Kingdom Above the Cloud
Author: Maggie Platt
Series: Tales from Adia, #1 Publisher: Ambassador International Release Date: April 17th 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Allegory
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What if the nine Fruit of the Spirit and the Seven Deadly Sins were locked in a battle for control?
Abandoned as infants, Tovi and her twin brother were raised by an eclectic tribe of warm, kind people in a treehouse village in the valley. After her brother’s sudden disappearance Tovi questions her life and her faith in an invisible King. Ignoring her best friend Silas’ advice, she decides to search for her brother in the kingdom on top of the mountain.
Above the cloud, the Council of Masters receives their orders. Tovi and her brother are the objectives. King Damien has a plan and Tovi is the key. The Council of Masters want her, but will she remain unscathed?
Amidst the glamour of the kingdom above the cloud Tovi is torn between her own dark desires and unanswered questions. It starts with a snake and a crown. When the ring is complete, will her life be over?
exclusive interview
1. Nine Fruit of the Spirit and the Seven Deadly Sins are both Christian ideas, and so this book must be inspired by some Christianity at least to some extent. May I first ask if you are Christian? If you are, how did your identity as a Christian affected how you wrote the book? If you're not, why did you decide to take Christianity as an inspiration?
Absolutely you can ask! Yes, I am a Christian, and my faith impacts everything. I try to keep Jesus, His love, and His teachings in the center of everything I do. Now, having just written that, I can think of the 50 times I’ve failed today. So, please don’t think that I even pretend to be perfect!
Because my Christian faith is so important to me, my mind is often occupied with spiritual themes: light and dark, good and evil, belief and doubt, sin and redemption. And that’s how the idea for the book popped into my head! I asked myself the question, “What if the fruits of the spirit and the deadly sins were embodied by characters and locked in a battle for control?” That lead to a lot of dreaming and thinking through how these concepts have influenced my own faith, along with my characters’.
2. When doing research about your books, I've noticed some reviews reminiscing the similarities between this book and other books such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and even the Narnia series. Were any of these series an inspiration for you? If so, how?
I love all of those books. My copy of The Hunger Games has tons of highlighter and writing in it because I used it to study how the author described so many characters in a way that was easy to remember.
Of the series you mentioned, Narnia has been the most influential for me. C.S. Lewis is a favorite of mine, both for his fiction and his nonfiction. In the Chronicles of Narnia, he has created this incredible fantasy world that is super enjoyable at face value. And, it’s even more incredible when you look at the faith themes that underlie every scene. I hope it’s the same for my books - that they are enjoyable in and of themselves, but that they also offer a deeper allegorical meaning.
3. How many books do you have planned for this series?
That is a fantastic question! I know the ultimate ending, but I don’t know all the steps to get there. There will be at least three, but maybe more. I am currently working on Book 2, and I have the whole thing outlined (and about half written). I know I will need at least one more book to get to the final scene.
4. If you could switch your batch of main characters from another series/book, who would it be?
I love the entire ensemble of main characters in Game of Thrones, but I have to admit that I’ve only seen the show. I’m hesitant to read them since I have become so attached to show! This is exactly why I USUALLY read things first!
The characters in GOT all have such massive flaws, yet it is so hard to not fall in love with them. Jamie is this total cad, but I absolutely love him. That is the brilliance of the character development! There is so much good and evil in each character - so much light and dark. It is compelling and makes them seem so real.
about the author
Maggie Platt is a writer, traveler, cancer survivor, and dreamer. Her greatest joys are being Auntie M to her amazing nieces and nephew and sitting with students and friends over cups of coffee and deep conversations. She works at her alma mater, Anderson University in Indiana, and she lives in a cozy little cottage nearby where students come to sit on her couch just to laugh, cry, and talk about life.
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