We spoke with Julie Kagawa at San Diego Comic-Con, and she teased us about what’s to come in both her Iron Fey and Talon series.
The Iron Fey series will come to a close this Fall.
“It’s bittersweet,” the author says about the end of her Iron Fey series. “On the one hand, it’s very cool to end the series. I know I’ve left it in the best place I could. I liked where the story went. I liked where it ended up. I liked where all the characters ended up. So I think it’s a great place to end it, but at the same time these are characters I’ve been with for years and years and years, and it’s just a little bittersweet to say goodbye to them because I know Meghan, Ash, Keirran, Puck, Ethan and Grimalkin. They’re more than words on paper now. They’ve become actual characters with histories and backstories, and I’ve seen them through all their tragedies and triumphs and struggles. It’s sad and bittersweet to close the door on that.”
When asked what she could tease of the final book, The Iron Warrior, she coyly repeats what she’s said on Facebook in the past: “I just wrote my third character death in the last book of the Iron Fey series, so ponder that a moment while I flee.”
She also adds, “Your tears feed my muse.”
What can we expect from the Talon series moving forward?
The second book in the Talon series, titled Rogue, just released on April 28 of this year. When giving us hints about what’s to come, Kagawa says, “Lots of dragons fighting. More confusion and angst on a certain character’s part — a certain three characters’ parts, I suppose. Lots of revelations, betrayals, heartbreak, and all that fun stuff.”
She says fun. We say anxiety-inducing.
Audiobooks offer a different way of experiencing an author’s tale.
We asked Kagawa what she thought of the audio version of her books, as that platform is certainly becoming a more popular way to enjoy the stories authors write. “It’s like you’re listening to almost a different book,” she says. “It’s a completely different book when you’re listening to your own book. It’s strange. You know what’s going to happen. You know the plot and the characters and the story, but sometimes the voice actor will say something in a different way, and you’ll be like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome! That’s cool.’ Or, ‘Oh yeah! That’s the perfect attitude that I wouldn’t have expected.’ So it is different.”
But she has nothing but love for the narrators of Talon and Rogue. “I think MacLeod Andrews, who does Garret, does a fabulous job. He did Ash in The Iron Knight. He does a fabulous job. But Chris Patton, who does Riley, does an awesome, awesome job with Riley. And I’m like, ‘Yep! That’s Riley. No complaints. Yep, that’s exactly how he would sound.'”
One more thing, before we leave.
Just as we asked Sabaa Tahir, we wondered what was the best book Kagawa has read recently. “I don’t get a lot of time to read anymore,” she admits. But, ironically, “I just picked up An Ember in the Ashes, and I love it so far. I’m only 10 chapters in, but I really like that one.”
Before we left, we also asked Kagawa if there was anything else she’d like to say. “Thank you to all my readers and fans,” she says. “I hope that you enjoy the final book of the Iron Fey series, and I hope that you cry a lot.”