Bio: Andy Peloquin--a third culture kid to the core--has loved to read since before he could remember. Sherlock Holmes, the Phantom of the Opera, and Father Brown are just a few of the books that ensnared his imagination as a child.
When he discovered science fiction and fantasy through the pages of writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.R.R Tolkien, and Orson Scott Card, he was immediately hooked and hasn't looked back since.
Andy's first attempt at writing produced In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent. He has learned from the mistakes he made and used the experience to produce Blade of the Destroyer, a book of which he is very proud.
Reading—and now writing—is his favorite escape, and it provides him an outlet for his innate creativity. He is an artist; words are his palette.
His website (http://www.andypeloquin.com) is a second home for him, a place where he can post his thoughts and feelings--along with reviews of books he finds laying around the internet.
He can also be found on his social media pages, such as:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyPeloquin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andyqpeloquin
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/andypeloquin/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100885994638914122147/about
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/andypeloquin
Blade of the Destroyer is due out very soon from JEA, is this your first publication? How do you feel about getting it out there? -- I'm SO excited! It's not my first novel (I had a self-published title before--called In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent), but this is a project I'm particularly proud of. I'm so stoked to hold the physical copy in my hands and see my name printed across the cover!
Can you tell us a bit about it and how you came up with the world it’s set in? -- Simply put, this is a story that looks at the darkness that resides within each and every one of us. The main character is a half-demon, but he shares similarities with everyone in the world. We all have that "inner voice" that tempts us to do terrible things.
The creation of the world came about naturally. I love the freedom fantasy offers, and world-building is something I'm terribly fond of! I wanted to create a world where magic is almost non-existent. Though the Hunter has his "accursed" dagger and there are traces of magic left in the world, magic as a whole plays a fairly small role in this story.
This is very much a novel of dark fantasy and one very strong anti-hero, do you think that he came from any one influence or idea? Did it take a great deal to figure him out as a character? -- You know what, I still haven't gotten him all figured out. The development of the character changed A LOT between rough draft and publication. The cold, cruel traits of this character remains, but he has had a much more human side added. It provides a much better balance. But I'm discovering new things about him with every book.
The Hunter knows very little about his past or origins, only that he wields a very important blade and that it in turn serves to offer him life in return for its use. Did you always know his origin story and did it change much in the process of writing Blade of the Destroyer? -- Actually, I still don't know his full origin story. There's a lot about him that he/I have yet to discover. I find that makes the character a whole lot more intriguing, and it helps me to look forward to the writing process.
When I sat down to write Blade of the Destroyer, I had a very vague idea of what I wanted for him. I didn't know he would be half-demon until mid-way through the writing process. From there, it evolved--and continues to evolve--to make him the character he is. His relationship with the blade and his demonic heritage are very much central themes of all of the books.
His origin plays a large role in his development as a character. As he discovers more about his past, his actions, and the people in his former lives, it will push him to examine his current self and decide if that's who he wants to be or not. The fact that he can't remember much of his past gives him a chance to create his own future, perhaps selecting the best bits of the pasts he discovers.
Blade of the Destroyer is the first in a series called The Last Bucelarii, did you always know it would be a series?
I absolutely did. I thought perhaps a trilogy, but this story has grown to a much larger scope than I thought possible. I have enough for at least five books, but it may stretch out to six. I have to see where the story takes me. I want to do the character justice, give him enough development to end the story in a satisfying way. I'm not saying that it's going to be a "happy" ending, but it will be one that will leave readers thinking, "That's a good way to end it with that character".
What other books do you have in progress and what can we expect to see in this series in the coming years? Do you have any other projects in the works? -- I plan to have all five or six books in the series published and the story of The Hunter completed. I won't dismiss the idea of a prequel or sequel series, but I feel that those five or six will be enough to tell the Hunter's primary story arc properly. I'm also working on a secret side project--a trilogy that I plan to publish all at once after completing The Last Bucelarii.
When he discovered science fiction and fantasy through the pages of writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.R.R Tolkien, and Orson Scott Card, he was immediately hooked and hasn't looked back since.
Andy's first attempt at writing produced In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent. He has learned from the mistakes he made and used the experience to produce Blade of the Destroyer, a book of which he is very proud.
Reading—and now writing—is his favorite escape, and it provides him an outlet for his innate creativity. He is an artist; words are his palette.
His website (http://www.andypeloquin.com) is a second home for him, a place where he can post his thoughts and feelings--along with reviews of books he finds laying around the internet.
He can also be found on his social media pages, such as:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyPeloquin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andyqpeloquin
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/andypeloquin/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100885994638914122147/about
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/andypeloquin
Blade of the Destroyer is due out very soon from JEA, is this your first publication? How do you feel about getting it out there? -- I'm SO excited! It's not my first novel (I had a self-published title before--called In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent), but this is a project I'm particularly proud of. I'm so stoked to hold the physical copy in my hands and see my name printed across the cover!
Can you tell us a bit about it and how you came up with the world it’s set in? -- Simply put, this is a story that looks at the darkness that resides within each and every one of us. The main character is a half-demon, but he shares similarities with everyone in the world. We all have that "inner voice" that tempts us to do terrible things.
The creation of the world came about naturally. I love the freedom fantasy offers, and world-building is something I'm terribly fond of! I wanted to create a world where magic is almost non-existent. Though the Hunter has his "accursed" dagger and there are traces of magic left in the world, magic as a whole plays a fairly small role in this story.
This is very much a novel of dark fantasy and one very strong anti-hero, do you think that he came from any one influence or idea? Did it take a great deal to figure him out as a character? -- You know what, I still haven't gotten him all figured out. The development of the character changed A LOT between rough draft and publication. The cold, cruel traits of this character remains, but he has had a much more human side added. It provides a much better balance. But I'm discovering new things about him with every book.
The Hunter knows very little about his past or origins, only that he wields a very important blade and that it in turn serves to offer him life in return for its use. Did you always know his origin story and did it change much in the process of writing Blade of the Destroyer? -- Actually, I still don't know his full origin story. There's a lot about him that he/I have yet to discover. I find that makes the character a whole lot more intriguing, and it helps me to look forward to the writing process.
When I sat down to write Blade of the Destroyer, I had a very vague idea of what I wanted for him. I didn't know he would be half-demon until mid-way through the writing process. From there, it evolved--and continues to evolve--to make him the character he is. His relationship with the blade and his demonic heritage are very much central themes of all of the books.
His origin plays a large role in his development as a character. As he discovers more about his past, his actions, and the people in his former lives, it will push him to examine his current self and decide if that's who he wants to be or not. The fact that he can't remember much of his past gives him a chance to create his own future, perhaps selecting the best bits of the pasts he discovers.
Blade of the Destroyer is the first in a series called The Last Bucelarii, did you always know it would be a series?
I absolutely did. I thought perhaps a trilogy, but this story has grown to a much larger scope than I thought possible. I have enough for at least five books, but it may stretch out to six. I have to see where the story takes me. I want to do the character justice, give him enough development to end the story in a satisfying way. I'm not saying that it's going to be a "happy" ending, but it will be one that will leave readers thinking, "That's a good way to end it with that character".
What other books do you have in progress and what can we expect to see in this series in the coming years? Do you have any other projects in the works? -- I plan to have all five or six books in the series published and the story of The Hunter completed. I won't dismiss the idea of a prequel or sequel series, but I feel that those five or six will be enough to tell the Hunter's primary story arc properly. I'm also working on a secret side project--a trilogy that I plan to publish all at once after completing The Last Bucelarii.
Blade of the Destroyer Review
5 of 5 stars
The Hunter is neither man nor monster and yet is both at once. He knows no life before this and cannot remember a great deal of the time that has passed since he began hunting. He does not let these things trouble him, living each day with his many masks, some cruel, some kind, slaying some while he saves others. He is true neutral and about to discover there is more to the life he lives whether he wants to or not.
I liked this book, we find ourselves pulled into the world of an anti-hero who wields a blade he does not fully understand or like but which offers him protection from death and serious injury. He does a great deal of killing with it, and make no mistake, it is something he enjoys, but he is also offering help to many people in need where he lives. It's a life he is satisfied with, if a little frustrated when it comes to memories he can't quite place, that is until he begins to pulled into the goings on of two major groups that overshadow Voramis. It is in these two groups that he begins to uncover answers about himself and the life he has been living, unfortunately, it also costs him a great deal and he is left with many decisions, decisions he absolutely does not want to make.
This will definitely appeal to Weeks fans, but I think will also be appealing to fans of Mark Lawrence, who does The Broken Empire books which features another antihero with a sense of humor and lack of interest in being just what everyone expects. Definitely of interest to readers who like the darker side of fantasy and characters who ride the line between good and evil.
5 of 5 stars
The Hunter is neither man nor monster and yet is both at once. He knows no life before this and cannot remember a great deal of the time that has passed since he began hunting. He does not let these things trouble him, living each day with his many masks, some cruel, some kind, slaying some while he saves others. He is true neutral and about to discover there is more to the life he lives whether he wants to or not.
I liked this book, we find ourselves pulled into the world of an anti-hero who wields a blade he does not fully understand or like but which offers him protection from death and serious injury. He does a great deal of killing with it, and make no mistake, it is something he enjoys, but he is also offering help to many people in need where he lives. It's a life he is satisfied with, if a little frustrated when it comes to memories he can't quite place, that is until he begins to pulled into the goings on of two major groups that overshadow Voramis. It is in these two groups that he begins to uncover answers about himself and the life he has been living, unfortunately, it also costs him a great deal and he is left with many decisions, decisions he absolutely does not want to make.
This will definitely appeal to Weeks fans, but I think will also be appealing to fans of Mark Lawrence, who does The Broken Empire books which features another antihero with a sense of humor and lack of interest in being just what everyone expects. Definitely of interest to readers who like the darker side of fantasy and characters who ride the line between good and evil.
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