THE CITY OF DUSK by Tara Sim

I featured another one of Tara Sim’s books, RAVAGE THE DARK, earlier this year. Her newest book, THE CITY OF DUSK, is the first in an epic fantasy trilogy:

The Four Realms—Life, Death, Light, and Darkness—all converge on the city of dusk. For each realm there is a god, and for each god there is an heir.

But the gods have withdrawn their favor from the once vibrant and thriving city. And without it, all the realms are dying.

Unwilling to stand by and watch the destruction, the four heirs—Risha, a necromancer struggling to keep the peace; Angelica, an elementalist with her eyes set on the throne; Taesia, a shadow-wielding rogue with rebellion in her heart; and Nik, a soldier who struggles to see the light— will sacrifice everything to save the city.

But their defiance will cost them dearly.

In our last interview, you said, “Getting the work done is important, but resting is equally important.” Besides video games, what is a kind of “rest” that you’ve found most useful in helping you recharge?

Probably travel. While traveling itself isn’t very restful or relaxing, I find that getting out of the house, away from my computer, helps a lot with recharging. Getting to experience life, and do new things, and see people, helps my mind reset and gather information that might be helpful when it comes time to write again.

It definitely helps! I just spent a few days in the redwoods and it did wonders. I love the worldbuilding in THE CITY OF DUSK. How did you come up with the four realms?

Since I was developing the book for a long time, it’s kind of hard to remember! I just know that one day I decided that one of the Houses should have shadow magic, and from there I worked on figuring out what kind of magic the other Houses should have so that they stood out from each other. In wondering where those magic powers came from, it eventually snowballed into developing four separate realms where each of these magic systems thrive. It made sense, too, with these being four separate gods–one for each realm.

Interesting! What was the most challenging part about starting a new series after finishing an old one?

Probably that I didn’t know everything the way I did with past series. By the time you get to writing sequels, you know the characters and the world you’re working with. But starting a new book is an entirely blank page, which can get pretty daunting (and requires plenty of revision).

I know what you mean about that blank page. What is your current favorite video game and why?

I’ve been loving Horizon Forbidden West, which is the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn. It’s the kind of open world RPG that I love, where I get to explore at my own pace while fulfilling quests and learning cool new techniques.

To order Tara Sim’s books, you can go to http://www.tarasim.com/books/

Order THE CITY OF DUSK