I am thrilled to be sharing a post about Morgan Rhodes’ newest book, Gathering Darkness, with you today. I have been a fan of the series and Rhodes’ complex and brutal fantasy world since I randomly picked up the first book, Falling Kingdoms, because of its beautiful cover. Any fantasy fans should get to reading this series because it is engrossing, complex and expansive.
The aspect that appeals to me the most about this series is that it follows multiple point of views and does so wonderfully well. The characters are unique and each are incredibly interesting with their person struggles as well as their motivations.
Not only am I sharing a wonderful prize pack (wish I could enter myself!) but I also had the pleasure of asking Morgan Rhodes a few questions about the future of the series, the spin off series as well as who her favorite characters are.
ABOUT GATHERING DARKNESS
The seeds of revolution have been sown…but in Mytica the lust for power reigns supreme.
THE REBELS forge ahead. Princess Cleo slays with sweetness—and a secret that might control Lucia’s magic—as she and vengeful Jonas lead the hunt for the all-powerful Kindred.
THE KRAESHIANS join the fray. Ashur and Amara, the royal siblings from the vast kingdom across the Silver Sea, prove to be just as ruthless as they are charming as they manipulate their way to victory.
THE WATCHERS follow Melenia out of the Sanctuary. They ally, in the flesh, with King Gaius, who vows to use Lucia’s powers to unveil the Kindred.
And which side will Prince Magnus choose, now that he’s been betrayed by everyone he’s ever loved?
SERIES OVERVIEW
In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering.
As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed…and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even love.
In AURANOS, privileged Princess Cleo is forced to confront violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse
In LIMEROS, the king’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying family secret about her birth that will change everything.
In PAELSIA, rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.
Witches, if four, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Morgan Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of the FALLING KINGDOMS series. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess—the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous. Along with writing, Morgan enjoys photography, travel, and reality TV, and is an extremely picky yet voracious reader of all kinds of books.
LEARN MORE
Follow Morgan Rhodes on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram
Find the Falling Kingdoms series on Facebook
#FallingKingdomsSeries
INTERVIEW WITH MORGAN RHODES
Your characters are all beautifully flawed and the majority of them straddle the line between good and evil. Then you have the King of Blood, King Gaius, who appears to be entirely evil and exquisite in his brutality. How do you put yourself in the mind space to write his character?
The same way I put myself in any character’s point of view! I imagine what he wants, what his motivation is, and what’s currently in his way. A believable villain never sees himself as a villain, he’s simply doing what he needs to do to get what he wants. And I actually don’t see Gaius as entirely evil. His moral compass is just set a little differently than most other people’s.
You also utilize many points of view in this series which adds a depth to the storytelling. Is it more difficult to tell a story from so many viewpoints vs just one or two?
OH YES. 😉 But I do think it’s worth it to see many sides of the main situation and I do enjoy a challenge!
Do you personally have a favorite character or is it impossible to choose?
I love all of my characters, but I will admit that Cleo and Magnus are the most fun for me to write, especially in their scenes together.
If it were possible, would you want to have a magical ability and which one?
I would love to be able to teleport myself anywhere, since I’m usually at least ten minutes late for almost everything if I have to drive there.
I had originally thought that the Falling Kingdoms series was going to be three books but am excited to have learned it’ll be more! How many total books are planned and can you tell us a bit about the spin off series?
Yes! I’m very happy to say that the main Falling Kingdoms series will be six books long. I’m currently writing book four, which is due to my editor just after the new year. A Book of Spirits and Thieves (out June 23, 2015) is the first in a spin-off/companion trilogy to Falling Kingdoms. It follows three main viewpoint characters, two in our contemporary world, and one in Mytica, a thousand years before the events in Falling Kingdoms. In our world, there is a secret society headed by a mysterious leader who seeks an ancient, unreadable book filled with magic. The book falls into the hands of two sisters whose lives are changed forever from the moment they touch it. Meanwhile, in Mytica, we follow a young ghost-buster whose path crosses with the Goddess Valoria’s who requires his very special powers. Soon the threads of my main characters, here and in Mytica, begin to intertwine in unexpected and exciting ways.
GIVEAWAY:
BACK TO MYTICA, WISH YOU WERE HERE.
One (1) winner receives:
- Falling Kingdoms postcard set,
- Falling Kingdoms tshirt,
- plus copies of Falling Kingdoms, Rebel Spring and Gathering Darkness.
Prizing & samples courtesy of Penguin Young Readers
Giveaway open to US addresses only
Oooh what an awesome question! I would have to say flight as my magical power. I would absolutely LOVE to fly everywhere and on my own 🙂
To do spells or move things with my mind.
Hm, there are so many powers I would love. But I think Flying would be fabulous! I always loved Rogue from the X-Men.
I would love to be able to fly. I hate driving, so flying without tiring would really help my commute.
to be able to selectively turn things into gold 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I’d want my magical power to be time travel!
Telekinesis like hard core Telekinesis.
I would love to have the power of teleportation! I could go anywhere in the world and come back home quickly! It would be so amazing!
I would love to control the elements or to be able to shape shift or fly or read minds!
Mind control. Always and forever mind control think Professor Xavier!
❤️Britt
Ooooh, I’ve been thinking about starting this series, but knowing that it’s gonna be a 6 books long, I think I’ll wait till book 4 is out at least!
And I might even try out the spin off first, because it sounds quite intriguing!
Fantastic interview, Kristen!
I REALLY need to read this series. I just bought the books a few months ago so I must pick them up soon.
My magical power would be teleportation! Just think of how much commuting time I could save =)
I’d also be cool with time manipulation, like Hiro in the show Heroes.
Which ability… depends on my mood, lol! Sometimes I would love the ability to read minds, but, sometimes I’d like to be invisible, so I can sneak around and get quiet reading time 😉
Thanks for the giveaway!
I want all of the powers, selfish I know.
The power to make everyone feel better and happy! 😀
Thank you for such an amazing giveaway!! I would absolutely love to control fire, earth, air, and water! I’ve always wanted to do all of this things 😀
I would love to be a seer, someone that can see in the future even if it’s just a few hours or days. When I was little I use to make believe I had mind powers and can see things. I had a vivid imagination 🙂 Awesome giveaway!!!
Ability to persuade people.
This series sounds so good!! In February I plan on bingeing Fantasy books, this series is included! ooh I’d want to the ability to teleport too. Wow she’s writing lots of books still! Awesome interview, Kristen <33
I would like the ability to teleport or fly.
I have to say it’s weird to see the name written down because I have been listening to this series on audio. I am really looking forward to book 3!
Yay 😀 Awesome post Kristen. <3 I adore the interview too. So awesome. I loved book one, but haven't read book two yet :\ but now I own book three, so hoping to read them all very soon. <3 So excited. The covers are also all kinds of gorgeous. I hope you are loving this book 😀 Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3
I’d either want the power to heal or to be invisible. It’s too tough a choice. 😛
I like the power of can fly 😀
I dream of having so many magical powers. I f I could only have one it would be difficult for me to pick. I would love to be like Bewitch or I Dream of Jeannie with their powers the possibilities would be virtually endless.
To control the elements or to heal. Thank you for the awesome giveaway!
If I had a magical power I would like it to be healing or empathic.
I would want to control the weather. Being able to have beautiful warm days all year would rock.
Magical power? I’d want to be able to apparate – no more stupidly long commute to work!
to teleport
TELEPORTATION so I can visit all the places (much more easily) 🙂
Also, I love this series, so thanks for the giveaway!
If I could have a magical power I would want telekinesis. Not only is it impressive for showing off how cool magic is but it also would be big help in fighting someone and help me be lazy when I’m sitting around not doing much. It’s very multi-faceted.
Thanks so much for the giveaway! I’ve heard great things about this series and I’m really hoping to check it out soon.
Hmmm. Only one? 🙂 My magical power would have to be, manipulating time. Not just to go forward and backwards but It would be awful handy in a fight!
What about time travel – that would be interesting. I really DON’t want to read minds or see through clothes or anything like that…
So many cool powers, it’s so hard to choose. Maybe the power of mind control.
So many cool powers, it’s so had to choose. Maybe the power of mind control.
It would be the power of flight! Not only would this eliminate the hassle of before-school traffic, but it would also come in handy when sight-seeing, and just allow me to gain a whole new perspective of the world.
Rapid healing.
Either telekinesis or mind reading (and I would probably use both to cause mischief lol)
I would like the ability to make food/water out of anything!
It’s a tie between shape shifting and teleportation at this moment. There are so many awesome ones to choose from though, so that could change at any moment.
Probably teleportation.