War brought them together Love will tear them apartAuranos has been conquered and the three kingdomsAuranos Limeros and Paelsiaare now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica But alluring dangerous magic still beckons and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica but the world CLEO is now a prisoner in her own palace forced to be an ambassador for Mytica as the evil King Gaius lies to her peopleMAGNUS stands to eventually inherit the new kingdom but is still obsessed with his feelings for his adopted sister LuciaLUCIA is haunted by the deadly outcome of her breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdomsJONAS watches at the palace gates a troop of rebels behind him waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King GaiusWhen Gaius announces that a road is to be built into the Forbidden Mountains formally linking all of Mytica together he sets off a chain of cataclysmic events that will forever change the face of this landPraise for Falling KingdomsFrom an opening dripping with blood magic and betrayal through complex interweaving plots detailing treachery deceit and forbidden love this novel will immediately engage readers and keep them intriguedBooklistIt will gut you emotionally make you ache cry and beg for the sequel as you turn the last page I absolutely loved itJulie Kagawa New York Times bestselling author of The Iron QueenThis triple-layered tale of bloodshed heartbreak and tangled court intrigue kept me turning pages very late into the nightLesley Livingston author of Wondrous Strange and StarlingRichelle Mead bestselling author of the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series sits down with Morgan Rhodes to talk aboutRebel Spring the much-anticipated second book in her bestselling Falling Kingdoms seriesRichelle Mead Morgan Rhodes aka Michelle Rowen has been my friend for a number of years Weve hung out together at conferences and swooned over each others books When she was able to work onVampire Academy The Ultimate Guide I couldnt believe how lucky I was to have someone who was already a fan of the VA world and whose writing I personally loved Im just as excited about her Falling Kingdoms series and couldnt resist this chance to ask her some questions aboutRebel Spring the next book in the seriesMorgan Rhodes I was thrilled for the chance to write the VA Ultimate Guide I remember Richelle telling me there were plans for the book and I piped up with I totally want to write that And what fun it was to delve back into a series that I loved and am still in love with thanks to the wonderful Bloodlines spinoff Im counting down the days for the VA movie Richelle is not only a friend but one of my very favorite authors so its a real honor to be interviewed by her aboutRebel SpringRM So without further ado lets start talking about the new book The world of Falling Kingdoms is so vivid and detail-rich When it comes to world-building for these novels where do you get your inspirationMR I get my inspiration from pretty much everywhere although Im visually inspired by some of my favorite TV shows and movies which run the gamut fromLord of the RingstoThe Princess BridetoGame of Thrones to name just a fewRM At the end ofFalling Kingdoms things are looking pretty bleak in Mytica Is it fair to say thatRebel Springwill be quite a bit darker than book MR The stakes have been raised and sharpened for sure Blood will spill and lives will be lost But I dont think I would ever want to write a book that was unrelentingly bleak from beginning to end I can promise thatRebel Springcontains plenty of comic relief and romance to counterbalance the darker bitsRM The Falling Kingdoms books are written from multiple POVs and each of your narrators has such a unique voice and perspective How does your experience vary from POV to POV Are there some characters that are more difficult than others Do you have a favoriteMR Its been a wonderful and exciting challenge to write in multiple points of view from my diverse cast I will admit some POVs are always a joy to write and others prove to be a challenge I try to put myself in the head of that character and see the world from their eyes no matter who they are or what their goals are I get into the heads of a couple different characters inRebel Spring including a villain who definitely sees things from a darker angle than anything Ive written before which was fun The characters whose scenes I most look forward to writing since they are very specific personalities and basically take over and make things easier for me are Cleo and Magnus They tend to surprise me while the other characters usually stick to the outlineRM Lets talk body count Youre very good at making me fall in love with your characters but youre also very good at killing them off when I least expect it How do you decide the who how when and why when it comes to killing off your charactersMR I never knew how much I enjoyed killing characters until I started writing this series evil grin However I like to think those who get the ax sometimes um literally are necessary deaths Its all for a purpose to change another character in the face of their shock and grief to lead them down a path they never would have taken before and to spark a desire for revolution and vengeance in the hearts of those who might previously have been passive and peaceful Plus I always think when things seem a bit too ideal and characters are getting too comfortable its a good time to get a few heads rolling to keep things interesting for readers and for me as the writerRMWhats going on with Magnus He seems like kind of a jerk inFalling Kingdoms but I get the sense hes got a soft spotMR With a father like King Gaius whose nickname is the King of Blood it would be pretty hard for a prince to grow up as a nice dude with a sunny disposition Magnus really came alive on the page for me more so than any other character in the cast Initially he was supposed to be a jerk through and thro
