The fantasy world of my debut novel, Muspell’s Sons, is the world that Cadmus Brand lives in. It is a desolate, broken desert full of strange and dangerous creatures. I drew my inspiration from the Chihuahuan desert where I currently live, and the greater American Southwest. The desert can be stunningly beautiful and incredibly harsh at the same time.
The Technology
Muspelheim is home to two different types of technology: Human/kashmari and dvergen. The human/kashmari technology is based on Victorian-era England, involving emerging steam power and horse-drawn carriages–but with a twist. Human scavengers have scoured the Wastes and discovered some advanced technology left behind by the mysterious dvergen and incorporated it into their own devices. Some of the inventions they’ve been able to make are mechanohorses and robotic servitors. Each of these combines a rich artistic aesthetic with artificial intelligence “brains”.
The Characters
Cadmus Brand
Gladiator and pharmakon.
Alastair Sanders
Part storekeeper, part storyteller, part thief. Alastair Sanders raised young Cadmus Brand in a junk shop in Darnan where he taught the boy how to repair valuable servitors and how to pick apart stolen machines to sell for parts.
John Loren
A hard and secretive Duati. A master with any firearm, this gunslinger serves as the hired gun on board the Polaris. His job is to protect the crew from whatever threats might arise in the Wastes.
Wren Boas
Wren is a linguist trained at the University in New Braunen. She is proficient in Old Dvergen and several Apidic languages. She uses her knowledge to act as a diplomat out in the Wastes and to decipher texts they come across.
