Attention, lovers of historical fiction and Chinese dramas! This one’s for you! Joan He’s about to release her new novel, Sound the Gong, a historical fantasy reimagining Three Kingdoms. And trust us: it’s worth the wait. You can see for yourself in our in-depth review of Sound the Gong!
We’re hyped for the conclusion to Joan He’s Kingdom of Three duology. And without further ado, here is our author interview with Joan He herself!
Welcome to The Honey POP! To get things started, can you share three fun facts about yourself?
Thanks so much for having me! I was born in the year of the rat (and thus love all rodents), I’m a carbohydratarian (potatoes ARE a vegetable), and I know way too much about figure skating (even though I can’t skate for my life).
The Kingdom Of Three Duology
Congratulations on the upcoming release of Sound the Gong. How are you feeling now that your Kingdom of Three duology is nearly complete?
It feels pretty surreal, to be honest. Next to getting published at all, publishing a series has always been a big dream of mine. I wanted a series for my debut, which was not meant to be, but it was probably for the best, because series are hard. I think the only reason I was able to pull off the Kingdom of Three duology was because I originally envisioned the plots of both books as one big plot. That’s the other surreal bit—that the story I’ve wanted to tell will finally exist as a whole.
We fell in love with Strike the Zither in 2022, and we’re so excited for the release of book two. What do you think new readers should know about Strike the Zither and Sound the Gong?
To start, the duology is a reimagining of Three Kingdoms, a work of historical fiction. That means that the original characters were based on real people. They’re not myths! But they are definitely bigger than life, and that’s something I wanted to play with in my version, especially when it comes to the character of Zhuge Liang. Why do readers accept his all-powerfulness? Is it because he’s legendary in the culture? Is it because we take his genius at face value? Do we tend to suspend our disbelief for main characters because we call their feats “agency?” Well, let’s subvert that!
The cerebral seed of the premise aside, the duology is my love letter to the epic war dramas I grew up watching with my parents, such as Water Margin, to found family, intellectual rivals, and forced proximity (get ready for this one in Sound the Gong in particular)! It’s about how people contain multitudes, from our main character to her greatest enemies.
Sound The Gong
Can you compare writing the second book to the first? We’ve been following along with you, and we’re still shocked at the research you’ve done for these novels.
Writing the second was both more stressful and joyous than the first. Stressful, because it’s been a while since I’d first drafted Strike the Zither, so it was a labor of craft to mimic my prose from 2017/18—I want people who read the books back-to-back to feel like they’re reading one continuous story! But it was also joyous because this was my first time in a while writing to a very specific audience—the fans of Strike the Zither. It brought me back to my fanfiction days!
We love how you capture the complexities of war and alliances in Sound the Gong. What are some of your favorite moments from the sequel?
Just like the first book, the zither scenes are some of my favorites, so definitely a particular duet. There’s also a moment (somewhat heated) that I’ve known would happen since first drafting Strike the Zither, and it was so satisfying to finally put it down on paper. Truly, I have so many favorite moments—from Zephyr finding something…surprising in a box, to a certain tussle with a pirate, to the coda. Even though this sequel is darker than the first book, I still had so much fun with it, and I hope readers can laugh a bit in between all the torture about to go down.
We’re also obsessed with the zither being a mode of storytelling. Do you know how to play any instruments? What was your process for translating music into words?
I played the violin back in school! As a whole, music is a huge part of my writing process. When I’m stuck on a scene, the right song or soundtrack can often help me find the flow again. When writing, I focus on how the music makes me feel. Sure, there are technical elements of what notes are being played and how, but it’s the emotion behind it that’s the most important to me. Does the music evoke images or smells or tastes? Does it force the listener to be in the present, or is it nostalgic? In Strike the Zither and Sound the Gong’s case, what does the music make the player feel? Why are they playing? For entertainment? Expression? Some ulterior motive? Answering questions like these helps me translate the music into prose.
The divine intervention adds such a rich and unpredictable layer to the story. Did you have to make any major changes to the ending because of this?
Funnily, it didn’t require major changes to the ending (compared to the source). The divine element actually underscores the classic’s biggest takeaway: Human life might be short, but history is long and often cyclical.
The most major changes to the ending came instead from the character growth that Ren undergoes. Let’s just say that her inspiration character, Liu Bei, died before he ever came to the same crossroads that she ultimately does.
Her Characters
Between Xin Ren, Cloud, and Lotus, which of the three sworn-sisters do you relate to most?
Lotus! As a kid, I definitely shared her impulsive heart.
How much do you see yourself in the main characters, Zephyr and Crow?
I see a lot of myself in Zephyr. Both her struggles in book one and two—with her identity, and later on with figuring out if her goal is worth the sacrifice—are struggles I’ve faced as a teenager and young adult.
Physically, I also see a lot of myself in both Zephyr and Crow, especially compared to the types of characters that often populate war-heavy fantasies (like Ren, Cloud, and Lotus!). I like to joke that I’d be the first to die in any apocalypse because I’m literally blind without my glasses (I always identified with Piggy in Lord of the Flies).
The angst between these two makes us want to scoop them up and tell them everything will be alright. If there was one thing you could say to Zephyr and Crow, what would it be?
Finding someone who can understand you is so rare, so cherish them!
(I say this as the author of the angst, hehe.)
What’s Next
Part of why we love your Kingdom of Three duology so much is our lifelong love for timeless palace dramas like Princess Pearl and Story of Yanxi Palace. What are some of your comfort shows?
I love both those dramas too! I also really love xianxia such as Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and The Starry Love (a recent favorite). My all-time comfort C-Drama is an old, romantic, period one called Wrong Carriage, Right Groomsman.
We see you also have a special epilogue available to readers! Can you tell us about the bonus story and how it came about?
The idea to write one actually came to me when I was finishing The Starry Love. From the viewer side, I was like “NOOO! It can’t just end like that! We need a bonus episode!” Of course, as an author, I can totally appreciate the poeticism of not spoon-feeding the reader the heavily-implied ending. Less is more is my personal motto when it comes to art. But sitting in the consumer’s/viewer’s seat can be good and healthy sometimes!
While the tone of STZ/STG is definitely darker than The Starry Love—and a super sugary ending would probably ruin it—I started asking myself why not a sugary bonus epilogue? That way, I won’t ruin the ending for those who love it for its bittersweetness and would find another page sacrilegious. But I can also offer comfort to the different breed of reader, the reader who needs closure. And look, after 700+ pages of angst, I get it. So that’s what the bonus is—closure for certain birds of a feather (IYKYK).
Aside from Sound the Gong, are you working on anything at the moment? If so, can you give us a hint about it?
I’m researching a true historical YA—no fantasy elements this time! And I just have to say, whatever research I did for the Kingdom of Three duology has been a walk in the park compared to this one *sweats*. But I’m always up for a challenge. I want to thank my readers in advance for waiting for me!
Just for fun, which book trope is your favorite one to read and write?
I’m game for any trope so long as it’s done in a way that’s surprising, but thinking of my comfort C-Drama pick—marriage of convenience is always fun! I haven’t found the right book to write this trope myself yet, but maybe one day.
Truly, I have so many favorite moments—from Zephyr finding something…surprising in a box, to a certain tussle with a pirate, to the coda. Even though this sequel is darker than the first book, I still had so much fun with it, and I hope readers can laugh a bit in between all the torture about to go down.
Joan He
You can preorder a copy of Sound the Gong by Joan He here!
We had a blast interviewing Joan He about her new novel, Sound the Gong! Have you read the Kingdom of Three duology? What do you think so far? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
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