Guest post by A Magic Fierce and Bright author Hemant Nayak
Hemant Nayak is a fantasy author who doubles as an ER doctor taking care of people with heart attacks and wounds of all sorts when not writing. His traditional debut A MAGIC FIERCE AND BRIGHT takes place in India in a future where machines no longer work and magic has replaced electricity as the dominant source of energy. It explores themes of cultures clashing with their different traditional magics and also colonialism. It also has a very cool sentient motorcycle that steals the show.
The Life of an ER Doc
My day job is often a night job and inevitably deals with managing heart attacks, broken bones, appendicitis, people trying to die of sepsis, and psychiatric crises at the exact same time. On a busy day, which is the majority, we are deluged with a host of problems that society faces from drug addiction to homelessness while trying our best to make the difficult diagnoses that lives hinge upon. It is an absolutely wonderful job where I get to help others in times of their greatest need. I have the chance to meet amazing people from all walks of life and parts of the world and immediately become their trusted caregiver when they’ve never seen me before. Patients are so grateful and kind, when really, I’m just doing the job I was trained for and trying to help. It is endlessly challenging, often frustrating, immensely rewarding, and I’m always learning something new. But one of the interesting things about it is it’s shift work. When I’m done with the hard shift, I’m generally done and my time is my own. I decided I wanted to do what the kid I was always desired—I wanted to write books.
What would a world in the future be like if magic replaced technology?
I wanted to write something that took place in India and the idea hit me of a future world where electricity and all the machines that depended on it, no longer worked. All that energy would be transformed into magic and in every culture in the world their traditional magic would reemerge. Europe would see the rise of werewolves, witches, giants, and vampires. India would find that rakshasas and monsters or all sorts had come back and the Indigenous people of the Americas would see Raven and Coyote and all the magical animals of Native American mythology reemerge.
A Clash of Cultures and Colonialism
A friend pointed out to me that in such a world, all the diverse types of magic would undoubtedly clash and strive for dominance. In A MAGIC FIERCE AND BRIGHT this plays out in colonialism once again as British magical werewolves and sorcerers try to take over India for the witch queen of England. This is the background of the story that enriches everything in a plot where one sister is striving to find her beloved twin amidst the war. I also wanted to explore the ideas of idealism, naivete, and that there are at times some bad people out there who might want to do you harm.
Machines and Magic
It occurred to me that a fascinating magical power for a main character in such a world would be the power to bring old machines back to life with magic. Then I realized that such machines brought to life with magic might have personalities, desires, and goals of their own which suddenly made them absolutely fascinating. Adya, the main character of the story, brings back a Yamaha racing motorcycle which she escapes on from a particularly tricky situation. When I realized the Yamaha would have a personality, it suddenly became a character of its own, full of raw emotion and desire and became the “Vehicle” for the main character’s arc. I am continually surprised that the motorcycle is usually most reader’s favorite character and one reviewer said she was amazed that she cried big weepy tears over a motorcycle. Writing grants immense surprises — even to the writer!
I hope you enjoy A MAGIC FIERCE AND BRIGHT and let me know what you think. You may also enjoy The Tools of the Ghost a contemporary urban fantasy I’ve written set in Seattle. All the best!
