Scarlett St. Clair, the author of the bestselling Hades X Persephone series in the fast-growing “romantasy” category, has announced her new novel, a sex-positive, “feminist rage fantasy” replete with biblical references. Terror at the Gates will be published in hardcover in July by Bloom Books, the Sourcebooks imprint for entrepreneurial women authors, said editorial director Christa Desir. The anticipated initial print run is 250,000 copies.
The novel’s biblical references—the main character’s name is Lilith Leviathan, and biblical locations like Eden, Sodom, and Gomorrah are featured—mark a departure from St. Clair’s previous writings, which center on the worlds of Greek mythology, vampire stories, and classic fairy tales. St. Clair mentioned feeling “nervous” about this book because, with its religious and biblical context, “it deals with something that’s very close to people’s hearts.”
“It’s a little different from what mainstream romantasy is doing right now,” said Desir. “She’s carving her own path, but Scarlett has always done that.”
St. Clair signed with Bloom in 2021 after her first book, A Touch of Darkness, proved a self-publishing success. A former full-time librarian who grew up in Oklahoma, St. Clair, 34, has been writing since age 13. The 7-volume Hades X Persephone saga, per Bloom, has sold 2.6 million copies in combined North American and international sales.
In addition to that Greek mythology-based series, she’s written about vampires, in the PW starred reviewed title King of Battle and Blood (2021); the afterlife, in When Stars Come Out (2022); and fairy tales—her latest novella, Apples Dipped in Gold, comes out in print in October, and is already available in e-book format. All have been published by Bloom.
Terror at the Gates was born out of St. Clair’s fascination with ancient civilizations. She was particularly influenced by the 1978 title When God Was a Woman (Mariner) by Merlin Stone, which chronicles how ancient cultures worshipped female deities and revered women.
St. Clair became fascinated with the common mythologies among Acadian, Mesopotamian, and other ancient societies, including “garden of Eden” narratives and flood stories. In the character of Lilith, who is depicted in different ways in different traditions—including as a demoness or a goddess figure—she saw the opportunity to create a story that brought a sex-positive, feminist angle to a complex cultural legacy.
“This is my attempt to collate these different myths into a world that’s essentially a commentary on how organized religion oppresses women,” St. Clair said. Over time, she said, “religion evolved from the worship of women to men taking women out of the center of worship.”
St. Clair's connection to religion is personal. Raised in what she calls the “Bible belt” of Oklahoma, her family didn’t attend church, but Christianity was a major part of her upbringing.
Her relationship to religion was a mix between hope and trauma. One family member swapped R&B CDs for Christian music as part of a prayerful approach to coping with a brain tumor diagnosis. “When a catalyst happens in your life, you turn to religion because there’s hope there,” she said.
But there was also a dark side to religion in St. Clair’s formative years, as when a pastor in her community was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a teenager. St. Clair recalled feeling deeply angry when some in the community sided with the pastor.
“I was so angry, because how do you not believe a teenage girl over this preacher who is the adult?” she said. “But that’s what religion does. Sometimes it divides people in the strangest ways.”
The duality of religion’s role in society drew her to the biblical character of Lilith, who is regarded in Jewish mythology as Adam’s first wife, who was banished from the garden of Eden. Various tales regard her as either a powerful feminine figure or a shadowy demoness. St. Clair calls the story of Lilith “an example of how women are treated in society when our behavior is in opposition to pious submission.”
In addition to the biblical, St. Clair added a bit of pulp into the mix for Terror at the Gates—the book’s main characters have “comic book names,” such as Lilith Leviathan, because the book “is a little bit noir,” St. Clair said. “When I see it in my head, it’s a little Sin City–esque,” she said, referring to Frank Miller’s series of crime comics.
Terror’s plot involves conflict between dueling families, centered around a yawning gap between rich and poor and how those in charge wield religiopolitical power. “The power structure they’ve put in place definitely has a hierarchy,” St. Clair said, noting that any hierarchy carries risks for people under its rule—particularly those on the outskirts of society. Religion “gives you a moral compass, something to follow, but it can also be used as a weapon,” she said.
St. Clair understands and relates to her readers’ diverse connections with religion, and particularly Christianity, she said: “A lot of my readers have religious trauma, or they are religious.” She hopes Lilith’s association with the “darkness or shadow of all women” makes her an appealing character for readers to explore, adding: “Many readers have expressed how they feel drawn to the dark part of themselves, like they feel relieved that they don’t always have to be ‘the light.’”
Holly Lebowitz Rossi is a freelance writer and coauthor of The Yoga Effect: A Proven Program for Depression and Anxiety.
