“David Anthony Durham has serious chops. I can’t wait to read whatever he writes next."—George R. R. Martin
David Anthony Durham’s gripping Acacia Trilogy continues with an epic novel where loyalties are tested, new worlds are discovered, and battle lines are being drawn.
A few years have passed since Queen Corinn has usurped control of the Known World—and she now rules with an iron fist. With plans to expand her empire, she sends her brother, Dariel, on an exploratory mission across the sea to The Other Lands. There, he discovers an alliance of tribes that have no interest in being ruled by Queen Corinn and the Akarans. In fact, Dariel’s arrival ignites a firestorm that once more exposes The Known World to a massive invasion, one unlike anything they have yet faced . .
David Anthony Durham on The Other Lands
Recently, I had the amazing experience of being called on stage during the Hugo Awards ceremony to receive the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer of Science Fiction. It was a wonderful, and unexpected, highlight of my publishing life.
I began my publishing career writing historical novels inspired by my interests as an African-American. That’s what readers first knew of me and--three novels in--that might have been the focus of my work thereafter. What they didn’t know was how important fantasy had been to me. In middle school, it was hanging out with Bilbo and Frodo, the Pevensie kids, Taran and Ged and Thomas Covenant that introduced me to literature.
Later I became an academic, wrote literary novels, reviewed and judged awards. That felt very grown up, but something was missing. I was still drawn toward fantastic tales by authors like Octavia Butler, Orson Scott Card, Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Herbert. I also realized how much fantasy was a part of my children's life in new works by Cornelia Funke, M.i. McAllister, Philip Pullman, J.K. Rowling, and S.F. Said.
This prompted me to return to the genre. Writing Acacia: The War with the Mein was a process of reconnecting with the young reader I was and merging that with the adult I’d become. That’s why the series is about royal siblings, monsters, quests, magic, and... also about things like global trade, national mythology, the burdens of leadership and about striving to correct past wrongs without making new ones.
I couldn’t be happier with the reception it’s received. I’m honored to have stood on that stage beside those Hugo winners, and I’m very pleased to have been able to continue my tale with The Other Lands. If I have my way, I’ll be switching between our world and my imagined one for years to come, just like some kids I read about years ago...--David Anthony Durham
(Photo © Gudrun Johnston)
