Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Nothing better than a good fantasy, and we’ve got a great one today. M.C. Burnell, can you introduce us to your novel, Zimanges? 

M.C.: Jendaiar Phos is busy blowing up his life with the help of his estranged younger brother and fellow wizard Hecanthes. When they witness a mysterious magical event that draws the hostile eyes of the local authorities onto them, their fates are thrown together. The good news: the mother he hasn’t seen since he was ten just left Jen a house. The bad news: it’s in Zimanges, the city in the clouds. A crossroads kingdom founded by a bandit.

The house turns out to be huge: they can’t afford to keep it, heat it, and still eat. Not without roommates. Their new friends include a troubled elven seer, a shaman who changes their face as the mood takes them, and a pile of leaves that has a mission for them. A demon has found its way into their world, but not even the pile of leaves knows what a demon is other than Very Bad and Can’t Be Allowed to Hang About. It doesn’t help that the bandit king takes an interest in them while a wave of kidnappings sweeps the city.

This would be so much easier if they were living in a house with furniture.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book? It feels very millenial/zillenial.

M.C.: There’s a long and rather involved backstory with this book, but basically, I wanted to write a fantasy that didn’t gloss past the fact that heroes are still people who need to eat and sleep and support themselves. They have chores. They worry about bills. My cast of seven roommates is brought together in the first place by economic forces. If that sounds grim and introspective, it’s absolutely not; this story is pretty camp. My heroes aren’t, and that means lots of pitstops to get scared, crack jokes, have no idea what to do, and party in their living room.

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read?

M.C.: Yikes, just one? The City and the City by China Mieville. Beautiful, strange, and bends your brain. What’s not to love?

Sabitha: Excellent choice. Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?

M.C.: In my epic fantasy We, I killed everyone’s favorite character. It’s a 5-book series and this person dies in the climax, so readers have a lot of time to get invested. Honestly, I was dreading the text from my mother. Happy ending: she didn’t disown me. 

In general, though, I’m not a big character-killer. I feel like we hit a point in fantasy where that got overdone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a valid choice! Whether more for shock value or just realism. But I personally can’t stay invested in a story unless I’m connected through the people, so I delete judiciously.

Sabitha: A 5-book series, and now Zimages. Sounds like you write a lot! What’s your next writing project?

M.C.: I always have a couple things percolating. One project that got a lot of attention this summer was an epic called The Tipping World, which I’ve been rewriting intermittently for the last 20 years. It was the first thing I ever wrote, and it would be neat to one day share it with the world.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

M.C.: Find me online. You can find Zimanges here.