They’re all complicated, frustrating, and relatable. Nearly every page you want to shake some sense into him, but you never stop cheering for him. Muzi, a teenager with mind control, makes bad decision after bad decision. Nomvula, a ten-year-old girl coming to grips with her newfound powers commits atrocities worse than the villainess of the story. Any of them could be the antagonist of the story, which I think makes them easy for readers to connect to.

Nicky: I’ve got six main characters who are all very much flawed. DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them? I’d been to Port Elizabeth, South Africa back when I was in college, and I thought it’d be interesting to imagine how the experiences I had there could translate into a work of speculative fiction.Īs far as character influences go, the first character I wrote for this book, a disenfranchised demigoddess working as a nail tech, came to me while I was driving around downtown Houston and saw a salon sign that said “Magic Nails.” I thought about how cool it would be if they really did use magic to do nails, but then wondered what kind of person would be giving manicures if they could do magic…and from that character sketch Sydney was born. Nicky: The initial concept came to me after reading Ian McDonald’s River of Gods, which is set in a futuristic India. DJ: What were some of your influences for The Prey of Gods? Nicky: THE PREY OF GODS is a near future thriller set in South Africa in which a diverse set of characters imbued with supernatural abilities by a street drug called Godsend must band together against a disenfranchised goddess who intends to remake their world and change the fate of humanity forever. I mostly dabble in science fiction, fantasy, and weird–usually all three combined.

Nicky Drayden: Hello! Thanks for having me! Well, I’m a systems analyst out of Austin, Texas who’s been writing fiction for about 15 years. ◊ ◊ ◊ DJ: Hey Nicky! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview! For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself? Today I am interviewing Nicky Drayden, author of the new fantasy, science-fiction novel, The Prey of Gods.

The prey of gods by nicky drayden