A young girl who failed to become a sorceress and was bound by a spell to slavery tricks an entire university of sorcerers into believing she's the avatar of a goddess. She leads a group of them on a journey to find the one spell that could free her from her bonds, in a complex hoax involving goddesses, lies, betrayal and a terrifying mist that threatens to wipe out all magic on earth.
Thorns evolved from an intense, epic, indigestion-related dream into an illustrated novel by a series of small miracles. Its protagonist, Piper Pax, is neither hero nor villain, but instead occupies the border between good and evil, human and sorcerer. Thorns is a novel about self-realization, morality, and insecurity in a constantly changing world.
Set in a universe where sorcerers rule over the human race, and indeed consider themselves a different species from those who cannot do magic, the world of Thorns is a place of sharp divides and boundaries. Harsh punishment awaits those who step outside of normality. Against all odds, Piper must lie her way to the literal ends of the earth. Lying to those who oppressed her is easy - lying to the people she cares about is the real challenge. (It doesn't help that she's hopeless at magic, either.)
This novel is rated PG-13 for mild swearing and some adult situations including drinking, smoking and fighting monsters.
AP Hill is a writer/illustrator from Richmond, VA. She first began writing at the age of six. Unsatisfied with illustrating other people's ideas, she creates her own for personal enjoyment. Apart from writing and drawing, she enjoys cooking, people-watching and rainstorms.
Thorns is generously edited by Nicholas Hill, for the occasional payment of homemade chili.
Please write to author@thornsbook.com. Questions may be posted on the site later, so be polite!
Online serial illustrated novel? What the heck?
It is a fairly untouched media, I'll admit! It was the best way to do this, so I'm going for it. It's a little lonely being the only free illustrated serial online fantasy book in (apparently) the universe, so if you have a site that's similar, I'd be relieved and obliged to hear about it.
How are your illustrations made?
I do all my work by first sketching on paper, scanning, and then painting/drawing over it in Photoshop 7.
What were your inspirations for Thorns?
There are way too many to name. I am a big fan of Terry Pratchett. Reading his Discworld novels made me think about fantasy in a new way, namely, "not taking it too seriously." But I also admire a lot of the more "serious" fantasy writers, like Philip Pullman, Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula K. Le Guin.
What are your inspirations for art?
They come from all over, but I know I've been poisoned by Disney and Dreamworks a great deal. I also really love the artist Brett Helquist, who illustrates A Series of Unfortunate Events. I developed my style of painting in a roundabout way. I love flat colors, and am very much inspired by the artist Eric Carle, who illustrated The Very Hungry Caterpillar among other things. Mark Rothko was also a big influence on my painting style. I admire children's art and have a growing collection of children's books, even though I don't have any kids!
Did you name two of your characters after characters on "Charmed"?
I did not; this is a rather damning coincidence, but my characters bear no resemblance to the similarly-named witches on the show Charmed. I just really like P names, and apparently so do they. I've never watched the show, but it sounds good.
Why are you publishing Thorns online instead of in print?
Good question! One, it's free to publish online. Two, I feel that books should be made available to everyone, no matter where they are. I am not writing this to make money; it's just a hobby of mine, and it keeps me sane. Also, with publishing online, I get complete control over the layout and presentation, so I can slip in illustrations if I so choose. Bear in mind, just because I'm publishing this online does not mean that it's OK to copy or reproduce this story anywhere else without permission.
Can I copy a small selection of this book and put it on my blog/website/anything else?
You have to ask permission first, but I will generally be okay with it, provided you link back.
May I print out the pages to read? Screens make my eyeballs hurt.
You may indeed do that. You may not, however, sell the pages, or print many copies while yelling "extree! extree!"
What fonts do you use on the site?
I use a font called "Zud Juice" for the links and chapter titles, etc. For my signature I use a font called "Windsong." Both can be found on dafont.com.
So are you like a serious writer or what?
I definitely don't think I am! I write for my own enjoyment, for practice, and to give myself material to illustrate. I've never published anything, unless you count some short poems in my high school literary magazine. And I don't.
Do you do link exchanges?
I am willing to do link exchanges if your website is related to mine! Drop me a line and we'll talk about it.
