Interview with Robin Hobb

Q: I ask because, inevitably, Nevare was often compared to Fitz. And as a somewhat stiff-necked young man who always tries to do the "right" thing, most readers were not able to relate to him the way they did with Fitz. Looking back, do you think that The Soldier Son would have worked better with a third person narrative? Had it been the case, you could have told portions of the story through the eyes of other POV characters such as Epiny, Spink, Gord, Amzil and Olikea.

I think the people who didn’t identify with Fitz may well connect with Nevare. I think that different stories and characters speak to different people. Why not a multiple point of view for this story? Well, so much of it is an internalized story for Nevare that I felt most comfortable staying with him and telling it from the point of view of the person most deeply meshed with the action. If I had ventured into the other points of view, I think the story would have become immense; there would have been too many threads to follow. Keeping a story under control and within limits can be very tricky. So the writer has to choose the point of view very carefully.

Q: What was your inspiration behind both the Plainsmen and the Specks? Native Americans come to mind, but was there more?

Actually, no, native Americans were not my focus for the Plainsmen or the Specks. Native Americans are definitely the product of our world and time; as such, you can’t simply transplant them to a fantasy world and have them work. The Plainsmen differed in many ways from the Native American people. Some were migratory herd folk, and others were hunters-and-gatherer, and some were unabashedly predators, such as the Kidona. The Specks had a culture that varied seasonally with their location.
I think that the peoples or tribes or countries of an imaginary place have to be products of that place, just as the individuals are. At least for me. I know that many writers create ‘alternative history’ and do it very well, but such is not my intention at all.

Q: What extensive research, if any, did the writing of the The Soldier Son entail?

I read about how cultures in conflict exchange information and cultural identity. War I think makes us mingle more than trade or peace do. Think of the British experience in India, and the huge cultural exchange that happened because of it. That was one area I read about, in two lovely little books. One was called Mr. Kipling’s Army, and the other was called Queen Victoria’s Little Wars. I highly recommend them.

I also read about such things as early firearms, how the US cavalry came to be, as well as the use of cavalry in other wars, the founding of military academies and how they are usually run, and road building. Things I had learned about convict workers when I visited Australia also came into play. All sorts of things. Some of these were dips into research rather than extensive studies, but all of them were interesting.