Travis interviews authors Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms about their latest book from Orbit Books, The Mask of Mirrors. Marie and Alyc are writing the Rook & Rose trilogy under the joint name M.A. Carrick, and their masterful worldbuilding shines through in this story of con artists, nobles, and vigilantes.
The discussion takes a deep dive into worldbuilding, touches on tabletop games that spiral out of control, and just might feature some truly terrible accents.
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Things Mentioned:
- A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe: The Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Scienceby Michael S. Schneider
- The Mask of Mirrors soundtrack
- The Scarlet Pimpernel (aka Book 2’s theme song)
- “As Tight as Any Knot” by M.A. Carrick
- Cockney Past and Present: A Short History of the Dialect of London by William Matthews
- The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
- Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg
- Dice Tales by Marie Brennan
- New Worlds, Year One: A Writer’s Guide to the Art of Worldbuilding by Marie Brennan
- Marie Brennan’s Patreon
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About M.A. Carrick
M.A. Carrick is the joint pen name of Marie Brennan (author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent) and Alyc Helms (author of the Adventures of Mr. Mystic). The two met in 2000 on an archaeological dig in Wales and Ireland — including a stint in the town of Carrickmacross — and have built their friendship through two decades of anthropology, writing, and gaming. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Find M.A. Carrick on Twitter, Facebook, or at their website www.macarrick.com.
The Mask of Mirrors
This is your past, the good and the ill of it, and that which is neither . . .
Arenza Lenskaya is a liar and a thief, a pattern-reader and a daughter of no clan. Raised in the slums of Nadezra, she fled that world to save her sister.
This is your present, the good and the ill of it, and that which is neither . . .
Renata Viraudax is a con artist recently arrived in Nadezra. She has one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune.
This is your future, the good and the ill of it, and that which is neither . . .
As corrupt nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the city of dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled—with Ren at their heart. And if she cannot sort the truth from the lies, it will mean the destruction of all her worlds.
Transcript:
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