L.D. Colter’s Perilous Gods trilogy (Solaris Nova, 2025) has been generating a lot of attention lately, so I was excited to receive an ARC of the second book in the series, When The Winds Sing. I began reading at a time when I needed stress-relief and distraction from real life, and wow, did this book deliver. The opening images of an old man flying a kite in the midst of a nasty rainstorm grabbed me immediately. The protagonist is easy to care about. His past is woven beautifully into the present-day action, so by the time the shenanigans ramp up, I was fully onboard with him. His relationship with his sister is like a soothing balm, creating a welcome balance between the extremes of the protagonist’s life.
It’s not a spoiler to mention the gods that play a role in this story. And what kind of god isn’t a little infuriating? The gods in Colter’s writing are unique and full of personality, keeping the tension tight with each new unexpected turn.
I often enjoy stories that draw from Slavic folk tales, even though I’m not as well-versed as I’d like. The introduction by Alex Shvartsman provides a nice grounding in the folk tale space, so do read the full intro before diving into the book.
I’m looking forward to the other books in the set. Thanks to L.D. for the review copy and the interview!
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Designed and published by Rebellion Publishing. Art by Sam Gretton.
Myna: Tell us about When The Winds Sing! Who are your characters and what themes do they explore?
L.D.: Alex Orlov is an everyday guy who’s had a long string of very bad luck, starting with doing time for a crime he didn’t commit. Recently released from Pelican Bay Prison in Crescent City, CA, he’s on parole, broke, and living with his sister and her family when an encounter with an older Russian man embroils him in a conflict between three Slavic gods. When his family is threatened, Alex becomes entangled more deeply still, struggling to find a way to keep himself and his family safe without violating his parole and returning to a life behind bars.
Myna: I loved the family dynamic in this story. And the peek into the lives of the gods was fun! I’m interested in your process for developing these relationships. Do the characters & relationships come first for you? Do they develop as you write?
L.D.: Nearly all my book details develop as I write. My usual process is to play around with making notes when a theme or atmosphere catches my interest and then start building plot points around it. At about the same time, I get a sense of the main character and the setting. By the time I have those basics, I know where I want the book to end up. At that stage of planning, I’ll usually start writing.
I know some people like to write a zero draft as fast as possible, so they have a full draft to revise, but I’ve always been a revise-as-I-go writer.
The first few chapters, especially, emerge slowly and pretty well fleshed out, but they still get re-read and refined multiple times. That’s my process for letting the main character tell me about themselves and their world. With each pass, I know more about their voice, backstory, family, and setting so that by the time I start writing the story forward, I’m developing it with a lot of detail to draw from.
I continue that same process of re-reading and revising chapter by chapter throughout the book, using feedback from my long-standing critique partners. By the time I write the last chapter in first draft, I usually have most of a polished second draft completed. When the second draft is finished, I like to get fresh eyes on it, since I have total “can’t see the forest for the trees” perspective at this stage. After that, I take that feedback and do a third and final draft.
Myna: I appreciate the introduction by Alex Shvartsman, placing the novel in context with other Slavic folk tales. Was there a lot of research involved in this book?
L.D.: There was an almost overwhelming amount of research on all the books in this set, but I had a couple of advantages with this novel that I didn’t have with the other two.
Firstly, I set this one in America with a second-generation American character who lives near an area where I lived for a dozen years. (I also made a brief trip to Crescent City, CA while the book was being written to do a little extra research.)
Secondly, regarding the gods and folklore in the book—as my friend Alex pointed out in the foreword—there’s very little documentation on the lore, especially pre-Christian Slavic beliefs and tales, compared to, say, Greek mythology.
I researched all I could, though, and then took what I had and wove a story around it. While I wrote, I stayed in contact with a few Russian and Ukraine author friends regarding culture and language questions. As a final step, I got a full-sensitivity read on the completed draft from one of those friends.
Book One: While the Gods Sleep on sale everywhere Sept 24, 2025
Book Two: When the Winds Sing available for preorder now. On sale Nov 20, 2025
Book Three: Where the Shadows Dwell on sale January, 2026
Myna: How does this book fit into The Perilous Gods Trilogy?
L.D.: I started out knowing I wanted to write at least three books, each one being entirely standalone and each dealing with a different mythology/lore. Book One, While the Gods Sleep, uses Greek mythology and is set in 1958 Athens, but takes place almost entirely in the underworld of Erebus.
When the Winds Sing, Book Two, is based in Slavic lore and set in Northern California.
Book Three, Where the Shadows Dwell, due to release in January, is set in Guatemala and deals primarily with Maya lore, though there’s some blending with other Mesoamerican gods and folklore.
Myna: How did this trilogy come about?
L.D.: As with so much in traditional publishing, a lot of it comes down to good luck. Chronologically, I wrote the Greek book first, then the Maya one, and the Slavic novel last. By the time I’d completed When the Winds Sing, timing was on my side since Solaris Nova had recently opened as an imprint of the speculative-fiction powerhouse, Solaris Books (itself an imprint of the gaming powerhouse, Rebellion Publishing, Ltd.).
Unlike other publishers—where even if you have a series, they’ll usually only consider individual books, even if they factor in “series potential”—Solaris Nova requested series information upfront, including full synopses…and here I was with all three books completed and polished! I was beyond thrilled when I received an offer for the full set.
Myna: Do you have a favorite character from this trilogy? Is there one that was particularly fun (or hard!) to write?
L.D.: There were so many great secondary characters across this set that it’s hard to choose favorites! There were a few in While the Gods Sleep, but the queens were especially fun to write. For When the Winds Sing, using Misfortune incarnate as an antagonist was a treat, and Stribog practically wrote his own dialogue, but my main character’s friend, Mike Murphy, probably got the most love from early readers. In the upcoming Where the Shadows Dwell, one god in particular influenced me to use that lore and was an absolute blast to write. (It would be a spoiler to say which one.) There are so many dangerous deities and demons, though, that the stories provided an incredibly dark and rich tapestry of characters to choose from, and I ended up using quite a few.
Myna: How would you describe your writing style, in general?
L.D.: I write what I like to read: dark fantasy written for adult audiences—sometimes leaning new-weird. Hopefully, readers will find them fast-paced and engaging, with a bit of literary flair to the writing. Gods or powerful creatures interfering in human lives also seems to be a trend in all my writing, as is a tortured hero for the main character (all male across my five novels so far). Apparently, I love me a tortured hero! They’ve all been an “everyman” with no special “chosen one” advantage, which has made them very easy to write into bad situations and very hard to write out of them. I’m pretty mean to my characters, but I love it and cheer them on when they refuse to give up and are able to fight their way clear again.
Myna: Do you have other books or stories you’d like to mention?
L.D.: A Borrowed Hell: Contemporary dark fantasy. A journey story that shows “sometimes you can’t turn back.” (Also on Amazon.)
The Halfblood War: My Western European-inspired, standalone epic fantasy, with fae characters based on the dangerous and capricious Celtic fae.
Myna: Do you have a pet, or other non-writing hobbies/activities? Show us a picture!
L.D.: Writing and dogs comprise pretty much my entire life. (Apologies to my husband of twenty years.) Good thing I have big dogs, since they get me away from my computer for a good, long walk every day.
Myna: Tell us about a recent accomplishment or share some happy news with us!
L.D.: I’ve recently received the fantastic news that Recorded Books is planning audiobook versions for the entire Perilous Gods set! I’ll be sharing more news on that as I get it.
Myna: That’s fantastic! What’s next for you?
L.D.: I already have an idea for a new fantasy book (a single novel, not connected to this set), but due to current obligations, I won’t be able to begin the writing until January. I’m excited to get started on it, though, and keep scribbling notes.
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L.D. Colter has farmed with draft horses and worked as a paramedic, Outward Bound instructor, athletic trainer, roller-skating waitress, and concrete dispatcher, among other curious choices. She’s an author of contemporary, epic, and dark fantasy novels, a WSFA Small Press Award finalist, and a two-time winner of the Colorado Book Award for science fiction and fantasy.
Where to find L.D.: Website, Newsletter, Social Media
Myna Chang 