After three long years of waiting, THE DRAGON OF JIN-SAYENG, the third fantasy book in the CHRONICLES OF THE BITCH QUEEN trilogy is almost upon us. First announced in 2018 (under a different name) and originally slated for a self-published release in early 2019, it will be available through Orbit Books for the first time in May and concludes Queen Talyien’s story. You can pre-order through here.
It’s bittersweet, getting this far. I’ve never written a character like Talyien before–one who ripped into my heart as easily as she rips her enemies apart and went far, far beyond what I felt my craft was capable of. I’m not sure I like it, having a character overstep her bounds like that. But writing CHRONICLES OF THE BITCH QUEEN was an action of reflection, of catharsis, of seeing a world I thought I saw one way and realizing there was more behind it.
This fantasy book leaves nothing unchanged–not in the characters, of course, and not in the open-minded reader. But most of all, not in the writer herself. I am not the same person I was before I wrote this fantasy book. Queen Talyien’s story got me to questioning so much…from what I thought was important to the way this genre glorified violence and power without dismantling the ideas that got us there. This is a once-in-a-lifetime book, and Talyien is a once-in-a-lifetime protagonist. I have so many more books inside me, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to draw from as much turmoil as I did when I wrote her into existence. In the first place, it won’t be the healthiest. She is a unique snapshot of my attempt to seize life in my own terms, of dictating my worth in this world, and as readers will find as they take this journey, this isn’t the easiest thing to do.
So looking at THE DRAGON OF JIN-SAYENG fills me with so much emotion. Relief, astonishment (that it’s real, I made it, I didn’t lose myself along the way), but also fear that I can’t do this again. Writing Talyien almost killed me; I want to believe that this craft and industry can appreciate my work without demanding the same amount of pain and sacrifice upfront. Fear and hope, fear and hope, as with everything in life. I suppose that’s the risk you take if you want to know what waits for you at the end of the road.
But of course, I will never forget the tremendous luck and odds that had to be beaten for me to get this far. Some days, my cousin and I will reminisce about how we grew up, the friends and neighbours who had since passed on–we still say their names, laugh about their jokes, talk fondly about all those things that filled that corner of the world with so much life. I will never forget them. I will never forget how the smallest thing could have killed us and that it’s a miracle to be here. Every day, I remind myself not to waste that.
