Wow, so here's my first ever author interview. It was very fun to do, and Brian was great. Thanks to him, and the folks at Orbit for supporting it :)
I asked quite a few questions, and there were some submitted, so I'll post it in two parts!
Graeme and Aidan have also recently interviewed him.
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First of all I'll welcome you to the blog, Brian, and say thank you for participating :) Well done also for producing one of my favourite fantasy novels!
A: Thanks. It’s very nice to be here.
Winterbirth is out now in paperback in the UK and will be arriving in America in September for the launch of Orbit US. To whet the tastes of those as yet unfamiliar, could you tell us about your debut, and what is planned for the final two volumes in The Godless World Trilogy?
A: Well the trilogy as a whole is basically about what happens when an old, unresolved conflict starts up again – driven by the followers of the Black Road, who think they can bring the Gods back by conquering the world – and amidst the chaos that ensues, a rather different and even more serious threat starts to emerge. I’ve seen it described as epic fantasy or as heroic fantasy, and I guess it’s both, really. Winterbirth follows a number of characters who get caught up in an unexpected invasion that becomes much more complicated than it at first appears. In the next two books, we’ll basically see some of those characters struggling, with varying degrees of success, to control, influence or halt the chaos that’s been unleashed.
Your writing style has been compared to that of George RR Martin's—you both write a gritty, tight story; the magic is somewhat subdued; and you are unafraid to kill your characters, etc. Was it a conscious choice to move away from some of the more common trappings of mainstream fantasy? (Sorry for the ultra long questions—they get shorter later!)
A: Kind of, but I don’t really think I’ve moved very far from the fantasy mainstream. There’s still a lot of relatively traditional stuff in there, even if it’s not always right in the forefront of the story. As you say, there is magic in there, for example, it’s just that it’s not explicitly called ‘magic’ and it’s not driving the whole plot (although it does become steadily more significant in books 2 and 3). And killing characters isn’t all that new – Tolkien was pretty ruthless where Boromir was concerned, after all – though GRRM has obviously used it in rather new and inspired ways to unsettle and surprise the reader. I admit there are a few more deaths in Winterbirth than is common in a lot fantasy. I’ve got a vicious streak, though I’m not sure I’ll ever quite match GRRM’s bodycount.
It’s more a matter of tone and how things are presented than anything else: the internal skeleton’s much the same, but the skin laid over it’s slightly different. I certainly made a conscious choice to go for a gritty, uncompromising sort of tone. That seemed to come most naturally to me, and I willingly went with the flow: better to swim with the current than against it, I figured, especially on a first novel. Whether by design or accident (it’s mostly the former, with a bit of the latter thrown in for good measure), I ended up with a fantasy that’s got a hint of ‘realism’ running through it: it’s a world where horses and men get tired if they have to run for more than a few minutes, where trying to kill someone face to face with a sharp bit of metal is a thoroughly brutal and messy business, and where the participants in a ruthless conflict face the distinct and persistent risk of injury or death. As a style of writing fantasy I don’t think it’s inherently any better or worse than any other style, it’s just the one I’ve chosen to adopt for this trilogy.
It's been quite a wait since Winterbirth was released in the UK. Any news on the status of Books 2 & 3 that you might care to reveal?
A: Book 2 – Bloodheir – is written. I’ve even seen an early version of the cover, which is a rather nice piece of work. It’s scheduled to be published in the first half of next year. I’m writing Book 3 now (currently sadly lacking a title – I’ve got ‘title block’ or something), and if all goes according to plan it should be published in Spring 2009, I believe.
On your blog, you once mentioned that the weather around you would sometimes work its way into your writing. Has anything similar ever happened—say, a particularly great piece of dialogue, or a character from real life worming its way into your fiction?
A: If the characters in Winterbirth were based on real people I’d met, I think I’d be too scared to ever leave my house for fear of running into them. The bits of reality that made their way into Winterbirth are pretty much limited to weather, landscapes and places (and history, I suppose, but that’s a slightly different thing). Castle Kolglas in the book, for example, is distantly inspired by a real castle on the west coast of Scotland (Castle Tioram, for those who care).
If you want to go back a bit further, though, I had a couple of short stories published in the 1990s, and both of them owed their entire existence to real life, though in very different ways. One – the first piece of writing anyone ever paid me money for – had its origins in a distinctly odd and disturbing dream I had. The second was called ‘Gibbons’ and is set in the jungles of Borneo, and it’s no coincidence at all that a few years previously I had spent three months in the Borneo rainforest volunteering on a gibbon research project.
With what part of your writing are you most pleased that fans have picked up on? Some have criticised Winterbirth for being very methodical at the beginning, which looking back seems unfair. If there was one thing you could change about the book, what would it be? (Question kindly submitted by Raith Rover and slightly mangled by me!)
A: Most pleasing reader response? Probably that various people seem to like the characters and the way they develop over the course of the book. I was really keen that as many as possible of the characters should have a realistic ‘texture’ – I wanted them to come across as plausible people, with flaws and foibles and capable of change, so whenever a reader says they think I achieved that, I’m happy.
One thing I’d change? My instinctive answer to that is remove some of the apostrophes I used in names, but that’s a bit of an easy answer. The point about the beginning of the book is interesting. It undeniably does have a slightly more leisurely pace at the start compared to what happens later in the book. That was a deliberate choice on my part, going for (in theory) a gradual build up towards an outbreak of violence. I personally quite like it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m right and anyone who says they think the start of the book could have a bit more ‘zip’ is wrong. Not sure; most readers I’ve heard from seem to be happy with it the way it is. But to be honest, there’s no point in me sitting around pondering what I might change: the book’s done, published, out there. It has to stand or fall on its own merits. I’m happy to have my name on it, just as it is.
Though it may be a "Godless World" the now-gone gods of the old world obviously played a large part in the book. Are there any plans for the gods to take a more corporeal part in the trilogy? And do you have any plans beyond the Godless World Trilogy? (Question submitted by rhodry the red)
A: The Gods will not be making an appearance, no. It’s important to the tone and sense of the trilogy that there are no Gods around, and changing that would mean I was writing a different kind of story from the one I set out on. You’re right to say they are an important part of the story, but – to my way of thinking, at least – their greatest importance is the fact of their absence, since it creates a vacuum that other things can fill. (I hesitate to add this, but I will, just for fun: I wouldn’t assume that it is absolutely 100% certain that there ever were any Gods, exactly as they are described by the characters anyway, in the first place. I’m not saying there weren’t, but I’m not saying there were, either. That’s very helpful, isn’t it?)
As for what comes after this trilogy – that depends on all sorts of things. If things go well, and I get the chance to pitch some more ideas to the publisher, I’ve certainly got a few up my sleeve. I hope I’m not finished with fantasy; there’s another trilogy already substantially sketched out in my head, for example. I’ve got this neat idea for a scene involving dead beetles …
Winterbirth is also being published in a number of non-English speaking countries. How much say so do you get in the new artwork and the translation of character names, titles, etc? Is there anything else you'd like to say on the subject?
A: My experience of the translated editions of the book has so far been pretty much that of a spectator. I love the fact that they’re coming out – there’s something peculiarly surreal and exciting about holding a copy of something you wrote in your hands and not being able to understand a single word of it – but I’ve only had direct contact with one of the translators (for the German edition), and no input at all on the artwork front. Mind you, you don’t get huge amounts of input on artwork anyway: I do get to see early versions of the covers for the UK/US editions, but since I’m a writer not a designer my comments go only slightly further than ‘Oooooh … pretty.’
I’m more than happy not to be heavily involved in the translations, to be honest. There are six or seven deals in place so far, and if I was trying to answer questions for all of them I’d probably be starting to get confused. I’m happy just to sit back and enjoy the experience. The Dutch edition (which was re-titled ‘Swords of Honour’ – another surreal aspect to the experience is seeing titles change before your very eyes …) is the only the only one that’s actually been published so far, I think: it’s a really nicely produced book, so I’m looking forward to seeing any others that emerge.
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The rest'll be up FRIDAY :) Check out Brian's site here
, etc), etc. Well, being one of my favourite comedians, I'm going to be going to see him this Thursday :)
