Mai Corland Combines Fantasy and Korean Mythology in 'Five Broken Blades'

Korean American laywer and author, Mai Corland, joins Writer’s Voices to discuss her latest novel, an epic fantasy saga, Five Broken Blades. Part of a three book series, it is the first in the trilogy, with the second book, Four Ruined Realms, coming out in January 2025 and the third book expected to be released before the end of 2025. The story takes place in the realm of Yusan during an unknown time period and consists of five main characters, each telling various chapters in their own points of view. As Corland describes it, “Five Broken Blades, I’d like to say that it’s Ocean’s 11 meets a Korean, fantasy-inspired Kill Bill… it’s five dangerous people, five dangerous liars, plus a side buddy… who have to get together to try to kill the king, and the problem is that the king, once he has his crown on, is immortal.” Regarding the research of the book, Corland drew from her knowledge of Korea and Korean mythology and used that as the basis for this book. “I took real historical events and kind of changed them, like the Festival of Blood is real, the slaughter on an island did happen… and then I took mythology, but I added and subtracted from it, so there is a dragon lord, there is the god of the East Sea, and the god of the West Sea because it’s a peninsula, but as far as the relics go, that was original to me because I was an art history major in college and I love relics.”

Throughout the story, readers may notice that the characters are often eating and for her, incorporating food into her storytelling often provided more details about the characters and their surroundings than just the words on a page. She says, “Food’s very important to me… Food says a lot. Food says a lot about a world. It says a lot about the status of someone. It says a lot about commerce and how things are getting from one location to another, what the rich eat versus what the poor eat. You’ve got kids foraging for edibles in a meadow… you have the regionality coming into play of what a meal in Umbria looks like versus what it looks like in Tamneki… I think you can accomplish a lot of world building in just having your character sit down for meals.”

Although Corland’s ambition growing up wasn’t to pursue writing, she always did some form of writing whether it was through journaling or creating short novellas. It wasn’t until her stepfather was dying that she decided she wanted her life to be spent focusing on things she really wanted to do. “What’s the worst that happens? You get rejected, you can’t do it? Well, it’s better than never trying.” Even the time she spent writing pieces that were never published was still invaluable. “Everything is a learning experience. Everything’s a step… There are no wasted words. Everything makes you better at your craft.”