MYSTIC SKIES, the third in the Mystic Trilogy by Jason Denzel

I first saw Jason Denzel read an excerpt from one of his books at an author event. I loved the premise so I asked Jason for an interview. MYSTIC SKIES, the third in his Mystic Trilogy series comes out in October, but some excerpts of the book just released on Tor.com: https://www.tor.com/2022/06/02/excerpts-mystic-skies-by-jason-denzel/

The world is Changed.

Fifty-four years have passed since Crow Tallin, the catastrophic celestial event that merged Fayün and the human world. One devastating result of that cataclysm is that most human babies are born fused with fay spirits. The Mystics of Kelt Apar, once beloved, are blamed for this worldwide phenomenon.

On the island of Moth, the Barons have declared the Myst illegal and imprisoned all Mystics under house arrest. Under the watchful eyes of deadly Hunters, a much-older Pomella AnDone now lives as a prisoner at Kelt Apar with her granddaughter and apprentice Mia, as well as the rapidly declining High Mystic of Moth, Yarina Sineese.

When the time comes to conduct the ceremony intended to pass the title of High Mystic from Yarina to her successor Vivianna, something goes horribly wrong, leaving the lineage of Mystics in doubt.

With new rivals seeking to claim Moth for their own, Pomella must undergo a dangerous dreamwalk into the mind-bending and heart-wrenching Mystic Skies in order to learn the mystical name of the island itself.

In this epic conclusion to Jason Denzel’s The Mystic Trilogy, which spans decades and timeless realms and dreams, Pomella must confront her greatest and most personal challenge yet. For the Deep mysteries of the world will reveal themselves only to the most powerful and dedicated of Mystics.

Your bio states you started as a creative screenwriter. How did this blossom into novel writing?

More than two decades ago, I graduated college with a degree in computer animation. I aspired to work for an animation studio like Pixar or PDI (which later became DreamWorks Animation) or perhaps work for a visual effects studio like ILM. When I was finishing school, I realized I needed a portfolio of work in order to apply to those locations. So I volunteered to be the ‘effects guy’ on a couple student films. Each of those projects fizzled before I could really become involved. So I found myself writing my own scripts and I fell in love with that process. Screenwriting led me to live-action directing, which I found that I loved even more. And so for years after college I worked on various film projects, mostly shorts, but a couple of full-length screenplays. It was during these formative years of my very early creative career that I developed the art of storytelling, which I definitely continue to learn today. In the early 2010’s life happened and it became impractical to work on scripted short films all the time. And so I turned to writing short fiction and novels. Most of the lessons I learned through trial and experience in filmmaking applied to my book-writing and I believe that cinematic style lives on today in my writing.

They certainly do. MYSTIC SKIES concludes the Mystic Trilogy. What to you was most challenging about tying up loose ends in a series?

I’ve had a pretty clear idea of how the trilogy would end from the very start. Therefore, I carefully seeded out all of the essential foreshadowing into the earlier books. Some ideas evolved, of course, and there were plenty of plot surprises that occurred to me later. But for the most part, the most important ideas were laid down early. Surprisingly, the biggest challenge for me as I neared the end of the trilogy was making sure that I resolved everything and that I hadn’t forgotten anything. I ended up going back and re-reading the first two books as I neared the ending of Mystic Skies. I didn’t miss many, but there were a few minor story points I was reminded of that I was sure to mention (or intentionally not mention!).

Sounds like a helpful strategy. What was it like to be consulted on early attempts by major Hollywood studios to adapt The Wheel of Time into a film franchise?

The Wheel of Time has played such a major part of my life that it’s hard to imagine where life would’ve taken me had it not been there. My involvement in the franchise has been all over the board, dating back to the early 2000’s. At different times I’ve been an early reader on various Wheel of Time books, a consultant for the graphic novel adaptations, an advertising vendor for Tor Books, and even an art consultant for some of the ebook covers. In the early 2010’s I did some consulting for the producers who owned the film option for the books. I assisted them in brainstorming and creating treatments. One time, I helped them pitch the idea to a major studio. None of those ideas or efforts came to fruition, and I currently have no involvement with Amazon Prime Video’s TV show. But it’s a pretty amazing feeling for me to be able to work in that world because it’s meant to so much to me over the years. Those characters are like family to me, and writing them came naturally. I felt honored at the time to be trusted, even temporarily, with their care even though nothing came of it.

Order MYSTIC SKIES