SAMANTHA-ELLEN BOUND’s latest novel, Seven Wherewithal Way: Into the Faerie Realm is the heart-stopping conclusion to her epic portal fantasy series. We caught up with the author to ask what it was like to bring this story to a close.

What’s new for Celeste in this latest instalment?

The Wherewithal books are obviously fantasy-heavy, action-based adventure stories, but thematically they stand as a coming-of-age story for Celeste. So we are right there with her at the end of her journey, experiencing the person the Realms have shaped her to be.

But of course, fantastical coming-of-age narratives are full of action, adventure, and quests, and so it is here – we open with Wherewithal under siege and Ferd faced with the awful decision of whether it’s time to abandon ship.

From there we move to the Realm of Fae and into the Faerie Market, which is threatened by Red Cap’s minions and the deathly Sluagh. In her quest to save the Realms, the creatures in it, and her family, Celeste travels to wild rocky coasts, across lush mystical landscapes dotted with ancient megaliths, to the Order’s base, and to her final destination – Red Cap’s castle on the borderlands, where the fate of the Realms will be decided.

Old favourites return, as do old enemies, and some creatures we bid a final goodbye.

Into the Faerie Realm is the final book in the ‘Seven Wherewithal Way’ series. What was it like bringing this story to a close?

Technically, it’s tricky – you are not just writing one book, you are bringing to conclusion an epic adventure that has spanned three previous books. The final book needs to engage readers on its own, while still tying up various sub-plots, themes, world-building, and individual journeys of not just the main characters, but secondary characters, too (including the villains!). All the seeds you have carefully planted need to come to fruition.

Emotionally, it’s bittersweet. I have been locked into the Wherewithal characters and world for over five years now. The world is so expansive and there is so much more magic to be explored, considering the tapestry of world folklore I’m working from.

But I feel the world is set up now so I can always come back to it. Not necessarily a continuation of the series, but the ability to take elements of the world and characters and create fresh stories, while working from an established lore. You can bet there would be cameos!

Celeste has been on such a journey throughout the series. What lessons will she learn in this final book?

As mentioned, the Wherewithal books – like so many traditional fairytales – are coming-of-age stories for Celeste. She was introduced as an 11-year old child, carrying all her anxieties and fears from the human world into the Realms and constantly thinking she was not worthy of such adventure. She then had to deal with accidentally receiving a magical ability that shaped her identity and sense of self-worth. Now here she is, an epic battle looming, the fate of the Realms in the balance – and minus this magical power. So we see her make peace with the nature of being a hero, and how this can take so many forms.

Found family is also a huge theme in the books, so it was important for me to show how all the creatures she has met on this journey have shaped and influenced her – how they have all lodged in her heart and made the Realms the place she feels she really belongs.

What inspired the worldbuilding in the Realm of the Fae?

The whole series was inspired by my love of portal fantasies, fairytales and folklore.

The Realm of Fae is inspired particularly by the folklore of the British Isles. Aside from fairytales, my first links to folklore were through British/Celtic folklorists such as Brian Froud, Katherine Briggs and Thomas Keightley. I was obsessed with the stories and illustrations in these books. I knew the fourth book – the conclusion to this epic tale – would always be set among the lore that kicked everything off.

My family heritage is also largely Irish, Welsh and Cornish. I have been to the British Isles and felt the magic in ancient megalithic monoliths, the history in Welsh castles, and the lush, foggy wonder of the Lake District and coastlines of the island. Adapting this to a fantasy novel was not much of a stretch!

Do you have a favourite magical creature or element from the series?

I will live and die by my love of mermaids. Introducing the Japanese version of them – the ningyo – in the third book was a highlight.

In each Realm we’ve encountered a ‘big baddie’ and a ‘Guardian’. For these roles, I chose creatures who I feel loom large in the particular folklore they originate from, often because of their complex natures. Integral to the books is the idea that the good/bad binary is not so clear cut – everyone has been on a journey to become what they are. This brings light and shade to ‘monsters’ such as Baba Yaga, the Ningyo Queen, and the Snake Mothers Yacumama and Sachamama.

I also have a very soft spot for Pan. He can creep in and out of any book I write because he is so fun and complicated and chaotic.

My favourite element is not just writing about all these creatures, but crafting the relationships between them – exploring the dynamics and the history that make them friends, or enemies.

How did writing this final book compare to writing the first one? Did you know how the series would end from the beginning?

In the first book I was still discovering the world. Although that was fun and exciting, there is also something incredibly rewarding about seeing how that has all come together. There is more pressure to tie everything together in a satisfying way, but it is also quite delightful to put into play things I have waited three books to do. The series has been the most demanding thing I have ever done as an author and I feel very proud of what I have created.

I always knew how the books would end. They journey getting there has sometimes deviated off into wonderful side paths, but I was always careful to gather it back, in line with the final destination.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR