Shvarts, Andrew
WORK TITLE: Royal Bastards
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.andrewshvarts.com/
CITY: San Jose
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/104094/interview-andrew-shvarts-on-royal-bastards/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
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PERSONAL
Born in Russia; married; children: Alec.
EDUCATION:Vassar College, B.A.
ADDRESS
- Home - San Jose, CA.
CAREER
Writer, designer, and producer of video games. Pixelberry Studios, Mountain View, CA, mobile game writer.
WRITINGS
- Royal Bastards, Disney Hyperion (New York, NY), 2017
SIDELIGHTS
Prior to breaking into fiction writing, Andrew Shvartz devoted his writing talents to video games. His work has appeared in various mobile games, such as High School Story and Choices: Stories You Play.
Royal Bastards is Shvartz’s debut novel. The main character, Tillandra, is the illegitimate child of a royal. Despite her illegitimate status, Tilla, as she is known, has grown up in luxury. She lacks the responsibility of her legitimate half-siblings, and this aspect of her life is enjoyable for her; however, she also struggles with the lack of respect brought about by her position in her family, and she yearns to be taken seriously. However, her world is thrown for a complete loop on the night her family hosts a banquet at which the legitimate princess Lyriana is in attendance, along with numerous illegitimate children from various countries. In deciding to sit with the illegitimate royals, Lyriana violates a major social more, and the night goes further downhill when the royal families are attacked. Princess Lyriana and the various “bastards” have no choice but to flee the kingdom for their own safety, especially as Lyriana’s life is threatened. War looms dangerously over them, and it will be up to the group to save and reclaim their kingdom from a ruinous fate.
Fansided writer Cheryl Wassenaar said: “Although Royal Bastards has a couple of interesting choices in terms of narration and word usage, the plot and characterization make this a great read.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote: “Adventure-loving fantasy readers will eat it up.” Booklist reviewer Cindy Welch called the book “a solid, refreshingly diverse fantasy adventure,” and in a review for Publishers Weekly, a writer said: “While the overall tone skews breezy, the conclusion packs thrills and a serious emotional wallop.” On the BiblioSanctum website, a contributor remarked: “Books like this prove you don’t have to reinvent the genre to be successful; sometimes familiar ideas work just fine when you combine them with a story that’s fun to its very core … and characters who have great chemistry and infectious personalities.” A reviewer on the Paper Trail YA website commented: “I think Shvarts is an author to keep an eye on, and Royal Bastards is a really strong debut.” The reviewer added: “I definitely recommend it to fans of fantasy, but it’s very unique and I really think it could appeal to those who don’t typically read fantasy as well.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 15, 2017, Cindy Welch, review of Royal Bastards, p. 52.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2017, review of Royal Bastards.
Publishers Weekly, April 17, 2017, review of Royal Bastards, p. 70.
School Library Journal, June 1, 2017, Sarah Lorraine, review of Royal Bastards, p. 113.
ONLINE
Andrew Shvarts Website, https://www.andrewshvarts.com (January 17, 2018), author profile.
BiblioSanctum, https://bibliosanctum.com/ (April 6, 2017), “YA Weekend: Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts.”
Book People Teens, https://bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com/ (October 7, 2017), Madison Clark, “TPC Interviews Andrew Shvarts at TTBF,” author interview.
Paper Trail YA, http://www.papertrailya.com/ (June 16, 2017), review of Royal Bastards.
Fansided, https://culturess.com/ (May 29, 2017), Cheryl Wassenaar, review of Royal Bastard.
Swoony Boys Podcast, http://www.swoonyboyspodcast.com/ (May 30, 2017), “3 Reasons to Read … Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts,” review of Royal Bastards.
The Turnaround Blog, https://theturnaroundblog.com/ (May 26, 2017), “Q&A with Andrew Shvarts,” author interview.
YA Books Central, http://www.yabookscentral.com/ (May 29, 2017), Beth Edwards, “Author of the Week: Chat with Andrew Shvarts (Royal Bastards), Plus Giveaway!!,” author interview.
- Andrew Shvarts - https://www.andrewshvarts.com/bio/
Fun Facts About Andrew Shvarts
Andrew was born in the Soviet Union, but immigrated to the US when he was four years old. He doesn’t remember much of life there, but has retained a love for weird Russian cartoons and a total indifference to being cold.
Andrew’s passion has always been storytelling, in all its forms: fiction, cinema, narrative video games, and long, rambling, frequently-exaggerated anecdotes. He spent his childhood devouring books, and his adolescence watching straight-to-DVD horror movies and playing jRPGS.
Andrew graduated from Vassar College with degrees in English and Russian literature (aka, the two languages he was already fluent in). While there, he was falsely accused of releasing a bear on campus, and once stole a fence and buried it in a swamp.
Since 2008, Andrew has worked as a videogame writer, producer, and designer. His focus has been on narrative mobile games, especially episodic ones. Some of these titles include Choices: Stories You Play, Surviving High School, Cause of Death, and High School Story.
Andrew is both color-blind and tone-deaf, which probably means he has some latent superpowers he just hasn’t discovered.
He is represented by the amazing Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties.
Andrew lives in San Jose, California, with his wife, son, and two cats.
The best videogame of all time is Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This is not a fun fact about Andrew, but an objective truth of the world.
- Book People Teens - https://bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com/2017/10/07/tpc-interviews-andrew-shvarts-at-ttbf/
TPC Interviews Andrew Shvarts at TTBF
[TPC Interviews Andrew Shvarts at TTBF]
Date: October 7, 2017Author: teenpresscorps 0 Comments
Teen Press Corps Member Maddy Interviews Author Andrew Shvarts
by Madison Clark, BookPeople Teen Press CorpsAndrew Schvarts
Madison Clark: What colors make you happy?
Andrew Shvarts: I am actually Colorblind, so that is an interesting question. Most people assume it would be grey but I recently got the glasses that allow me to see color and realized just how much more vivid the world was. Especially reds. I stared at a tomato for an hour in awe of the redness. The experience of putting on those glasses was like, I’ve seen red, I know what it is but it was so much more vivid than I could have ever imagined. I was driving and I saw a coke truck go by and I almost got into an accident because I had never seen anything as beautiful. Although what’s funny, is I can’t see purple at all; I see it as blue. And the sequel to Royal Bastards, City of Bastards, is purple. I didn’t know it was purple, and when we did the color review I was gushing about how lovely of a blue it was.MC: If you were an ice cream flavor what would you be?
AS: Coffee. That’s my favorite flavor to eat and I drink like 90 cups of coffee a day. I’m also super animated, so I’ll go with coffee.MC:How would you define true love?
AS: This is going to be a very married answer, but I feel like true love is when you can be absolutely be every part of yourself around a person. So much of life is putting some mask on or acting a certain way and to me true love is when you hit that point where you are just 100 percent yourself, warts and all, with no judgment.MC: Do you have any children?
AS: I have one. He is three; his name is Alec. Royal Bastards is actually dedicated to him, because I actually started writing it, like, the week he was born, so him and the book are very close in my head.MC: If you could freeze time for a week, what would you do with that time?
AS: I feel like since I have a full-time job, write, and have a kid, the lack of time seems like the thing I hate most about life. I want to read more, go more places, although I’d want to specifically unfreeze moments. I’d essentially want a time turner.MC: What would your main character get a tattoo of?
AS: I think Tilla would get a tattoo, later in life, that reminded of her of her past, like a western flower as a memento of the life she left behind.MC: What superpower would you want to have?
AS: Honestly just not having to sleep. That’s a super lame superpower but if I could have those eight extra hours a day, that would be pretty good. Or maybe a save game system. To be able to save my life, do something, see how it played out and be able to reset it if I want with no consequence.MC: What superpower do you think you WOULD have based on your personality?
AS: So I have a theory that everyone actually does have a very low-grade superpower but they are so low-grade you don’t even notice it. Like I have a friend whose credit cards are always demagnetized. So I think he must be emitting a low-grade electrical charge that’s so subtle it only does that. I think mine is that I incept nicknames really well. I’ll call a coworker something and it will stick for like 15 years. I must have like a light mind control because they aren’t even always good nicknames.MC: How has your job affected your writing?
AS: A lot. I work for Pixel Berry now. And we do mobile games with stories, like choices, and I wouldn’t be in YA if it weren’t for this job. When I graduated college and wanted to write horror, I thought I was going to be the next Stephen King…and it would be easy, but it wasn’t at all. Nothing was working and then I just managed to get this job writing for this video game company, where I had to write games for high-schoolers. I had before that only written adult horror, and had no idea how to do it, so I had to unlearn everything I knew about storytelling and relearn something totally different: and I loved it. I love being funny and writing about teens. Also, because at my job everything gets revised constantly, as a result I’m very easy with editors. I will change anything, I don’t care. It’s made me very adaptable to feedback.MC: How did your experiences in high school shape your life?
AS: I went to essentially Nerd High. It was a private high school and it was where all the tech people sent their kids. I think having that environment with smart and supportive teachers and a very nurturing environment cultivated my creativity, and left me open to that sort of thing.MC: In your book you deal a lot with perceptional bias. So how have your beliefs changed as you have went through life?
AS: I was always raised to be very skeptical, and very individualistic. I think that informs Royal Bastards, with the idea of questioning your family and questioning your beliefs. One of the weird things I think that has happened in the world is that things have gotten less nuanced, by circumstance of what’s happening in the world. When I wrote Royal Bastards in 2014, politics were so different that I was like, this will be a book without a clear good guy or bad guy because politics are hard and ambiguous. Now I’m like oh yeah, there’s bad guys…they march with torches. Things have become less ambiguous but more passionate as well.MC: What is your favorite word?
AS:I think most of my favorite words are actually in Russian. Russian words just sound great. The russian word for hippo, for example, is begemot. It such a better word than hippo, which is so “who cares”.MC: What advice would you have given to your younger self?
AS: The advice I’d give to myself is the same advice I’d give to all writers. Read and write a wide variety of things. Read from perspectives that totally aren’t yours, and write and read genres that aren’t the ones you usually would. It’s very easy for authors to get stuck in one specific genre and become so deeply immersed in those tropes that you rely on them as a crutch. The best thing that ever happened to me was being forced to do middle-grade comedy instead of horror.
Andrew Shvartsbookpeople teensinterviewRoyal Bastardsteen press corpsttbfTTBF 2017ya fantasy
Shvarts, Andrew: ROYAL BASTARDS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 15, 2017): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Shvarts, Andrew ROYAL BASTARDS Hyperion (Children's Fiction) $18.99 6, 6 ISBN: 978-1-4847-6765-8
In this book readers follow a troupe of bastards, some royal and some not, on an epic adventure to save their lives and attempt to stop another great war. White, illegitimate half siblings Tillandra, 16, and Jax, 17, are looking forward to the black princess Lyriana's visit to the castle, Tilla's noble father's, which coincides with a visit from white Lady Hempstedt and her by-blow, Miles, and the Zitochi leader and his brown-skinned bastard son, Zell. The excitement fizzles when they witness Tilla's, Miles' and Zell's parents kill the princess's uncle and escort. Fleeing for their lives, the bastards, plus Lyriana, must now outrun their parents (who wish them dead), protect the princess of their realm, and try to prevent further loss of life on both sides. It's a promising setup. Readers may find themselves jolted out of Shvarts' medieval-feeling fantasy world by the characters' use of modern slang, as well as by Tilla's modern mindset. Regardless, Shvarts brings readers along on a daring adventure with this motley crew, who become as one over its course. Tilla also grows throughout the book, and readers learn more about the other characters that adds dimension. Being a bastard means people expect the worst, but only one of them will be willing to betray the group of friends. Shvarts creates a diverse world with distinct geography and subcultures for this series opener, though tired tropes of the "savage" creep into the depiction of the Zitochi. Adventure-loving fantasy readers will eat it up. (Fantasy. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Shvarts, Andrew: ROYAL BASTARDS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2017. PowerSearch,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A489268513/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=80ea80c1. Accessed 24 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A489268513
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Royal Bastards
Cindy Welch
Booklist.
113.18 (May 15, 2017): p52. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Royal Bastards. By Andrew Shvarts. June 2017.352p. Hyperion, $18.99 (9781484767658). Gr. 8-11.
The bastard's table was Tillandra's usual place when her father entertained royalty, and one night she is joined by several bastard sons, including one from a neighboring estate and another from the feared Zitochi tribe. Everyone is shocked when Princess Lyriana requests a seat at the same table. Later that night, accompanied by Tilla's stable hand half brother, the group heads through secret castle passageways to the ocean, where they unexpectedly witness a treasonous act that turns their world upside down. Offered up as murderers and traitors, their only hope is to get the princess to safer territory in order to prevent a second Great War. This is entertaining, standard fare: a motley band of strangers in a distant time works together, and, with a bit of magic, they confront a greater force. Shvarts includes the requisite unlikely attractions and treachery, but the narrator is a determined young woman, and many of the main characters are people of color in a situation where that isn't a defining characteristic, it's just who they are. A solid, refreshingly diverse fantasy adventure. -Cindy Welch
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Welch, Cindy. "Royal Bastards." Booklist, 15 May 2017, p. 52. PowerSearch,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A496084867/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=ace600f4. Accessed 24 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A496084867
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Royal Bastards
Publishers Weekly.
264.16 (Apr. 17, 2017): p70+. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Royal Bastards
Andrew Shvarts. Hyperion, $18.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4847-6765-8
Sixteen-year-old Tillandra Kent is the bastard daughter of Elric Kent, a high lord; it's unlikely that Elric will ever legitimize Tilla, but until he disowns her, she enjoys royal privileges. During a banquet honoring princess Lyriana Volaris and her uncle, archmagus Rolan, the princess eschews Lord Kent's company to dine with Tilla and her fellow bastards, Miles and Zell. Seeking adventure, Lyriana persuades her tablemates to sneak out of the castle. They meet up with Tillas half-brother, Jax, and head to the beach, where they witness Rolan 's murder and overhear plans for a coup. The teens are spotted and flee; when morning comes, they learn that the perpetrators have faked Lyriana's death and framed them for both crimes. With combat looming and a bounty on their heads, the group ventures forth to warn the king. First in a planned series, Shvarts's action-packed debut champions diversity, counsels perseverance, and highlights the human cost of war. The pace is zippy, Shvarts's mythology is rich, and while the overall tone skews breezy, the conclusion packs thrills and a serious emotional wallop. Ages 14-up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Royal Bastards." Publishers Weekly, 17 Apr. 2017, p. 70+. PowerSearch,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A490820879/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=88f8e143. Accessed 24 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A490820879
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Shvarts, Andrew. Royal Bastards
Sarah Lorraine
School Library Journal.
63.6 (June 1, 2017): p113. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
SHVARTS, Andrew. Royal Bastards. 352p. Disney-Hyperion. Jun. 2017. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781484767658.
Gr 9 Up--As the bastard daughter of Lord Kent of the Western Province, Tillandra has always lived between two worlds, that of the nobility, where she strives for recognition and acceptance, and that of her stablehand half brother Jax, where she is free to swill wine and run wild. When Princess Lyriana, daughter of the royal family to whom Tilla s father was forced to swear allegiance, disregards social etiquette by sitting at the Bastards Table during a banquet to honor her visit, Tilla is thrown into the company of the model of a perfect royal daughter, along with fellow bastards Zell, a barbarian Zitochi warrior from the north country, and bookish Miles. When this ragtag group of misfits encounter a sinister plot to overthrow the royal family, they are catapulted into a life-and-death mission to save Princess Lyriana, as well as themselves, and rescue the kingdom from an inevitable and bloody civil war. Elements such as magic and deadly mythical creatures will be familiar to fans of the fantasy genre, but the book's hurried plot and crass language paint a confused picture and give the narrative a disjointed feel. The result is a novel that strives to include every possible element of the genre, rather than a captivating fantasy adventure. VERDICT A strictly additional purchase.--Sarah Lorraine, J. Sterling Morton High School, Cicero, IL
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Lorraine, Sarah. "Shvarts, Andrew. Royal Bastards." School Library Journal, 1 June 2017, p.
113. PowerSearch, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A493916147/GPS?u=schlager& sid=GPS&xid=17cd0887. Accessed 24 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A493916147
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- The Turnaround Blog
https://theturnaroundblog.com/2017/05/26/qa-with-andrew-shvarts/
Word count: 1235Q&A with Andrew Shvarts
Royal Bastards Final Cover
We just LOVED Royal Bastards so much so that we had to discover more about the author responsible for bringing the world of Tillandra into existence! What a treat we had when his response came back to us and we learnt of his witty, humble and inventive character!
Find out more in my blog post and read an exclusive preview of the book here!
How did the idea for Royal Bastards come about? (A common question but one I feel must be asked!)
Like pretty much everything I’ve written, Royal Bastards was the combination of two separate ideas. First, I wanted to write a story about a disparate group of teens forced to go on the run, like if The Breakfast Club got framed for murder. I also really wanted to write a YA Game of Thrones, something that captures that series’ politics and violence and intrigue, but framed explicitly in teen terms. Then I realized: these two ideas were the same story! It was like a light going off, and I had a first chapter written by the end of that day.
Were there any personal reasons behind the storyline of the novel?
Royal Bastards is, thematically, about a point in adolescence that I have a lot of strong memories of, the moment when you realise your parents aren’t the heroes you’ve worshipped as a child, when you’re first torn between the world you were raised in and the challenging ones you’re still discovering.
I noticed on your biography that you are colour-blind and tone-deaf, can I ask if this affected your writing of Royal Bastards in any way? If so, how did you overcome those obstacles? Additionally, what latent superpowers do you think you possess as a result of your condition?!
Heh! Well, the only effect of being tone-deaf means avoiding karaoke, but color-blindness does bring some unique challenges. One of the consequences of being color-blind is that you learn from a very early age to distrust your own perception, and to rely on others for information. I do think that shaped my worldview and my writing; I think a lot of villainy, both fictional and real, comes from being too certain of your own righteousness, too unwilling to see outside your perspective.
As for superpowers, the only ones I have are never getting cold and being really good at nicknames. You can fight crime with that, right?
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal and why?
When I was in college, my friends and I all designed Game of Thrones-style house sigils for ourselves. Mine was a penguin with an axe in each hand, and the motto fight not flight. So… double-axe penguin.
Did you have to do any research for Royal Bastards? If so, how did you go about finding it and why did you need it?
I tend to write by the seat of my pants, winging my way towards an ending, so I am shockingly embarrassingly bad at research. Most of what I do happens after the fact, as a way of verifying that what I’ve written makes sense; I’ll write a scene where a character travels a hundred miles on horseback, then sheepishly look up how fast horses actually travel.
Why a female protagonist and not a male one?
You know, when I conceived of the story, it was always with a female protagonist; a male one didn’t even occur to me. I think in part, it’s because when you think of stories of bastards, the default is male, whether Jon Snow or Ramsay Bolton. I was drawn to the idea of a female bastard, and how her story would play out.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing about characters from the opposite sex?
I can’t say any part of it was too difficult; characters are characters, so it’s just a matter of understanding their wants, fears, and motivations. That said, when it came to writing some of the more, ahem, intimate scenes, I definitely had to read some romance novels for research.
People talk about writer’s block but have you ever experienced reader’s block before?
Absolutely. Between writing, working, and being a father to a 2-year-old, it’s really hard to find time to read, and I’ve gone long spells where I just can’t find the energy to crack a book. It’s a real bummer.
What authors have influenced your writing? Why do you think that is?
I think the authors that have most influenced me are the ones who manage to merge the deep world-building and rollicking action of fantasy with the wry, the personal, the deeply human. I think some of the biggest influences on Royal Bastards are Scott Lynch, Leigh Bardugo, and George R. R. Martin, because of the way they stretched the boundaries of fantasy while finding original stories to tell.
What do you want readers to take away with them after reading Royal Bastards?
Besides a burning desire to buy the sequel? I hope they come away with some thoughts on what I’d call the book’s main themes: the power of diversity, the danger of ideology, and the vital importance of independence.
Can we expect more from Tilla in the future?
Yes! Royal Bastards is the first book in a trilogy, so you can expect to see more of her soon!
Finally, is there anything that you’d like to shout out to your fans?
OMG I HAVE FANS! HIIIIIIIIIIIII!
*Spoiler ALERT!
There’s one scene in particular that stands out to me. When Tilla decides to oppose the game playing and scheming that is a frequent practice of those surrounding her, I wonder if there was a reason why Tilla turned her back on this common way of doing things. Was it just because she’s a strong minded and rebellious teenager or was it to make a point about other characters in the genre that normally fall into this process to achieve their goals?
Hmmm, interesting question! There’s definitely a bit of rebellious teenager in there, but I do think it touches on some of the book’s bigger ideas. By rejecting ‘playing the game’, Tilla is more broadly rejecting the way of thinking of both her father and the Volaris, the way of thinking that puts ideology and nationalism first, and sees the humans caught in the middle as pawns. It’s short-sighted, in its own way, but I think it’s also noble; I wonder how much better the world would be if more of us kept our teenage rebellion alive, and didn’t settle into patterns and routines that perpetuated greater injustices.
Keep a look out for our QUIZ coming up next and find out which royal ‘bastard’ you most suit.
Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts is published by Disney-Hyperion on 6th June 2017
- YA Books Central
http://www.yabookscentral.com/blog/author-of-the-week-chat-with-andrew-shvarts-royal-bastards-plus-giveaway
Word count: 1238Author Of The Week: Chat with Andrew Shvarts (Royal Bastards), Plus Giveaway!!
Monday, 29 May 2017
Beth Edwards, Assistant Blog Manager
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Author Of The Week: Chat with Andrew Shvarts (Royal Bastards), Plus Giveaway!!Welcome to our weekly special feature post, Author Of The Week!!
Each week we will be interviewing a different YA author and highlighting their upcoming release!
We will also be hosting a giveaway of the book we are highlighting!!
Introducing Andrew Shvarts, YABC's Author of the Week!!
ANDREW SHVARTS is has a BA in English Literature and Russian from Vassar College. He works for Pixelberry Studios as a designer, making mobile games like High School Story, Choices, and more. Andrew lives in San Jose, California, with his wife, toddler, and two kittens.
Website * Twitter * Instagram
Meet Royal Bastards!!
Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.
At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.
Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.
Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead--with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.
The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .
Amazon * B & N * Indiebound
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Royal Bastards is actually the combination of two totally different ideas. For a long time, I’ve wanted to write a YA Game of Thrones, a fantasy story that’s full of politics and intrigues and violence, but specifically focusing on the teen characters. I also had another idea I couldn’t quite figure out, a contemp story about a group of teens from different cliques who get framed for murder and have to go on the run. The breakthrough came out of nowhere: these two ideas were the same story!
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
Ooooh, it’s so tough because I love all of them, but I think my favorite is Jax, Tilla’s stablehand half-brother. In a story where everyone else is struggling with their identities, torn between their families and their beliefs, Jax is a rock. A dirty-joke-loving, kind-hearted rock, who can talk tough but is a big softie inside. Jax has many of the best jokes in the book, and is, in a lot of ways, the emotional heart.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The novel! When I wrote it, ROYAL BASTARDS was actually called THE BASTARD TABLE, which is a major plot-point but less evocative. Humorously enough, when I sold the book, I was sure I’d have to change the title because I didn’t think they’d publish a book with BASTARD in the title; turns out ‘BASTARD’ was fine, but ‘TABLE’ was the problem!
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
There’s a scene towards the back of the book, when the main cast all hang out on a tower and play a drinking game, that I think is my absolute favorite. It’s one of the funniest in the book, but there’s also a ton of heart in it, and it’s the calm before the storm of the finale. I’m proudest I think because it feels like the moment when all the characters shine their brightest, where you can see the group at its most bonded and the young adults they’ve grown into.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you've learned as a writer from then to now?
By far the most important lesson I’ve learned as a writer is to be versatile and avoid the genre trap. When I graduated college, all I wanted to do was write literary horror and scifi… and none of it even came close to selling. I only got a break when I landed a videogame-writing job that forced me to write light-hearted YA comedy. It forced me to unlearn everything I knew, to understand the basics of a story free from the tropes and clichés I’d sheltered myself in, and led me to discovering the joys of YA. I encourage all writers to write and read as broadly as possible.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
Is it immature to say “the T is a sword”? Because… THE T IS A SWORD.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I just wrapped up the rough draft of the sequel to ROYAL BASTARDS, so I’ll be diving deep into revising that. I’m so excited to share it with the world!
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
Avoiding spoilers, there’s a character death in this book that’s the hardest I’ve ever written. I’d really grown attached, and it’s such a painful sudden scene that it took me at least three tries to write. I don’t regret It, but It was not easy.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
I had a hard time with Zell, actually. He’s so different from me: stoic, guarded, dedicated to his faith and his people. As a frequently-emotionally perpetually-questioning loudmouth, I struggled the most to capture his voice, his character.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
I never get cold and I roll really well in boardgames?
Royal Bastards
By: Andrew Shvarts
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
Release Date: May 30rd, 2017
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Four winners will receive a copy of Royal Bastards (Andrew Shvarts) ~ (US Only)
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- BiblioSanctum
https://bibliosanctum.com/2017/06/04/ya-weekend-royal-bastards-by-andrew-shvarts/
Word count: 884YA Weekend: Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Book 1 of Royal Bastards
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (May 30, 2017)
Length: 352 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
This book was a ridiculously entertaining read, putting me in mind of Marvel’s Runaways set in a fantasy world that is rife with Game of Thrones vibes. Characters tragic and comic, heroic and despicable all live within these pages, including beautiful princesses, warring kings, powerful mages, and of course, royal bastards.
As the daughter of Lord Kent of the Western Province and a Castle Waverly servant, sixteen-year-old Tillandra has always lived in a world of in-betweens. While common born and not his legitimate heir, Tilla was nonetheless loved by her father, who filled her childhood days with rides over the fields or to the forest, teaching and showing her amazing things. But ever since Lord Kent got married in a political alliance, that all changed. Once his new wife gave him trueborn children, his time spent with Tilla gradually dwindled to the point where he now barely gives her any attention at all. Tilla instead spends her day with her half-brother Jax, hanging out at the stables and drinking with the servants, though in her heart she still secretly dreams of the day her father will notice her again and perhaps even legitimize her as a trueborn Kent.
When the book opens, everything at the castle is abuzz with activity as preparations are made for the feast in honor of the visiting princess of Noveris from the ruling Volaris Dynasty. Although Tilla is invited to attend, her place in the great hall is with the castle’s other outcasts which includes Miles, an illegitimate son of House Hampstedt, as well as Zell, a Zitochi from the north who has been disowned by his warchief father. When Princess Lyriana makes her appearance though, she is nothing like any of them imagined. First, she shocks everyone by choosing to sit with Tilla and the others at the “Bastards’ Table”, and before long, she has convinced them to sneak her out of the castle after the feast to show her Castle Waverly’s beaches. However, what might have started out as an innocent late night excursion quickly turns into a nightmare as Tilla, Jax, Miles, Zell and Lyriana stumble upon a scene they were never meant to witness. Now their own parents have put a price on their heads, and the group is forced to go on the run to protect the princess and deliver back to her people. If they succeed, they’ll be able to clear their names, expose a vast conspiracy, and stop a war. But if they fail, it could spell the end of more than just their lives.
Royal Bastards was an interesting book—uncomplicated to be sure, and also unabashedly trope-filled. The writing style also has a simplistic tone and uses modern language, which initially made me think this might be a Middle Grade novel, until the swearing, violence, and sexual innuendoes quickly disabused me of that notion. For all that though, I found the author’s straightforward approach refreshing. What you see is what you get, with little attempt to be subversive or break the mold. I got the sense that Shvarts was just trying to tell a fun story about characters that he genuinely cared about, and in turn I was captivated by this book’s carefree aura, willing to be swept into whatever adventure awaits.
I’m happy to report the results were pleasantly and surprisingly positive. Sure, the characters are all textbook YA—the plucky heroine who yearns for parental approval, the broody warrior who’s always surly because “no one understands me!”, or the nerdy bookwork whom everyone dismisses until his knowledge saves all their lives, etc., etc., etc.—but happily, their individual charms more than make up for that. Despite the clichés, every single one of the Bastards had wormed their way into my heart, and by the end of the book I found myself invested in the outcome of their fates. Every triumph filled me with celebratory cheer while every loss and betrayal made me fume and rage inside. I very much cared about what happened to these characters, which made this one an easy read. Together with the fast pace of the plot, I just flew through this book.
I probably enjoyed Royal Bastards more than I should have. But books like this prove you don’t have to reinvent the genre to be successful; sometimes familiar ideas work just fine when you combine them with a story that’s fun to its very core (though you should still brace yourself for some eventual tensions and heartbreak) and characters who have great chemistry and infectious personalities. There are several major twists, a couple of which I coming a mile away, but that didn’t stop me from having a blast. If all this sounds good to you, I highly recommend giving this book a try. Personally, I can’t wait for the next installment in this planned trilogy.
- Swoony Boys Podcast
http://www.swoonyboyspodcast.com/3-reasons/3-reasons-to-read-royal-bastards-by-andrew-shvarts
Word count: 8603 Reasons to Read … Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
May 30, 2017 by Meg
Leave a Comment3 Reasons to Read...
So many books come out each week that it makes it hard to decide what to read. We want to make that a little bit easier on you by sharing our favorite releases from the week and telling you our top 3 reasons why we think you’ll love them too!
This week our selection is Royal Bastards by, Andrew Shvarts. Are you ready to hear more about this book and its author? Here we go…
3 Reasons to Read … Royal Bastards by Andrew ShvartsRoyal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
Published by Disney-Hyperion on May 30th, 2017
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 352
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4.5 StarsBeing a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.
At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.
Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.
Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.
The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey...
3 Reasons You Should Read…
Royal Bastards by Andrew ShvartsThis one has been high up on our ‘we-need-this-book’ list for a while now! We were lucky enough to get an advanced copy from Disney and we are so glad we did. It’s pages are filled with action, adventure, some magic and romance, and lots of fantasy elements that we loved.
We love a good slow-burn romance and that’s exactly what we got with Tilla and Zell. As much as we loved the swoon that these two provided, we also really loved the relationship that Tilla had with her half-brother, Jax.
This one should definitely be on your to-be-read list if it isn’t already. You won’t want to put it down until it’s over and you’ll be sad when it ends. We aren’t sure if a sequel is in the works, but we are really hoping so. This one closes in a way that left us wanting more, more, more.
Rating Report
Cover
5 Stars
Characters
4.5 Stars
Plot
4.5 Stars
Writing
5 Stars
Swoon
4 Stars
Overall: 4.5***Meet Andrew Shvarts***
Author Andrew ShvartsAndrew was born in the Soviet Union, but immigrated to the US when he was four years old. He doesn’t remember much of life there, but has retained a love for weird Russian cartoons and a total indifference to being cold. Andrew’s passion has always been storytelling, in all its forms: fiction, cinema, narrative video games, and long, rambling, frequently-exaggerated anecdotes. He spent his childhood devouring books, and his adolescence watching straight-to-DVD horror movies and playing jRPGS. Andrew graduated from Vassar College with degrees in English and Russian literature (aka, the two languages he was already fluent in). While there, he was falsely accused of releasing a bear on campus, and once stole a fence and buried it in a swamp. Since 2008, Andrew has worked as a videogame writer, producer, and designer. His focus has been on narrative mobile games, especially episodic ones. Some of these titles include Choices: Stories You Play, Surviving High School, Cause of Death, and High School Story. Andrew is both color-blind and tone-deaf, which probably means he has some latent superpowers he just hasn’t discovered. He is represented by the amazing Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties. Andrew lives in San Jose, California, with his wife, son, and two cats. The best videogame of all time is Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This is not a fun fact about Andrew, but an objective truth of the world.
- Paper Trail YA
http://www.papertrailya.com/reviews/royal-bastards-by-andrew-shvarts
Word count: 689'royal bastards' by Andrew Shvarts
6/16/2017
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Thank you so much to Disney-Hyperion for sending me an ARC of Royal Bastards in exchange for an honest review!Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.
At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.
Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.
Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.
The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .
Royal Bastards was SO MUCH FUN to read. Seriously, I picked this one up after months of looking forward to it, and the next thing I knew I was 50 pages in and hadn't come up for air.
This book is ridiculously fast-paced, and I mean that in the best way possible. Obviously, from my above statement, it starts off fast. Royal Bastards keeps up that same pace until the climax, where things go absolutely crazy and it. is. fantastic. It was a roller coaster full of corkscrews and loops with no boring bits. I actually loved reading something that was full of high action/emotion scenes, one right after the other, because I feel like that's something that has been missing in my literary life lately.
The characters were also a lot of fun. The modern day phrases they used in a sword-fighting, lords-and-ladies fantasy setting are hilarious. Towards the middle of the book I felt like some of the actions of certain characters were becoming a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed the directions everyone went.
I felt like the overall story lacked a little bit of depth. On one hand, this added to it being a really fast-paced, easy read. On the other, it left a bit of a wall between me and the story itself. I couldn't really throw my mind into what I was reading the way I wanted to. That said, I feel like this could easily be overcome in the sequel. And, obviously, it didn't stop me from reading and enjoying the book.
I loved the ending of Royal Bastards, I felt like Shvarts unapologetically took the story in the direction it needed to go and it just felt right. I can't wait for a sequel(according to book Twitter there is one in the works so YAY). I think Shvarts is an author to keep an eye on, and Royal Bastards is a really strong debut. I definitely recommend it to fans of fantasy, but it's very unique and I really think it could appeal to those who don't typically read fantasy as well.
Order ROYAL BASTARDS today: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
- Fansided
https://culturess.com/2017/05/29/dark-materials-prequel-title-hero-revealed-new-excerpt/
Word count: 766Review: Royal Bastards, Andrew Shvarts
by Cheryl Wassenaar6 months agoFollow @haegorgeous
Although Royal Bastards has a couple of interesting choices in terms of narration and word usage, the plot and characterization make this a great read.In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been interested in Royal Bastards for quite some time. Yours truly put it on her list of books to read this year and everything. Having it moved up a couple weeks, then, to just this past Tuesday, was not a problem.
As I stated back then, our protagonist is Tillandra, who ends up meeting a princess and some of her fellow bastards, used here not in the swearing sense but in the sense of “has illegitimate parentage.”
After reading the book, though, I’m of two minds on it all. On the one hand, the plot actually ends up working really well, strengthened by a couple of author Andrew Shvarts’ choices in characterization. On the other, something about the narrative voice Tilla has doesn’t gel quite as well with the chosen genre. Ultimately, I’ll come down in favor of the good, not the not-so-good, and give it 4/5 stars.
The GoodOne of perhaps the best things about this book is that it allows Tilla and Lyriana, the aforementioned princess, to be friends, but it doesn’t immediately mash them together and make them best friends right away. Instead, Tilla (and, one suspects, the reader) has to come to like Lyriana and find positive things about her. Shvarts doesn’t pit them against each other, either, and although there are a couple other key relationships that matter in the novel, I’m perhaps most excited to see how Tilla and Lyriana continue growing together.
That pun might be slightly inadvertent, but it does bring me to my next point. Shvarts doesn’t waste time trying to establish every single tiny detail of how the magic system works in the world of Royal Bastards. A reader learns just enough to be dangerous. That opens up a lot of different avenues to explore in future novels, should future novels be happening. Additionally, it’s nice to not have exposition clobber a reader over the head with 12 different types of magic.
Although I can’t spoil too much for the sake of this review, I particularly enjoyed how Shvarts resolved what could have become a bog-standard YA love triangle. The choices in characterization made it feel like a strong moment overall. In fact, one could even read it as addressing some issues of toxic masculinity. Hopefully, this trend also continues.
Finally, the core five characters: Tilla, Lyriana, Jax, Zell, and Miles all have their own discrete, distinct characteristics. They don’t all just magically get along, either. Tilla and Lyriana just happen to be the best example of a working friendship.
The Not-So-GoodNow we get to the part that had me scratching my head a bit. Generally, with the fantasy-style of setting Shvarts has chosen, there are, shall we say, expectations for language usage. Tilla often sounds more like a 16-year-old starring in a modern-set novel. It’s particularly apparent in her narration. However, she’s also the only narrator. It doesn’t ruin the reading experience. Moreover, Shvarts doesn’t suddenly start dropping the language shift out of nowhere. It’s right there in the first chapter, actually. Here’s an example:
“Besides. Why would I ever walk across the courtyard like a sucker when there was an awesome hidden tunnel I could sneak through?” (Kindle location 93; page 7 in advance proof)
Once you get used to the mix of quote-unquote “standard fantasy dialogue” and this, it’s really not bad or anything and indeed often quite funny. It just seems like a strange choice to begin with, and it asks a seasoned reader to make some adjustments to other expectations. In that sense, it actually serves one of the greater points of the novel about how things should be and how they actually are.
The RecommendationRoyal Bastards left me eager to see what comes next. (In case you may not have noticed, I would actually like there to be a next novel here.) It has a lot going for it, provided that you can adjust to the different word choices Shvarts employs throughout.
Next: 20 times Thor was the best Marvel superheroRoyal Bastards is out now via Disney Hyperion.