In Conversation with Cassandra Clare
Cassandra Clare is a best-selling children's, young adult and adult fantasy author known mainly for her widely popular series, The Shadowhunter Chronicles. As a working author for the last 20 years, Cassandra has made a name for herself in young adult fantasy with over a dozen books, a feature film and a television series to her name. We chatted to Cassandra about her new adult series The Castellane Chronicles, as her latest installment The Ragpicker King hits the shelves, to get a feel for what readers can expect, what goes into creating a new universe and how she creates her characters.
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The Sword Catcher introduced readers to the world of Castellane and a cast of characters embroiled in politics, new relationships and magic, what new developments can readers expect in The Ragpicker King?
The Ragpicker King brings big changes for both Kel and Lin. Kel is playing with fire, secretly collaborating with criminals to investigate the Shining Gallery Massacre, while also finding himself thrown into palace intrigue surrounding Prince Conor’s new royal engagement to a princess with secrets of her own. Lin is posing as a goddess in a desperate bid to gain access to magic (something that is largely illegal in Castellane) that could save her best friend’s life, but her deception can’t hold out long—especially not when the leader of her people shows up to test her claims. On top of all that, Prince Conor has a job for her, one that will draw her deeper into forbidden magic. And elsewhere in the city, a sinister assassin lurks, spinning a web of treachery that will shake Castellane to its foundation stones.
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As a veteran of Young Adult Fantasy, with over a dozen YA novels under your belt, how would you describe your transition to writing Adult Fantasy?
It has felt like a natural transition. I’ve been an avid reader of fantasy for my whole life, and I knew early on that I was interested in writing fantasy for people of all different ages. (In addition to my YA novels, I co-authored the Magisterium series, which is a middle grade magic school story.) But after writing for younger readers for many years, it’s been exciting to move into adult fantasy—a whole new world of possibilities! Characters in YA are very much figuring out who they are as they come of age. In adult fantasy, you get to know these characters who have already gone through a lot of self-discovery—they know who they are for the most part and have established themselves, in this case, Lin as an ambitious physician and Kel as a bodyguard to a prince. They still have growing and learning to do—all characters do—but what’s at stake is quite different for adults than it is for teenagers.
- The Shadowhunter Chronicles is an expansive world with a lively, memorable cast of characters, with similar groundwork being laid in The Chronicles of Castellane. What goes into developing a distinct cast for any of your novels?
When I’m creating a big cast of characters, I like to throw lots of people from different backgrounds together and see how they get along. I want them to be people who’d be fun to spend time with, so that’s always something I keep in mind—what kind of dynamics are the most tension-filled, the most interesting, the most spiky and fun? How will these people push each other’s buttons or learn to become friends (or both)? What’s the chemistry between them? At the end of the day I want to write books I would want to read, so that means creating fun interpersonal dynamics—and including lots of intense emotion, from hatred to reluctant respect to romantic tension.
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Similarly, world-building is a hallmark of any Cassandra Clare book. What is your favourite part of creating a universe for your characters?
I love traveling, so even if the books take place mostly in one location, I like to make sure we have a sense of the greater global context. One aspect of big cities that I love is the diversity found within their borders, so one of the things I enjoyed about Castellane was creating a sense of multiple cultures alongside each other, including neighbourhoods that are cultural enclaves, like Little Kutani (which we get to see in Ragpicker King) and Yulan Road. I also love history and picking fascinating bits and pieces out of our own real history to enrich a world. So, I guess my favourite parts would have to be traveling, research and gathering ideas, and thinking about ways to include magic or other supernatural elements.
- And lastly, as a fantasy lover, is there a fantasy world or universe that you would live in? (And yes- you can pick your own!)
I have to pick Lord of Rings—I loved those books growing up, and they were so formative to my imagination. I’d just stick to the nice places, like the Shire and Lothlorien. And try to avoid the Nazgûl.
P. S. Keep an eye on our Instagram, @exclusivebooks, for your chance to win a copy of The Ragpicker King.
