Octavia Randolph Books

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Octavia Randolph is an author that has been writing historical fiction since the 1990s, though many of her readers only discovered her work in the 2010s. Randolph writes out of necessity. She spends so much time reading history; the things she learns compel her to produce fiction.

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To the author, writing allows her to make sense of history and to find answers to the ancient mysteries that people have either forgotten about or never heard of. Whenever she writes, she aims to educate and entertain.

Her work involves quite a bit of research. Naturally, she does a fair amount of reading. Randolph devours all the literary material she can find about her subjects and the time periods in which they lived.

But whenever the opportunity arises, she will also visit the locations she writes about. While reading always sparks her imagination, she gets as much enjoyment out of walking the landscapes that her historical figures walked, not to mention handling artifacts.

It is with the knowledge she collects from her extensive research that Octavia Randolph builds the historical settings in which her characters will play. She goes to great lengths to maintain historical accuracy, adding every minute detail she can find. The real work only starts after her world has been fully realized. Only then can she begin populating it with characters and plots.

There is no real structure to her process. That is to say, she does not write in sequence. The author is more than happy to start at the end if that is what she wants to write. Then she will skip to a random moment in the middle of her story if she feels the need.

For the most part, she permits her characters to direct her writing. They tell her where to go and she is more than happy to follow their lead because they have never disappointed her. She always tries to understand the theme of each novel before she starts writing it.

To Randolph, it acts as an invisible pillar of support that keeps her story on the right track. The author is primarily known for the ‘Circle of Ceridwen’ Saga. When she wrote ‘The Circle of Ceridwen’. her first novel, her agent at the time tried and failed to sell it.

Any other author would have given in to the compulsion to dump the novel and start over with something else. But Randolph was one of those rare authors that actually believed in their work. She was attached to her story and its characters and she believed that readers would enjoy it as well.

So she started releasing ‘The Circle of Ceridwen’ serially on her website. That was in 1998. Her belief that the story merited publishing paid off. Over the course of months and years, she built an immense readership that demanded more stories set in the world she had created.

So she wrote sequels. This same audience followed Randolph when she made the leap to the Kindle. Even though she had such a tumultuous publishing history, the author was able to tell her story in the exact manner she had always dreamed of.

Best Octavia Randolph Books

Randolph’s work on the Ceridwen saga was inspired by her intense love for all things Anglo-Saxon and Norse, with some of the best books in her bibliography including:

The Circle of Ceridwen: The Anglo-Saxons had seven independent kingdoms. But then the Vikings came and invaded five. Now the land is at war and the conflict is showing no signs of slowing. Elfwyn, a Saxon Lord’s child, was sold to a Viking War Chief in a marriage that was supposed to cement a peace treaty. She was on her way to a captured fortress to meet and marry Yrling when she came upon Ceridwen, a 15-year-old girl.

Elfwyn took her new friend with her, hoping that the two of them could find peace and contentment in a world so determined to destroy itself.

Tindr: Tindr is handsome and strong. There is no better hunter in Gotland. But he is also deaf. His parents want the best for him but they cannot protect him from the loneliness that threatens to overwhelm him. When a Welsh-Saxon comes to town, she changes Tindr’s life.

When Does The Next Octavia Randolph book come out?

Octavia Randolph doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is To the Sun and was released on September, 1st 2024. It is the newest book in the Circle of Ceridwen Saga Series.

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