Ilana C. Myer

“The Poet King” is on the Kirkus Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2020 list!

2020-12-02T00:00:00Z

I should start by saying that I hope readers are staying as safe and healthy as they can throughout this harrowing year. The promising vaccine news of the past month means there is now an end in sight.

This is the time of year for best-of lists, and I haven’t been paying attention, because in general such lists take no notice of last books in trilogies. So I was floored, and deeply honored, to discover that The Poet King has been selected as one of the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2020 by none other than Kirkus! And as you’ll see, the book is in jaw-droppingly excellent company.

March 2021 will see the publication of the trade paperback of The Poet King, and I’ll have a reading around that time. Watch this space. And be careful out there.

First Reviews Are In For “The Poet King”!

2020-01-23T00:00:00Z

The early reviews of The Poet King are in, and they’re better than I could have hoped for.

First up is this Kirkus starred review:

“Fully drawn characters negotiate complicated choices in a world that intriguingly intermingles Middle Eastern and Celtic folklore as well as a fantasy equivalent of the Jewish Diaspora. Myer delicately threads a steady path through a complex, ever shifting plot while maintaining a consistent throughline of theme that condemns the heedless and selfish choices of the powerful and pointedly underscores the folly of ignoring the quiet, seemingly insignificant people whose unexplored depths and considerable strengths might be poised to strike against those very same people at the top.

A fitting end to a gorgeous experiment in art, worldbuilding, and character, growing in strength from book to book.“

Then there’s Publisher’s Weekly:

“Opulent, ambitious fantasy…Readers will be blown away by the lush, lyrical prose and epic scale of this novel.”

The book comes out on March 24th! Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this cover, courtesy of the wonderful Stephan Martiniere:

A Trilogy, Complete

2018-09-14T00:00:00Z

Back in 2004 I had an idea for a fantasy novel that would combine the lore of Celtic poets with the troubadours, and explore my own complex feelings about the drive to create. I was in my twenties, in college, and had always known I wanted to write.

But the thing about writing fiction is that life doesn’t bend to accommodate it. There is rent to pay, and that can mean eight hours a day of filing, Excel spreadsheets, commuting by subway. Later on, it can mean stringing together an income in freelance writing, and while that is far more interesting than the Excel spreadsheets, the pay is worse to nonexistent. So it might be late in the evening after work, or on a weekend, that you can try to focus your mind and find the words to bring your art into the world.

In the course of seven years, Last Song Before Night was completed. My first book. This was followed by Fire Dance, which came out this year. And this week I submitted the third and last book in the trilogy, The Poet King, to my editor at Tor.

And I keep thinking how this began, in 2004: the first chapter scrawled on a yellow legal pad during a lunch break in the Starbucks next to the Empire State Building. Before I went back to the Excel spreadsheets, answering phones, and a basement apartment at night.

You just never know. That’s the reason to hang in there.

The Sequel to “Fire Dance”

2018-05-16T00:00:00Z

Some have asked whether there will be a sequel to Fire Dance, since even though the core arc of the novel is resolved in this book, there are plot threads left open. I did that on purpose, seeing two books as an opportunity to think big, and create a long arc that the trilogy as a whole would resolve.

Some have expressed worry about the wait for the next book. I can understand that, since some authors take ten years between books. Barring an act of God, I am not one of them. I am hard at work on the sequel to Fire Dance and have made quite a lot of progress.

I envision each book of this trilogy as a standalone novel that is also connected to the whole, like paintings in a triptych. Each book tells a complete story. Each is enriched by the presence of the other two. And I think the third book will hold surprises for readers who have been there from the beginning.

I’ll keep you posted.

Fire Dance: Publishing Tomorrow

2018-04-09T00:00:00Z

Tomorrow is the publication day of Fire Dance. I’m so excited to share this book with the world.

There’s been some positive buzz even prior to publication! Here are some of the highlights:

Kirkus gave Fire Dance a starred review, something which carries weight in the industry. It would be an understatement to say that I’m thrilled. Their verdict: “Worth waiting for.”
The Washington Post selected Fire Dance as one of the three Best SF/Fantasy Books of the month, saying, “The writing is gorgeous. Fans of fantasy intrigue will like this one.”
It was selected by both Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a best SF/Fantasy book of the month.
In a review titled “Fire Dance Expands the Borders of a Wondrous Fantasy World,” Nicole Hill of the B&N Sci-Fi/Fantasy Blog writes:”Twin mysteries unfold deliberately and delicately, their axes spinning ever closer through alternating viewpoints and tightly constructed plotting… The term “escapism” is often used to diminish fantasy as genre, to limit its power. Myer has given us escapist fantasy to be sure; I, for one, would gladly slip out of this world and into the Way of Booksellers, or enjoy the wine fountains of the Festival of Nitzan. But more often, fantasy becomes used as a playground in which all our real-world ailments and anxieties can run free, everyday problems intensified or resolved by enchantment. And Fire Dance does that too, to dazzling degree.”

Tomorrow, you’ll be able to start reading, and decide for yourselves.

Fire Dance Launch Events! Or: Where to Find Me in April

2018-02-22T00:00:00Z

I’m excited to announce that I will be celebrating the launch of Fire Dance at three fantastic indie bookstores in the US and Canada.

The schedule:

Borderlands Books in San Francisco on Saturday, April 14th at 3pm
Kew and Willow Books in Queens, New York on Sunday, April 22nd at 5:30pm
Bakka Phoenix Books in Toronto on Sunday, April 29th at 3pm

I’ll be reading, signing, and happy to sign copies of Last Song Before Night as well. See you there!

First Review and Thoughts Before a Book Birthday

2018-01-15T00:00:00Z

Publishers Weekly has rolled out the first review of Fire Dance: “Forbidden enchantments and hidden machinations fill this well-plotted dark fantasy…Subtle cultural elements are reminiscent of the medieval Arab world. Fans of epic fantasy and court intrigue will enjoy following the characters as they discover pieces of the truth.”

A first review is always significant, but feels especially so in the case of a book that took years to write. This book was my secret for so long, and now, at last, it’s out there.

Why so long? I wrestled Fire Dance through many phases and drafts. It did not end up as it began. The characters were not born fully formed–they had to take shape and evolve. The plot is twisty and twisted and that, too, takes time. What began in 2013 in a Paris cafe was completed in the summer of 2016. It was the hardest work I’ve ever done and the most meaningful. That’s the real privilege of being a writer, to my mind–the meaning the work brings to my life.

As with Last Song Before Night, Fire Dance can be read as a standalone. It does not require the reader to know the events of Last Song, and has an ending of its own. At the same time, Fire Dance leaves an opening for the third and final book in the trilogy, which I’m working on now. And yes, I am going as fast as I can! But as noted above, some processes can take time, and quality must come first. My poets would say music comes first, and they are right about that too.

I’ll be immensely grateful if you pre-order Fire Dance, as that sends a message to the publisher and retailers that can help the book in the long run. Soon I’ll be posting updates about appearances and events this year. A book birthday is something to celebrate.

The cover of “Fire Dance,” unveiled!

2017-08-02T00:00:00Z

I am delighted beyond words to share the cover of Fire Dance, once again a creation of the incredible artist, Stephan Martiniere.

With Fire Dance, the world introduced in Last Song Before Night is enriched and expanded upon. In addition to the influences of Celtic myth and the troubadours, I drew on inspirations from Andalusian history and poetry, Middle Eastern myth, and more. Those inspirations are reflected to what I think is magnificent effect in this image of the Tower of Glass, a magical observatory.

More details about the book can be found here, courtesy of the good folks at B&N.

Also, the book is available for pre-order at a discount from B&N.

San Francisco Events, Coming Up!

2017-03-19T00:00:00Z

I have a couple of appearances in San Francisco in early April–both in wonderful venues.

On April 6th, I will be signing at Borderlands Books from 6pm-7pm. This is exciting not only for a chance to meet readers, but also because Borderlands is one of my top three favorite bookstores in the world. (Yes, I have a list!)
On April 8th, I will be reading at Charlie Jane Anders’s Writers With Drinks, which is by all accounts an amazing time…and which has a truly jaw-dropping line-up that includes Peter Beagle and Hari Kunzru. Check it out! RSVP!

Publication Date for “Fire Dance”

2017-03-02T00:00:00Z

Fire Dance, the sequel to Last Song Before Night, will be a spring baby. That is, it is coming out in April 2018, as confirmed by my editor.

It is purely coincidence that the book is set at that time of the year. But a fun one.

I’m now hard at work on the as-yet-untitled third book. Fire Dance has an ending that I hope will tide readers over until the third book, with its major emotional arcs resolved. But I’m doing my best to get the final book of the series done.

Trade Paperback Release of Last Song Before Night, and Two Interviews!

2016-12-09T00:00:00Z

A month ago, some events of significance occurred in the US, where I live. This made it a strange time to promote the release of the paperback edition of Last Song Before Night, which came out on November 8th–Election Day.

Now that it’s a month later it feels appropriate to talk about something other than the cataclysmic events of November 8th. The trade paperback is not only out–it is beautiful, with the same cover art by artist Stephan Martiniere, but deeper colors. (And quite a nice cover quote from NPR.)

To honor the occasion of its release, I was interviewed by Aidan Moher at Barnes & Noble, and Mihir Wanchoo at Fantasy Book Critic. We talked about writing, character development, worldbuilding, and the upcoming sequel, Fire Dance.

Barnes & Noble Interview – Ilana C. Myer

Fantasy Book Critic Interview – Ilana C. Myer

Times of Israel Interview

2016-11-01T00:00:00Z

I lived in Jerusalem through my teens and for the latter half of my twenties, when I worked as a journalist. Almost the entirety of Last Song Before Night was written in Jerusalem, and the city found its way into the atmosphere of Tamryllin. So I’m especially pleased to have been interviewed for The Times of Israel, where editor Amanda Borschel-Dan delves into the roots of the novel.

There’s something special about being from such a warm community as that of the English-speakers in Jerusalem. They saw me hard at work on the book for years, in cafes all over the city. The outpouring of support since the book came out has been tremendous. When we visit family in Israel–hopefully soon–I expect to be signing quite a few books.

New at Tor.com: Re-Reading Patricia McKillip’s “The Snow Queen”

2016-09-04T00:00:00Z

My column at Tor.com is back, this time with a re-read of Patricia McKillip’s gorgeous short story, “The Snow Queen,” which I first discovered in the collection Snow White, Blood Red edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow.

https://www.tor.com/2016/09/02/the-great-classic-fantasy-reread-the-snow-queen-by-patricia-mckillip/

New Essay at Los Angeles Review of Books

2016-08-25T00:00:00Z

I wrote about Helen Oyeyemi’s latest, What is Not Yours is Not Yours, at the Los Angeles Review of Books: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-trickster-imagination/

Special Delivery: Sequel to Last Song Before Night

2016-08-16T00:00:00Z

In November 2013 I was in Paris, a brief stopover on the way to visiting family. I had a plan: I would begin my next novel, the sequel to Last Song Before Night, in a cafe there. A lot of trepidation had led up to this moment–putting aside all the research I’d done, including a visit to the Louvre’s exhibition on Islamic art–and making a start of the story. The best way to overcome that trepidation, I thought, was by means of a psychological trick. I thought: “Even if the first pages are bad, they’ll at least have been written in a cafe in Paris!”

So on a cold autumn day I took advantage of the generosity of a cafe on Rue Cler, where they didn’t mind my staying from morning until evening–or at least, didn’t show it if they did. The scribbled ideas in my notebooks, with their asterisks and exclamation points and underlining and question marks…these began to take shape as fiction. Which is, I believe, the most naked and uncompromising form there is. (Hence, the trepidation.)

That was 2013. While the novel I handed in to my editor a few days ago bears little resemblance to the story I began in Paris that day, the heart of the novel remains the same. One scene–a fateful one–that I wrote in Cafe Eclair on Rue Cler remains in the final draft. I am glad some part of that day–a cherished memory–is preserved in the book.

This next book required a great deal of research because I was determined not to do the same thing, or even a similar thing, again. I wanted to expand the frontiers of the world in Last Song Before Night, in all ways–in terms of geography, societies, magic, and cast of characters. Most important was to do justice to the character arcs of the first book. No matter how far afield we might go into enchantments and epic battles in fantasy, the human heart is–it seems to me–where it all ends up, and must begin.

No idea of a release date yet. Revisions, copyediting, and proofreading are still ahead. This post is just to mark the occasion: a work of nearly three years is done.

New Milestone: First Foreign Rights Deal!

2016-04-05T00:00:00Z

I’ve been keeping this under my hat for awhile. Very excited to announce that Japanese rights to Last Song Before Night have sold to Tokyo Sogensha. Other authors on their roster include Diana Wynne Jones, Patricia McKillip, and Cassandra Clare.

Obviously, we’ll be going out for sushi to celebrate!

Upcoming: Queens Library Event

2016-02-24T00:00:00Z

On March 8th, Queens Library is hosting an event with me and authors Alex Shvartsman and Rob Dircks, in a restaurant in Long Island City. Details are here.

It’s safe to say that I owe nearly everything to the Queens Library, the public library system with which I grew up. Until the age of 12, this library system nurtured my love of reading. After the age of 12, I no longer had access to a library and in some ways, I’m still working to make up for the lost years. There is simply no way to overestimate the value of a library system to a community and in the lives of emerging readers. For the gift of childhood access to books, I’ll always be grateful to the Queens Library, and that gives this event a significance beyond the ordinary.

Campbell Award Eligibility

2016-02-22T00:00:00Z

Last Song Before Night, which came out in 2015, was my first fiction publication. I had no short stories or even poetry published prior to that, mostly because I tend to write short fiction on average every 10 years. Anyway, this means I’m eligible for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer. I would be appreciative of your consideration.

I am not against self-promotion (obviously), but awards are a gray area and I feel odd about campaigning for them, for my own personal reasons (which probably have nothing to do with the reasons that might come to mind–I don’t think it’s bragging, I’m not shy because I’m a woman, I don’t judge other writers for campaigning because they are not me, etc.). There are several awards coming up and I won’t be discussing them here. But because the window of eligibility for the Campbell is narrow (two years), I thought I’d make an exception this time.

I am grateful that while my book didn’t come out with a big bang, readers are gradually discovering it and finding that it resonates–sometimes even in the ways I’d hoped. If you are one of those readers, your support is appreciated.

Writing War in Fantasy: High Stakes vs. Logistics

2016-02-10T00:00:00Z

In writing the sequel to Last Song Before Night, I’ve been contemplating the challenge of writing about lands at war, which is a theme in the next two books. Most epic fantasies are about sweeping and, well, epic battles. This is also true of many of the books I loved growing up. Now that I’m venturing into that territory myself, it’s occurred to me that there are two very different approaches to writing about war in fantasy, based on two essential elements: the high stakes of war, and the logistics.

I’ll give the most basic examples to make my case. Tolkien’s Return of the King is focused on the high stakes of war. Maybe he talks about supply lines and army locations, but I certainly don’t remember because it’s not a central interest for him. He certainly doesn’t talk about taxes, as George R. R. Martin has pointed out. There is talk of strategies, but this is in a manner similar to the Bible which also includes narratives of battle strategies–it’s done in a way that dovetails so seamlessly with the storytelling that you are not going to learn much technical information about battles from reading it. That information is beside the point.

If these logistics are not central to Tolkien’s interest, then what is? To me it seems clear that a religious perspective made the conflict between good and evil of central concern to Tolkien. In the end he is far more interested in the moral defection of Denethor and the internal rot of Saruman–and conversely, the blindingly white resurgence of Gandalf as Mithrandir–than he is in questions of food supply.

That’s one end of the spectrum. At the opposite end is K.J. Parker’s Fencer Trilogy, in which logistics is everything. The only evil is within the heart of the protagonist Bardas Loredan and his brother, Gorgas. Everything else can be coldly boiled down to the machine of war and how it interconnects with the equally impersonal machine of politics.

Most fantasy novels fall within this spectrum, being neither as consumed by conflicts of the soul as Tolkien, nor as preoccupied with logistics as Parker. And nowadays fantasy readers are savvy; they want their battles realistic or not at all.

For my forthcoming novel, I’ve been doing loads of research in order to be as realistic as possible–and to get ideas, too. There is often nothing so inspiring as a bizarre factoid from history, or even just an unexpected one. At the same time, I’m aware that my inclination is toward the Tolkien end of the spectrum–ultimately what I care most about is the larger contours of the conflict and how it shapes or destroys the hearts of people. The task, then, is to pull that off while simultaneously making sure technical-minded readers are happy.

It’s an unseemly amount of work. Good thing I’m excited about this story and where it’s going.

Announcing: New Column at Tor.com, Locus Recommended Reading List, and Other Stuff

2016-02-06T00:00:00Z

I’ve started a monthly column at Tor.com, The Great Classic Fantasy Reread! (Yes, I chose the name, why?) First up is The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. Spoiler: I love this book.
Last Song Before Night made the Locus Recommended Reading List under First Novels! I’m truly honored: Locus is an essential SF/F institution. Being on the list is not only an honor, it also means the book is included in the Locus Poll, where readers have the option to nominate it for the Locus Award. If you enjoyed Last Song Before Night and think it deserves a nomination, the Locus Poll is here. The book is listed in the category of First Novels.
Fantasy Book Critic lists Last Song Before Night as a Top Read of 2015! (Under debuts.)
I’ve made Brooklyn! That is, author and poet Nancy Hightower interviewed me on the Brooklyn Rail. We talked of many things including poetry, the costs of being a writer, and the dark side of art.