We chat with author Pascale Lacelle about Infinite Shores, which is the conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Drowned Gods Trilogy, a gorgeous dark academia fantasy following a teen mage and her friends on their desperate quest through worlds and time!
Hi, Pascale! Welcome back! How have you been since we last spoke for the release of Stranger Skies?
Thank you so much for having me back! It feels like a lifetime has passed since the release of Stranger Skies. I’ve been busy wrapping up this series and jumping into the next project. It’s been great!
Infinite Shores is the final installment in your Drowned Gods series and it’s out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Epic, chaotic, bittersweet, emotionally satisfying.
For those who haven’t picked up the series, what can readers expect?
The Drowned Gods trilogy is a dark academia fantasy that follows a lunar mage who survives a deadly initiation ritual and unlocks impossible magic that attracts the attention of a sinister secret society. By the end of the first book, the story expands into a world-hopping, time-bending saga full of deeply flawed characters who grapple with chaotic forces of destruction, the cruel nature of fate, and their own appetite for power and significance. Expect ancient, mercurial gods, intricate magic, slow-burn romances, and a whole lot of twists and turns!
And for those who have, what’s to come in the conclusion?
Infinite Shores is a rollercoaster of emotions with an ending I’ve seen described as bittersweet, unfair, tear-inducing, but ultimately, a fitting and satisfying conclusion. The characters we’ve been following since Curious Tides finally come into their own, though not without first making a few more mistakes and questionable decisions. On the romance front, Baz and Kai shippers will hopefully forgive me for separating their favorite pairing at the end of Stranger Skies, and I think a lot of readers will be swept away by Emory and Sidraeus, whose angsty relationship was so fun to write!
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Rounding out each character’s journey was incredibly satisfying. Baz in particular has been a constant favorite of mine to write. He’s who I think experiences the most significant growth throughout the series, from a reclusive student scared of his own power, to this confident, heroic person he always had the potential to be. Emory, on the other hand, I’ve always struggled to write. She’s a complex character (some might say unlikeable) but her arc in Infinite Shores was my absolute favorite to write, and I think it’s the most hard-hitting. I hope that comes across on page.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing the conclusion? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge was making sure all the loose threads came together in the end. Trying to wrap up a story with various timelines and worlds and multiple points of view definitely tested me as a writer. There’s a point around the halfway mark that was particularly difficult to work out, because so many elements and characters needed to come together. There were a lot of sketches and diagrams and false starts involved in my process. Maybe even a few frustrated tears. But honestly, I love this kind of problem solving; it’s one of the reasons I love writing these big, elaborate fantasy worlds!
How did you celebrate finishing your first book series?
I’m not sure my brain has fully registered that it’s over yet. I first started this series back in 2020. That’s six years of my life spent obsessing over this story! Sometimes it hits me out of the blue and I get emotional over it. I think it only truly started to sink in during the official Infinite Shores launch events I had at Joie de livres in Montreal and Perfect Books in Ottawa this April. Meeting so many passionate readers was the perfect way to celebrate and say goodbye to the Drowned Gods trilogy.
Looking back on where Drowned Gods started as a concept, how much has the series evolved over the three books?
When I first came up with the idea for Curious Tides, I knew I wanted it to go from something rather contained in terms of story and setting and plot, to something completely epic in scope and scale. The how we get there is what changed from concept to finish. My initial idea was to have this be a four-book series where each book would be set in one of the four worlds this universe contains, and each book would be told from the point of view of a character from that world. Kind of like four interconnected standalones that would work toward one big, common conclusion. But the core of this story has always been Emory and Baz, so it made more sense to follow their journeys (and Kai’s, and Romie’s) over the course of the series. Thinking back now, I wouldn’t have wanted to write it any other way.
What’s next for you?
My next book, Stars Incarnate, is the first title in a new post-apocalyptic fantasy duology where fallen stars are the cause of a supernatural apocalypse. It follows a girl training to hunt down the eldritch monsters that now stalk the land, and the formidable hunter who wouldn’t hesitate to end her if he knew the dark secret she’s hiding. I’m having so much fun writing this story and can’t wait to share it with readers in 2027!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
The End of Us by Sandra Proudman, Death In Verse by Julie Lew, and Daughter of Wolves by Nicki Pau Preto are a few titles at the top of my TBR list at the moment. Some books I’ve enjoyed (and blurbed!) this year are A Fate Worse Than Drowning by Sarah L. Hawthorn, Dreamweaving by O.O. Sangoyomi, A Great and Powerful Tyranny by Victoria Carbol, Mothsblood by Lynn D. Jung, and A Dangerous Bargain by Erin Cotter.
