Photo: Bestselling author Marie Lu, explores the intersection of magic and morality, bringing a visual, video-game-inspired intensity to her prose.
Capitalist Greed And Magical Grit
Marie Lu discusses the transition from YA to adult fiction, the alchemical inspirations behind Red City, and how she balances high-stakes capitalist critiques with the deeply personal evolution of identity.
M arie Lu is a storytelling powerhouse whose name has become synonymous with inventive worlds, compelling characters, and gripping narratives. As the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author behind the Legend series, Warcross, The Young Elites, Skyhunter, and her most recent masterpiece, Stars and Smoke, she has captivated readers of all ages with tales brimming with tension, heart, and unparalleled imagination.
With her signature ability to meld high-stakes action with raw emotional depth, Lu has firmly established herself as a literary luminary within both young adult and adult fiction. Known for her vivid world-building and deeply human characters, she consistently explores themes of identity, power, loyalty, and the complexities of morality. In this illuminating conversation, we delve into her creative process, the challenges of transitioning between age categories, and the alchemical fantasies of her latest book, Red City.
Highlights from the Interview
- The Oxford Connection: How a chance discovery in the Bodleian Libraries birthed the magic system for Red City.
- A Shift in Perspective: The creative growing pains of moving from the intimate, linear POVs of YA to the expansive scope of adult fiction.
- Magic Meets Capitalism: Lu’s exploration of corporate greed through the lens of rival magical syndicates.
- The Power Paradox: A recurring theme where gaining social or political power requires the sacrifice of the individual self.
- The 13-Year-Old Spark: The specific newspaper article that turned a childhood hobby into a lifelong professional pursuit.
- Creative Discipline: Why Lu refuses to write on weekends to preserve her mental health and artistic “well.”
The Spark of Alchemy and Urban Magic
The inspiration for Red City grew from a desire to explore modern power dynamics through a fantastical lens. For years, Lu envisioned an alternate version of her hometown, Los Angeles, centered on a protagonist named Sam and the shadow of powerful syndicates. However, the story lacked a cohesive magical core until a chance discovery.
While attending a summer course at Oxford University, Lu spent time in the Bodleian Libraries. It was there that she found a textbook on the history of alchemy. The discovery provided the perfect metaphor: the ruthless pursuit of perfection made literal through the transformation of matter. This became the foundation for a world where magic is a commodity shaped by greed and ambition.
A visionary architect of imagination, Marie Lu masterfully weaves raw human emotion into cinematic worlds, defining a generation of literature.
Navigating the Shift to Adult Fiction
Transitioning from young adult (YA) to adult fiction presented unexpected creative hurdles. Lu describes YA as an immediate and intimate form of storytelling, typically requiring a linear, first-person perspective that keeps the scope narrowed to one or two central figures.
Adult fiction, by contrast, demands a broader canvas. Lu found herself exploring story arcs that spanned decades and writing from the perspectives of older characters, such as Sam’s mother. Moving away from the linear “now” of YA allowed for a more expansive exploration of the world, though Lu admits that writing scenes out of order and managing a larger cast of viewpoints is a creative shift she is still mastering.
Capitalism, Magic, and Syndicate Rivalries
The conflict in Red City is driven by the rivalry between two syndicates: Grand Central and Lumines. Their development was rooted in the differing experiences of the protagonists, Sam and Ari. While Sam struggles to break into an exclusive, walled organization, Ari is forcibly conscripted into one.
Lu designed Grand Central as a gatekeeper of exclusive magical resources, while Lumines represents an ambitious, predatory force eager to expand at any cost. This dynamic serves as a critique of modern corporate culture. By asking “What happens when magic meets capitalism?”, Lu illustrates a world where the pursuit of profit leads to the careless exploitation of people and power.
The Challenges of Modern World-Building
One of the primary difficulties in writing urban fantasy is constructing a “magical overlay” that feels grounded in reality. Unlike high fantasy, where a writer can invent rules from scratch, urban fantasy requires the author to adhere to the scaffolding of the real world.
For Red City, Lu had to reconcile alchemical laws with modern society. She had to consider who would benefit most from such magic and how it would realistically reshape existing cultures and cities. While these limitations required more rigorous logic than total invention, Lu found that these constraints ultimately bred more unique and focused creativity.
Writing the Morally Grey
Lu approaches every character, including antagonists, as the hero of their own story. To make Sam and Ari feel authentic, she grounded their actions in universal human desires: the need to protect family, the longing to be loved, and the drive to succeed.
By establishing these relatable foundations, Lu can then push her characters to their limits. The moral complexity arises when these characters are forced to make choices under threat or temptation. The goal is to ensure that even when a character does something despicable, their motivation remains understandable to the average reader.
A Career Sparked at Thirteen
While Lu has loved writing since childhood, it wasn’t until she was thirteen that she realized it could be a professional path. She recalls reading a newspaper article about Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, a teenager who had secured a major publishing deal at the same age. Seeing a peer achieve such a feat demystified the industry for Lu, making the dream of becoming a published writer feel attainable and concrete.
The Balance of Action and Emotion
Lu views action as secondary to character. She believes that high-octane sequences are only effective if the reader is emotionally invested in the people involved. Consequently, her drafting process involves constant self-reflection: every scene must either deepen a character’s arc or lead to a moment that does. By letting character-building lead the narrative, she ensures that the action feels earned rather than arbitrary.
Themes of Identity and Power
Across her various series—from the dystopian streets of Legend to the digital landscapes of Warcross—Lu has noticed a recurring obsession with the inverse relationship between identity and power. In her worlds, gaining power often requires a proportional sacrifice of the self. This internal battle is central to Red City, reflecting Lu’s own concerns regarding what individuals are willing to surrender of their own humanity in order to “win” in the real world.
Influence, Research, and Sustainability
Lu’s storytelling style has been shaped by a diverse range of influences, from the childhood gateway of Brian Jacques’ Redwall series to the works of N.K. Jemisin and Suzanne Collins. Her research process is equally eclectic, involving everything from studying quantum physics and the stock market for Red City to using Google Maps to navigate 18th-century Salzburg for The Kingdom of Back.
To maintain her creative output without burning out, Lu adheres to a strict professional boundary. She does not write on weekends or evenings, reserving that time for family and rest. She emphasizes that the creative brain requires “input”—music, film, and art—to keep the “output” of writing sustainable.
Advice for Aspiring Authors
For those looking to break into dark fantasy or dystopia, Lu suggests looking inward at what “haunts” them about the human condition. Since these genres often serve as a mirror to our own society, she encourages writers to study the complex power structures of the real world and then exaggerate those elements in their fiction. By using personal fears and societal observations as creative fuel, writers can build fantastical foundations that resonate with truth.
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