THE RAVEN THRONE by Stephanie Burgis

I’m always delighted by Stephanie Burgis’s writing as well as her engaging characters and whimsical world-building. When I featured the first book in this series, The Raven Heir, Stephanie mentioned she was penning a sequel, THE RAVEN THRONE. I’m happy to report that this book is available at long last, and offers a finale to this amazing duology!

Cordelia has been crowned The Raven Queen. But with new power comes new danger.

Once their triplet Cordelia became The Raven Queen, Giles and Rosalind knew they would have to learn to behave at court. No more fighting for Rosalind and no more singing for Giles. What they didn’t foresee was having to foil a plot against their sister.

When Cordelia falls into an enchanted sleep and cannot be woken, Rosalind and Giles must quest across the kingdom to seek help from the ancient spirits of the land. But their family’s greatest enemies lurk at every turn, and it will take all of the triplets’ deepest strengths to fight against them.

A thrilling finale to the magical and mystical series.

I love your new short story, Yours, Wickedly. What inspired this?

Thank you so much! I’ve always loved epistolary stories, and they’re especially perfect for banter-y romantic plots. Honestly, I have to say that my clearest point of inspiration for this story was probably how intrigued I’ve always been by the obvious, lurking backstory behind the enmity of Merlin and Madam Mim in the old Disney film The Sword in the Stone!

And I’m so glad you explored a version of that! In our last interview, you said THE RAVEN THRONE was “full of magic and adventure and mysteries.” How did this world expand in ways you didn’t expect?

In the first book, the three triplets at the heart of the story were only just hearing about the existence of the kingdom of Corvenne (which one of them was doomed to rule as Raven King or Queen). In the second book, Cordelia has become the Raven Queen, with a fabulous magical connection to the land itself – but as I wrote it, I had to examine and figure out every detail about that kingdom that I’d casually included in book 1, starting with the very most central question: where did this kingdom’s obsession with ravens come from? Why is it called the Raven Throne in the first place? And the answers will take my triplets deep, deep into the oldest and most dangerous magical contracts of all…

Major intrigue! What do you find most challenging about writing sequels, especially the last in a duology?

I’ve written multiple trilogies before, so I was used to one of the challenges: having to casually, smoothly interweave enough information about the story of the first book into the opening of Book 2 to help new readers understand what’s happening *without* annoying readers who’ve already read Book 1 or making new readers feel like it’s not a satisfying place to start.

The new challenge I found in writing a Book 2 that’s also the LAST book is expanding the story and world in really epic directions and then wrapping it all up – a whole series’ worth of worldbuilding and plotlines – by the end of the same book! It was a huge challenge but also a really interesting one.

I’ll bet! You also have a book of short stories, entitled Touchstones. What about short stories appeals to you the most as a writer?

I love how short stories give me the chance to play with different characters and worlds without having to invest years of my life into each one. The thrill of finishing any story is something I live for, as a writer – and when I’m writing a 4- to 16-page short story, it comes a LOT faster than when I’m writing a novel! It’s also a fun challenge to make readers care and invest in my characters in such a short and confined space. Every single word really counts! It’s just deliciously satisfying.

Order THE RAVEN HEIR