Interview with L.E. Modesitt Jr.

What role does magic play in each of those 3 series? How does the magical system work in each universe?

LEM: As I’ve noted elsewhere, I don’t believe magic – or technology – solves anything. It only makes matters more complex and harder to resolve, and that’s certainly true in all three series.

The RECLUCE saga has garnered what can best be described as a cult following. You have stated in the past that you don't believe it will ever become "mainstream." With that in mind, how rewarding is it to realize how successful the series has been and continues to be to this day?

LEM: I think it’s fair to say that every author hopes that his or her work will not only be read, but will continue to be read. That mine has been received well and continues to be read is extremely personally gratifying, and I feel very fortunate in that.

I have to admit that the reason which compelled me to buy THE MAGIC OF RECLUCE, in 1992, was Darrell K. Sweet's cover art. Like Robert Jordan's THE WHEEL OF TIME, the entire RECLUCE saga has distinctive cover art, giving each book some sort of visual continuity. How important is cover art to you, in terms of a marketing tool?

LEM: According to surveys by the publishing industry, cover art is the single most important factor in attracting readers, particularly new readers. My editor, David Hartwell, has worked very hard with Irene Gallo, the art director at Tor, and her predecessors, and with the artists to obtain art which represents the spirit of what I write. Darrell K. Sweet is particularly good in his use of color, especially, in my view, in such things as skies, buildings, and sunsets.

All in all, I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my cover art, and I’m very grateful that I have been, because the covers are extremely important in today’s book-selling world. 

What was the spark that generated the idea which drove you to write each series in the first place?

LEM: The Saga of Recluce was generated by my very first con, BaltiCon, when I was placed on a panel that discussed economics, politics, and technology in fantasy and science fiction. In the process, I realized that I’d never seen a fantasy that tried to integrate all those factors within a rationalized structure. So I wrote The Magic of Recluce to see if it could be done. Before that, I’d written about seven or eight science fiction novels, but no fantasy.

The Spellsong Cycle came about because I’m married to an opera singer who is also a professor and the director of a university opera program. I was thinking about the rational [again] application of song as a way of controlling magic, when I realized that it wasn’t possible from within the culture – because of the power constraints. So... I thought about what would happen if someone like Carol Ann were placed in such a situation… and the books developed from that.

The Corean Chronicles… I’m not sure that they had a genesis in anything so concrete as the earlier two series. I did want to write a series where magic was tied to the very environment itself, and I just kept playing with the possibilities and concepts until I had something I liked.

What authors have had the biggest influence on you?

LEM: Probably William Butler Yeats, T.S. Eliot, and W.H. Auden. I did start out as a poet, you know. I just never got beyond the small magazines and rejections from the Yale Younger Poet’s competition.

Is there a character that you particularly enjoy/enjoyed writing? Why is that? By the same token, is there a character that you absolutely don't/didn't like writing about? For what reason?

LEM: I’d have to say that I’ve probably enjoyed writing Johan Eschbach in the "Ghost" books [my alternate history series in a world where ghosts are indeed real and can be measured with scientific instruments] and Anna Marshall of the Spellsong series. I just liked Johan, identified with him. As for Anna, it was a challenge to write from the female perspective.

I can’t say there are characters I disliked writing. There are a number of characters I wrote, however, that I would never wish to meet in person.