“It begins with a song.” That line from SOULGAZER has stuck with me from the very beginning, emblematic not only of Saoirse’s journey running away with pirates, but of my own conceptualizing this book. The first seeds were sown in high school with the Broadway musical The Pirate Queen, and then watered by my favorite animated movie, A Song of the Sea, as well as endless hours of Hozier during the early pandemic days. “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eilish played a huge role in book one alongside lots of other moody, ethereal beats, but when it came time for WOLFTAMER, I found myself reaching for rock, indie folk, weird but soul-wrenching melodies and an ocean full of angst.
As a result, these are the five songs that kept me the most company throughout my writing process, from ideation to signing off on the final page.
“Down” by Simon Russell — This was the first song to connect me to Faolan in all his anguish and frustrations going into book 2, where we strip away everything that made him the famous pirate and expose all the pain, confusion, and yearning tangled up beneath. Favorite line: “The dream is gone, what can you sacrifice?”
“Never Love an Anchor” by The Crane Wives — Saoirse starts her journey in this book on strangely even footing. No longer second-guessing herself or hesitating to speak, backed by power both metaphorical and magical as well as a crew who holds her in esteem, she is clear-eyed…and yet that’s what may hurt her most in the end. Because she sees what her choices have done to those she loves around her, and is just self-sacrificial enough to try and avoid causing them further pain. Favorite line: “There is love that doesn’t have a place to rest, but it would have buried you if it had settled on your shoulders.”
“Eastward of Eden” by Amelia Day — This may be cheating, but I have this song listed twice on the playlist: one being the original version with a heavy, rock chorus and the other a softer, more bittersweet acoustic. But this song really hit home the theme of the book/series as well as my own pain studying the millennial crisis, feeling like we’ve inherited a broken world and given no tools or support to fix it. It’s a plight shared by nearly every ruler in the duology, and is the driving force behind both Kiara and Maccus’s decisions (the two major antagonists), as well as Faolan’s solution and Saoirse’s wild hope. Favorite line: “Eastward of Eden, where the dust meets the dirt. We murdered our mother and strangled the Earth. Forgive us, oh Mama, whose face we forgot. Oh, Eastward of Eden, where men become gods.”
“Inkpot Gods” by The Amazing Devil — Dramatic, snarling, heart-wrenching, wild, this song feels like a full theatrical production of what’s going on in Saoirse and Faolan’s heart (and speaks to the magical connection linking them throughout this book). Favorite line: “And to those gods, I will speak bluntly: we’ve an accord. If you ever touch or harm him, please rest assured that you might not fear a man—but to a woman, by the end, you’ll kneel and plead because I’m more than what my mum told me to be.”
“Chasing Twisters” by Delta Rae — This one doesn’t quite seem to fit with the rest of its kin on the soundtrack, and yet it’s probably the song I played the most! Kiara’s theme song (as I jokingly call it) speaks to the same themes as “Eastward of Eden” but feels SO deeply connected to her character, especially as I reevaluated her dramatic arc from the first draft to the final and watched her role change dramatically for the better. Favorite line: “So kiss me now, this whiskey on my breath, feel the lives I have taken, what little soul that I have left.”
WOLFTAMER by Maggie Rapier
Legends don’t die.
Saoirse and Faolan’s quest for freedom turns into a battle for the fate of their entire world, in this aching and lush conclusion to the Magpie and the Wolf duology.
Faolan has escaped death. Twice.
After a lifetime chasing freedom and legends, he was finally on the brink of becoming one himself when it all went up in flames. Stranded on the Isle of Lost Souls, bound by an oath he did not make, Faolan is plagued by dreams of drowning and a past he swore never to revisit. The pirate in him wants nothing more than to raise hell and run away—but with no ship, and no way to untether his wife, Saoirse, from the land she’s pledged herself to, Faolan is trapped.
And everyone knows who tamed the Wolf.
When their sinister rival King Maccus unveils an ancient godly relic—one with the power to unbalance their entire world—Faolan knows the game has changed. There’s only one person who can hunt down the missing relics before Maccus can, and the Wolf of the Wild will do anything to protect his wife.
Even if that means leaving her behind.
Romance Fantasy [ Ace, On Sale: August 25, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593819296 / eISBN: 9780593819302 ]
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About Maggie Rapier
Born in the South with a healthy streak of wanderlust, Maggie Rapier is an incurable romantic who loves nothing more than wordplay and witchcraft—except, perhaps, her sourdough starter. When she’s not marketing French antiques or writing about moody girls and sexy pirates, you can find her wandering in the woods with a basket in hand.
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