The Branded is the first book is a new epic, high concept fantasy series with themes of class inequality, social upheaval, and romance, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sarah J Maas.
'Your blood is Founding Four and the citadel is in your bones.'
A century after a virus has decimated its population, the Continent's survivors are divided into two classes: the Branded, who are vulnerable to disease, and the Pure, who are bigger, stronger and immune. Orphaned twins Nara and Osha are sequestered in the citadel, where their unbranded skin entitles them to a life of privilege, as precious breeding stock.
Nara itches to escape her confines and return to the wilds of the Fornwood where she and her sister grew up, but when she is forced to run, she discovers there's much more at stake than her own life. The Branded are on the rise, and the girls are caught up in their prophecies.
Forced to accept the help of a mysterious southern Brand known as the Wrangler, Nara discovers the latent power lying dormant in uncanny abilities she's had since childhood. But in a world where women are traded as commodities, who can she trust in the lands beyond the Fornwood? What does the Wrangler know about her forgotten childhood? Two sisters without a past hold the weight of the future in their hands.
Jo Riccioni graduated with a Masters in Medieval Literature from Leeds University, where her studies included Icelandic saga and the Arthurian and Robin Hood legends. Her short stories have won awards in the UK and Australia and have been anthologised in Best Australian Stories. Jo's first novel, The Italians at Cleat's Corner Store, won the International Rubery Award for fiction and was long-listed for the New Angle Prize in the UK. The Branded is the first book in her epic fantasy duology. The Rising will be published in 2023.
The Branded
Jo Riccioni
Pantera Press
RRP: $29.99
buy this book at Dymocks
Interview with Jo Riccioni
What originally inspired the idea of The Branded?
Jo Riccioni: Two things inspired The Branded. The first was my love of folk tales and legends. I took a Masters in Medieval literature straight out of uni and I studied Icelandic saga, the Arthurian legends and early tales of Robin Hood. But I was always wondering what these stories would have been like if women strapped on the swords, mounted the horses and took over the lead roles. Back then, there weren't many female-centric fantasy novels and I knew that it was something I wanted to explore. It only took me 25 years to do it! What finally jump-started work on the book was watching my teenage daughter become as obsessed with fantasy as I was. We were reading many of the same YA fantasy series, watching fantasy films and talking a lot about the presentation of women in these stories. She was going through some tough times, as many kids do in their teens, and I wanted to write a story that would show her and other girls that women are complex creatures with varied ambitions and desires, that girls can be feminine, nurturing, caring, but also ambitious, strong, argumentative, stubborn and cunning, and I wanted to explore how society often quashes these traits in girls, but not in men. Most of all, I wanted an adventure story where girls not only escape their physical prisons but their mental and social ones, to eventually change society completely. That's my definition of bad-ass heroines.
What did you learn, about yourself, whilst writing The Branded?
Jo Riccioni: During the writing of
The Branded I changed my day job from bookseller to part-time sex-educator. I teach 11 and 12-year-old girls about the changes to their bodies in puberty, and trying to do this without scaring the shit out of them and while trying to get them to respect and celebrate who they are is a challenge, but I love it. I think the job definitely started to seep into the themes of the book because one day I was writing a scene between Nara and Osha, my twin sister protagonists, and suddenly I found myself exploring the theme of teen pregnancy. As a sex educator, it became important to me to show female bodies as innately powerful and to explore the issue of women's control over their own fertility.
Are the characters based on anyone you know, in real life?
Jo Riccioni: I definitely come from the "Pick n Mix" school of character creation. My characters aren't based on one real person but are usually a blend of my favourite heroes, villains, legends, actors, celebrities and people I know all playing dress-up in my own imagination. It's so much more fun that way.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers or artists?
Jo Riccioni: It's a cliché, but write the story you'd love to read. When you have an idea, write the back-cover blurb for that story (the thing that sells the book, not the synopsis). Even if you don't know the whole plot or how your story ends, you'll know the essence or the main vibe of it and perhaps some of the main themes. That way, when you get lost in the forest of endless words which is a first draft and you're panicking that you'll never hack your way out, you can go back to that blurb. It'll be your map, a touchstone that will remind you what you're writing and why.
Oh, and set a timer to remind yourself to move and stretch every 45 minutes. Otherwise, become very good friends with your physiotherapist!
What or who inspired your love of reading/writing?
Jo Riccioni: Beatrix Potter, The Ladybird fairytale series of books, Roald Dahl and Tolkein, in roughly that order. I also had some inspiring and very passionate English teachers at school in the UK who turned a blind eye when I stole books from the seniors' shelves. I'm not one of those writers who was constantly scribbling stories in notebooks as a child. Instead I read a lot when I should have been sleeping and watched an inordinate amount of TV when I should have been playing with other kids. I had a habit of reading my favourite books and watching my favourite movies over and over again. I still do. I think what I was doing from a young age was studying story. I wanted to know how the magic worked. But I didn't have the guts to write my own until my thirties.
What's next, for you?
Jo Riccioni: I'll be working on edits of The Rising, the conclusion to The Branded which is due for release in October 2023. After that, I'm working on my next project. I can't tell you much about it just yet, but think gothic, fantasy and medieval priories.
