KNIFE a.k.a. FAERY REBELS: SPELL HUNTER -- Your Questions Answered (maybe)

[rj_anderson]

So now that my little faery book is widely available in bookstores, and a good number of you folks out there seem to have read it... are there any questions about the book that you'd like to ask? Leave a comment, and I will do my best to satisfy (unless the answer would totally spoil you for some important aspect of Rebel a.k.a. Wayfarer, that is).

Needless to say there will be MASSIVE SPOILERS in the comments, so people who still plan to read the book for themselves might want to skip this one.

Comments

[katinka31.livejournal.com]

I'm dying to know how on earth Paul explains his new friend to his parents (after the end of the book)! :)

Just to squee

[durayan.livejournal.com]

--and I haven't even read it yet. I'm in an unfortunate moderately large city with frighteningly few independent book stores (none of which had this book in stock). Due to some minor annoyances with Amazon, I hadn't ordered the book yet, (almost did last night but then you know some 18 month old decided to help while typing in the credit card number, and milk needed to be in a sippy-cup NOW and you know I never got back to it. Then, my wonderful coworker, who returned to work today after a 2 week visit to her mother in England, REMEMBERED and brought me a copy of Knife. Oh, my, but the cover is WONDERFUL. I'll be back to join the discussion after I read. But I wanted to come just gush over that lovely cover. It's...WOW!

Re: Just to squee

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Oh, how nice! I'm delighted you like the cover, and I hope you like what's inside as well!

[kerravonsen]

One of the changes I noticed between the published book and the earlier draft that I read, was that Amarylis remarks about being frustrated with the selfishness of her people, and that while she tried to encourage selflessness, she always failed. It was an interesting change in the character; it made her seem less cold and manipulative, more someone who was just desperate. But on the other hand, it puts the blame for the culture on the people rather than the leader. But cultures don't change if the change isn't supported by the leader; and yet I guess cultures also don't change if the followers don't want to change.

So what was the reasoning behind the change in Amarylis's character? What do you think was the reason why the faeries of the Oakenwyld were so selfish and ungenerous? Was it just because of the loss of magic/creativity/contact-with-humans? Was it the atmosphere of fear?

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

What Amaryllis didn't realize was that her people's growing selfishness was a direct result of being cut off from human influence -- essentially, leaving the faeries with no higher calling than to serve their own interests.

Being a scholar and of a somewhat remote temperament herself, Amaryllis didn't perceive the magnitude of the problem until the faeries' selfishness was already well entrenched, and even when she noticed the problem she didn't know how to motivate the other faeries to do anything about it. You can't order people to care or argue them into caring about each other, after all.

And of course she was so caught up in trying to find a solution to the faeries' loss of magic through her own studies that she wasn't around to provide any kind of inspiration or example for them in that area, even if she'd been a very good one.

I always thought Amaryllis had good intentions deep down -- and that was present in the story from the early drafts -- but I didn't know how to articulate it properly until the later versions. So not so much a change in character as a better way of revealing that character to the reader.

Does that make any sense?

[kerravonsen]

Yes, that makes sense. In a way, I'm glad it was difficult to convey Amaryllis's good intentions, because I think it gave the book more depth; I thought it was more interesting when I suspected Amaryllis of being up to no good.

[fadedbluejeans.livejournal.com]

Something I've always kind of wondered about your book... I know asking an author to choose between the US and UK versions of their book usually leads to more drama than Sophie's Choice, but I have to ask - which of the two titles of the book is your favourite (if you have one)?

Also, title aside, do you have a preferred cover? And what was the original title of the book (I'm betting it was one of the two final ones, but I'd like to know which)?

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Knife was my own original title for the book; you may draw your own conclusions as to my preference. :)

As for the covers, I think both reflect different aspects of the book and have their own merits, but I will say that having a Brian Froud cover has done wonders for my UK sales and I'm particularly happy about that!

[boutique.livejournal.com]

Hi there,

I've just finished your book a couple of nights ago and wanted to say I really adored it. The world you created was truly magical, thank you for sharing this story with us. I can't wait for the release of Rebel/Wayfarer ♥

I also have a question, though this might be a spoiler for the sequel: Are there male faeries in Knife's world? And if so will we ever meet them?

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

What an interesting idea. That would certainly shake things up, wouldn't it?

And thank you for the lovely kind words! I'm happy you enjoyed the book!

Oh please let there be a sequel!!!

[(Anonymous)]

Will there be a sequel for Faery Rebels:Spell Hunters? And will the faeries of Oakenwyld get their magic back? And what will Paul do about getting his parents to know Knife? She might need to change her name...

Re: Oh please let there be a sequel!!!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

There is indeed a sequel, which will answer every one of those questions: Wayfarer will be available on June 22, 2010. Thanks for asking!

Sequel Avaliable in United States?

[(Anonymous)]

I recently read Knife/Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter, and I fell in love with the characters! I know that there shall be a sequel, but is there a set date for a U.S. publication? Thanks!

Re: Sequel Avaliable in United States?

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

See the comment directly above! :D

And thank you very much for the kind words.

Re: Sequel Avaliable in United States?

[(Anonymous)]

:) Thanks! I wasn't sure if that was a States release date, which is why I asked more specifically.

I just read _Knife_. Thanks.

[(Anonymous)]

I just read Knife. Thanks for writing it. Well done. Your world-view seems to be Christian, but the book certainly isn't preachy. That's good.

God willing, I will be posting about the book in my blog (sunandshield.blogspot.com) on
Thursday.

Thanks again.