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Morinville author completes the trilogy

Just think of a wonderful thought, and there it is. Morinville author Riley Quinn has just released the grand finale in his Lost Boys trilogy. The Dark hit bookstores on June 1.

DETAILS

The Dark: the third instalment in the Lost Boys trilogy

394 pages

$19.99

West Bay Publishing

Visit rileyquinnofficial.com for more information and a link to purchase. Also available at Bookstore on Perron, all Edmonton-area Chapters, and Season's Gift Shop in St. Albert, and in Morinville at The Flower Stop, Higher Grounds, and the Morinville Community Library.

Riley Quinn wasn’t one of those kids who didn’t have direction. Surrounded by books all through his childhood, he developed a strong writing habit straight out of his reading habit. Now only 24, the young Morinville man is already well on his way to publishing glory, as the final instalment of his trilogy arrived on bookstore shelves on June 1.

The Dark completes his Lost Boys saga for the young adult crowd. The good news is you can be an older reader (who is really a kid at heart) to enjoy it for its literary merits, too.

“There's a lot of under-shadowing here. The whole story is a little bit of a metaphor of your childhood where your imagination can just run wild: you can imagine whatever you want and the older you get, that imagination is forced to narrow a little bit,” he said, suggesting that you can hang onto the magic of childhood rather than suffer the repercussions of narrowing your world view no matter how much older we get.

The series, he says, was heavily inspired by a rather popular children’s fantasy tale.

“There's that under-shadowing for sure. With the whole Lost Boys concept, there is a bit of a backdrop of Neverland and Peter Pan and a lot of implications that this might be Neverland. I like to let the reader decide for themselves,” said Quinn.

“I'm a fan of, I think, that entire concept of imagination and childhood tied together. My sister and I like to imagine up a lot of worlds when we were kids. I think Peter Pan really captures that concept of how big you can dream something. That was where a little bit that inspiration came from.”

The story follows a group of boys living in treehouses along a river in a mystical forest with no path out. In keeping with the mystique, the boys have neither the memory of who they are nor how they got there. They must work together though their four clans are always at war with each other. After all, boys in the woods naturally means an elaborate game of playing knights and soldiers.

Here, however, it’s no game: it's real life, Quinn said.

The plot thickens

Over time, they have come to learn that the forest has a consciousness and perhaps an evil motive. It's keeping them prisoners. The larger story arc finds that the boys must not only survive each other but survive their environment as well. After meeting a group of girls in the same situation living deeper into the woods, they determine that a greater effort must be made to overcome all obstacles both internal and external to make it through.

There is no shortage of challenges for them to overcome so it takes all of their wits and strengths working together, especially as The Dark brings a new group into the fold.

It’s all wonderfully creative and fun with something for readers of all ages.

If you’re paying attention when you flip through the pages, the author has even dropped in a few hidden little easter eggs to remind readers of Peter Pan. Quinn has been writing since he was seven, he said, so one could imagine he is delving into his own boyish fantasies in this marvelous tale.

An expanding empire

Quinn was also inspired by some of his literary heroes: Christopher Paolini and Maggie Stiefvater. They also started young, he said.

This author seems to be taking one or two steps more than even they did. He started his own publishing house, called West Bay Publishing, and recently took over the graphic design work, too, as that was where he received his schooling.

Not to be outdone, he has a massive presence on the internet, with all the major social media channels, and his own gift shop that is also doing a growing business as his readership balloons. For The Dark’s release this week, he is doing interactive events and giveaways a-plenty. Check it out on his website at rileyquinnofficial.com/release-week.


Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Ecology and Environment Reporter at the Fitzhugh Newspaper since July 2022 under Local Journalism Initiative funding provided by News Media Canada.
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