Blog Tour: Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh + Q&A

Welcome to our tour stop for Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh! This tour includes a giveaway courtesy of PenguinTeen.

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Reign of the Fallen
Author: Sarah Glenn Marsh
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: January 23rd 2018
Publisher: Razorbill
 

Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their souls from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised--the Dead must remain shrouded, or risk transforming into zombie-like monsters known as Shades. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, the grotesque transformation will begin.

A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears among Odessa's necromancer community. Soon a crushing loss of one of their own reveals a disturbing conspiracy: someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead--and training them to attack. Odessa is faced with a terrifying question: What if her necromancer's magic is the weapon that brings Karthia to its knees?

There are few things that I do not like, zombies is one of them. I don't like how they look, I don't like how they sound, they're just creepy. I wouldn't say I am scared of them but they're seriously something I do not like. Then why in the world did I read this book? To be honest, the description intrigued me. And I am glad I did not let my dislike of zombie stop me from reading this action-ish fantasy story.

From badass heroine, kickass scenes, and WTF is going on, Reign of the Fallen is a fast read that will have you speeding thru those pages. The story covers how a kingdom survives on necromancy, thanks to our heroine, Odessa. She sets on a journey to hunt one of the most deadliest Shades in her land. What is a shades? It's a monstrous zombie. It was quite a journey and Odessa had to learn how to cope with tough situations.

Reign of the Fallen is a unique story. Not only does it tackle necromancy, but it deals with addiction, depression, how to cope with loss and LGBT romance. It doesn't go in deep, but the story will continue and it ends with room for expansion. The story has a quick pace and the world building is rich. It's an epic journey you wouldn't want to miss on.

Q&A

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your book? 

Certainly! Hey everyone, I’m Sarah Glenn Marsh—SGM for short, or if you want to be like my nana, you can call me, “Sarah Glenn!”

In addition to being the author of YA books like Fear the Drowning Deep and the Reign of the Fallen series, I’m also the author of seven forthcoming children’s picture books. You can look for Selfie Sebastian and A Campfire Tail next year in the spring! When I’m not writing, I’m spending time with my little my family: my husband, four rescued greyhounds (who are all seniors—if you don’t adopt a senior dog, you’re truly missing out!), three birds, and tons of fish including a dinosaur bichir named Salazar Slytherin, who often goes by the nickname of Giant Murder Eel. I also love crafty things like painting, playing video and strategy games, and playing Pokémon Go with the local group I help run! (Yes, people still play it. And I’ve made some awesome friends through it- from teens to seniors!).

And now, here’s a little about Reign of the Fallen: the story follows Odessa, a talented teen necromancer who raises the dead in order to keep the current ruling family of her country in power. King Wylding has been in charge of Karthia for over 200 years, and he keeps coming back from the dead because he loves his people—however, since the Dead fear change, his rules forbidding all science and progress are hurting them more than helping. When Odessa's fellow necromancers (her only family) start being picked off one by one, she's devastated, but she'll have to work through her grief in order to find the murderer and decide whether her crumbling society is worth saving...or if it's time to help Karthia change, for better or worse. 

What makes Reign of the Fallen stand out from other books you've written or read before? 

As a teen, I loved epic fantasies like Lord of the Rings, yet I never saw myself represented in anyone going on the quests. Rarely were the heroes in those stories female, and even less often were they queer—specifically, bisexual. Or if they were, they were usually side characters who perpetuated harmful stereotypes. So when building the world of Reign, I wanted to offer all teens a safe space where they could see themselves while exploring some heavy topics like death and loss and addiction.

After all, when building any new world, there is absolutely nothing forcing us to apply the gender norms of our society to a fictional one; the same goes for how we treat every sexual identity other than heterosexual. Why build a new world that holds all our old prejudices? 

So that’s what stands out to me most about Reign: that it’s a book about queer people dealing with zombies and monsters, rather than queer people dealing with discrimination from others, and that it features a heroine who shares my identity as bisexual. Teen me would have loved a role model like Odessa—someone who actually makes mistakes; someone who’s drawn to whoever she’s drawn to, and unapologetically so at that; someone whose humanity endures even through great struggles and hardships.

What were your biggest challenges in writing Reign of the Fallen? 

Two challenging things come to mind, so I’ll tell you briefly about both:

First, when I wrote the original draft of Reign, I didn’t have the corpse-and-spirit-eating monsters, the Shades, described much—only vaguely. But then my editor pushed me to describe them in more detail, and uh…let’s just say I went there, and wound up giving myself nightmares as a result!

The second challenge was writing a certain spoiler-filled scene. It was so heart-wrenching that it actually made me cry, and I struggle to re-read it to this day!

What’s the most interesting/exciting thing you’ve done in the name of research? 

This wasn’t part of the research for Reign, but rather, for a just-for-fun book I’m starting to work on now that might involve an Irish princess with ownvoices rep for bisexuality and anxiety…as for what I did for this project? Well, I went to Ireland for two weeks with my husband. We drove around the countryside, visited castles and ancient monasteries, and ate amazing food. I mean, I’d always wanted to go to Ireland, and I’d always wanted to write a story set there, too—and I have to say, I’m really glad I went because photos don’t do Ireland’s beauty justice. 

Do you incorporate yourself into your characters? If so which character are you most like?

I have a feeling—just a feeling, mind, I can’t speak for every author—that most people wind up putting a little something of themselves into each character they create, if only subconsciously. There are certain things I share with several of the Reign characters, such as Simeon’s tendency toward jokes in moments of tension, Meredy’s stubbornness, Valoria’s love of learning, and Odessa’s temper…

However, I think I’m most like Evander. He’s a big dreamer, and I’m the same. He romanticizes adventure, loves getting outdoors to take in all the beauty of his surroundings, and also struggles under the weight of his mother’s expectations and dreams for him, trying to reconcile those with his own. That’s something most people can probably relate to—wanting to please your loved ones, yet also wanting to ensure your own happiness at the same time. That can be a difficult balance, and I sometimes felt that as a teen. I will say, though, I’m not half the daredevil Evander is!

There are many books out there, is there one that you said to yourself "Man I wish I had written that!"

Harry. Freaking. Potter. Need I say more? ;) Beyond the obvious reasons of why—I grew up alongside Harry, and got swept up in the magic—HP was so unique in how it went from MG to YA in later books; I don’t think there have been many other series like that (although, if I’m forgetting some, feel free to tell me in the comments!)

What are 3 things you must have while traveling?
*Water bottle –hydration is fun!
*My Kindle, full of ghost stories as usual
*Nightlight (I mean, you did see what I said above about the ghost stories, right? I know it’s my own fault, but I always have to travel with a small nightlight!)

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Sarah Glenn Marsh writes young adult novels and children’s picture books. An avid fantasy reader from the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life, she’s been making up words and worlds ever since.

When she’s not writing, Sarah enjoys watercolor painting, ghost hunting, and pursuits of the nerd variety, from video games to tabletop adventures. She’s never met an animal or a doughnut she didn’t like.

Sarah lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and their tiny zoo of four rescued greyhounds, three birds, and many fish. She is the author of Fear the Drowning Deep, the Reign of the Fallen duology, and several picture books.

WEEK TWO

January 15 – Reader Rewind – Mini Review and Q&A on Instagram Page

January 16 – The Quirky Book Nerd – Review

January 17 – Once Upon a Twilight – Review + Q&A

January 18 – BookCrushin – Review

January 19 – BigScreenBooks – Review and included in your “Most Anticipated January Release” video.