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His Wictim’s Innermost Dreams
The Son of Poetry follows a high-achieving and emotionally frayed teenager, who is unwittingly drawn into a mysterious, supernatural conflict while protecting his friends from a demon sent to destroy them. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the villain of the story, “Icelos” came from a painting titled the “Nightmare” by Henry Fuseli, 1781. In this painting, a hideous, demon implants fearful, crippling thoughts into a victim entrapped in sleep. In his modern persona, “Ice” never resorts to physical violence to control or punish his victims. But able to know his victim’s innermost dreams or greatest fears, he is able to implant thoughts or manipulate memories until the most courageous hero is broken.
This in turn inspired the idea of a normal teenager who has an inner hidden quality that can allow him to triumph over such evil. Only someone whose life has always been a quiet daily struggle can face an enemy whose weapons are cruel and psychological. The protagonist, Louis Song, has never won a fight and isn’t popular. But his selfless love for friends and family turns him into a tenacious hero.
In many contemporary coming-of-age fiction novels, authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?
Many of my own life experiences were able to find their way into the story. I was very studious in my school years and did well, but like Louis, was never able to win any honors for all my efforts. And episodes of day dreaming between intense bursts of study were pretty common while I was holed up in my room.
The wet mountains and boreal rainforest of the Otherworld also bear a resemblance to the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest, a place I loved to climb and backpack. Being surprised by a front coming off the Pacific while climbing an icy summit and crossing a long stretch of beach against a cliff before the next high tide are both experiences that I can now look back on fondly.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The theme that runs through the story is to never give up. Ice is a monster. His victims end up ruined or commit suicide. Several of the primary characters seem outwardly successful, but happiness eludes them. Many successful people have problems which are hidden behind successful façades.
Louis should be the weakest and most flawed character. He is constantly struggling, fighting despair, the fear of being ridiculed, and a crippling fear of heights that he has to overcome. Once he is able to win the inner struggle, then the bigger battle become achievable.
Our lives are interconnected. When Louis triumphs over evil, everyone in his inner circle, including friends, family and even some enemies find redemption. Good triumphs over evil, and it is important that we lift each other up.
Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?
There is a sequel, Aerglo, which will seek to answer several questions that have been left open. And, of course, Ice is a vengeful immortal who cannot accept failure. Work and other commitments limit my time so I don’t have an estimated completion date, but it will happen.
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Louis Song is completing his last year of high school in Edinburgh. His world revolves around achieving academic excellence and acceptance to a top university. For Louis, his grades mean everything. But self-doubt and exhaustion plague him as he often studies into the early hours of the morning.
Annwfn is the mystical name of the Celtic Otherworld. It is also the name of Louis’ friend, Anne Engliesin. Anne is brilliant; top of their year, she makes getting perfect grades look easy. And like Louis, who is Scottish-Asian, she too is different, keeping secret that her father was among a group of survivors who escaped the Otherworld and who now make their lives in modern Edinburgh. Her mum’s a native Scot, but her father is a descendant of a mythical people.
An Otherworld demon now seeks to destroy the remaining survivors, and this includes Anne. Icelos, or “Ice” in his modern form is the personification of nightmares. Off the streets of Edinburgh, Ice recruits disillusioned youth with the promise to join him and become like gods in a magical Otherworld. He betrays them and they become his sluagh; evil incarnate, bound to his evil plan.
Only Louis, with his intellect and true heart, has what it takes to protect his friends. But what Louis doesn’t realise is that, in saving the lives of his friends, his stature against the evil of the world grows until his life becomes the greatest prize of all.
The Son of Poetry
The Son of Poetry is a contemporary coming-of-age novel wrapped in folklore and urban grit. At its core, it follows Louis Song, a high-achieving and emotionally frayed teenager navigating high school in Edinburgh while being unwittingly drawn into a mysterious, supernatural conflict. The story spirals out from a single unsettling encounter with a trio of schoolyard bullies and unfurls into something deeper and stranger—intertwining ancient Celtic myth, school rivalries, emotional trauma, and questions of identity, fate, and power. With alternating character perspectives and a keen focus on inner conflict, Gill weaves together the ordinary and the uncanny until they’re nearly inseparable.
I didn’t expect this book to affect me the way it did. It starts like a gritty YA drama with sharp edges and painful truths. Gill doesn’t flinch from the ugliness of teen angst, class tension, or casual cruelty. But then something slips into the cracks of the real world—an invisible force, a memory that doesn’t belong, a tug of fate—and that’s when I couldn’t look away. The prose can be raw and jagged. But it’s also lyrical in strange, surprising bursts. I found myself drawn to Louis not because he was brave or brilliant, but because he was painfully human. His quiet ache, his confusion, the moments he second-guesses himself all felt real. His voice, at times, hit me in the gut. And Collin Gannet is one of the most sharply drawn, unforgettable characters I’ve read in a long time.
That said, part of the book’s charm is how it doesn’t rush to explain everything. The pacing takes its time, often drifting into rich layers of lore and dreamy, metaphysical turns that feel more like an immersive experience than a straight path. Some of the fantasy elements are elusive. It adds mystery and atmosphere, inviting the reader to lean in and wonder. A few of the side characters appear just briefly, like passing spirits, and it left me curious and hungry for more. These unexpected textures gave the story a raw, unfiltered energy. It didn’t feel like a polished fairy tale—it felt alive, and brimming with pain, wonder, and a quiet kind of magic.
I’d recommend The Son of Poetry to readers who love literary fiction with a supernatural bent—people who can sit with mystery and don’t mind feeling a bit off-kilter. Fans of The Secret History, Skellig, or The Ocean at the End of the Lane will find something here to love. It’s a story that haunts, confuses, and occasionally sings, just like poetry should.
Pages: 526 | ASIN : B0DBV9XM4J
LITERARY TITAN 