We recently talked to Richard Swan (author of The Empire of the Wolf and The Great Silence series) as his science fiction book The Infinite State was about to be released.
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Hello Richard. Welcome to SFFWorld.
Let’s begin with a usual interview starter: what would you like us to know about you?
- I am a British-born but Australia-based author of sci fi and fantasy. I’m (currently) best known for the Sunday Times bestselling Empire of the Wolf and Great Silence fantasy trilogies, the former of which has been translated into ten languages. I have a wife and three sons and a Warhammer 40,000 addiction.
We’re talking to each other with the imminent release of The Infinite State. What can you tell us about it?
- The Infinite State is a dystopian epic sci fi about a woman breaking free of a brutal totalitarian regime to found a new democratic nation state on an unsettled, empty planet. It’s part Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four-in-space, part any-90s-RTS-you-played-on-PC but instead of building a base, you’re building a country. Oh, and there’s some space Formula 1 in there too. And attack gorillas.
Many people reading this may be surprised that The Infinite State is science fiction – after all, most readers, I guess, know you for your Empire of the Wolf and The Great Silence novels. But didn’t you start with writing SF first?
- Yes, The Justice of Kings, the first draft of which I wrote in 2018, was an enormous departure for me; before then I’d been writing (and self-publishing) SF since I was in my early teens.
Some writers have told me that they found writing a different genre a refreshing change; others have said that it was more difficult than they thought it would be! Was it easy for you to change your writing between genres?
- There was no difficulty at all; unless you’re really going to get into the nuts and bolts of the science of sci-fi a la Kim Stanley Robinson or Stephen Baxter, most space opera is simply a different stripe of fantasy). We’re just dealing with a different canvas. I love writing and worldbuilding my fantasy series but I’ve always considered myself a broader “genre” writer.
Some may know that you have recently had a Warhammer 40 000 story published. How did you find writing in someone else’s universe?
- I’m extremely familiar with 40k, having been painting / playing / reading / writing fanfic in the universe since the late 90s. There was some initial friction as I oriented myself around Black Library’s specific processes and procedures, but once the story is agreed the writing flows like anything else. I enjoy it tremendously; I’ve done two books and I’m preparing to write a third.
Any favourite genre books or authors in your past? Would you say that they have influenced your writing at all?
- Growing up for me the biggest were undoubtedly Iain M Banks, Peter Hamilton, CJ Cherryh, Katherine Kerr, Dan Abnett – plus the usual gamut of Redwall, Discworld, LOTR, etc etc etc. In terms of favourite books I would always credit The Wasp Factory, Walking on Glass, Use of Weapons (all by Banks) and Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn trilogy and Fallen Dragon as being the biggest craft / inspiration drivers for me.
Plot first – or character?
- Boring answer but it really depends on the novel, I take different approaches to different books depending on the story I’m trying to tell. Empire of the Wolf for example is a character study of Vonvalt through the eyes of his clerk Helena. The Great Silence is a plot-driven fantasy trilogy about the end of the world. The Infinite State lands somewhere in the middle!
The Infinite State is the first in a series, I understand. Where are you with the next book/books in the series?
- The sequel, The Guerrilla Republic, has been written and is currently with my editors across Tor and Gollancz. All being well that’ll come out in a year or so.
Are you one of those writers that concentrates on one project at a time, or do you mix them up a little?
- At the moment I have three or four projects I work on over the course of a year (not including short stories). This is currently formed of a fantasy novel, a sci fi novel, an IP novel, and a novella. So every day I’m usually doing two different things either side of lunch.
With that in mind, what other projects are you working on? (Can you say?)
- I’m working on a new fantasy novel that’s not been announced yet, the sequel to The Infinite State, another novella, and another Warhammer 40,000 book. Lots of irons in the fire!
Thank you, and all the best.
Richard’s latest book, The Infinite State is out on 6th August – that’s today! Mark reviewed it for SFFWorld – the review is HERE..
