As soon as I finished The Bond, the first book in Robin Kirk’s dystopian trilogy, I knew I wanted to have Robin visit the blog. The Bond blew me away with its unique world building and engaging characters, and the sequel—The Hive Queen—was just as good. To celebrate the recent release of The Hive Queen, I’m thrilled that Robin agreed to answer some of my questions.
Welcome to the blog Robin! I’m thrilled to have you here to talk about your new book The Hive Queen. Let’s start with an introduction. Your bio is very impressive and involves much more than just writing fiction. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I think my career is what can happen when you follow your passions. I knew I always wanted to be a writer, so I was writing short stories and novels in my teens. But I also aspired to be a foreign correspondent and travel the world. I got that chance in the 1980s, when I moved to Peru and covered the conflict there. One thing I learned about myself was that I was really drawn to human rights issues. I wanted to do more than write about them. I wanted to help advocate for them. I ended up working for Human Rights Watch for 12 years, a job I loved. I ended up writing two non-fiction books, one on Peru and the other on Colombia. But after 9/11, I realized that there was a lot of work to be done on human rights in the US. I ended up helping to found a human rights center at Duke University, where I now teach. For me, writing fiction can also be human rights work. In important ways, my characters are struggling with right and wrong, what it means to be free, and their responsibilities to others, including non-humans: drafts (mutants) and beasts among them.
For new readers, can you give us a short story recap of The Bond?
Happily! Dinitra suspects that the Sower who engineered her made a mistake. Unlike the other girls at the Collegium, she doesn’t seem to fit any profession and only wants to draw. She finds joy after she’s drafted into the Legion to train a mutant battle dog called 12. Dinitra and 12 are being trained to destroy the rebels who stand in the way of the Weave’s ultimate goal: a world without males.
But the rebels kidnap Dinitra and 12 and reveal a secret. Rebels also engineer children, but they make males, lots of them, to combat the Weave. And the lead rebel is her mother, who risked her own life to get Dinitra back. Shockingly, Dinitra feels attraction to a male warrior, Fir. This is a shameful crime in both societies, where only wild beasts mate.
As war approaches, Dinitra must make an agonizing decision as she learns what love and loyalty mean in a world of engineered humans and not-so-monstrous mutants, while war threatens them all.
For me, one of the questions that lies at the heart of the story is around genocide.
I recently read and loved The Bond, and one of my favorite things about it was the world building, especially the drafts and 12 in particular. What inspired you to create such an intricate world?
Thank you! I wanted a world that could be, but was clearly different from our own. And I wanted the reader to start out thinking, well, men ARE more violent and destructive than women, so maybe containing them isn’t such a bad idea. There aren’t too many steps more to get to a kind of justification for genocide. I wanted to have my characters in a rich, complex world—like our own—that would make them have to grapple with this idea.
The Bond Trilogy is described as fantasy, however there are lots of science fiction crossover elements. Were you going for a mix of genres as you were writing, or did it evolve naturally?
That’s a great question. I love both genres, so mixing them up a little came naturally. I think there so much that’s fantastical in our natural world. Genre divisions are more like guard rails than fixed boundaries. I’m not a huge fan of “hard” science fiction, but I love science fiction that really foregrounds characters. Ditto for fantasy. I get a little tired of sword-and-maidens in distress works, but if a great writer like N.K. Jemisin or George R. R. Martin can do something fresh with it, I’m all in.
The Hive Queen has just been released into the world, congratulations! What can readers expect to find in the sequel?
I was immediately drawn to slipping into the skin of a different character. In this case, I went from my spunky heroine, Dinitra, to my more moody and doubtful Fir. I really wanted to play with our notions about gender, too. I think gender is mostly what a society says it is and some of us feel that we’re being forced to think or act in certain ways. Being a leader doesn’t come easily to Fir, especially after he makes a mistake that costs lives. He really struggles with what it means to be responsible for the lives of others especially when the choices he must make are really hard.
Fir is finally able to escape his mother’s command and leads his brothers on a quest for freedom. But the sacrifice may be too much. Not only does he doubt his ability to lead them through the wilds. He must give up the love he felt for Dinitra and accept a life lived alone.
A fabled Master of Men in the east promises freedom in exchange for allegiance. But Fir’s journey leads him to a foe more dangerous than he could have imagined. The beautiful Hive Queen—part human and part bee—conjures Fir, compelling him to betray his brothers and stay with her. To survive, Fir must choose between his loyalty to his brothers and his allegiance to the Hive Queen.
When the worlds of the Hive Queen and the Master collide, a devastating betrayal leaves Fir with an impossible choice: must he sacrifice his brothers for a love he thought he could never have? And what about the fate of the world if the Hive Queen falls to the Master of Men?
I take a lot of strength from the decision Philip Pullman made in his “His Dark Materials” series, switching from Lyra to Will between The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife.
And I’m so glad you did. I thoroughly enjoyed Fir’s journey! What were some of your inspirations for The Bond Trilogy?
Well, 12 is a direct descendant of Iorek, the armored bear, in Pullman’s The Golden Compass (except 12 only bites, she doesn’t talk). Like so many, I’m drawn to stories where animals—or drafts, in this case, genetic mixtures—form strong relationships with humans. I also love Pullman’s expansive world building, starting in Oxford then ranging into the north and, in the series, actually opening into multiple, fresh worlds.
The Hive Queen is loosely modeled on the epic poem, The Aeneid, which follows Aeneas as he is forced to leave Troy after the Greeks overrun the city. On his travels, the gods really mess with him. Then he comes across Queen Dido, and they have a passionate encounter (she’s the model for my Hive Queen, Odide). I won’t say too much more, only that you haven’t seen the last of any of these characters. All come together again in a (hopefully) surprising way in the final book.
Other than The Bond Trilogy, do you have anything else you’re working on that you’d like to share?
I’m really excited to be working on a new non-fiction book for kids, Righting Wrongs: 20 Heroes of Human Rights, for Chicago Review Press. So many people think human rights have always been there or somehow appeared without any effort. In fact, brilliant, passionate people thought them up and fought for them, sometimes at the cost of their lives. I hope the book inspires young people to dare to make change, to, in the words of the late John Lewis, make “good trouble.” We’re living through a very difficult moment, but I’m convinced that young people who are following in their footsteps will lead us to much better times.
That sounds wonderful! Thank you Robin, for stopping by today, it’s been a pleasure:-D
About the author:
ROBIN KIRK is the author of The Bond and The Hive Queen, books one and two in a fantasy trilogy from Blue Crow Books. Her short story, “Love is a Wild Creature,” is featured in Wicked South: Secrets and Lies: Stories for Young Adults, also by Blue Crow. Her short stories and poems have also appeared in speculative fiction and other publications. Kirk has published three nonfiction books on human rights in Latin America as well as essays, articles, short stories, and opeds. She teaches human rights at Duke University.
A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane, the hero of this book has a pet snow cat, aka A SABER TOOTH TIGER.
Oh cool, I’m not familiar with that one.
Guardians of the Galaxy! The racoon character Rocket is pretty cool IMO!
That’s a good one:-)
Great interview, Tammy. I love the covers for these books. They are so intriguing.
I love these covers too:-)
These sound very interesting. As long as 12 doesn’t get killed off I’m good!
I should have mentioned, but 12 is fine so far!
I would love to read both these books. You make them sound so amazing, Tammy. Also great interview! It’s more of a myth than a book but I love the story of Pegagsus from ancient Greek mythology. I hope this counts as animal companion ^_^
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Sacrifice by Katee Robert
I love Pegasus too!
I enjoyed the interview, Tammy. And thanks for Robin for doing it. I found it interesting she was inspired by The Aeneid as I’m currently reading a book on classical mythology, so those locations, characters and stories have been floating through my mind recently.
Thanks Todd. I thought that inspiration was interesting as well. I wish I had read The Aeneid, then maybe I would have caught that reference:-)
You have me very interested in reading this trilogy!
It’s awesome, Anne:-)
I’m a big fan of The Will and Lying Cat from Saga. They have such a great partnership. 🙂
Ooh good one:-)
Good interview, I’m definitely intrigued!
Thanks:-)
Sounds like an interesting one! Thanks for sharing, Tammy!
Such a great series:-)
Wow, she has led such an interesting life and I love she really has followed her passions. The book sounds great too.
She’s so interesting, right? I mean, a human rights activist who also teaches, so cool!
Thanks for hosting the giveaway! Love fantasy so much!
Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files – I love Harry’s temple dog, Mouse and even Mister, his cat is pretty cool.
The Nevernight Trilogy. Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Ka’at. The Golden Compass.