(typewriter dings) (mellow music) - Hi, my name is Nghi Vo, and this is "The City in Glass."

It is about the end of the world, and it is about finding out who you are after the end because if you survive the end of the world, it is your duty and your privilege to make the new one.

And this book takes a step towards maybe demonstrating how someone does it.

- So who knew a demon could teach us so much about love?

- Probably not me, I just wrote the book.

(Jeremy laughs) - You were the one that started this idea.

But who knew that a demon could have the capability to love?

- Well, here's the thing.

When I think about demons, I think about passion, I think about defiance, I think about getting your own way no matter what.

and I think about blazing a path through a world that doesn't love you very much.

And when I thought about who I wanted defending a city, it was a demon - Made sense then.

So in the city of glass, you flip the narrative.

You know, when we think about demons, stereotypically, 'cause we don't wanna stereotype demons.

- Absolutely not.

They're bigger than we are.

- That's right.

We think about creatures that haunt, deceive, that's the stereotype.

But in this book, the demon, Vitrine, is deeply in love with the city of Azril and its people.

What is it about fantasy that compels you so much to write it?

- Because if I can have robot horses, and demons, and angels, and dragons, and ghosts, why wouldn't I?

- Yeah.

- So far no one has stopped me and said, oh, you can't do that.

They're like, no, go get that.

Go figure that one out.

- I wondered if you thought that there was a target audience for this book.

- Oh no, that sounds like something, that sounds like Tor.com's problem.

- It sounds like a publisher problem.

- If they bought it, if they're putting press behind it, I'm going to let them figure that out.

Like, I don't read my own reviews, but apparently one of the reviews that my agent sent to me was five stars and the only thing written underneath it was WTF.

I'm like, I guess it's for that person.

(mellow music) - [Jeremy] What would you like readers to take away from this book?

- Worlds end all the time.

And I would like them to realize that there is an after, and they will need to decide what to do next.

And I want them to make that decision with compassion, and with love for themselves and the world around them.

- Nghi, thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you so much for having me.

This was great.

- And thank you for watching "A Word on Words."

I'm Jeremy Finley.

Remember, keep reading.

(typewriter dings) That was great.

What'd you study?

- [Nghi] Oh, media studies and political science, so.

- Okay.

- I was ready to be the propaganda minister for some sort of Banana Republic somewhere.