Deva Fagan is joining us today to talk about her novel, House of Dusk Here’s the publisher’s description:
Ten years ago, Sephre left behind her life as a war hero and took holy vows to seek redemption for her crimes, wielding the flames of the Phoenix to purify the dead. But as corpses rise, a long-dead god stirs, and shadowy serpents creep from the underworld, she has no choice but to draw on the very past she’s been trying so hard to forget.
Orphaned by the same war Sephre helped win, Yeneris has trained half her life to be the perfect spy, a blade slipped deep into the palace of her enemies. Undercover as bodyguard to Sinoe, a princess whose tears unleash prophecy, Yeneris is searching for the stolen bones of a saint. Her growing attraction to the princess, however, is proving dangerous, and Yeneris struggles to balance her feelings for Sinoe with her duty to her people.
As gods are reborn and spirits destroyed, the world trembles on the edge of a second cataclysm. Sephre must decide whether to be bound by her past or to forge a better future, even if it means renouncing her vows and accepting a new and terrible power. Meanwhile, when the real enemy makes their bid for power, Yeneris must find a way to remain true to her full self and save both her mission and her heart.
As dead gods rise and corruption creeps across the world, this sweeping standalone fantasy tale of forbidden sapphic love and dark betrayal will set your heart ablaze.
What’s Deva’s favorite bit?
There are so many things I loved about writing my adult debut, House of Dusk. I loved getting the chance to develop a complicated mythology that was slowly revealed in fragment of ancient lore and contradictory legends. I loved writing about my older female protagonist Sephre, who is flawed and steadfast and grouchy and brave. I loved writing about my creepy labyrinthine underworld and researching real world Bronze-age civilizations to help ground my fantasy landscape.
But if I’m being honest, my absolute favorite bit was getting to write “a kissing book.”
My second protagonist, Yeneris, is a duty-bound young spy who has trained nearly all her life for one purpose: to recover the bones of a saint who can restore her shattered homeland. She goes undercover into the palace of the enemy king who stole the saint’s bones, posing as the bodyguard for his daughter Sinoe, only to find herself falling for the enemy princess.
So in honor of “kissing books” everywhere, here are three of my favorite romantic tropes that readers will find in House of Dusk.
Enemies-to-Lovers
Yeneris is prepared to despise Sinoe. Not only is the princess seemingly vain and frivolous, but her supposed prophecies as a sibyl of the fates are partly responsible for the war that destroyed Yeneris’s homeland.
But Yeneris soon discovers there’s more to the princess than mawkish poetry and an irritatingly sunny disposition. Sinoe’s powers as a sibyl are very real, and exact a painful price, both literally and figuratively. A prisoner to her father, who commandeers her powers to attain his own selfish desires, Sinoe finds her freedom in small acts of defiance, using her abilities to help others. Including Yeneris, if she dares accept the assistance of her enemy.
I loved exploring this tension in Yeneris and Sinoe’s relationship, not just the external divisions keeping them apart, but also their own personal outlooks. Yeneris is bound by her duty, convinced that she has a single path forward, and that she must be prepared to sacrifice anything to attain it, even her own heart. But as a sibyl, Sinoe knows that the future is not settled: mortals have the power to choose new paths, to shape new patterns in the weave of the world.
Hurt/Comfort
There’s a painting by artist John Collier titled Priestess of Delphi that depicts the priestess sitting on her three-legged stool over a crack in the earth, with vapors swirling up around her, inspiring her visions. That image, of a young woman surrounded by smoke, preparing to prophesy, was one that lodged deep in my brain. It was powerful, but also frightening. I could imagine the smoke, stinging tears from her eyes. The loss of self, as she sank into the mystical hold of the vision. It made me think about the cost of looking into the future.
So I knew that Sinoe’s prophecies had to come with a price. And that price is tears. It’s pain–her own, or that of others–that triggers her visions. And in spite of everything that stands between them, Yeneris can’t help but respond to her suffering, and give what comfort she can.
Fake-Out Make-Out
I can’t say too much about this one without dumping spoilers everywhere, so let’s just say it happens when Sinoe and Yeneris get spotted creeping around the palace in the dead of night. Because being caught canoodling with a beautiful princess is definitely less dangerous than being caught sneaking into an evil sorcerer’s secret lair. Right?
Or maybe not, if now you can’t stop thinking about her. If your growing attraction is jeopardizing the mission you’ve trained your entire life for.
I loved telling Yeneris and Sinoe’s story. Not just these tropey-elements, but all the other small, subtle moments, the banter, the teasing innuendo, the fraught conversations and emotional earthquakes and undercover escapades out into the city. I hope you’ll love them too!
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BIO:
Deva Fagan (she/her) is the author of A Game of Noctis, Nightingale and other books for young readers, as well as the forthcoming adult fantasy House of Dusk. She lives in Maine with her husband and her dog. When she’s not writing she spends her time reading, playing video games, doing geometry, and drinking copious amounts of tea.