The Hive Queen (The Bond Trilogy, #2)
by Robin Kirk
Publisher: Blue Crow Books
Release Date: September 1st 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, SciFi
Synopsis:
In the second book in the INDIE-award-winning Bond Trilogy, warrior Fir leads his brothers on a quest for salvation that will threaten everything he holds dear.
After the battle that toppled the Weave, warrior Fir leads his brothers east to escape servitude, or worse—death at the hands of rival warriors. They search for the fabled Master of Men who promises freedom for men in the Weave. But their quest leads them to a foe more dangerous than they could have imagined.
When the beautiful Hive Queen, Odide, bespells Fir, he’s compelled to betray his brothers—and risks dooming them all to an unspeakable fate. To survive, Fir must choose between his loyalty to his brothers, his allegiance to the Queen, and his love for Dinitra.
But salvation is not what it seems. When the worlds of the Hive and the Master collide, it triggers a devastating betrayal that leaves Fir with an impossible choice: can he sacrifice his brothers for the love he thought he could never have?
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Kirk is the author of The Bond, the first in a fantasy trilogy published by Blue Crow Publishing. Foreward Reviews awarded The Bond its Bronze award for best YA in 2018. Book II, The Hive Queen, is due out in August 2020. Kirk’s other books include More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs and America’s War in Colombia (PublicAffairs) and The Monkey’s Paw: New Chronicles from Peru (University of Massachusetts Press). She coedits the The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics (Duke University) and is an editor of Duke University Press’s World Readers series.
Kirk is a Faculty Co-Director of the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute and is a founding member of the Pauli Murray Project, an initiative of the center that seeks to use the legacy of this Durham daughter to examine the region’s past of slavery, segregation and continuing economic inequality. An author and human rights advocate, Kirk is a lecturer in Duke’s Department of Cultural Anthropology.
More of Kirk’s work is available on her Scribd site. Kirk can be reached at robinkirk.com, through her Facebook Page or on Twitter at @robinkirk.
When did you know that you wanted to become a writer? Is there a specific memory where you remembering learning the power of language and stories?
I’ve always wanted to write. When I was little, I’d spend hours in my room drawing (poorly) horses, then giving them names and back stories and relationships.
From the birth of an idea to a finished story, what does your writing process look like?
I always write a supremely awful first draft. It’s only then that I begin to understand what story I’m trying to tell. The joy of writing, for me, is in the revision. It’s only then that I really understand what I really want to say.
If you could meet any other author, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
UF! So many! Writers are basically my superheroes. I’d love to be at the Oxford pub with the Inklings, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. Then I’d saunter over to wherever Philip Pullman is and find out what he’s writing next. I race to whatever Hilary Mantel writes. These writers are joined by their ability to imagine whole worlds that have such compelling characters.
What is the best piece of advice that you could give to aspiring writers?
Keep going! You just never know when you will finally nail that scene or character or story.
What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel and why?
UF — again, so many! But since he just died, Charles Portis’ True Grit. Every line is a masterpiece.
Fun Facts
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla because it goes with everything. I’m all about the sauces and toppings.
Favorite Pizza Topping: Simple tastes — a really flavorful sauce and fresh mozz
Favorite Movie: Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins. Every frame and every performance.
Favorite Dessert: Peach cobbler, of course
Favorite snack to eat while you are writing: Chocolate covered espresso beans
Favorite Drink (alcohol or something else): I am a sucker for a good Rob Roy
What would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
Weird, but a deer. I have one on my desk.
If you didn’t write, what would your occupation be?
I would be an activist, following EB White: I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day
What do you enjoying doing when you aren’t writing or reading?
I love walking. Like anywhere. I’d rather walk than ride.
Would you rather have an endless summer or an endless winter?
This sounds like a Twilight Zone episode. I’d go for summer since there’s always hope.
Thank you to Robin Kirk for joining us here on Books, Tea, Healthy Me!
Books, Tea, Healthy Me 