A. Yarden: fantasy, world-building, and the forgotten necessity of pure entertainment

The Trepid Trilogy was the biggest surprise of 2023, a series that swept readers into a fantastical world and introduced them to a new genre. 

The first book dives into the intriguing world of Pridge, a modern-day Jewish island stuck in the Middle Ages, as its exiled prince returns home to save his kingdom and its mysterious weapon. In the second, the complex and layered action quickens as the now-returned prince and his protective unit come together and battle relentless evil. (Reviews here and here.)

A. Yarden carves a path within the sparsely populated field of frum speculative fiction and presents entertainment in pure form. Sharp and vibrant writing moves quickly between explosive (slightly violent) battle scenes, heart-stopping escapes, and pivotal decisions that will change the history of a nation. Beneath the snappy banter and suspense, deep character development reveals layers of personality, hopes, and fears that bring well-drawn characters together.

Let’s start with the backdrop of these stories: the island of Pridge. Can you introduce readers to Pridge?

Pridge is an island in its own little space, physically, socially, and economically. And the by-product of being cut off from the rest of the world is that you will fall behind. They've been very intentional about separating themselves; it's a bit of generational trauma, because the people came from such persecution, and they trust no one. 

There are so many types of people that have made Pridge their home. The original natives, then the Sephardic wave of Jews that found the island, and later the European Jews. Everyone is there because they want a place to live in peace and practice religion and live the way they want. And because they all have that same goal, they can work together and accept each other's differences, even if they have different beliefs or levels of religious observance. That acceptance is part of the key to their survival and they know it.

Setting a book in a made-up world seems extremely freeing, but also like a whole extra job. What was that experience like for you?

It was definitely challenging. There's nothing that’s too fantastical, though, so it was easier to envision. I have so much respect for authors who can create worlds where there are creatures that we've never seen, real world-building. I feel like I took the easy way out a little bit.

The Trepid series is set in a world that’s a combination of fantastical elements, combined with specific details throughout the plots that remind us we’re in the real world. Why bother with the real world at all?

The issue with fantasy is that there has to be a force behind it. Either a magical force, or if it's a creature that we never heard of, there has to be a place it came from and an explanation for its existence. Al pi Torah, it obviously can't be magic, and there is no other force with the ability to create besides Hashem. So you don't want to get too far out. I think that’s why there's not that much fantasy in the frum market.

There were some creatures that I originally included that I ended up taking out because I didn’t want to start getting into any halachic issues in terms of, is it Kosher? Why is it never mentioned in the Torah? Are we talking about evolution? It's a can of worms that you don't want to get into.

Is there a real science behind the Fangalas that we’ll come to learn later on, or is it pure fantasy?

You will learn more about what it does, what it’s meant for, and how it works. But I don't ever give the exact science of how it came to be. That remains elusive.

Where did the story of Pridge start, and what have you learned and iterated on through the process of bringing it to our shelves?

The world of Pridge is something I have written stories about since I was eight or nine years old. I had this world in my head that I would imagine, playing them out with friends or siblings. As I got older and matured, the storyline did too. I had the main character 10 years old when I originally started, because when you're 10 you think it makes total sense for the world to be run by 10-year-olds. So obviously there was a maturing in the storyline but the basic world and characters have been in my head for a very long time.

When was the first time you put it down on paper?

The first time I put it down on paper was COVID. It was a great time for dormant hobbies, when we were all just sitting around trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. I was originally writing with a pen and paper, and once I started, I couldn't stop, it was amazing. It's a great way to pass the time, it was super fun, and I would get lost in it for hours.

Because it was something I had from when I was so little, it was very personal to me and I didn't share it with anybody at the beginning. I was like, no one would ever read this, they’ll think I'm crazy, making up a world that doesn't exist. 

A little while ago, one of my children was diagnosed with a serious medical illness, and my whole life went on hold. The story was an escape, in a good way. After a rough day, or while waiting endlessly for nerve-wracking test results, just reading my story would make me laugh, get excited at the plot twists, and lift my mood tremendously.. I remember thinking, maybe there's someone else who could use a distraction from life for an hour. That was the first time I sent it out to a few friends, just to see what they thought. They had their suggestions and ways to make it better, but the overall support was very positive and that gave me the push to submit it to a publication company.

I originally published the raw manuscript on Amazon when I wanted to share it with my friends because they were like, “I read on Shabbos; if you email me a story, when will I ever read it?” So this way they were able to read it in the format of a book and it was much easier to read.

This project is such a personal thing for you. Was it difficult when an editor started going into your files and correcting or changing the way it always played out in your mind?

That’s a touchy question! That first time the editor looked it over and I got the manuscript back full of red lines, it was a huge shock for me. Here I’m thinking I have this perfect story and now it’s being butchered. But the more I read through her comments and suggestions I came to realize that she wasn’t tearing the story apart at all, she was pulling it all together in a phenomenal way. I gained tremendously from her skill and experience and I feel that the editing process (although painful at times) absolutely did make me a better writer. There were definitely some suggestions that I felt differently about, but throughout the process, they were very respectful, they didn't do anything without discussing it with me first. 

As a rule, sequels are worse than their ‘parent book’. Yet Forward March might be even better than Homeward Bound, it feels like Homeward Bound is just getting us geared up for the real thing. How much about the later books did you know when starting out? Can you describe what the plotting is like for a sequel?

I’m what they call a “pantser”, which means I don't plan anything. Even if I plot in my head, as I'm writing, something completely different comes from around the corner that I hadn't anticipated. 

I know what you mean in terms of sequels, but I think this really isn’t a sequel. Sometimes when you read a great story about a set of characters and then read another story about them five years later, you're excited because you remember how much you enjoyed their original story, and then you're disappointed because this is something else, it's a different story. With this, it's one story but divided into three books because we just couldn’t have such a massive book. I personally like the third one best, so I'm excited for you to read it. 

Yechiel’s unit is a group of five teen boys with widely disparate personalities and backgrounds, yet they mesh together seamlessly. Can you talk about crafting this group?

To me, the characters are real, I can envision them easily in my mind. In the same way you can pull any five people out of a room and you'll get five different backstories with five different personalities, and the way one thing happens and five people experience it in five different ways - that's the way people are, and that’s how these characters are.

Sometimes I had something in my head and the character ended up being totally different. When I originally envisioned Red, I thought of him as selfish and immature and thought he’d end up backstabbing the group. But he developed into someone who would never do such a thing, he’s loyal and courageous. 

There were times when I felt something lacking, so I brought in a character to fill that specific need. Yochanan was originally going to be a father figure for Yechiel, who grew up without a father. But as Yochanon’s character developed, I realized he was more aloof. He's running an army, and to do what he does, he needs to have that logical, business-like approach. It just didn't work to have him as a warm, fatherly figure. I felt bad that Yechiel never had that. After I wrote the three books, I went back and wrote Yechiel’s backstory, his story in America, and I brought in Kaz for that reason. Even though Kaz still had a bit of that crustiness, he gave Yechiel encouragement and love in his own way, which I felt Yechiel deserved to have from at least someone in his life.

That’s so interesting that you wrote it afterward because it's presented to the reader in that way too. I liked how the first book threw the reader right in, and then we went back to the backstory later. 

Religion has an interesting place in the series and in the society you created, subtly there, but not mentioned much. Authors have varying views about the role of hashkafa in literature and the role of the “lesson”. What do you think about fiction for the lesson vs fiction for entertainment?

The frum market has an amazing selection of inspirational reads. There are new ones that come out every season, and they're fantastic. You come away feeling like you became a better person just by reading them. 

But sometimes you just want to read something for entertainment.  My original inspiration for sharing the story with the world came from it being such a good distraction for me from the difficulties I was going through. So I don't think anyone will read my book and become a better person from it. But if somebody reads my book and feels energized or refreshed afterward because they were entertained for a bit, that's my goal.

Israel Bookshop was excited about this, which gave me a lot of encouragement. They saw that this was something different and unique, and they felt that the Jewish market was ready for it. They weren’t trying to take my story and fit it into the box, they knew it was out of the box. And I was grateful for that.

Authors often talk about the iceberg that sits below the pages of a story that’s filled with the research and backstories they created that will never reach the readers. What’s something you know a backstory for, but we never got to hear?

I have fleshed-out backstories for each of the characters. You will see some of them in book three, but some backstories just didn't fit in, both space-wise and because I didn't want to interrupt the flow of the story too much. For example, Yerach had an amazing story of how he grew up, which didn’t make it in. 

For the characters to be real to me, they had to have a backstory. The only way I could get to know Red was to flesh out his backstory in my head, even if I never put it down on paper. Even some of the characters on the council, the king of the Middle Islands... Every character whom I felt like I needed to know well, I knew what his life was like from when he was a little kid. 

Something subtle but noticeable is the characters’ sephardi havara. Sephardi representation in frum fiction isn’t so common, was that intentional?

Yes, that was intentional. I’m half-Sephardi, and I do feel like there's an under-representation of Sephardic characters. I don't get into Sephardic foods or customs, just the fact that they do have that heritage, I felt like was important.

Yechiel goes to Yeshiva, where we get a lot of discussion about the Ramchal. Why the Ramchal? 

I love the Ramchal’s works and enjoy his seforim so much. I appreciate the brilliance of his words and how they're still so relevant hundreds of years later. If these are the beliefs that he had, and he was so sharp, smart, and analytical, it makes me proud to share these beliefs.

How do you think the Trepid series compares to Maya Kenan’s Khazar series? Where would you position it in comparison to what the Khazar series does?

I think she does a really good job at imagery, which is something that I'm not so good at. I enjoy writing dialogue more than imagery, which is why my books tend to have a lot of dialogue, and you figure out what's happening by following the conversation rather than it being spelled out for you. But I like reading her style of writing, the way she describes certain scenes so that you could really picture it in your head.

I think the two series are going in two different directions. Her stories have a much stronger religious overtone; you read her books and you feel inspired. Her characters are making sacrifices for their beliefs and things like that, which you don't have in my books. Like you said, religion is more of a subtle undertone. So I do think that there are different focuses. I think mine is a little more American; my bad guys are more bad guys. It's a little more explorative in that way.

When I first saw your book, before reading it, I thought, okay, this is an M. Kenan copy. But once I read it I realized you were trying to accomplish something very different than what she is.

What have you been reading that you can recommend?

Most of my frum reading is biographies, I have been really enjoying the new biography of the Ribnitzer Rebbe. I’m also a huge huge Dina Newman fan, I love anything she writes. 

Can you give us a peek into what we can expect in the third of the Trepid Trilogy?

In the third book, which I’m expecting to be published in time for Pesach, you’ll get to see Yechiel making big decisions that impact not only Pridge but the nearby islands as well. Also, the first two books don't have much of a female presence besides Molly, Gavi’s sister. The third book has a female main character introduced.

Would you consider doing a follow-up or a fourth book? 

I'm definitely considering it. I’m leaning more towards putting out some of the backstories I have for some of the characters that I think could be fleshed out into stories of their own, as a separate book.

I also took the story a bit further, because in my head, there's no beginning or end, I look at it as just following their lives. By the end of book three, there are certain realities for different characters that they have to live with. So I have been writing down a little bit further about how those characters are dealing with those situations.

Endings could be hard when there isn't a beginning, middle, and end. Was it difficult to put your pen down?

I never put my pen down; the minute that last book was over, I was already writing the next. In my mind there's no ending, it’s a chapter ending but not the story ending. But I do hope that the end of book three is a satisfying ending for the reader. We tried to wrap up all the loose ends and give everyone a feeling of closure.

Coming next time: Our first-ever “Ask Me Anything” book recs list! Send in your super-specific recommendation requests for you/your children/anyone in your life, and I’ll curate a reading list for the featured questions. Email your detailed request to frumbooks@substack.com.