Akshaya Raman is a Tamil American writer born in Chennai and raised in the Bay Area. She fell in love with writing when she wrote her first story at the age of ten. Though she graduated from UC Davis with a degree in biology, she gave up pursuing a career in science to write books. She lives in California with an actual scaredy cat, and in her free time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and watching too much reality TV. You can find her on Instagram @akshraman.
Releasing on 14 November, The Crimson Fortress is the thrilling, action-packed sequel and conclusion to the critically acclaimed Ivory Key duology, royal siblings Vira, Ronak, Kaleb, and Riya battle vengeful enemies, centuries-old mysteries, and their own personal demons in order to save their country from ruin.
One of my favorite aspects of writing The Ivory Key duology was researching Indian architecture. I became fascinated by the rich history behind the thousand-year-old temples and the ruins of ancient forts scattered throughout the country. I was particularly awed by how these old civilizations were able to construct vast structures with complex designs and intricate artwork purely through a strong understanding of science and engineering—buildings that have stood the test of time, the elements, and even wars.
Set in a world where magic is a highly prized physical resource that’s running out, the series follows four royal siblings on their quest to find the mythical ivory key rumored to unlock more quarries. The characters encounter many ancient ruins full of secrets on their adventures, and I had so much fun creating these settings, many of which were inspired by real-life locations.
One of the first locations I developed was the Dvar Fort, which is the seat of Ashokan power and also where the four siblings live at the start of the books. The inspiration for it was the Golconda Fort located near the Kollur Mine in Telangana. Diamonds found in that mine were often taken to Golconda for safekeeping, and similarly, the Dvar Fort was built to protect the quarry beneath the fort which holds the last of the world’s magic. One of the coolest things about the Golconda Fort is that it had an incredibly sophisticated alarm system to warn inhabitants about intruders. The architects had devised a way in which the sound of a clap at a specific portico by the entrance would travel through the fort and could be heard in the king’s chambers half a mile away.
The Crimson Fortress, which plays a significant role in the sequel, is yet another location where I used a real fort for reference—the Daulatabad Fort in Maharashtra. Its most notable features are its formidable defenses, comprised of successive gateways, secret passages, and deadly traps all designed to slow down, confuse, and ultimately stop armies. Without giving too much away, I knew I wanted to keep the element of having the characters encounter obstacles and even some elements of the fort’s construction, but I ended up drawing on different sources to create the specific hurdles they have to face.
There are also several temples featured within the series. Most of them are constructed in the Dravidian architectural style, which originates in South India where my family is from, with expansive courtyards, intricately carved pillars, and massive gopuram towers topped with statues of deities. However, when I was designing the Paliya Temple—the setting for one of my favorite scenes in The Crimson Fortress—I first thought of the Konark Sun Temple in Odisha. Konark is constructed to look like a chariot, and the wheels built into the sides of the buildings are actually accurate sundials that can be used to tell time even today. While the temple in the book has a different purpose—protecting a magical, eternally burning flame—the idea of having a temple specifically created to serve a function initially occurred to me when I was reading about Konark.
But while I love exploring forts and temples, my absolute favorite thing I discovered on my research were stepwells. These are inverted pyramids built into the ground to collect rainwater, with stairs leading down each side. Though their primary purpose was utilitarian function, it was also a place of community where people could gather to talk and trade news or even attend concerts and speeches. I actually had no idea these existed until I started writing The Ivory Key, and ever since I learned about them, I wanted to include one in the book. In fact, I had a whole chapter set there in The Ivory Key that ultimately ended up getting cut, so when it came time to decide where I wanted a pivotal scene in the sequel to take place, I knew it would be at a stepwell. I came across the Toorji ka Jhalra (pictured) in Jodhpur while on a family trip to Rajasthan, and—after making my cousins take roughly eighty pictures of me there—I ended up modeling the Banagha Stepwell ruins after it.
If you look closely, you’ll find nods to more real-life locations peppered throughout the book. And while—as far as I know, anyway—there are no magical secrets lurking beneath the actual historical sites, I hope you enjoy visiting my versions of them in The Ivory Key and The Crimson Fortress!
