Romantasy books (a portmanteau of romance and fantasy) are the publishing phenomena of the moment. Their wide-spread popularity encouraged N.J. Rodman to create the two-part Oculus Duet.
Her novels feature all the fantasy hallmarks of magic, mythology and high stakes adventure. However, a steamy love story is central to the narrative.
The Sherwood Park author is doing a signing of the two-part series, Secrets and Songbirds as well as Feathers and Thorns, at Bailey Books on Saturday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
Rodman has invented a universe with two worlds trapped in a battle for survival. Entheas is inhabited by humans and Anistera is ruled by all-powerful celestials or angels.
As the tale opens with Secrets and Songbirds, an archeologist is murdered. He’s left his daughter, Soren, instructions to find and destroy, the Oculus, a magical object with the power to destroy Entheas. As Soren discovers the Oculus’ secrets, she is kidnapped and imprisoned at Mountains of Thorncrest.
Her captor is the Prince of Ravens, the son of Adriel, her father’s killer. After Soren discovers the reason for her imprisonment, what she believes to be true unravels as she faces a world she didn’t know existed.
In Feathers and Thorns, Adriel, the new leader of Anistera and King of the Ravens is betrayed by his son. The Oculus is stolen form Thorncrest Manor and the celestial vows vengeance and war on the people of Entheas.
The Prince of Ravens fights against his father’s treachery and attempts to mend things with those he cares most about. He journeys across provinces and reconnects with allies including Soren, but just as their relationship blossoms, Entheas faces destruction.
As the series’ architect, Rodman has borrowed from her East Indian heritage and infused the storyline with numerous South Asian practices. Soren, for instance, is half East Indian and it is customary to wear white at Indian funerals.
“I really wanted to include familial elements, and I wanted to dedicate Secrets and Songbirds to my grandfather. I was very close to him and when he died, people were hugging and touching me. I felt very uncomfortable, and I used that for Soren when her father dies,” said Rodman.
She’s also adapted an Indian festival for the story and developed a trading centre where buildings are carved out of trees.
The author wrote her first book when she was 12, a sappy tale of vampires and boys. But as her skills developed Rodman discovered her strength in writing political papers including one titled History of Hinduism.
In 2024, the voracious reader consumed 116 books. Several years prior, she fell into the romantasy genre after reading a story that didn’t click.
“I asked myself, how would I write it,” she said. The ideas rapidly accumulated but sorting them out was a challenge. Her ex-husband suggested she write one chapter.
“I wrote a chapter of Secrets and kept going and I haven’t been able to stop.”
Bailey’s Books is located at 29B Rowland Cr.
