About this episode

Caroline Ailanthus discusses her epic fantasy novel and its connections to democracy and environmental justice.

Host Edith welcomes returning guest Caroline Ailanthus to discuss her new epic fantasy novel The Elf, the Dwarf and the Telegraph: Book One, the first in a trilogy. Caroline explains the story’s large scope and ensemble cast, centered on three protagonists including Gwen, a transgender half-elf with a sword, in a quasi-Roman world on the brink of civil war driven by environmental justice, conservation, science, and threats to democracy. She reads an excerpt depicting a republic’s destabilization and autocratic takeover aided by oligarchs, noting historical inspirations from Sherman, Grant, Lincoln, and Julius Caesar and arguing that environmental problems and political instability are connected. Caroline describes her writing process, research-heavy historical models, spreadsheet character tracking, and structuring one arc into three books, and highlights deliberate Tolkien signals, immersive “history-like” worldbuilding, adult tone without explicit sex, and neurodivergent representation through human/elf/dwarven (“Deger”) neurological differences. 00:00 Welcome Back Caroline 00:54 What the Book Is About 03:42 Fantasy Meets Politics 08:59 Reading the Prologue 11:09 Origins of the…

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