Latest on the Tuath Dé
You may have noticed on the home page of this website that there is a new book out by this blog’s creator. It is by now something of a tradition to do an interview with the book’s author upon a new release—since being blessed/afflicted with multiple personalities makes such an interview possible. So, with no further ado let the interrogation begin…
ScottsMovies: Greetings and congratulations on the new book. So, how many does this make now. Two? Three?
Scott R. Larson, author: Ha ha. Very funny. You know very well this is the sixth book. That’s pretty impressive, isn’t it?
SM: Yeah, sure, whatever. When I look at most of the online sellers’ websites, though, it looks like there are seven books.
SRL: That’s because one of those isn’t actually a book. It’s my short story “Rendezvous” that I wrote after the last book. And thanks for mentioning the sellers. You can find links to all the main ones (and my own online bookstore) on my book blog.
SM: Oh, yeah, “Rendezvous.” That was the one about the two women having coffee in a hotel in San Francisco. Say, I was wanting to ask you some questions about that…
SRL: Can we please get back to the new book, please?
SM: Oh, yeah, right. So, this book is called… Last of the Twat Day?
SRL: Ahem. Rude. It’s Last of the Tuath Dé.
SM: I’m sorry, but what does that even mean?
SRL: It’s a variation of the Tuath Dé Danann. They were a supernatural race in Irish mythology.
SM: Oh, so this is a book of old Irish myths.
SRL: No. I just appropriated the name. I’ve created my own mythology for this story. As explained in the novel, the Irish names are used because the ancient Irish did the best job of preserving the old forgotten stories.
SM: Got it. So the old stories were preserved—even though they were forgotten.
SRL: Yeah, that’s it.
SM: And this is a sequel to Searching for Cunégonde.
SRL: You really need to focus better. No, this is a sequel to The Curse of Septimus Bridge. It follows the further adventures of the Demon Hunters Sapphire and Izanami, who were introduced in the first book.
SM: Oh, yeah, I really liked them. And what about that Russian Demon Hunter, you know, Koschei? I think he was my favorite. Is he back as well?
SRL: If you actually did read The Curse of Septimus Bridge and paid any attention, then you’d know that Koschei died a horrible, grisly death in that book.
SM: Oh, yeah, right. So, he isn’t in the new book.
SRL: I didn’t say that.
SM: Good. Well, thanks for clearing that up. So, what’s the story in this one? There’s probably a lot about Demon Hunters fighting demons.
SRL: Well, oddly enough, for a book about Demon Hunters, there’s precious little demon fighting in it. You see, something weird is going on in the universe, and the demons have stopped crossing over into our world.
SM: Well, that doesn’t sound very promising in terms of action and adventure.
SRL: That’s because there’s a threat that’s a lot worse than demons. The Old Ones are coming back.
SM: Yeah, but how dangerous can they be? I mean, they’re… old.
SRL: It just means that all of existence will get wiped out. That’s all.
SM: Okay, then it does sound serious. So, will a lot of our favorite characters from the first book be back? I mean, besides Koschei, who is dead but may or may not be back anyway?
SRL: Yeah, many of them are in this—even ones you may or may not have expected to see again. Maybe even some that were only mentioned before in passing. And there are quite a few new characters. There are Masters and Mages and a Necromant and a Software Wizard. And a cult called the Zen’ei.
SM: And of course, Septimus Bridge will be back, right? After all, he was the title character of the first book.
SRL: Again, I refer you to the events of the previous tome. Septimus valiantly sacrificed himself and was trapped forever in the Netherworld. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
SM: So who or what exactly is the last of the Tuath Dé?
SRL: You’ll just have to read the book to find out.
SM: I’m guessing this is mainly going to be Sapphire’s story. Or as we first knew her, Lola Blumquist, a nice young Scandinavian-American woman from Ballard in Seattle.
SRL: Actually, this is really Izanami’s story. We learn a lot about her previous life, how she became a Demon Hunter, and why she has major trust issues. But we do also learn a lot more about Sapphire too. Suffice it to say, there’s a whole lot more to her than was apparent in the first book.
SM: And does the story have a happy ending? I really love a happy ending.
SRL: Uh, well, about that… Some early readers said the last chapter brought a tear to the eye. It’s not what you’d call a happily-ever-after ending. It’s more of a the-adventures-are-going-to-continue kind of ending, but things are definitely going to be different for our main characters by the end of this story than they were at its beginning.
SM: Well, thanks for talking to us today. One last question. Are you going to put together another one of those nonsensical dream casts for the movie version of the book that’ll, of course, never get made?
SRL: Me? No. That’s your job. You’re the blogger.
-S.L., 15 August 2022
If you would like to respond to this commentary or to anything else on this web site, please send a message to feedback@scottsmovies.com. Messages sent to this address will be considered for publishing on the Feedback Page without attribution. (That means your name, email address or anything else that might identify you won’t be included.) Messages published will be at my discretion and subject to editing. But I promise not to leave something out just because it’s unflattering.
If you would like to send me a message but not have it considered for publishing, you can send it to scott@scottsmovies.com.