Tales of Beasts is the name of my fantasy book series, of which I am currently writing the second book in the series and a prequel! It’s been such a fun experience and I have enjoyed it immensely.

But when it comes to Art and Literature (capitals for both, you’ll notice!), I am a firm believer that there does need to be more substance than just entertainment. Amusement or interest is one part, but without something deeper to delve into as well, I personally find that the piece is lacking.

As a result, while writing my own book series I was confronted with the questions of ‘so what?’ What does it all mean?

When this idea first came to me as a form of escapism, a daydream I could enjoy indefinitely, it was just that: fun.

Currently, I am a student of international relations and English literature, so I am highly invested in questions about how the world is today, why it looks the way it does, and how it can be improved. I study war, peace and conflict studies, humanitarianism, displacement, politics, economics, history and more. Literature has been integral for me in developing these instances that I study from words on a page to real experiences through personal stories, analogies, essays and more.

Through this, I was able to see just how powerful literature could be in revealing the horror and reality of situations to people, in ways that are personal, powerful, gripping, and moving. I decided I wanted to try and do that too.

I am interested in exploring the relations between countries, because so many of the choices they make in our world are pretty crazy. In creating a fantasy world of my own to play with these sorts of decisions, I was able to contextualise it a bit better for myself, but also show the absurdity too. One of my main characters, Nadya, has grown up as a peasant and conscript, while the other, Alek, was a nobleman and rebel. They see the world differently, care about different things and ultimately make decisions according to what they know. Its interesting, and allows me to show the absurdity of some of Alek’s beliefs and the confusion on Nadya’s part.

However, it also enabled me to come up with different options too. Instead of immediately turning to battle, conflict, and assassination, what else can there be? What else is there?

These books aren’t going to reflect all my own beliefs because that would be impossible with the range of characters, locations, beliefs, and cultures that I am writing about. However, I hope to present readers with some situations where they can learn how to assess and react wisely. Think of it as a bit of a puzzle too!

Another important theme I wanted to examine was power. From how people attain it, what it does, and how it changes us, I wanted to explore this myself.

One of the ways I did this was through the magic of the world. Personally, magic that isn’t dangerous and a little bit terrifying is so boring. Power like that should come with a cost, and I love getting to write about how that works in this world. I won’t say much more just yet, but if that’s something you enjoy, you should definitely check it out.

Lastly, I’ve seen how people generally don’t like to look at or into the painful things that are going on in the world around us. However, books like The Hunger Games, 1984, and Game of Thrones are hugely popular, because they present these ideas in a different light.

People tend to enjoy reading about these issues in these books because it feels a little safer when its presented from a stack of paper, or in a world that is different to ours. I don’t think this is a particularly good thing, and I am of the opinion that people should care about the world around them because they live here.

Yet, my hope is that by presenting these problems in a ‘safe’, ‘other’ world, that people will be able to learn more and apply it to the real world around us.

So there you have some of my reasons for writing this story. I believe its importance lies in its ability to reimagine the problems of the world today, revealing the impact of history and its effects on today. Like any aspiring author, it would be amazing to have my stories become popular and beloved around the world, but more than that, I hope they are impactful. I hope people learn from them, about the world and the ways that people function. I hope I continue to enjoy writing these too, growing alongside my characters on their journey.