See Cover, Larger Size

On A Dark God Laughing, the first book in the series:

A Dark God Laughing is the intriguing debut volume of Fiona McGavin's A Dream and a Lie trilogy, offering readers a vividly imagined world filled with violent religious strife, gender-shifting characters and an engaging hint of decadence. I look forward to reading more as the story continues to unfold!

– Jacqueline Carey
Author,
Kushiel's Legacy

Ideas Behind the Trilogy

In the Dream and Lie trilogy, I have tried to take some of the elements that repeat themselves in fantasy novels and twist them around. So in a Dream and a Lie, the elves are decadent, self-destructive and vampyric, the setting is urban other than rural, there are no vast pitched battles, no swashbuckling, no dragons or other talking animals. The goblins have wings and eventually get to explain and redeem themselves. The wise, kindly wizards have a very dark side. I wanted to create a world where no-one is quite what they seem, where heroes are riddled with faults and villains are capable of acts of kindness and goodness.

The concept that interested me the most is that of the magical object – the Holy Grail, the ring of power – that can save or destroy the world. I wondered what would happen if that object was actually a person. What would it be like to be that person? What would they do when faced with the enormity of their power? What would they think? If they had lived a cruel and disappointing life, what would they use the power for?

The trilogy is also about religious strife and the damage that fanaticism can do. The opposing sides in the books are each possessed by a kind of fanaticism – the Westermen who burn witches and heretics, the Draels who sacrifice one another to appease their god, and the enteri who will do anything to have the world back.

Finally, A Dream and a Lie is about love and how far people are willing to go for those they love. Several love stories are woven together in the books and some endure through the events that unfold, whilst others are destroyed.

- Fiona McCavin

Related Link

Interview with Fiona McGavin

The Summer 2005 edition of Inception magazine features an interview with the author of A Dark God Laughing. Fiona McGavin talks about the evolution of the story, the writing process, and upcoming books.