PRESS RELEASE – AUTHOR EMILY INKPEN JOINS JOHN JARROLD LITERARY AGENCY
Author Emily Inkpen is the latest client of the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
Her science fiction debut novel The Blood Road follows three narrative voices:
For Varian, Isra and Ren, life has never been about what they want. As the adopted children of Nathaniel Dex, weapons manufacturer and President of Dex Island, they were raised as lab-rats, moulded into soldiers, forced to fight, kill and command. Until Isra’s tragic death in combat, aged just eighteen, plunged Dex Island into national mourning.
Eight years later, war is brewing. A country is ready to fall and the leaders of three great nations stand poised to claim the territory as their own. But while Nathaniel provides the weapons, using Ren as a political pawn and Varian’s troops as the spark that will start the war, none of them can predict the reappearance of Isra, and the complications that will bring.
Her influences are as varied as Ursula K Le Guin, The Duchess by Amanda Foreman and the computer game Final Fantasy VII.
Emily said:
“I have been a writer all my life. My passion for fantasy and sci-fi started when my dad read me The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, a little every night, at the age of six. It took just over a year! I was also raised on the original radio production of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and I still know it almost word for word.
“I founded the Glasgow University Creative Writing Group while I was studying for my degree in English Literature. There I met a core group of people who are all now writers and scattered throughout the industry.
“I received first class honours with the courses Fantasy Literature of the 20th Century (Dr Robert Maslen), Theory and Criticism (Prof Willy Maley), Postcolonial Literature (Prof Willy Maley) and Modern Literature (Dr Helen Stoddart).
“I have always created worlds. For me, freeing myself from the fetters of the world we know allows me to explore all of the possibilities of worlds we are yet to discover.
“Occasionally I write a short story, but they always end up being the Prologue to something much bigger.
“For me, creativity is collaborative. I like to share and discuss.”
She was a medical and healthcare writer for five years. In March 2020 she moved across to the gaming industry and now writes for a game studio.
John Jarrold said: “Occasionally you see a world or universe that feels fully formed from the first page. That is the case here – as it is with Emily’s characters. This series-opening novel is an outstanding debut that had me cheering for its protagonists, sometimes despite themselves. I want to know What Happens Next!”