I had the basic concept for Isle of Dragons in my mind for years and it gradually developed as I finished my Master’s degree. I wanted to write a fantasy novel about a sheltered girl who leaves the life she’s known to uncover the corruption hidden from her and embrace her identity for the first time. The joy of writing in the fantasy genre for me is the mix of escapism and social commentary. It transports you to another world while also saying something about our own.

While I enjoyed the aesthetic of traditional medieval fantasy in the form of Lord of the Rings, I wanted to do something new with the genre that would inform the worldbuilding and themes on a fundamental level. I always found it a little strange and disappointing in Harry Potter that Hogwarts completely rejects technology for magic. Because I would have found the interplay between the two fascinating. And then the idea of incorporating machines into this world alongside the magical aspects came to me. The technological has overridden the magical in the country of Vansh, where Isle of Dragons initially takes place. Magic and witchcraft is frowned upon by the royal court and mainstream society. Machines and technology are seen as the way of the future, while magic is seen as something dangerous and untrustworthy. However, there are those, mostly on the margins of society, who see the two as essential, and not reject one for the other. I wanted to show that the magical or spiritual-based practices/the old ways and modern technologies both having a place. Neither is inherently bad or good, but they can cause damage when coming from a place of division and fear. The responsibility behind whatever power we wield is now at the centre of the trilogy.

Isle of Dragons