About the Book

Book: Lumen

Author: J. J. Fischer

Genre: Fantasy (adult)

Release Date: December 5, 2023

What if erasing the past cost more than you were willing to pay?

Having narrowly escaped their enemies, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass continue their search for the elusive Silvertongue, the only one with knowledge of the Reliquary’s whereabouts. But time is running out for Sephone, and with Dorian accused of high treason, the quest takes on a new urgency.

As secrets from each of their pasts drive a wedge between them, Sephone invests all her hopes in finding her homeland, Lethe—where her family may yet be alive. But nothing about Lethe is as she expects, and disappointment, betrayal, and danger await her at every turn.

When the truth about the Reliquary’s curse comes to light, the fragile bonds between the unlikely companions are tested like never before. Meanwhile, Dorian faces a terrible choice: to save the life of one who is beginning to mean more to him than the past he’s so desperate to forget, or to save his beloved Caldera from dangers outside and within.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

J.J. Fischer’s writing dream began with the anthology of zoo animals she painstakingly wrote and illustrated at age five. Jasmine began writing her first proper novel at age fourteen, which eventually became her debut fantasy series, The Darcentaria Duology, which was published in 2021. She is a qualified psychologist with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in clinical psychology. When Jasmine isn’t killing defenseless house plants, she enjoys devouring books, dabbling in floristry, playing the piano, and wishing it rained more often. Jasmine is married to David, and together they make their home a couple of hours north of Sydney, Australia.

More from J.J.

Have you noticed how much less we’re participating in life these days?

Here in Australia, we have a show called Gogglebox where we watch people on their couches watching (and commentating on) our favorite TV shows from the last seven days. Sometimes, you don’t even need to have seen the shows. But it’s fun to watch other people watching TV, often because they have the same reactions we have to particular scenes.

The widespread popularity of a show like Gogglebox is telling because it demonstrates just how comfortable we’ve become with observing and commentating on other peoples’ lives. We’re quick to critique and criticize and dismiss. So much of our human experience is now mediated through screens and technology and social media that we’ve lost a great deal of the beauty and simplicity of life.

How often does a long walk through autumn leaves or a swim at the beach refresh our spirit, yet we rarely get out of the house or away from our busy schedules in order to do so?

In the post-apocalyptic world of The Nightingale Trilogy, people no longer have access to the technology and comforts of the “world-that-was,” so they choose to vicariously enjoy its pleasures by re-experiencing old memories, which can be physically extracted and drunk like potions. Nostalgia is the currency of the day, and the gifted individuals who can manipulate these memories—known as alters or mems—are exceptionally prized.

The female main character, Sephone Winter, is a young slave who can selectively edit memories with a single touch of a person’s skin. But Sephone is increasingly aware that there’s something different about the memories of the old world that she extracts from donors’ minds. They’re much more faded, and less vivid, than the real thing. And she begins to suspect that habitually enjoying these second-hand and third-hand experiences comes at the price of a person’s humanity, self-awareness, and even their capacity to love.

After meeting an old veteran with a first-hand memory of strawberries—who tells Sephone that even this is a shadow of the real thing—she begins a journey to discover what authentic experience really looks like, and if there’s something more to hope for than the faded artifacts of a long-dead world.

Sephone’s discoveries have relevance and meaning for all of us in this world where life’s pleasures are often smoke and mirrors. Since the Fall, our lives are full of counterfeit things. They sound good, they look right—more real, sometimes, than the real thing—but they’re ultimately an imitation that doesn’t satisfy us the way we thought and hoped they would.

As a Christian, I believe that if we rely on counterfeit things to satisfy our souls, we’re always going to end up hungry. As David Foster Wallace famously once said, worshipping the stuff of this world will inevitably “eat us alive.” False truth and false gods always break the hearts of their worshippers.

But unmet needs are a signpost pointing to a better way, a deeper truth. As C.S. Lewis wisely commented: “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

The Nightingale Trilogy is another world, a fantasy context, a different time period. But it’s really us. I hope, as you read, that it stirs in you a hunger for truth, for real things; a desire to connect with the Author of your soul. I can testify that He’s out of this world!

Cherish the Real,

Jasmine

Author Interview

Can you share 5 random facts about you that we will not find in your bio?

Absolutely!

I was afraid of dogs for a long time after a dog jumped at me when I was a child.

I like to sing. At the top of my voice. Any time I am alone. (I can’t sing.)

I have a chronic illness called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).

My favorite animal is the blue-footed booby (look it up, it’s hilarious, and it has BLUE FEET).

I’ve had three near-death experiences (honestly, my parents and husband have nerves of steel).

What does your writing routine look like? 

It’s taken years to get into good habits, but I’m quite a disciplined writer. I’m usually at my desk every day, 9-5 or longer, with breaks for stretching and cups of tea and naps, if I need to. I freelance edit for work, so I usually work on editing projects in the first part of the day, then take the afternoons for creative writing. It works really well for me, because the analytical part of my brain gets exhausted, then I get to indulge the creative side. I’m not sure I could edit or write all day, every day, so doing it this way helps me to be more productive.

If you had to describe your main character(s) in just three words, what would they be?

Sephone Winter: brave, hopeful, loyal.

Dorian Ashwood: kind, passionate, disillusioned.

Cassius Vera: snarky, witty, wounded.

What was the most challenging part of bringing this story to life? 

Definitely the spiritual themes. As a Christian writer, I wanted this to be more than just a good story with interesting characters and a well-drawn world. But I also didn’t want the book to be preachy or club readers over the head with forced spiritual parallels. So I worked for a long time on refining the spiritual aspects, and making sure they brought something very new and different to the book.

Where can readers follow along to see what’s coming next? 

I’m active on both Instagram and Facebook (mainly Instagram), so you can follow me there for updates! (https://www.instagram.com/jjfischerauthor/). You can also visit my website (https://www.jjfischer.com/) and subscribe to my author newsletter if you’d like more frequent updates about writing stuff. Or more pictures of my cat. There are a LOT of those.