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S.'s Reviews > Ami
Ami (Guardians of Dawn, #2)
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Although Ami is the second book in the Guardians of Dawn series, I actually had the seed for the story before I started writing Zhara. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite western fairytale, and I have always wanted to write a book that draws inspiration from the story. The first character that ever came into my head from the entire series was the Beast, someone living in a remote mountain fortress with a world-changing secret. Who were they? What was the secret? It was the process of trying to figure out this secret that actually formed the basis for the entire system of magic and the conflict of entire series.
The setting of Ami was also part of the writing process. At the end of Zhara, I knew the characters would be headed toward the outermost west, toward a Beast in a remote castle (even if they weren’t aware of it). In 2018, I went on a research trip to China and Tibet in order to gain a better understanding of the culture, the food, the feel of the thinness of the air, and other small sensory details that I tried my best to infuse into the narrative. The slight animal tang of the yak butter candles in the monasteries. The air so clean and sere as to dry out the lining of the nostrils and throat. The way the beauty of the landscape revealed itself in its utter remoteness.
Another big inspiration of the series was the philosophy of the Way, or Tao. The dance between order and chaos that runs throughout the series is heavily influenced by the concept of yin and yang—the drop of light in darkness, and the drop of darkness in the light. There is balance to the universe, and finding that balance both in the Morning Realms and in our real world is something I think about a lot. Because Zhara was written from a place of joy, I knew that Ami would have to explore some of the darker implications of the world I had created. What does it mean to have a great power? How does one wield it ethically and with good judgment? What does consent mean in an environment of power manipulation?
I don’t have answers to any of these questions; I only set out to explore what they meant to the characters, and by extension, to me. I hope Ami will also lead you to think about these ideas, and what they mean in the real world.
Yours entire,
S. Jae-Jones (JJ)
Although Ami is the second book in the Guardians of Dawn series, I actually had the seed for the story before I started writing Zhara. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite western fairytale, and I have always wanted to write a book that draws inspiration from the story. The first character that ever came into my head from the entire series was the Beast, someone living in a remote mountain fortress with a world-changing secret. Who were they? What was the secret? It was the process of trying to figure out this secret that actually formed the basis for the entire system of magic and the conflict of entire series.
The setting of Ami was also part of the writing process. At the end of Zhara, I knew the characters would be headed toward the outermost west, toward a Beast in a remote castle (even if they weren’t aware of it). In 2018, I went on a research trip to China and Tibet in order to gain a better understanding of the culture, the food, the feel of the thinness of the air, and other small sensory details that I tried my best to infuse into the narrative. The slight animal tang of the yak butter candles in the monasteries. The air so clean and sere as to dry out the lining of the nostrils and throat. The way the beauty of the landscape revealed itself in its utter remoteness.
Another big inspiration of the series was the philosophy of the Way, or Tao. The dance between order and chaos that runs throughout the series is heavily influenced by the concept of yin and yang—the drop of light in darkness, and the drop of darkness in the light. There is balance to the universe, and finding that balance both in the Morning Realms and in our real world is something I think about a lot. Because Zhara was written from a place of joy, I knew that Ami would have to explore some of the darker implications of the world I had created. What does it mean to have a great power? How does one wield it ethically and with good judgment? What does consent mean in an environment of power manipulation?
I don’t have answers to any of these questions; I only set out to explore what they meant to the characters, and by extension, to me. I hope Ami will also lead you to think about these ideas, and what they mean in the real world.
Yours entire,
S. Jae-Jones (JJ)
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
October 13, 2024
– Shelved
