Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekha A. Afzal
We have a blog today where the setting of a story becomes the “beating heart of the story”. It’s a fascinating blog!
Dancers of the Dawn: When the setting becomes the beating heart of a story
Zulekhá A. Afzal
The stories I loved growing up, be them from books, films or TV, were the ones where the setting swept me up and became a character in its own right. There are two stand-outs from my childhood: Mary Hoffman’s City of Masks, which is set in an alternate Venice called Bellezza, and the Lord of the Rings films which were filmed against the epic backdrop of New Zealand. Both the books and the film trilogy had me yearning to visit the worlds in which they were set, to escape into the pages or into the screen and discover them for myself. Settings have the power to be so much more than the location where the action takes place. They have the power to transport us to worlds beyond our own.
I have many folders of work in progress manuscripts from over the years, most of them unfinished. But there is one, my debut YA fantasy Dancers of the Dawn, which sits proudly among them all with the all-important beginning, middle and an end. Crucially, each and every one of these projects began with the image of a character in a striking setting. Once that image comes to me, the character and setting become inseparable as, together, they weave the first threads of a shiny new story. Much like a magpie, I find myself drawn towards them, intrigued and wanting to find out more, which might explain the many unfinished WIPs that are waiting to be revisited.
Dancers of the Dawn was no different. I first had the idea when the image of a girl dancing in the desert came to me. She was dancing over the dunes beneath a red sun, and as she began to spin on the spot, sand kicked up her legs as her skirt flared out around her. Then the real magic happened. A gold shimmer emerged from her palms and laced across her body, glittering in the sunlight before turning to flames. The image was a mirage of amber and gold and scarlet. It was like I could feel the heat of the desert and Aasira’s (the title character’s) flames as she danced. Immediately, I knew that there was a deep connection between the magic this new character had conjured and the desert land in which she lived.
The story begins deep in the desert and ends along a rugged coastline. The two settings are as vivid to me as any of the characters you meet. They’re the beating heart of the story and I’d even go so far as to say the country where it’s set, Amaar, has a voice of its own. Perhaps only I hear its whispers, but that voice and these settings propel Aasira and the rest of the dancers of the dawn as they leave the school where they’ve trained as dancing warriors and venture into the world beyond those gates.
It wasn’t until I finished the first draft that I realised the significance of these two key settings within the story, not only through what Aasira discovers about the connection between her elemental magic and the natural world around her, but because of the inspiration behind the make-up of the country where the story is set. When I’m asked if any of the characters are based on me I’m inclined to say no, but if you ask me about the setting, I’ve realised that it’s a reflection of my mixed-cultural heritage.
I often say Dancers of the Dawn is a love letter to dance, but it’s also a love letter to where we come from. From the golden desert decorated with rivers and mountains – influenced by my South Asian roots, to the emerald coastline I plucked from Cornwall – the place where I grew up and will always call home, there are pieces of my heritage scattered throughout the book. If you pick up a copy, I hope that you find yourself whisked away to a world that captures your imagination.
Dancers of the Dawn is out with Rock the Boat (Oneworld) on 6th June 2024.
