Interview with James Barclay

- For the benefit of those not familiar with you and your work, what can you tell us about James Barclay the author?

Well, I’m an English fantasy author. I’ve been writing ever since I was eleven years old, it’s just something I’ve always done. My first book was Dawnthief. It was published in 1999 and kicked off the stage of The Raven, my group of heroes. There have been six novels in the series so far and another to come. In between, I’ve written a novella and a big sweeping epic fantasy duology but more about that later, I think.

I’ve always written in the fantasy genre, and I don’t see myself moving away in any serious way for the foreseeable future. I love what fantasy provides. The escape it gives me as a writer and a reader. I’m proud to be associated with the genre. I don’t pretend to write literary fantasy. I’m a thriller writer at heart and though later books have considerably more depth in terms of subject and detail, I’ll not lean too far from action, I don’t suppose.

I write the sort of books I want to read, the sort that I was not finding when I set out to be a novelist. I love the thrills of a good action novel, the pace, the repartee, the bordering-on-the-outrageous stunts that heroes can pull. I love watching characters grow throughout a series, seeing them develop far away from their roots… y’know, just like real people. I get criticised for my characterisation at times but I think it unfair. People are deep and complex and as a rule reveal very little about themselves in the short-term. They are also inconsistent beyond their basic principles. That’s probably the only consistent thing about us all…

I try to write books that entertain. I don’t wish to teach or preach. I want readers to have fun, to get engaged with my characters and become lost in the action. I think I get it right quite a lot of the time.

- You made a name for yourself with The Chronicles of the Raven and Legends of the Raven. Without giving anything away, what can you tell potential readers about those two trilogies?

In a nutshell, they are heroic action fantasy. Very fast paced; heaps of action and pithy dialogue; characters you grow to love but should not become too attached to if you can help it; plots that involve love, friendship, honour, courage and redemption; also scheming, cheating, politics, assassination, treachery, hack and slay. Violence too. Because the world is one of sword and magic fighting. These two things equal much blood and death if you ask me and I don’t believe in sugaring the act or consequences of violent action. I leave that to Errol Flynn.

It’s well-known that the genesis of these books was a role-playing game called ‘Dragon Quest’ I played many years ago with a group of friends. And a super game system it was too. The group of characters in that game became ‘The Raven’ and the first novel, Dawnthief is a classic quest novel to a large extent. But I laid down some markers concerning action and lack of sentimentality nonetheless. The other five books in the two trilogies are not classic quest novels, not to my mind anyway.

The Raven are a group of mercenaries just past their prime but still the best fighting team in their world, Balaia. They take on one last big payday before retirement and end up in a fight to save the world from the return of an ancient evil. To do that they have to cast a spell so powerful it can destroy everything. Tricky business. That’s the guts of Dawnthief. All the later novels carry over story threads and consequences. I have invasions of dragons and demons, I have elven plagues, I have warring magic colleges, I have young children invested with power they cannot control.

And in the midst of it all, I have The Raven doing what they do. Their methods are sometimes questionable and you could argue they are morally grey but they believe in themselves and in the good that will ultimately come of their success. Some of the heroes make it to the end of each book but I don’t guarantee which ones. The ante is upped with each outing of The Raven. The consequences of failure become so much broader and all-encompassing.

Go out and buy, I say. Take a ride and don’t look back…