Let’s talk a coming-of-age contemporary fantasy with sci-fi vibes, but rather than ‘magic is science we don’t understand yet’, it’s ‘while trying to expand our science, we discovered magic is real’.
For today’s Feature Friday, we’re talking with author Kel E Fox and discussing the Lightless Prophecy series, a unique fantasy story that turns into a queer space opera!
First off, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about you and your books!
I’m Kel E Fox, author and artist based in Australia, and I write an unholy mashup I describe as YA contemporary science fantasy meets queer magical space opera. The first two books in the series are contemporary fantasy with a bit of a sci fi vibe, and then it gets epic in later books with more magic and other civilisations. I don’t know how this happened! When I’m not writing or painting, I love ballroom dancing and gaming.
What inspired you to write the Lightless Prophecy series?
I was out for a walk one day when a thunderstorm rolled in, and I paused on top of a hill to watch the clouds billow and (distant) lightning flicker until I lost my nerve and scurried home. That prompted Darkhaven, which was supposed to be a standalone, but then a certain scruffy, snarky, dark-haired, too-young-for-his-sass God of Lightning showed up uninvited, and now the series is going to be at least six books.
What’s something unique about your book that’ll make readers want to immediately check it out?
Darkhaven is a YA fantasy set in Perth, Western Australia, which is fairly unusual! The series expands out of Perth as the main characters learn that humans live across several galaxies in the universe and can travel between the stars with magic.
Tell us about your favorite character you’ve written about and why?
Keraun Thephyeu, the aforementioned God of Lightning. He’s not actually God of Lightning, he just claimed that title because he thought it sounded cool. I love him for his cheek, his recklessness and his nonchalant way of keeping secrets. You’d never know what this young man is hiding or how deeply he cares.
Without giving us any spoilers, what’s your favorite quote or scene from your book?
‘So,’ Cecelia said, between carrot sticks, ‘which uni are you going for?’
I sighed and bit into a muesli bar, the kind coated with yoghurt and full of chocolate bits. ‘I don’t know, Ceel. I have no idea what I want to do after school, and it’s like if I don’t make that choice now I’m doomed. I’m going to go home with this stupid thing’ – I stabbed a finger at the course handbook poking out of my bag – ‘and consume chocolate until I die and the whole problem goes away.’
Cecelia reached into her bag, her fingertips brushing the handbook I could see wedged between her subject files.
‘Please don’t,’ I protested. ‘I don’t want to think about it now.’
She gave me a sly smile and withdrew two blocks of roasted almond milk chocolate. ‘I thought you could come back to my house this afternoon and we could die of chocolate overdose together,’ she offered.
I grinned. ‘Sounds good. But don’t expect me to have any great epiphanies.’
Where can readers find you?
If you want all the things, the best place to follow me is on Ream, an author/reader subscription service like Patreon but for books. It’s free to follow me, and it’s where you’ll get the most preview and freebie material to try out! https://reamstories.com/
If a regular newsletter, Discord or socials is more your style, all the details are at https://kelefox.com/links/
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