Interview with James Barclay

- Were there any perceived conventions of the fantasy genre which you wanted to twist or break when you set out to write both series?

Kind of. In The Raven, I used much conventional fantasy stuff. Elves, dragons, magic colleges and the like. And I know some readers get turned off by elves and dragons but I needed races of that sort. Some authors try terribly hard to make new races and they are almost always pale imitations of fantasy staples. Why make it so hard? If it inhabits forests, has pointy ears and lives a long time, then it’s an elf. If it breathes fire, comes with leathery skin and scales, it’s a dragon.

Naturally, I wanted my own spin on both. So dragons have a complex society among themselves and are dimensional travellers, seeking links between themselves and other worlds to make them stronger. They live, love and die as families. They do not sit on gold. They have real purpose. They even love architecture, well some of them do, but being a bit clumsy with the average chisel they have to persuade others to build for them. Luckily for them, persuasion is none too tricky when you’re a hundred feet long and can incinerate flesh and bone at a considerable distance.

My elves have a deeply religious society involving multiple gods all linked to elements and the nature of the world they inhabit. They have two religious warrior castes tasked with defending the faith from outsiders. They are historically isolationist and intensely private. Incursion and invasion are treated extremely severely. These are not hoppy skippy singing elves. They live in a rainforest, a harsh environment, and it has made them very tough indeed. They use neither long bow nor horse. How could they? Actually, why does any forest-dwelling species ride horses so well? Horses are useful in open spaces, not dense woodland. Anyway. They are not tribal, their racial divisions run along the relative longevity of various genetic models of elf. Some live thousands of years, others live a few hundred.

For me, it’s not about ignoring fantasy staples and conventions, nor is it about trying to develop whole new races and setting yourself deliberately outside the norm, if you like. Because my books are about entertainment, I don’t want readers to have to ingest complex detail which is largely unnecessary as far as plot and pace are concerned. I want them to be comfortable with the world I’m writing in so that the story can live unencumbered. Have elves. Have dragons. Have dwarves if you want. Whatever. Just don’t write imitations of Gimli, Legolas and Smaug.

With the Ascendants, I wasn’t trying to break any convention. I did want to write about another world other than one based loosely on medieval England but it wasn’t to prove how clever I was. I just felt that legions and togas worked better in the atmosphere I was trying to create.

- Characters often take on a life of their own. Which of your characters did you find the most unpredictable to write about?

That would have to be Paul Jhered from The Ascendants of Estorea. He began life as a bit part player in the books. He is the Exchequer of the Gatherers – the head tax man, the iron fist of the Advocate (she who runs the Empire of Estorea, though I call it a Conquord, not an Empire). But he just stood up tall and demanded more involvement. He took the place of the character I had identified to do all that he does in the books. And his development as a character, the journey he goes on through the first book in particular, was one of my most rewarding writing experiences. Jhered finds depths inside himself that he did not know existed. Neither did I. Like I mentioned earlier, characters are unpredictable and therefore endlessly fascinating, it’s what brings them to life on the page. I’m very proud of Jhered. He’s currently my favourite hero and given my love of The Raven, that’s up against some pretty stiff competition.

- Given the choice, would you take a New York Times bestseller, or a World Fantasy Award? Why, exactly?

New York Times Bestseller. Don’t get me wrong, I love the respect and recognition of my peers and my genre when I get it but I’m going to have to be horribly commercial and say that selling a lot of books to a wide audience is more important than a gong. Mouths to feed, career to build and all that sort of stuff.