We chat with author Struan Murray about The Twilight Child, which is the second installment in the electric new fantasy series for fans of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief and Impossible Creatures.
Hi, Struan! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I’m Struan Murray, a children’s author from the UK. I write fantasy novels for young readers, including my latest series, Dragonborn. When I’m not writing I am a lecturer at the University of Oxford, in *checks notes* biochemistry? I have two young children, who between them have become quite skilled at preventing me from doing either of these jobs.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I was actually something of a reluctant reader and writer as a child. But what I did love was comic books, and drawing too, and eventually I took to making my own comic books, which I sold to the other kids at my school to raise money to pay for a dangerous pokémon card obsession. But what began as a strictly commercial venture soon blossomed into a creative one, and my love of storytelling eventually eclipsed even my love of pokémon.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading:
Where the Wild Things Are
- The one that made you want to become an author:
The Hobbit!
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about:
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.
The Twilight Child is the second installment in your Dragonborn series and it’s out October 20th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Dragons. Demons. Scotland. Mystery. Betrayal!
For those who haven’t picked up Dragonborn, what can readers expect?
Dragonborn is about an eleven-year-old girl called Alex Evans who discovers that dragons are real, that they’ve been living secretly among humans for thousands of years, and that she is actually one of them. Alex is taken to the mysterious island of Skralla, where young dragons learn to control their powers, but soon finds herself caught up in a struggle for the fate of the world, battling against the evil Drak Midna — the largest dragon to have ever lived.
And for readers who have, what’s to come in The Twilight Child?
The Twilight Child picks up right after the first book, with Alex still reeling from a series of betrayals by those she thought she could trust. When tragedy strikes the island of Skralla, Alex and her friends travel to the magical city of Dundarrak, where humans and dragons have lived together for centuries, battling side-by-side against hordes of vicious demons. But shadowy forces are striving to undo this ancient alliance, and Alex must marshal her anger if she is to unlock her true dragon powers, and unravel a mystery that might just save the city: the legend of the Twilight Child.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
The first Dragonborn book features a young dragon called Ferox — Alex’s chief rival — as prickly and vicious in human form as he is in his dragon one. In The Twilight Child, Alex and Ferox are forced to work together to protect his childhood home from evil. This was a wonderful opportunity to take a character who seemed perhaps one-dimensional in the first book and reveal a far greater depth — a boy who has been mistreated, ignored and underestimated by his family, and has developed a thick scaly skin to protect himself. A lot of readers told me how much they disliked Ferox in book one, and I couldn’t resist challenging that by showing how those who might initially seem frightening or selfish often turn out to be carrying enormous grief, fear or loneliness. And though Alex and Ferox are constantly at each other’s throats throughout the story, they each begin to recognise their own anger in the other, and work together to understand it.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing the sequel? How did you overcome them?
I wanted The Twilight Child to take the story somewhere new, both geographically and emotionally. Moving the action to Scotland and introducing Dundarrak gave me the opportunity to explore a very different part of this magical world. But I also needed Alex herself to be in a different place. The events of the first book have left her angry and distrustful of others, and her anger is causing her to lash out, even at her closest friends. What really helped me write the story was realising that I could use the new location to mirror Alex’s own inner turmoil; a place where anger is simmering just beneath the surface, where old grievances and mistrust threaten to destroy the fragile peace between humans and dragons.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on the third Dragonborn book! What’s this one about, you ask? Well, without giving too much away, the world of dragons will be shaken up massively by the events of The Twilight Child, with many dragons now eager to join Drak Midna in his war against humanity, and an ingenious new foe rising to battle Alex and her friends.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I am really excited to pick up the third book in the Chronicles of Whetherwhy series by Anna James, as I have so adored the first two. This year I have also read the School for Thieves by Peter Burns, which was an absolute delight: clever, inventive and full of wonderful characters.
