something quite a bit more than that by the end. Even Talon, pure chaos gremlin that she is, goes through some real changes by the end of things. But at the end of the day, I’ll go with Kihrin, since he’s grappling with the consequences of multiple lifetimes, and finally learning to deal with that.

TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE MEMORY OF SOULS

• 1. The scene with the gods at the beginning of the book wasn’t originally meant to be included but we liked it so much we ended up using it anyway.
• 2. Two characters who appear in this book are not identified: Qown and Jarith.
• 3. Xivan Kaen was originally supposed to have died before the start of book 2. When someone pointed out that I had fridged her, I decided to run with that in the most literal way possible and made her an undead warrior roaming the frozen wastes of Yor.
• 4. Talon’s so good at coming up with reasons why people shouldn’t kill her that even I haven’t been able to. She’s had a planned death in every book to date where she’s appeared but has so far managed to still be alive by the time the final edit is finished.
• 5. West Quuros fashion was inspired (partially) by ancient Assyria.
• 6. Book 2 has different maps from books 1 and 3 because Senera drew them instead of Thurvishar.
• 7. That also goes for the chapter art.
• 8. Quur has been used as the setting for a LARP (live-action role-playing game).
• 9. Six different languages have been created for these books.
• 10. Ompher, the world upon which these books are set, has a longer year than Earth’s. When Kihrin was sixteen, he was closer to seventeen in Earth years, and at twenty, he’s nearly twenty-two.

What is the first job you have had?
I worked as a graphic artist at an Alphagraphics, mostly making business cards and letterheads and such. Which I had no experience with at all. I was sat down in front of a computer with a stack of job orders and the program manuals and told I had a week to finish it all. I did.
Best date you've ever had? 

Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
I have, and I was fired for it, but a month later I sold this series to Tor, so I like to think there’s some karma out there.

What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
Ugh. I really need to make myself go to sleep on time. 

If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?
When I was thirteen, I had a scholarship to study at Johns Hopkins but my mother couldn’t afford the gas or the time it would take to drive me there. I would insist on finding a way.

What event in your life would make a good movie?
When I was nineteen years old, my mother, who was dying of stage IV breast cancer, sat me down and revealed that I was not in fact an only child. She’d taken me as a baby when she’d fled from my abusive father, who was in the CIA, but had been forced to leave behind my two sisters and a brother.

And that all really happened.

Unlike Kihrin, however, I have the coolest siblings on the planet. Thank goodness.

What is one unique thing are you afraid of?
Snails. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea.

 

WHAT IF YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HAS TO DIE?

Now that the city of Atrine has been destroyed and Relos Var's plan to free the dark god Vol Karoth has been revealed—the end of the world is closer than ever.

To buy time for humanity, Kihrin, Janel, and Thurvishar must convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual that will strip the vané of their immortality—a ritual that certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the ones bringing the news.

Worse, Kihrin must come to terms with the horrifying possibility that his connection to Vol Karoth is steadily growing in strength. How can Kihrin hope to save anyone when he might turn out to be the greatest threat of them all?

You can purchase The Memory of Souls at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you JENN LYONS for making this giveaway possible.

3 Winners will receive the Set of 3 Books (A Chorus of Dragons Series) by Jenn Lyons.

WEEK ONE - REVIEW & INTERVIEWS
AUGUST 24th MONDAY JeanBookNerd INTERVIEW
AUGUST 25th TUESDAY Kait Plus Books EXCERPT
AUGUST 26th WEDNESDAY Port Jericho REVIEW
AUGUST 26th WEDNESDAY Movies, Shows, & Books EXCERPT
AUGUST 27th THURSDAY Rajiv's Reviews REVIEW
AUGUST 28th FRIDAY BookHounds INTERVIEW
AUGUST 28th FRIDAY A Dream Within A Dream EXCERPT

WEEK TWO - REVIEWS
AUGUST 31st MONDAY Ya It's Lit REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 1st TUESDAY Nay's Pink Bookshelf REVIEW 
SEPTEMBER 1st TUESDAY PopTheButterfly Reads REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 2nd WEDNESDAY Sometimes Leelynn Reads REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 3rd THURSDAY The Bookwyrm's Den REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 3rd THURSDAY Gwendalyn's Books REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 4th FRIDAY Al Alalhambra REVIEW

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