notes on SEA GIFTS by Karalynn Lee: author of fantasy & romance

notes on Sea Gifts

Note: This page is intended for — well, anyone interested, but I imagine the primary target audience will be people who have already read the book in question. If you're averse to being spoiled for a story's plot and you're planning to read this one someday, I recommend skipping this page for now.

I must have written this when I was tired of winged, aerial dragons. Korean folktales speak instead of the Dragon King of the Sea. I recall the material wealth of the underwater realm being coveted (or the king's daughter), but there seemed to be so much richer potential behind the premise. Combine with a stray recollection of the wooden dinosaur skeleton models at my chilchood local natural history museum, and this story was born.

I was also tired of one-dimensional villains, so while Rhis's father is certainly selfish and power-hungry, this is typical of anyone who wields sorcery. (Rhis and the dragon-king struggle against this lure as well.) And when Esseny is born, he changes into an affectionate father, even to the point where he gives up his jealously guarded power to her.

Apparently I wasn't tired of the common fantasy trope where a maiden is locked in a tower, awaiting rescue. Although, of course, it's the dragon who rescues her rather than anyone else rescuing her from a dragon.

I strugged for a while over whether to call this romantic fantasy or fantasy romance; I think you could make a case for either. But the ending really belongs firmly in romance.

Incidentally, this is my first self-publishing effort, so I'm particularly interested in any issues readers might experience with the formatting.

Recommended:

If you like lyrical language and dragons under the sea, read The Changeling Sea by Patricia McKillip. A girl places a hex on the sea for taking away her mother and ends up entangling a sea monster, the king's son, and a young magician in the threads of her curse. Dreamy and wry.