Fantasy author V.E. Schwab is more than a writer. She is a creative force to be reckoned with, as legions of fans flock to bookstores when her newest book arrives, hungry for more of her stories.
Schwab is the author of the Darker Shade of Magic series, as well as The Invisible Life of Addie Larue. The Darker Shade of Magic books tell the tale of powerful magicians who can travel between parallel versions of London. Addie Larue is an adult romance filled with whimsy as it tells the story of a girl who lives a thousand lives with immortality, and how her life progresses as she tries to understand it all.
While Schwab is most well-known for these books, she also has written stories for younger audiences, such as the young adult Gallant novel, and the spooky and adorable middle-grade City of Ghosts series. Her short stories and her graphic novels make her a multi-faceted creator that readers looking for diverse fantasy stories are sure to enjoy. Her short story, Vampires Never Get Old: Tales of a First Bite, became the Netflix film First Kill, released in 2020.
We had the chance to interview V.E. Schwab about her upcoming novel, The Fragile Threads of Power, writing across vast timelines, working on a graphic novel and what she’s been reading.
An Interview with V.E. Schwab
Your upcoming novel, The Fragile Threads of Power, is an action-packed romp that continues the Shades of Magic series. It builds upon a world you’ve already created and introduces powerful and bold characters, as well as a few familiar faces. How did this new installation in the series come about? Did you always wish to revisit this world?
I outline all my books in reverse, meaning I know the ending before I ever write the first line, so everything is pretty well planned. Because of that, storylines don’t usually sneak up on me, but I was about halfway through Conjuring of Light when I realized I had a plot thread I didn’t want to resolve in that novel. I left it in, like a door cracked open, and by the time I finished the book, the story that would become the Threads of Power arc was already forming in my mind. But it would be almost 5 years before I sat down to write it!
It’s an understatement when I say that fans and new readers should be ready for not only a rollercoaster of emotions in The Fragile Threads of Power, but also a deep dive into the characters and their psyches. What was the most enjoyable part of crafting their stories? Was there a particular character who was exciting to write?
It honestly felt like coming home. The day I reached the re-introduction of Kell and Lila I couldn’t stop smiling. I knew it was coming, but writing them was a reunion, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them until I was back. Then, designing the new characters, I really pushed myself to make them as complex and interesting as possible, because I knew they’d have to clear the bar set out by the existing cast. As for which one I was most excited to write, that prize might go to Kosika, the 14-year-old queen of White London.
Your Shades of Magic series is a perfect mix of magic and fantasy, but despite these surreal elements, touches on reality. Is there anything or anyone in real life that inspired this fictional world and the characters’ distinct personalities?
I think fantasy does its best work when we feel the reality in its bones. Character needs to feel like people, no matter where their stories are set and if there’s magic. Kell and Rhy’s relationship, even though there’s a supernatural bond, is about brotherly love/devotion. Kell and Lila’s, about loving someone else more than yourself. Kell’s current situation with magic looks pretty heavily at chronic pain and its effects on mental health. The new leads, Tes and Kosika, are both examinations of adolescence and agency.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue showed a character living across different centuries. What was the most challenging thing about writing a character that lived through so many years, historical events and lifetimes?
With three hundred years of story, you can’t give a comprehensive look. Instead, you need to pick highlights and lowlights, moments that leave a mark, shape the characters, chart an important piece of their physical and emotional arcs. The challenge is in the choosing.
The worlds in your stories are beautifully crafted, allowing the reader to envision the setting when they read. You’ve had the chance to release your Shades of Magic series as a graphic novel, and the Villains novel ExtraOrdinary has come to life in comic book form. What was it like to have those worlds become colorful images alongside their stories?
It’s such a gift, having a written art form intersect with a visual one. When I write, I’m trying to create a movie that plays in the reader’s mind. With comics, I get to work with an artist to actually show a version of what that could look like. It’s like having professional fan art to go with the story you’re telling.
What creative endeavors are next for you that you can share with us?
Right now, I’m hard at work on my next standalone novel, which I’m thinking of as kind of as a spiritual sibling to Addie LaRue, because it’s a different kind of immortality tale, but also an anti-Addie. Where that is a story about defiant hope and stubborn joy, this one is about sexuality and hunger and rage.
After that, it’s back to work on the next installment of the Threads of Power!
What are you currently reading? Are there any authors or genres that particularly inspire you?
I am always reading, but in periods of first drafting, I tend to veer toward non-fiction, so my head doesn’t get too narratively cluttered, so a lot of what I’ve consumed lately has been memoir and autobiography. Recently I’ve loved Strong Female Character by Fern Brady, and Life on Other Planets by Aomawa Shields. And when I emerge from the drafting cave, I have an entire stack of fiction — literary, historical, fantasy — to dive into!
About V.E. Schwab:
Victoria “V.E.” Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades of Magic series, the Villains series, the Cassidy Blake series and the international bestseller The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Her work has received critical acclaim, translated into over two dozen languages, and optioned for television and film. First Kill – a YA vampire series based on Schwab’s short story of the same name was produced by Netflix. When not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.
(Photo Credit: Jenna Maurice)
