The Shape of Stars Unknown
Sybil Le Pyrmont
(The Aldarfall Saga, #1)
Publication date: October 15th 2020
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy
World domination is the least of their problems.
A STRANDED DEMIGOD. Lau of the House of Feofar, troubled and headstrong, screwed up. Royally. Now he lives out his days in exile on Earth – the very planet he once tried to exterminate.
A RUDDERLESS MORTAL WOMAN. Silver Laing leads the ordinary life of a white-collar worker. Lonely and desperately in search of purpose and new horizons, she gets more than she bargained for when she is offered a mysterious job.
A CATACLYSMIC PLAN BILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE MAKING. When a deadly visitor from Lau’s shrouded past threatens to lay the world in ashes, Silver and Lau must form an unlikely alliance against ancient and far superior forces.
An alliance with the potential to shake the very foundation of the Universe.
Shimmering new worlds?
Sizzling tension?
Secrets as old as time?
Splashes of humour?If your answer to all of the above is ‘Hell, yeah!’ then The Shape of Stars Unknown is your guy. This first book in Sybil Le Pyrmont’s new urban fantasy adventure series, The Aldarfall Saga, will take you from Germany to Tibet, from Japan to Iceland and all the way to the other end of the Universe.
Interview with Sybil Le Pyrmont
What made you want to become a writer?
In truth, I can’t remember a time when I did not dream of being a writer. It started whenever I set foot in the local bookstore and wondered what I would have to do to be a part of this exclusive, magical club of people whose colourful books were lined up on the shelves. Although I dabbled in writing ever since I wrote my first coherent sentence, it took me (too) many years to summon the courage to give it a serious shot.
What inspired you to write The Shape of Stars Unknown?
The ultimate inspiration came from Toni Morrison: “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
Well, so I did!
My original, if vague, idea of TSOSU admittedly differed somewhat from the book I ended up writing. I had a nebulous notion of a story about two enemy camps of gods running Earth like a corporation; my only clear vision was of Lau, my male protagonist, and as I started writing his story, it took me in an entirely different direction than anticipated. As you might have guessed, I’m not much of a plotter. I write by the seat of my pants, something that requires intense editing but also allows for twists and turns that even I don’t see coming.
I love the way TSOSU turned out, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: some day, I might still write my originally intended story about gods having to fulfil their natural disaster quota each month.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Shape of Stars Unknown?
Gladly – thanks for asking!
There are two kinds of characters in TSOSU: mortals and Auctors. The Auctors are a godlike race from the remote world of Aldarfall; they have created and are governing our Universe, with its 100 mortal worlds. Their hierarchy and societal structures are complex, but the four main echelons are
Elders: The most powerful Auctors, born and raised in the Old Universe.
Highlords: Auctors with extensive powers; we little Earthlings would call them gods.
Netherlords: Auctors with limited (but not-to-be-scoffed-at) powers, who we would deem demigods.
Dustborn: Auctors with no abilities or other powers. Still more or less immortal.
With that in mind, please meet the main cast!
Laurean of the House of Feofar (‘Lau’) |
Demoted Highlord, exiled to live out his days as a Netherlord on Earth, and not too pleased with his fate. |
Silver Laing |
Half German, half Scottish, with a terrible taste in music and a mysterious sensitivity for everything Aldarfall. |
Rafyal of the House of Feofar (‘Rafe’) |
Netherlord. Formerly Lau’s best friend. It’s complicated. |
Feofar |
King of Auctors, along with the entire Universe. Not the cuddly type. |
Elbur of the House of Feofar |
Elder. Grand Lord of the Worlds and High Counsel of Aldarfall. Rafe’s father. Annoyingly principled most of the time. |
Anaiina of the House of Feofar |
Highlady. Lau’s mother. Long story that’s still to be told. |
Julian Watkins |
British. Head of an elusive organisation. Tough leader, with an idealistic heart he hides well. Not Lau’s biggest fan. |
Tetsu Shintani |
Proud and honourable Japanese – but there will be no sword-fighting whatsoever. |
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Fabiyn |
Elder with many, many secrets and even less cuddly than King Feofar. I’ll leave it at that for now.
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You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your
favorite author and why?
That would be Trevanian, a cosmopolitan scholar with a brilliant, crystal-clear mind and a flair for wordplay, puns and fine irony. He’s a little less known nowadays – I think he passed away around 2005 – but his books sold by the ton in the 70s and 80s. Trevanian authored my favourite book, Shibumi, a more or less subtle satire of the spy genre. What I love about his writing, especially in Shibumi, is his discreet mockery of everything, including the reader herself. Apart from that, there are some profound, elaborate philosophies hidden away in the book. Combined with Trevanian’s elegant prose, it makes for a fascinating read (although it would likely cause widespread offence in this day and age).
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
Both sequels to The Shape of Stars Unknown are written … technically. Due to the revisions and changes I made to the first book over the past years, books II and III require massive rewrites. I’m working on them as we speak. You see, the first draft of The Aldarfall Saga was one book of about 1,300 pages; I decided early on that I had to break my doorstopper into several books, and ever since then, I have worked only on the first instalment, which is now published as TSOSU – with the result that heavy-handed revisions are needed for the rest of the book.
As for the future after The Aldarfall Saga, I have several manuscripts in various stages of completion. One is a darker urban fantasy, one could be deemed magical realism, and two of them dabble in the realms of mythology. As excited as I am about these drafts, the sequels to TSOSU do, of course, take precedence at this time.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The journey of discovery. As mentioned before, I had intended a different narrative, but I happily allowed the story to take me for a ride. Many plot twists, worldbuilding ideas and character arcs occurred to me as I wrote; whilst this ad-lib writing process admittedly makes editing hell, I find a freedom and creativity in it that, to me, is what infuses the magic into storytelling.
Thank you so much for taking the time to (virtually) meet me and The Shape of Stars Unknown. We all have many worries right now – health, family, friends, jobs – which makes me all the more grateful for your time!
If you’d like to know more or just get in touch, please drop me a line at sybil@spyrmont.com – or find me here:
https://www.facebook.com/sybillepyrmont
https://www.instagram.com/shibumi1971/?hl=en
Author Bio:
Sybil Le Pyrmont was born in Germany and was raised on the Canary Islands (that Gallic name is a pseudonym – her actual name has as much flair as a tax return). Although she now resides in Frankfurt, Germany, her heart has been beating for Tokyo ever since she spent a year in that city and discovered her epic love for all things Japan. That includes, to her acute embarrassment, the Shinagawa train station jingle she has installed as her ringtone. When Sybil isn’t writing, or dreaming of the anonymous donor who will some day gift her a house in Japan, she splits her time between her airline day job and long rants about the sunshine and the always-too-hot weather.
Sybil writes urban fantasy adventure to whisk her readers away to realms of imagination that have a distinct possibility of existing somewhere in the depths of the Universe.
Visit spyrmont.com for more on Sybil and her writing.
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4 comments:
Thanks for being on the tour!
Thank you so much for being a host on the tour! Very much appreciated! :)
sounds like a fun one
This looks like a very good read.
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