So, the history and mythology in Demon Magic! This book starts out with a fun one—the wreck of the Klondike Gold Rush steamboat A.J. Goddard. I could talk your ear off about this boat. I won’t, though. Promise. But just a little bit of info, since it is just so cool.
Contrary to what fiction tells us, most shipwrecks don’t survive in good conditions underwater. Lake Laberge is actually part of the Yukon River in a section where the river widens. The water is so cold and fresh that the wreck was in amazing condition. Almost fully complete, just the way I described it. But that’s not the only cool thing about the A.J. Goddard. By far, one of the neatest elements is that this boat was carried over the Chilkoot Pass by men, women, and mules in the mountains of British Columbia. Carried over the mountains! Amazing. But if they wanted to reach the gold fields as soon as the ice melted on the Yukon River, that was the fastest way to do it.
And the boots that I mentioned on the lakebed? Those boots are really there. The boat’s engineer, Julius Stockton, took them off as the boat was sinking and jumped overboard to swim to shore. Fortunately, he made it and wrote about the wrecking event. If you want to know more about the A.J. Goddard or see some amazing pictures, just Google it or check out my Pinterest page at www.pinterest.com/HiLinseyHall. There’s even a National Graphic documentary about the boat.
The other cool historical element in this book is Dinorwic Quarry in north Wales. This is the location of the dragon cave, the Morgen, the Coblynau, and the crazy mining carts. Dinorwic Quarry is a real quarry that was in operation for about three hundred years. It’s abandoned now—slate hasn’t been mined there for decades—but it’s pretty much just as I described it, with the massive ramps and old railroad track for the mining carts. The track disappearing off the cliff because of a rockfall is even there. The lake is actually situated farther away, though. You don’t have to cross it to reach the ramps.
However, I put the lake there because I wanted to include some Welsh mythological figures. Morgens are beautiful, immortal women who live in the water and lure men to their doom. Morwena, the Morgen in this book, was somewhat more helpful than a usual Morgen, but only because she was grateful that Del and Roarke had gotten rid of the Afanc. Afanc are Welsh water monsters who also lure people to their doom, and Morwena wasn’t pleased that the Afanc was stealing her business. Coblynau are Welsh mining gnomes, but they are usually helpful and not quite so murderous (though they can be blamed for rockfalls). However, that doesn’t make for a fun trip up a mountain, so my Coblynau were given the power to kill with a touch, a power that they normally don’t possess.
That’s it for the historical influences in Demon Magic. However, one of the most important things about this book is how Del and her deirfiúr treat artifacts and their business, Ancient Magic. This is the part of the Author’s Note that is written in Magic Undying, so if you’ve read that, this’ll be a repeat. But it’s important enough that I like to include it in all my books. My conscience wouldn’t rest otherwise.
As I’m sure you know, archaeology isn’t quite like Indiana Jones (for which I’m both grateful and bitterly disappointed). Sure, it’s exciting and full of travel. However, booby-traps are not as common as I expected. Total number of booby-traps I have encountered in my career: zero. Still hoping, though.
When I chose to write a series about archaeology and treasure hunting, I knew I had a careful line to tread. There is a big difference between these two activities. As much as I value artifacts, they are not treasure. Not even the gold artifacts. They are pieces of our history that contain valuable information, and as such, they belong to all of us. Every artifact that is excavated should be properly conserved and stored in a museum so that everyone can have access to our history. No one single person can own history, and I believe very strongly that individuals should not own artifacts. Treasure hunting is the pursuit of artifacts for personal gain.
So why did I make Del and her deirfiúr treasure hunters? I’d have loved to call them archaeologists, but nothing about Cass’s work is like archaeology. Archaeology is a very laborious, painstaking process—and it certainly doesn’t involve selling artifacts. That wouldn’t work for the fast-paced, adventurous series that I had planned for Dragon’s Gift. Not to mention the fact that dragons are famous for coveting treasure. Considering where the deirfiúr got their skills from, it just made sense to call them treasure hunters.
Even though I write urban fantasy, I strive for accuracy. The deirfiúr don’t engage in archaeological practices—therefore, I cannot call them archaeologists. I also have a duty as an archaeologist to properly represent my field and our goals—namely, to protect and share history. Treasure hunting doesn’t do this. One of the biggest battles that archaeology faces today is protecting cultural heritage from thieves.
I debated long and hard about not only what to call the heroines of this series, but also about how they would do their jobs. I wanted it to involve all the cool things we think about when we think about archaeology—namely, the Indiana Jones stuff, whether it’s real or not. But I didn’t know quite how to do that while still staying within the bounds of my own ethics. I can cut myself and other writers some slack because this is fiction, but I couldn’t go too far into smash and grab treasure hunting.
I consulted some of my archaeology colleagues to get their take, which was immensely helpful. Wayne Lusardi, the State Maritime Archaeologist for Michigan, and Douglas Inglis and Veronica Morris, both archaeologists for Interactive Heritage, were immensely helpful with ideas. My biggest problem was figuring out how to have the heroines steal artifacts from tombs and then sell them and still sleep at night. Everything I’ve just said is pretty counter to this, right?
That’s where the magic comes in. The heroines aren’t after the artifacts themselves (they put them back where they found them, if you recall)—they’re after the magic that the artifacts contain. They’re more like magic hunters than treasure hunters. That solved a big part of my problem. At least they were putting the artifacts back. Though that’s not proper archaeology, I could let it pass. At least it’s clear that they believe they shouldn’t keep the artifact or harm the site. But the SuperNerd in me said, “Well, that magic is part of the artifact’s context. It’s important to the artifact and shouldn’t be removed and sold.”