“Embracing the Big Picture: Writing About Global Issues Through Fantasy”
Let’s get this out of the way. There is no such thing as ‘fantasy’. Theres’s fiction and non-fiction, and even then I’m not totally sure about that, so much of our ‘non-fiction’, especially history, turns out to have an unhealthy dose of fiction in it even at the best of times.
There is no fantasy, because all stories are about ‘us’.
Us? What it is to be human, to live in the here and now, with all its joys and troubles. Fantasy is just a lens, a brilliant, multi-coloured prism that both distorts, and brings into sharp relief, what’s going on around us, giving the writer a chance to express themselves, dealing with the big issues, through a genre that can take it.
Now having just told you that there’s no such thing as fantasy, I’m just now going to tell you I LOVE FANTASY.
I love big, bold, noisy stories. I love wild passions spilling out of the page and right into your heart. That pen stabs the paper and it bleeds with life! That’s what I love! Bring in the terror of the dragons, bring I bold heroes, bring in terrible villains! They’re out there, on the tv screen, sprawling over the internet, yelling from the newsstands. Sure, call it fantasy because it’s FANTASTIC.
It’s that prism that fascinates me. How can I use it to shine a light on what really matters?
STORM SINGER is about a land where its not rained for centuries. Where the environment has collapsed. Where people scrape a living in the dusty soil while the rich and powerful greedily horde all the resources. Sound familiar?
It’s about a tyrant who wants to control people, remove their freedoms and have the weak serve the strong, or else. Sound familiar?
It’s about recognizing injustice, and doing something about it. Shouting out, protesting, doing what you can to change the world for the better.
STORM SINGER is about how Nargis, a small peasant girl, learns she has power to stand up against tyranny, and learns she is not alone. That many, many others believe in her, and her passion. All it takes is one person to stand up, to inspire others to do the same.
STORM SINGER is about heroes, and that is about as real life as you can possibly get.
So, come join Nargis, Mistral, Arjuna, Tripti and the others. You don’t know them yet, but once you meet them you’ll recognize them for sure. They are you, and they are me. Like I said, all stories are about us. What we love, what we desire, what we fear.
The storm’s coming, and Nargis is bringing it.
Hold on tight.
Published April 15, 2025 by Simon & Schuster
About the Book: In a land ruled by fierce winged warriors known as garudas, twelve-year-old Nargis is just a poor, lowly human, scrapping a living in the dirt. But Nargis isn’t quite powerless, she is a spirit singer: able to coax small bits of wind, water, fire, and earth to do her bidding through song…well, sometimes.
When Nargis is exiled into the desert, she discovers Mistral, an injured garuda, the prince of her enemies! He’s on a mission to take back his throne from a terrible vulture garuda. In spite of their mutual distrust, the two have no choice but to forge an unlikely alliance.
And as Nargis and Mistral battle dangerous assassins, befriend crafty sky pirates, and sneak into the mysterious sky castle of Alamut, Nargis discovers she carries a family secret, one that could bring Monsoon’s rains back to the desert, but only if she’s willing to risk her life in the bargain…
About the Author: A life-long gamer, Sarwat decided to embrace his passion for over-the-top wild adventure stories by trading in a career in engineering for a highly unstable, brand new one as a writer. That resulted in his first novel, DEVIL’S KISS, back in 2009.
Since then he has been published in a dozen languages, writing comic books, TV shows and novels, preferring non-European settings and legends, such as the award-winning Indian mythology-inspired ASH MISTRY series, the epic high fantasy SHADOW MAGIC trilogy (as Joshua Khan) and CITY OF THE PLAGUE GOD for Rick Riordan Presents, featuring the imprint’s first Muslim hero. His most recent series is the epic eastern fantasy STORM SINGER.
While he’s travelled far and wide, including Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas, he’s most at home in London.
Feel free to drop him a line on @sarwatchadda or find him of Instagram as sarwat_chadda or visit sarwatchadda.com.
Thank you, Sarwat, for pushing us to think today!