Harriet Goodchild – Suddenly they all died. The end.

atr Today I’m reviewing After the Ruin by Harriet Goodchild. If you missed the interview she was kind enough to submit to back in March, you can check it out here. If you haven’t heard of After the Ruin before now, here’s the blurb:

What is the price of a man’s life? An apple? A sword? A kingdom? There are many ways to leave a life in ruins. But ruined lives go on, and so, after the ruin, there is love, sweet as roses on a summer’s evening. But love is such a little thing, no stronger than a candleflame at noontime. For, after the ruin, Averla, fire made flesh, is hiding in the light. She will use lover against lover, sister against brother, father against son, to build again her kingdom of everlasting fire. Love is not enough to set against her fierce desire. As well seek to turn back the tide with a wall of sand.

This book…This book! I’m still thinking about it. It’s a dense read, but a fantastic one, and I couldn’t get enough of it. The writing reminded me of some of the classics that I’ve loved; no one specific novel, just classic works in general. It has a timeless feel to it, and the prose is like reading music. It was poetry, plain and simple and magical. The worldbuilding was rock solid and the character development was amazing.

And the end…I still can’t believe the end.

This is a book you definitely don’t want to miss, and one I highly recommend. You can pick up your copy at Amazon, Amazon UK, or Barnes & Noble. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

I know I’ve mentioned that I love being part of the writing community and helping out fellow authors before, but I have to say it again: The writing community rocks. It rocks so hard. Know why?

This is why:

Hey @kaysiewrites I was wondering whether you’d be interested in hosting my friend @HMGoodchild or reviewing her book http://t.co/9Wh5ogVswG

— Irene Soldatos (@I_Soldatos) March 17, 2015

If you haven’t heard of Harriet Goodchild yet, you should have. And you’re in luck! Because today, she’s going to chat with me about writing, fantasy, and her latest book, After the Ruin.

KK: Hi, Harriet. Tell us about yourself.

HG: I live in Edinburgh now but I was born in the west of Scotland and go back there whenever I can. Lest that sound a narrow life, I’ll say I’ve lived in a few other places as well, including the United States and Australia, and spent twelve years in Oxford. Life in Oxford is rather like living in a fantasy novel: pretty soon you start meeting seneschals or quaffing from an aurochs horn after dinner.

I share my flat with two pets: a Bengal cat called Talisker and a very large goldfish called, imaginatively, Big Fish. Big Fish is outgrowing her third tank and soon I’m going to have to find a safe pond in which to rehome her. Until then, Talisker enjoys sitting nearby her tank to keep her company. Or at least I think that’s her reason. Never assume nefarious intent, even in cats!

KK: Have you always written?

HG: In my teens I wrote a lot. Short stories and poetry, mostly, and a novel that rambled on and on through several college notebooks, acquiring characters along the way. It wasn’t good – and I hope it never surfaces – but I enjoyed writing it hugely and that’s all that matters. Some of the ideas in those stories, in fact, laid the groundwork for all that I’ve written since, although I think my writing has improved since my teenage years. After that, reading a lot and writing a bit was enough, although I published some non-fiction along the way. Then, about five years ago…