Emma.R.Schofield on The Nature of Shadow, a coming of age story about resilience and power from the genre of literary high fantasy.
I was fifteen when I started The Nature of Shadow. I didn’t know it was going to be a book, let alone a series, but there was a scene lurking in my head so I started writing it. For me, that creative high when a story is born has a glittering madness to it, taking over every thought, every daydream; appointments are forgotten, dinner gets burned, my head is literally in another world. Of course the story didn’t follow the path I mapped out for it in those first crazy first days, but then stories never do.
The Nature of Shadow
The Nature of Shadow introduces a fifteen-year-old protagonist who has been brought up in a repressive castle by musician parents. Lia has only ever wanted to join the musicians’ craft, but as soon as she shows signs of healing and empathy, she’s apprenticed to the craft of people with similar powers – the craft of the anar. When she reveals to her anar master at her castle what form her power takes, he’s terrified that she is at risk of corruption by the darkness. Panicking, he restricts her power, shattering her trust. Lia then journeys to the anar craft hall, Anhame, terrified the Masters won’t permit her to join the craft. But even if they don’t sense the nature of her power and let her in, she will still have to undergo life-threatening trials before she can truly master her powers.
Lia’s life at Anhame and beyond continued to occupy my imagination over several decades. People look at me sideways when they discover how long it took to complete all five books, but in those years, while I did have a story I was writing, I also had a life I was living as fully as possible. And of course the life fed detail and richness back into the story.
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
In my late teens, I read James Lovelock’s Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, based on the idea he and Lynn Margulis developed that the world is in a self-regulating equilibrium which compensates for detrimental changes. For example, when carbon dioxide levels increase, so do the global populations of plants which are higher consumers of carbon dioxide and so the levels tend back towards equilibrium again. In The Nature of Shadow series, I imagined the Gaia as an active force which also acts to neutralise people who are disrupting the equilibrium of nature. From that grew the idea of a society living in harmony with the environment, taking stewardship rather than ownership of the land and its creatures, using eco-friendly technology to achieve a high quality of life.
Trinity College, Dublin
While I was a lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry at Trinity College in Dublin, I kept coming across fascinating bits of science that I slipped into the story. A New Scientist article about plankton that produce light in response to turbulence? Let’s have globelights that illuminate when shaken. Researchers investigating the neurotoxin produced by puffer fish for its anaesthetic and pain-relieving properties? Let’s have the apprentices using it to prepare a numbing gel. And while I’m at it, I’m teaching the second years coordination chemistry this semester, so let’s mention the trace transition metal ions that turn sapphires green.
My time in Trinity also helped define the character of Maethin, the wise old mentor figure who becomes Lia’s master at the craft hall. Maethin teaches using the Socratic art of asking questions that lead his students into realisation and understanding – something all lecturers endeavour to do in every exam, tutorial and laboratory practical where teaching occurs. I also strove for Maethin’s tolerance and patience as a teacher, but I’m pretty sure my students would consider that a work in progress.
Lia
Much of Lia’s character at the beginning of the book reflect my feeling like an outsider as I progressed from undergrad to post-doctoral researcher. Living in Germany, Switzerland and then France, I was often tripped up by the expectations imposed by foreign cultures, was socially awkward due to the language barrier, and tried not to stick out as the English girl. This is the origin of Lia’s image of the green and blue planet, alone is space, isolated from anyone who could understand her.
One of the things that rescued me was music. If you’re even a half-way decent viola player, people will invite you into their homes for chamber music and take you along to orchestras irrespective of whether you habitually fail to decline the subjunctive correctly. So Lia’s social integration into the craft hall begins with a healer who is a harpist, and Lia starts to open to the possibility of trusting the master she’s been assigned when he accompanies her singing to an eight-year-old patient.
The Decision to Publish
Why did I wait until the story was finished before publishing? For many years I wasn’t confident I would ever finish it, and I was afraid of making the promise of a first book then being under pressure to deliver the rest. But a lot of it was because The Nature of Shadow series feels like a single carefully crafted story which has been divided into five sections for ease of transport. I was modifying the beginning and the middle even as I was writing the end, planting echoes that a reader would only notice on second reading, ensuring there were resonances throughout. While it’s taken a long time to get here, at least it means readers won’t have to wait too long for the remaining books in the series to be published – book two, Anhame, is due out around September time.
(c) Emma.R.Schofield
About The Nature of Shadow by Emma.R.Schofield
Will she be cast out of the one place she has left to go?
Anhame, the Hall under the six point star, is the only place Lia can learn how to use her terrifying powers. But to take the oath, and to pass through the trials, she must conceal the darkness that is her nature. How long can she hide her dark secret from the Masters of her craft? And if they find out, what will they do to ensure she is not a danger to everyone around her?
The Nature of Shadow is the first book in a literary high fantasy series of five. It is for people who love myth and magic, dragons and sword bearers, and walking the path of story with a frighteningly powerful protagonist who nevertheless faces entirely human struggles. Low on sex and violence, but rich in character development, atmosphere and world-building, it is suitable for fantasy lovers from young adult to long-retired elder.
Order your copy of The Nature of Shadow online here.
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