Dear Fellowship readers,
A book like Tempest doesn’t come along very often.
Championing a book in the sometimes terrifying, always electrifying maw of a publisher’s acquisition room is a daunting task that can leave the most confident of us quivering in our seats. Picture it: as you deliver your impassioned pitch to the Managing Director and all the department heads, their pens crouch like predators on their notebooks, ready to quiz you on every element of the publishing strategy, market positioning, and editorial vision. If you’ve got that far, it means you’ve already had the buy-in of your imprint editorial team, and have decided to throw your professional weight, and usually your whole heart and soul too, behind the project. But you have to convince the room first – and this is all before you start the often gladiatorial endeavour of pitching your grand vision to the author and asking them to entrust you with the work of their own heart and soul.
This is the norm. What is not the norm is catching lightning in a bottle. This is when the uphill slog is a downhill sprint. A multimillion-copy bestselling author at the height of her powers, a book every publisher in town would raise their flag to pursue across the highest seas, a story set to become a mainstay of readers’ ‘all-time favourites’ shelves forever – entertaining, inspiring, and empowering in perpetuity. When Victoria decided to entrust us with publishing Tempest, we caught lightning.
Working on this book has been one of the most invigorating creative experiences of my career so far. I’ll always remember our very first edit call – when the US editor and I got to spend the lion’s share of it simply gushing at Victoria about how much we adore this world and these characters, bookended by the nerdiest deep-dives into worldbuilding mechanics, plot beats, character arcs, and debates about every nuance of literary theme imaginable – the most fundamental ley lines of the story, and the flavours we want to sing loudest when you turn the final page. You should really treat yourself to Victoria’s podcast Plot Twist and her Substack newsletter, where she shares shiploads of behind-the-scenes magic, from writing trivia like why she decided to expand Tempest from a standalone novel into a duology to all the latest updates on the Tempest TV series!
Set in an epically-wrought world inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy, Tempest follows a former noblewoman facing execution for treason unless she helps the tyrannical empire capture their most wanted enemy – the last great pirate captain – and the only man she’s ever loved . . . So begins a symphonic quest to hunt down the final dregs of the pirate republic before they harness the ancient power of the Lyrian Sea and mount a last desperate stand against the sprawling empire swiftly conquering the globe. It’s the first instalment of a swashbuckling fantasy duology and a total love letter to all of us who were raised in the asylum of noughties fantasy – the feral legions seated with tankards of popcorn for the entire rollercoaster of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, who fell in love with Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, or both. It’ll make you feel like a teenager again.
Suffice it to say – a sentiment you won’t fully appreciate until you reach the last page – I cannot physically WAIT for you to get your hands on Book 2, Tyrant, next year. Trust me, it’ll be more than worth the wait.
May the sea always sing for you,
Bethan Morgan
Editorial Director
Gollancz
