Just one week shy of his 19th birthday, Sunshine Coast author Riely O’Sullivan delivered a public reading from his debut novel, Rise of the Lost: Fall of Kings, at the Gibsons Public Library on Jan. 22.
Observing current health orders that limit crowd size, two dozen spectators gathered in-person and online to hear O’Sullivan, a first-year arts student at the University of British Columbia who has lived in Roberts Creek and Port Mellon.
O’Sullivan shared a passage from his work, speaking in a confident baritone with the sun-speckled waters of Howe Sound at his back. The audience remained motionless, their eyes fixed on the author, before peppering him with questions and praise after the reading concluded.
“Riely is an inspiring young local author who not only has an incredible gift for writing, but is an exceptionally engaging presenter and orator,” said Heather Evans-Cullen, the library’s director and organizer of the book launch. “Everyone who attended was captivated with Riely’s reading and talk.”
Rise of the Lost is an adult fantasy novel firmly in the tradition of J.R.R. Tolkein and George R.R. Martin, both of whom O’Sullivan cited as influences. Much like the book’s protagonist, the wastrel Cassius Helladawn, external forces propelled O’Sullivan to begin his own quest.
“This book actually started as a school project,” he said. “Every Grade 11 And 12 student at Elphinstone Secondary has to do something called the Capstone. And I told my teachers: hey, I’m going to write a book. I don’t know if they really thought I’d finish it.”
An unexpected crisis helped prove them wrong. “Once we all went into lockdown, I just started writing,” he said. “I would get up at six a.m. and start writing until I had at least 1,000 words a day. I believe it was Christmas of 2020 when I just sort of sucked it up. I looked at my computer and finished everything.”
His story imagines the battle-scarred land of Edeira, home to the prodigal Cassius and his rival brother, Vidicus. To pursue his destiny as king, Cassius embarks on an odyssey to the distant country of Medearia. The character is transformed through blood-soaked encounters and alliances with creatures previously confined to the realm of myth.
The lure of fraternal reconciliation and prophecy lead Cassius to a conclusion that leaves readers on a knife-edge. O’Sullivan said that the tale will ultimately extend through two sequels. He plans to include the feature most requested by his fans—a map of Medearia’s tortuous topography—in the next volume.
O’Sullivan began talks with Friesen Press, the book’s publisher, even before the final manuscript was edited. He raised money for its publication by launching a crowdfunding website and selling his 2000 Dodge Caravan. Even after sustaining a concussion on the rugby pitch that left him temporarily unable to look at his computer, he remained determined to bring his imagined cosmology—shaped by a passion for Daoist philosophy—to life.
“I feel as if, on an individual level, the recipe for success in life is maintaining the balance between chaos and order,” he said. “By taking the chaos within your life and taming it into becoming order, you will become a stronger individual. That whole concept to me was so interesting that I felt almost obligated to make it a driving force in this world that I created.”
Rise of the Lost: Fall of Kings is available from local bookshops and major online retailers.
