The
fighting and action in your novel was, I thought, very realistic. One scene
that springs to mind occurs early on in your novel where a magic user is
overwhelmed and killed by assailants wielding swords. Do you think realistic
and gritty action is more interesting, or even necessary in today’s reading
environment?
I think
it's possible to look at action and violence in fiction from several different
standpoints. We can think of it in terms of realism: for
example, do we realistically show swordfights that only last a minute or two if
you're lucky, or do we write about unrealistic but epic duels that go for
hours? We can think of it in terms of explicitness: do
we describe every slithering organ spilling out of the dead man's belly, or do
we elide some or all of those details? And we can think of it in terms
of truthfulness: do we show the inherent ugliness and horror of
violence, or do we present it in a more superficial or cartoonish way?
There's a degree of connection between those standpoints, of course, but it's
also possible to get them confused. (An interesting writing exercise is
to think about how you might convey one of those aspects without using the
others: say, truthfulness without explicitness, or vice versa.) And
there's also the danger of focussing so much on any one of them that the reader
gets jarred out of the story.
There's
certainly been a turn toward grittier writing in recent years, particularly in
fantasy with the rise of 'grimdark'. People sometimes characterise these
stories as being rooted in cynicism, but to me they seem more like expressions
of anguish. Steven Erikson has described his own writing as being, in
some ways, a howl of despair; in Daniel Abraham's view, the
power of George R. R. Martin's series derives from the sorrow infusing almost every scene. My
take on this is that fantasy is starting to leave behind its pre-modern
worldview and embrace the existentialism that pervades our society. In
other words, I see this primarily as a search for truthfulness; that is, for
stories that resonate with our experience of life. Many people now
can only believe in a story if the world in which it's set reflects the
complexity and ambiguity — and, yes, the grittiness — of
the real world.
That said, I
think there's still plenty of people out there with an appetite for the
traditional style of fantasy, and indeed for other styles beyond the
traditional / gritty dichotomy. In the end, even grittiness
is only a partial view of reality. The world is a big, complex place, and
fantasy as a whole is increasingly coming to reflect that — and
that's great!
I must
admit, I am a sucker for maps in fantasy books! I was delighted to pour over
those that were included in The Unbound Man. Did you design
them yourself? And did you draw inspiration for them from any particular
countries or continents?
I love a
good fantasy map too. One of the very first things I did before writing
The Unbound Man was to sit down and draw a map of the continent that would
eventually become Kal Arna. My starting point was actually the northern
coast of Australia, but inverted so that land became water and vice
versa. You can still kind of see the Cape York Peninsula in the
shape of the Bay of Bracha. I kept adding details to the map until it
felt like the kind of place where interesting things could
happen — and then I started thinking about what those interesting
things might be.
The maps that
come with The Unbound Man are the work of Maxime Plasse,
a wonderfully talented freelance cartographic artist. Max took my rough
sketches and turned them into a beautiful set of maps which I think fit
perfectly with the novel.
A question from left field... If you
could steal and harvest the brains of three other fantasy authors to use for
writing, who would they be and why?
Top of the
list would have to be Steven Erikson. The scale and scope of his stories,
the depth of his themes, his mastery of the craft of writing — any
one of these would be remarkable in its own right, and he's got all
three. After that the choice gets trickier. Daniel Abraham,
perhaps, for the deep empathy he has with his characters? Joe
Abercrombie, for his dark wit and compelling characterisation? Janny
Wurts, for her intricately detailed plotting? Or maybe someone from
outside the Western tradition for a completely different perspective on
writing — Haruki Murakami, perhaps?
Of course,
I'd only harvest those brains if I could put them straight back afterwards with
no ill effects. Otherwise it would mean no more books from some of my
favourite authors, and there's no way I'd take that deal.
What
was your first exposure to fantasy fiction? Mine, for example was when I was a kid
and a neighbour gave me a tattered and beat up copy of The Hobbit.
The Hobbit
came very early for me as well, courtesy of my father. Another book I
remember from childhood is Watership Down, which to me is like traditional
fantasy in almost every way except that it's set in the real world. Then
came The Lord of the Rings, of course, which for a while as a teenager I would
re-read about once a year.
I think I
still have that copy of The Hobbit somewhere — it's a battered old
green hardcover, the dust jacket long since gone, with some of Tolkien's
original colour drawings included at various points in the text.
Branching out from that.. what do
you think about the state of fantasy and speculative fiction at the moment? We
seem to have a very diverse blend of subgenres and authors that are popular
right now. Do you think that the Australian scene differs from the world in any
way?
As a genre,
fantasy seems to be in excellent health. Popular interest in fantasy was
given a huge boost by the success of the Lord of the Rings movies and Harry
Potter, and we're now seeing a further rise in interest thanks to the Game of
Thrones TV series. I take the increasing diversity within the genre as
another sign of health. Fantasy is finally breaking free of its
traditional roots, not only philosophically with the rise of gritty fiction and
the like, but also culturally and even structurally. It's an exciting
time to be a reader and a writer of fantasy.
Australian
fantasy is part of that, of course, and it's great to see more and more
Australian SFF authors finding success. I also think the Australian SFF
establishment is much more accepting of self-published writers than is often
the case elsewhere. Mitchell Hogan and Jackie Ryan won Aurealis Awards
this year, K. J. Bishop won one last year, and Andrea K. Höst has been a
finalist on multiple occasions. Perhaps the Australian scene is still
small enough that we know we can't afford to get too caught up in how other SFF
writers choose to publish. Whatever the reason, I think it's a good
thing.
What is sitting in your ‘to read’ pile right now? What future releases
are you most looking forward to?
There are
so many books I'd like to read that I'm not sure where to start! I've
been making an effort to fill in some gaps in my SFF reading by seeking out
classics of the genre that I haven't yet read. The next one in that
category will probably be The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry
Pournelle. As for new releases, I'm keen to read Steven Erikson's new
novel Willful Child and find out what he does with a Star Trek spoof.
What
are you working on at the moment?
Right now
I'm working on the first draft of the follow-up book to The Unbound Man,
tentatively titled The Lordless City. I'm also polishing up a short story
which is set in a slightly different part of the same world. The short
story will hopefully be published early next year; the novel will take a little
longer!
In five
years where do you see yourself professionally?
I've never
really been the kind of person to make five-year plans. Life just seems
too contingent and unpredictable for that. That said, I'd certainly like
to have finished the Undying Legion trilogy by then and be well on the way to
cooking up some new stories. As for sales and all the other things that
are usually seen as markers of success, ultimately that's out of my
control. Of course it would be great to give away the day job and write
full-time, but will it happen in five years? Who knows?
Finally,
best writing tip you have ever received?
I don't
remember where I first heard it, but one piece of advice that's stuck with me
is this: write the stories that only you can write. Each of us has our
own combination of abilities and experiences, insights and obsessions, hopes
and fears. The only method I know to write something worth reading is to
delve into that stuff that's deeply, uniquely yours and figure out how to put
it on the page. None of George R. R. Martin's fans like his work because
he's 'the next Tolkien' — they like it because he's the first, last,
and only George R. R. Martin, and he's worked out how to infuse his
writing with the unique perspective that only he has.
Matt Karlov, thank you for talking to Smash Dragons!
My pleasure! Thanks for having me!
The Unbound Man is out now... and we here at Smash Dragons highly recommended it! Please click on the link below for more information.
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