Coming July 9, 2024 – the audiobook for B.P. Sweany’s debut novel, The Sword and the Sophomore! Action-packed and funny, but also serious and insightful, The Sword and the Sophomore goes beyond usual YA fantasy tropes to confront real-life teenage issues of social cliques, relationships, sexual agency, and profound personal loss. Tami Stronach, the Childlike Empress from The Neverending Story, makes her audiobook debut! The NeverEnding Story remains a 1980s classic that’s regularly revisited in pop culture, including most recently during the season three finale of the Netflix series Stranger Things.

“A tongue-in-cheek, self-aware Arthurian fantasy set in a 21st-century American suburb that’s anchored by an empathetic, hilarious, whip-smart, fierce teen protagonist. The Sword and the Sophomore almost makes me want to write a young adult novel. Almost.”—Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Red Rising Saga

Sweany sat down to talk about his upcoming release. 

Why tackle Arthurian mythology? It seems like that subgenre, in both fantasy and young adult fantasy, has been thoroughly explored. What unique story does THE SWORD AND THE SOPHOMORE tell that those other books don’t?

Your teen protagonist Rosemary Banson is clever and almost relentlessly sarcastic, but without ever crossing over into smarmy and unlikable. That’s tough to do. For my money, Rosemary’s comedic timing is her real superpower throughout the book. How did you balance her sense of humor with “the smarm”?

What were your major influences in creating the world of The Sword and the Sophomore?

The Sword and the Sophomore is advertised as the “first in a trilogy”. What can we expect next from Rosemary and her cast of characters?