Recipe for Folklore-Infused Dark Fantasy
An interview with Salinee Goldenberg, author of "The Last Phi Hunter"
For the latest updates on my forthcoming adult dark fantasy novel The Gryphon King (coming Summer 2025), be sure to follow me on Twitter or Instagram!
Next time, be hungry for YA romantasy magic with Shelly Page, author of Brewed with Love.
Salinee Goldenberg (she/her) won the Writing Excuses Scholarship in 2021. Previously, she worked at Bethesda Softworks creating narrative trailers for games such as Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Dishonored, and now produces videos for Minecraft. When not writing, she likes to paint, listen to records, and play in punk bands. The Last Phi Hunter, her debut novel, was released in April with Angry Robot. The Last Phi Hunter is a Thai folklore-infused dark fantasy wherein a demon and ghost-killing Phi Hunter teams up with a heavily pregnant fighting champion on the way to slay a legendary demon.
What inspired The Last Phi Hunter?
Goldenberg: I wanted to set a story in a world inspired by Thailand, but wasn't sure exactly what I wanted it to be about. It didn't hit until I took an old short story I wrote about a demon hunter and his hound companion, and dropped him in this setting. It blossomed from there, and kept growing. Finally, I could incorporate all the cool monsters and magic from Thai folklore, and bring in a lot of flavor from a non-western aesthetic, which is woefully underrepresented in the genre.
How did your background in punk rock and video games influence the book?
Goldenberg: Since I'm a game capture artist and editor, I always think cinematically about the story as I write it. I think about how the camera would reveal a scene, what small details might convey the atmosphere, what the musical score is playing behind the action and emotions of the characters. The Witcher is one of the inspirations as far as the idea of a lone monster hunter whose trade is dwindling, and whose magical powers make him an outcast, but that's about as far as it goes. Outcasts and weirdos always get the spotlight in my stories, and that's where the punk rock influence comes in. It also comes out when I explore certain themes, like challenging tradition, and questioning established power structures. Â
What monster from The Last Phi Hunter do you feel like you could take in a fight?
Goldenberg: Ha, none of them. The monsters are very deadly, so normal people don't stand much of a chance. The main character Ex trains his whole life to be able to subdue these creatures, and part of that training is to go through trials and rituals that give the hunters magical powers, which change their physical nature to be able to stand toe to toe with demons. My only advantage is that I'm not much of a nature person, so there's zero chance I'd be out in some haunted woodlands anyway.Â
Could you recommend any other standalone fantasy perfect for readers who loved The Last Phi Hunter?
Goldenberg: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhoarse, Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, and Bookeaters by Sunyi Dean.
What did your path to publication look like?
Goldenberg: Even though I've been writing stories my whole life, I never thought about publishing anything until around 2016. I always just felt a compulsion to write, just for the pure joy of it, but being on an actual shelf in a bookstore didn't seem at all possible. But once I decided to go for it, I quit my 9-5 to freelance, then went heads down into the process, joined a writing group, studied craft, wrote about 6 novels. I queried agents with a few of those but didn't get much attention until 2022, when the Last Phi Hunter was picked up from Angry Robot's Open the Doors submission period. That offer helped me get a great agent. So yeah, to all you aspiring authors out there, it only took six years and over 200 rejections! So don't despair if your first novel doesn't hit, keep trying.
What do you see the future of darker, grittier SFF looking like?
Goldenberg: We're already starting to see more non-western fantasy and diverse representation in that vein, which is refreshing, and I hope continues. I think there's a lot more room for stylish, satirical stories that don't pull any punches, like Chain Gang All-Stars by NK Adjei-Brenyah. I don't know, it seems like grimdark comes in and out, especially depending on how bleak the real world is looking at the time. Maybe it's part of a reader's reactionary response to how they take their escapsim. The "I need something easy and fun" people versus the "well, it could always be worse" crowd. Now I want to see what a cozy grimdark fantasy would look like...Â
What advice would you give authors writing romance plots in darker SFF stories?
Goldenberg: When you're writing darker stories, you can lean too hard into bleakness and nihilism to the point where the experience becomes unenjoyable. Humor, friendship and romance is a way to bring some light into the mix. Romance is tricky because it can be very polarizing—everyone has a different opinion on what is hot or plausible or which tropes they love/hate. Grimdark romances often conflict with what romantasy readers want and expect—there might be a lot more traumabonding and sexual coping that happens in these bleaker worlds, and that can result in messy relationships that will ick certain readers. So my advice would be to only include a romance thread when it's natural to the story, not to check off a box and hit a market trend.Â
What advice would you give authors wanting to write a standalone fantasy?
Goldenberg: I'd say to anyone writing a fantasy, whether it's a standalone or a series, to write a complete story. Nothing bums me out more than getting to the end of a book and realizing it was all set up for the next. But if you're aiming for a standalone, I'd recommend narrowing the focus down. Worldbuilding is important, but you don't need to know the name and history of every town in every surrounding country. You're going for a vibe, enough of an aesthetic to present to your reader, and trust to let their imagination fill in the blanks. Limit your POVs, and subplots, since you won't have time to fully develop all of them. Leave them satisfied, but wanting more.
Where can we find you to follow your work?
Goldenberg:
twitter: @salgo
insta: @gosalgo
Last question, what are you enjoying right now?
Goldenberg: So I'm really into House of Dragon season 2 right now, I think the entire production is great, the writers/actors/producers are doing a fantastic job adapting this sorta history book into film. I feel like they looked at the absolute shit show the last few seasons of Game of Thrones became and made sure not to do whatever the hell that was. Speaking of dragons, I'm a big Bioware fan, so I've been keeping an eye out on Dragon Age 4 and getting more and more hyped on that. As for music, I've been heads down recording a new LP for my DC punk band, Sexfaces. It's not out yet, but we are playing some shows on the east coast later this summer.
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