Check out the promo event for the second book in Jaclyn Dolamore's young adult fantasy series hosted by Itching for Books
Series: Dark Metropolis #2
Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Release date: June 16th 2015
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Purchase: Amazon | B&N
Synopsis via Goodreads:
The revolution is here.
Bodies line the streets of Urobrun; a great pyre burns in Republic Square. The rebels grow anxious behind closed doors while Marlis watches as the politicians search for answers—and excuses—inside the Chancellery.
Thea, Freddy, Nan, and Sigi are caught in the crossfire, taking refuge with a vibrant, young revolutionary and a mysterious healer from Irminau. As the battle lines are drawn, a greater threat casts a dark shadow over the land. Magic might be lost—forever.
This action-packed sequel to Dark Metropolis weaves political intrigue, haunting magic, and heartbreaking romance into an unforgettable narrative. Dolamore's lyrical writing and masterfully crafted plot deliver a powerful conclusion.
The revolution is here.
Bodies line the streets of Urobrun; a great pyre burns in Republic Square. The rebels grow anxious behind closed doors while Marlis watches as the politicians search for answers—and excuses—inside the Chancellery.
Thea, Freddy, Nan, and Sigi are caught in the crossfire, taking refuge with a vibrant, young revolutionary and a mysterious healer from Irminau. As the battle lines are drawn, a greater threat casts a dark shadow over the land. Magic might be lost—forever.
This action-packed sequel to Dark Metropolis weaves political intrigue, haunting magic, and heartbreaking romance into an unforgettable narrative. Dolamore's lyrical writing and masterfully crafted plot deliver a powerful conclusion.
BEHIND THE STORY
Originally, the antagonist of this book, Ingrid, was Freddy’s long lost sister! And Sebastian, the revolutionary leader, was originally the spoiled son of a wealthy man whom Ingrid fell in love with, and the true antagonist was a creepy traveling sorcerer. It was an utterly different story. And also a story that was not working at all! It took me some months to figure out what the real story was. Thank goodness for revisions. And time.
The key to figuring out this book? Marlis. Once the character of the Chancellor’s daughter walked into my head, the rest fell into place.
“Dark Metropolis” was inspired by Metropolis, the German silent film by Fritz Lang. As an homage to Lang, in the opening scene of “Glittering Shadows”, Marlis is watching an opera that is basically Fritz Lang’s “Die Niebelugen”, the silent film he made before Metropolis that is a retelling of Wagner's Ring Cycle and Norse mythology.
The battle scenes in this book were so hard for me! I knew I had to write them, and I wanted them to be good and realistic. But I simply can’t conceive of how a battle ought to go, despite all the time I’ve spent playing Dynasty Warriors games... Luckily my guy is a military history buff. I made him draw me detailed maps and write very involved battle plans!
One of my favorite things about this book is that Freddy gets a new kitten. I want to put that out there, for everyone who was traumatized by the cat death in book one. I would never write an EXCESSIVELY sad pet death, but I still really, really wanted to fit a new kitten in there. At one point I wasn’t sure it was going to work, and I was like, “NOOOO, MUST HAVE KITTEN.”
Many of the names of minor characters and places in this book come from the anime “Legend of Galactic Heroes”, and there are two airships in the book named after Final Fantasy airships.
—Jackie
The key to figuring out this book? Marlis. Once the character of the Chancellor’s daughter walked into my head, the rest fell into place.
“Dark Metropolis” was inspired by Metropolis, the German silent film by Fritz Lang. As an homage to Lang, in the opening scene of “Glittering Shadows”, Marlis is watching an opera that is basically Fritz Lang’s “Die Niebelugen”, the silent film he made before Metropolis that is a retelling of Wagner's Ring Cycle and Norse mythology.
The battle scenes in this book were so hard for me! I knew I had to write them, and I wanted them to be good and realistic. But I simply can’t conceive of how a battle ought to go, despite all the time I’ve spent playing Dynasty Warriors games... Luckily my guy is a military history buff. I made him draw me detailed maps and write very involved battle plans!
One of my favorite things about this book is that Freddy gets a new kitten. I want to put that out there, for everyone who was traumatized by the cat death in book one. I would never write an EXCESSIVELY sad pet death, but I still really, really wanted to fit a new kitten in there. At one point I wasn’t sure it was going to work, and I was like, “NOOOO, MUST HAVE KITTEN.”
Many of the names of minor characters and places in this book come from the anime “Legend of Galactic Heroes”, and there are two airships in the book named after Final Fantasy airships.
—Jackie
EXCERPT
Sigi messed with the camera for a little while, her lips pressed together thoughtfully. She looked up and caught Nan’s eyes.
“Stay like that,” she said softly. “Just like that.” She took one picture, told Nan to look toward the dining table for a profile shot, and took another. “Maybe put an arm up over your head. Lean back?”
After a few more shots, Sigi stopped and regarded Nan for a moment. “I don’t usually take photographs like this. I’m a street photographer. I like to look for the beauty in ugly things, but you’re just. . .beautiful. I don’t know if I can do you justice.”
“You can certainly flatter.”
“I mean it,” Sigi said. “You don’t seem real. A photograph might ruin you, might turn you into an ordinary girl.” Then she suddenly looked pained. “I’m sorry. That’s actually what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“If you see that in me. . .I don’t mind. I don’t see it. I see that I’m different, but not the beauty.”
Nan didn’t know how to describe the way Sigi looked at her. The word “hungry” sounded too crude. Closer to awe, but also more than that. She felt as though in giving Sigi permission to look at her so closely and capture her on film, she had offered Sigi some of her power.
“You know,” Sigi said, “the thing about art is that it’s like a quest that never ends. You always have something in your head that is so beautiful, and you never manage to create it. Sometimes you come close. And that moment. . .is madness. It’s so fleeting. If you’ve tasted it once, you have to keep searching. You look like that moment.”
“Like madness?”
Sigi just looked at her.
Nan stood up from the couch and kissed her hard. She kept her eyes open. Colors flashed in her vision—gold and brown furniture and the blue sky out the window. Her heart hammered. Just let me hold onto this. . .let me feel.
Sigi’s mouth was yielding and tasted like tears. Her eyes were closed and Nan heard a little catch in her throat. She touched Nan’s back, lightly, like she didn’t want to trap her. Nan ran her fingers through Sigi’s wild hair.
Nan was afraid to stop because she didn’t want to lose the colors. Or this feeling.
Sigi was the one who pulled away. “Nan. . .” She looked like she knew it was about more than her.
“I don’t ever want to go back,” Nan whispered. The colors in the room had muted, but they weren’t gone, and Nan couldn’t stop staring. The room was so different now. There was the gold upholstery and a blue vase and a green houseplant. Everything was brighter. “I don’t want to see Ingrid again.”
“I understand,” Sigi said. She didn’t need to say but. It was already in the room with them.
Nan walked over to the crumpled dress, picked it up and slipped it back on. When she poked her head through the collar, the room was gray again.
About the Author
Jaclyn Dolamore was homeschooled in a hippie sort of way and spent her childhood reading as many books as her skinny nerd-body could lug from the library and playing elaborate pretend games with her sister Kate. She skipped college and spent eight years drudging through retail jobs, developing her thrifty cooking skills and pursuing a lifelong writing dream. She has a passion for history, thrift stores, vintage dresses, David Bowie, drawing, and organic food. She lives with her partner and plot-sounding-board, Dade, and two black tabbies who have ruined her carpeting.
www.jaclyndolamore.com | twitter.com/jackiedolamore
www.jaclyndolamore.com | twitter.com/jackiedolamore
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