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“The Burning Queen”: Aparna Verma on intrigue and magic World-building and political intrugue with Indian mythology and fire magic

“The Burning Queen”: Aparna Verma on intrigue and magic World-building and political intrugue with Indian mythology and fire magic

by Summer Brooks | November 2, 2025 Leave a Comment

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Fantasy author Aparna Verma is here to talk about The Burning Queen, Book 2 in “The Ravence Trilogy”.

Aparna talks about how the first book in this series, The Phoenix King, was first self-published before Orbit Books acquired and republished it, and the appeal of political intrigue of character relationships over the typical romantic interactions.

She delves a little into how she developed the factions and the politics and the magic of the royal family and influences the society as a whole, and the importance of imbuing Hindu mythology and spirituality in the story.

And yes, we are now excited about imagining either a graphic novel series or an animated series in this world!

The Burning Queen will be out November 4 from Orbit Books, with Book 3 being worked on to wrap things up.

Website: theaparnaverma.com
Instagram: @spirited_gal
TikTok: @aparnawrites

The Burning Queen The Phoenix King Website: theaparnaverma.com
Bluesky: @aparnaverma.bsky.social
Instagram: @spirited_gal
TikTok: @aparnawrites


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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: fantasy

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