Sinead O'Hart on Sword of the Sun and novels for kids inspired by mythology

We are thrilled to be sharing Sword of the Sun by Sinead O'Hart with our Cockatoo subscribers this month, a magical and atmospheric novel with a contemporary setting and relatable characters, all inspired by ancient Irish mythology. We were completely absorbed by the stunning storytelling which combines a modern family drama with myth, fantasy, action and adventure. Here author Sinead O'Hart tells us about being inspired by her childhood love of Irish mythology and her favourite children's books based around myth and folklore. 

What inspired you to write Sword of the Sun?

Like every book I’ve written, it’s hard to pin down one exact thing which inspired me to write Sword of the Sun. Everything I read, or see, or experience, goes into my ‘Creativity Cauldron’, and this is the place all my stories begin. (Did you know you have a Creativity Cauldron, too? I keep mine in my head, but maybe yours is somewhere else in your body! It’s the place where all the story seeds, the ‘ingredients’ of a new idea, bubble away until they’re ready. And these story seeds are things that inspire you, whether it’s a funny word you spot on a billboard, or a strange seagull doing an odd hop-dance along a fence, or a clever-looking dog out for a walk all alone, or a brilliant stone that feels like it has magic trapped in it… If you pop them all into your Creativity Cauldron, you never know when they might decide to turn into a brand-new story.) For Sword of the Sun, I was inspired by my love for Irish mythology, which I’ve had since I was a child – the mythological tales of my country are so exciting that they’ve always made my brain fizz. I was also inspired by a book called Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O’Shea, which might be hard to find now, but if you can track it down through your library, I recommend it. It’s one of the books that made me who I am – and which gave me my love for Irish mythology! And I was also inspired by the sheer wonder of the Irish landscape, especially the Burren (where Sword of the Sun is set). I haven’t visited the Burren for many years, but it left a huge impression on me.

Are any of the characters or elements of the story inspired by real people or events?

I think my character of Ben is quite like me in many ways, though of course he’s his own person (if you can say that about a fictional person). He’s a sort of nervous over-thinker, a fan of research and the need to know things, with lots of the same traits I have, and he’s very close to my heart. His life is very different to mine, though – I don’t have any older siblings, and I never had to move house in childhood, so he’s experiencing things I never did. I feel very close to all the characters in this story, and to me they’re all very real and very true – so true that I can close my eyes and be among them, listening to them talk and bicker and be a family – and maybe they are based, unconsciously, on bits of myself or people I know. There is a real historical event at the heart of this story, too – the Night of the Big Wind, which happened in 1839 and was remembered for generations, up to my own. I remember being told stories of the Night of the Big Wind as a child, even though nobody was alive during my childhood who had also been alive in 1839 (I’m not as old as I look!) I wanted to do my own little part in keeping the story going, and to put this momentous event into a book. The story is set in a real place, too – or, at least, a fictionalised version of a real place. I’m sure anyone who lives in the Burren would disagree with my geography, but I hope I’m allowed to mix things up a bit for the sake of the story!

We love the setting! What research did you do to help create the landscape the book is set in?

First of all, thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Secondly, my research was largely based on my own memories of going on trips to the Burren when I was younger. I went on a school trip to the Burren in primary school, and then my parents brought my brother and me there on a family holiday a few years later. We visited the karst, we (carefully) explored the limestone landscape and looked at the amazing flowers, some of which don’t grow anywhere else in Ireland, and we took in the vastness and beauty of this unique place. We also had the chance to visit the Ailwee Caves, which is a large cave network beneath the surface of the Burren. It has been made safe for people to visit, and it’s really fascinating. My main memory of it is being brought into a cavern and the tour guide turning out the light – and we were in total darkness! Instead of there being a tiny sliver of light, enough for your eyes to adjust, this darkness was complete. It was an incredible experience. We also got to examine the stalactites and stalagmites, which were really amazing. These are formed when water flows through the limestone and leaves tiny deposits of calcium and minerals on the floor and ceiling of caves, and over time they gradually form tall, tapering, candle-like structures. I supplemented these memories with internet-based research, looking into karst landscapes and into the Burren in particular. Not only is it a karst landscape (one which is characterised by the large, flat, limestone formations on the surface), but it’s also a glacio-karst landscape, so it features things that were deposited by glaciers many millions of years ago, including rocks and drumlins. It was great to be able to ‘see’ things like the top of Mullaghmore and the Poulnabrone Dolmen, all via the internet. I really love this part of Ireland and how majestic it is, so it was brilliant to put it all (or, a version of it) into a story.

Why do you think Ben was able to accept the truth while the adults couldn’t?

This is a great question, and I think it has a lot to do with the difficulty that Ben’s mam and aunt were still dealing with from their own childhoods. I wanted to express how hard it was for Aisling and Niamh to have lost their dad while they were both very young, and for their own mam – Ben’s granny – to have done her best to keep any memory of her husband’s work from them, as she blamed that work for taking him away. So, maybe Ben’s mam and aunt weren’t really able to think too deeply about what was going on, because they were used to pushing aside all thoughts of their dad and what he’d spent his life working on. I think that Ben’s own dad and his aunt Eun-Kyung were just busy, in the way adults often are, trying to raise their kids and work at their jobs and keep everything going, and they probably weren’t paying attention to anything else – though, for me, I loved how Eun-Kyung was so deeply connected to the landscape and seemed to have some idea that things aren’t quite right. Also, Ben’s dreams and the things he sees make him more aware of the deeper secrets in his family, so naturally his need to find things out (maybe, something he shares with his grandad) will mean he’s more open to the truth of what’s happening.

Can you tell us anything about what the future holds for Ben and his family?

What I love to imagine for Ben and his family is that they all get some closure – that Ben can explain to his mam and his aunt Niamh that their dad didn’t abandon them, and that he didn’t want to leave them. I hope Ben shares some of the things he finds during the course of the story with his grown-ups, and that they see how much Brendan  loved his daughters, and how hard he tried to keep them all safe. I love thinking about this, and imagining how much peace this knowledge would bring to Niamh and Aisling. I’d also like to imagine Ben’s family settling happily in Clare, with the boys making friends (and perhaps starting up their own bands and coding clubs!) as well as finding time to visit Dublin and see their old gang. And I love the thought that they have a forever friend, as well as a new cousin, in Ji-Ah – and that she has loads of brilliant stories to tell her baby sisters, once they’re old enough!

Do you have a favourite place to write?

I write in the corner of my bedroom, at a very small desk which holds my laptop, my favourite teddy, a pile of my own books, and usually a random collection of papers/overdue bills/scribbled notes/printouts of stories with scrawled handwriting all over them/sketches or drawings of characters, and goodness knows what else (I really should tidy all that away!) I like to work there because I can see out the window (useful for procrastination when I need to let an idea percolate), and I’m right beside the radiator during the winter, so I’m warm and toasty. I’m not sure it’s my favourite place to write, but I’ll work with what I’ve got!

Why did you choose to write books for this age group?

I love this question, as it’s something I enjoy thinking about. I write for this age group because it’s where my imagination naturally goes when I’m dreaming up stories. I never think up stories for grown-ups, because even though I am one (technically), I don’t think my brain realises it. I love stories about adventure, friendship, family, fun, and excitement, often with magic or mythology or science-fiction mixed in, and stories for children just fit the bill, every time. I love reading stories for children (and I always have done), and so when I want to write something, that’s the form my stories take. I love jumping right into the action, getting to the heart of the adventure, exploring the challenges and the brilliant bits about being the age my characters are, and letting the children be the heroes, saving the day (or the world, or both). Words and stories have been my passion since I was very young – I never remember a time when I couldn’t read, and I’ve been reading to myself as a comfort and as a source of joy all my life. I love connections between words, the history of words and language, the connections between different languages – all of it! – and that enthusiasm spills over into what I do for my work. I try to live my life with a sense of wonder, and there’s no better expression of that than to pour all my excitement and energy into the stories I write. Naturally, this means they turn out to be stories for the best readers of all – children! It’s a privilege to write for young readers, and I’d love to write a book which inspires one of my readers as much as the books I read in childhood have inspired me.

What other books for kids inspired by mythology would you recommend our subscribers read next?

If you haven’t read my book, The Silver Road, you might like to try that one. Like Sword of the Sun, it’s a book inspired by Irish mythology. I also really enjoyed Tolá Okogwu’s books about her character of Onyeka, which are inspired by mythology from Nigeria – the books begin with the brilliant Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, so give them a whirl. For a touch of spookiness with a mythological flavour, there’s Fin and the Memory Curse by Helenka Stachera, which uses a character from Polish folklore to very good effect (at least, it made me shiver!) Of course, there’s also the work of Sophie Anderson, who uses the Slavic folklore of her ancestors as a thread binding all her books together, and there’s a similar feel to the books of Katharine Orton, who uses fairy tale and folklore in her stories too. Victoria M. Adams’ The House at the End of the Sea makes brilliant use of fairy-lore and the mythology of the fae, and it’s a cracking story, too – and you might also enjoy Ross Montgomery’s The Chime Seekers and Louie Stowell’s Otherland, which are also inspired by the folklore of fairies. I also love The Kingdom Over the Sea by Zohra Nabi, which features flying carpets, Jinn, and lots of wonderful magic which seems inspired by the folklore and fairy tales of the Middle East.

Copies of our Sword of the Sun pack, including a copy of the book and loads of fun activities to go with it, are now available for individual purchase. Grab a copy while stocks last!

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