HEART OF THE SERPENT published July 2007

My new book Heart of the Serpent, published this week (on 5th July, though it’s already available in some shops) is the third and final part of the sequence that began with Worm in the Blood and continued with Beast Beneath the Skin. When I wrote the first of these stories I had no idea it would turn out to be the opening volume of a trilogy. I still think I could have stopped after either of the first two books, if I’d had to, and the series wouldn’t have seemed unfinished. Neither book ended on a cliff-hanger, for instance, in the way Pullmans’ Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife do. Having said that, I did feel, once I’d finished Beast Beneath the Skin, that I really wanted to write the third book. I felt it would give me the chance to take the story as far as it would go. I guess trilogies might be a natural length for a series, equating to the notion of a beginning, middle, and end. I hope all three books work as complete tales in their own right. And for those with a continuing interest in what lies ahead for Sam Lim-Evans, his friends and his family, Heart of the Serpent will tell all that’s left for me to tell.

I dedicated the book to the memory of my dad, who died on the day I finished writing the first draft (12th May 2006). Dad was always very interested in my writing. His last birthday present to me was a copy of Peter Dickinson’s book The Flight of Dragons. This book is a piece of scientific fantasy that sets out to explain how fire-breathing, winged dragons, as illustrated in antiquated paintings, might reasonably be supposed to have existed as real, physical creatures. With a straight face scrupulously maintained throughout, the author makes a very convincing job of it. For instance, he goes so far as to write out the chemical reaction responsible for creating hydrogen within the body of the dragon (thereby making them lighter than air and able to fly on their unfeasibly small wings!). My father, a man with a practical eye who also loved a good story, was mightily impressed by this book.