Tracy Deonn Books In Order

Publication Order of Legendborn Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Tracy Deonn is a NY Times bestselling American writer of contemporary, fantasy, and young adult stories. She is particularly famous for writing the novel, Legendborn. Deonn is also the winner of the prestigious Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award. Her debut novel has achieved worldwide success in a very less time and has helped her establish herself as a prominent author. Deonn is quite proud of her achievements so far and is hopeful of taking her success to new heights in the times to come. She is grateful for all the support she has received from her fans across the globe and says that she will always keep them in mind while writing her future novels. Author Deonn was brought up in central North Carolina. The typical interests of her younger years included Southern food and fantasy books. She used to devour them in equal quantity.

Deonn completed her studies at the Chapel Hill-based North Carolina University and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in performance studies and communication. After that, she was employed in the field of live theater for some time. It was followed by working in K-12 education and the production of video games. However, these jobs came to an immediate halt when Deonn found her interest in writing. She has enjoyed the work very much and intends to continue doing it for the rest of her life. When Deonn is not busy with her writing indulgences, she can be found speaking on panels at fantasy and science fiction conventions. Sometimes, she spends her time reading fanfic, arranging puppy playdates, enjoying her favorite ginger-flavored beverages, etc.

Aside from writing, Deonn serves as a champion for representation and diversity in media and science fiction and fantasy literature. In her first novel, Legendborn, Deonn has given a modern reimagining of the legend of King Arthur and has filled the story with mystery, mayhem, and magic. There is also an exciting love triangle that will surely keep the readers captivated until the end. In writing Legendborn, Deonn had to do a lot of research. She had to work through tons of stories written with the King Arthur legend and seep through them to arrive at the story that she wanted to tell. Author Deonn also teamed up with a couple of Ameican medievalists, one Welsh medievalist and language consultant, and also consulted with a few people with the knowledge of swordplay for creating the fight scenes.

For developing the story’s setting in a school campus, Deonn had to undertake lots of primary sources consulting and research about the University of North Carolina’s campus. She even drew on her own experiences there when she was going through double graduation. A typical writing process of author Deonn involves listening to favorite movie soundtracks and using incense of her favorite smells. One soundtrack that she had on rotation while creating Legendborn was the score of Captain America: Winter Soldier. Another score that Deonn likes very much is Jupiter Ascending. Deonn finds both the scores as having epic, big feel and helping to bring out emotions.

In Legendborn, the readers follow the story of Bree Matthews, who becomes a secret society member to discover the truth about the death of her mother, but ends up getting much more than she had hoped for. The plot is filled with brilliant twists & turns, fantastic characters, intriguing romance, and detailed magic, all of which work very well to make the book an exciting read. Deonn has depicted Bree as a fantastic central character. She has shown her as a gutsy, smart, and brave girl. Her love story with Nick is quite exciting to read. An important aspect of the book is the depiction of magic. It forms one of the highlights of Deonn’s debut novel. The readers get to learn about Onceborns, Shadowborns, Merlins, etc. Another interesting aspect of this novel is the excellent way in which Deonn has blended historical and modern fiction. Besides fun and magic, Deonn has also given important messages. She has given poignant and powerful descriptions about grief, which seem quite real and honest. It shows the brilliance in Deonn’s writing and her mesmerizing skills as a storyteller.

The debut book of the Legendborn series written by author Tracy Deonn is entitled ‘Legendborn’. It was released in September 2020 by the Margaret K McElderry Books publication. This book features Bree Matthews in a central role along with other important characters such as Selwyn Kane, Nick Davis, Alice Chen, etc. The book opens by mentioning that following the death of Bree’s mother in an accident, she does not want to live in her childhood home or preserve the memories of her family. At the young age of 16, Bree Matthews goes on to sign-up for a residential program at UNC-Chapel Hill. This program is best suited for bright high school students and seems to be a perfect escape for Bree. But, when she sees a magical attack on the first night at the university, she thinks that she has made the worst decision of her life.

Within the first few days, Bree learns everything going on inside the campus. The magical attack was done by a flying demon that feeds on the energies of humans. A strange teenage mage, who likes to be referred to as ‘Merlin’, tries to wipe out Bree’s memories of the flying demon’s attack, but fails. The flying demons and other creatures like them are hunted down by students who are members of a secret society called ‘Legendborn’. When Merlin was attempting to clear Bree’s memory, he accidentally unblocked her own magic. This unique magic uncovers a buried memory related to Bree’s mother’s death. Bree is able to see that another Merlin was present at the hospital on the night her mother breathed her last. She becomes certain that there is more to the case than what the police has in its report. Bree Matthews makes up her mind to do whatever it takes to unravel the truth. She even infiltrates the Legendborn secret society with the intention of using it for her mission.

Bree comes across Nick, who has self-exiled himself from Legendborn and doesn’t like the group. Together, they indulge deep into the secrets of Legendborn and also get drawn very close to one another. Then, it is revealed that the Legendborn are the descendants of the knights of King Arthur and they are gearing up for a magical war coming in the near future. Bree wonders if she is willing to use her magic to join the Legendborns in their fight or take down the society and continue searching for the truth about her mother’s demise.

One Response to “Tracy Deonn”

1. Kristy Duncan: 1 year ago

   100% team Alice and team BreeLooking forward to next installment, you have become one of my favorite new authors that can balance history while being progressive with characters and plot, I hope someone is looking at making movies of this series! Lots of love! Kristy Duncan

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