The reissue of Jason Sanford's Nebula and Philip K. Dick Award-nominated novel, Plague Birds: The Red Day Edition, will be coming out this June. In anticipation and celebration, we're doing a series of interviews with the author! Part three explores the future, discussing the sequel to Plague Birds that will be coming out this October, the characters we'll continue to follow, and the possibility of book three. Keep reading to learn more!
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Darian Bianco: Plagues of Dissension is slated to come out this October, and we're so excited in anticipation of it. We've discussed this a little before, but how long after the events in Plague Birds does Plagues of Dissension take place? Did you always know the shape of the sequel, the when and the where, or did you discover it gradually?
Jason Sanford: Plagues of Dissension takes place 20 years after the events of Plague Birds. While that may sound like a long time between stories, because the main character Crista is a plague bird, she doesn't age like regular humans and is essentially immortal unless she is killed in battle. She's trying to have a normal life while those around her—including her father and guy she likes, Desiada—keep aging and changing. And yes, not aging while those around you do will indeed mess a person up, as Crista discovers.
As for the sequel, yes, I've long known the general shape of the story. When I write long stories, like Plagues of Dissension, I plan out a short, general outline of where the story is going, a sort of roadmap in my mind. Then, as I write the story, I use this roadmap to chart my direction while also filling in the details as I go. I love writing this way because it allows me to both keep my general direction with the story while also discovering amazing new things along with creating fun interactions for the characters.
DB: What can we expect from our characters? Obviously, we'll be seeing Crista and Red Day, but will Desiada and Lanea be making appearances? And can you give us hints about any new faces that will be entering the storyline?
JS: A number of characters from the original novel will reappear in Plagues of Dissension, including Desiada and Lanea. The two monks find themselves caught up in a conspiracy related to knowledge, truth and the new library they built in the city of Seed. Desiada has also discovered that being in a relationship with a plague bird is very different from a usual human relationship, with Crista and Desiada having broken up and gotten back together numerous times over the last two decades. Red Day even snarks at one point that they've broken up a dozen times, but who knows if the blood AI is being truthful about that or merely making fun of them.
Another character who has a major appearance in the sequel is the automaton Ama. I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, but Ama, as the last remaining automaton in the world, is one of my favorite characters in Plague Birds. In the sequel, readers will learn more about both this character and what happened to the rest of the world's automatons.
DB: What themes can we expect Plagues of Dissension to explore? It's hard to compare books, but was Plagues of Dissension an easier writing experience when compared to Plague Birds, or harder? And finally... do you think there will ever be a book three?
JS: The writing of Plagues of Dissension was quite different from the original novel because it's the first time I've returned to an already published universe. When I wrote the original Plague Birds, I could plot and write whatever I wanted because the story and characters were being formed right then. With the sequel, though, I must remember what happened before and also stay true to the already created characters. Continuity matters in an ongoing series, so I had to continually reference the original book to make sure I didn't mess anything up.
As for a book three, I would love to keep publishing stories in the Plague Birds universe. There are so many stories yet to be told and I look forward to writing them.
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