by Helen Lowe
I’ve written a few articles on the Hugo Awards recently, so you’ve probably received the glimmering of an idea that maybe, just maybe, I like reading Fantasy-Science Fiction (F-SF) in all its guises. But just in case you missed it before—I really do. There are so many reasons why: the world building, dark deeds and derring-do, magic and adventure and mystery. The F-SF I enjoy reading most always has some fairly intriguing characters as well—not necessarily human characters either—many of which stay with me long after the covers of the book are closed.
But I also write Fantasy fiction—and some SciFi, although that’s all been short fiction to date. In fact, although I love reading historical and contemporary fiction as well (and any kind of good story, really) my ideas for novels always come to me in the guise of F-SF. This may simply be because of the color and vividness of F-SF stories, the joy that in this one small aspect of the world, the magic of the imagination does still rule. But part of that magic is also a very real sense of wonder, and also possibility: what if the world were like this, or this, or this—or could be?
So when I write, I am trying to “create new” the sense of wonder and possibility that reading F-SF has sparked into imagination from an early age. The two most exciting aspects of writing The Heir of Night, which is due out on 28 September (right here with Eos!), were the dual processes of world building and developing the characters. The former involved worlds within worlds—the Keep of Winds, which features on the cover, is almost a world in itself, one that exists on the wind-blasted, twilit Wall of Night, a mountain range in the far north of the world. Within the Keep of Winds the protagonists discover access to other realms: the Old Keep, with its secret heart, and the Gate of Dreams, a place of dark, mist-wreathed forest. Yet beyond Keep and Wall lies the wider world of Haarth: the Winter Country and the cities of the River, the great length of road that stretches from Ij to Ishnapur, and the green hills of Jaransor, which may drive the unwary mad …
World building is integral to F-SF, but in the world of the page as in the real world, people matter just as much. And I am constantly intrigued by the many different ways in which the process of character development can occur. Some characters, like Asantir, the Honor Captain in The Heir of Night, seem to spring fully formed from the air. (They let you know when they’ve arrived, too, and that they’re important, and you’d better sit up straighter and pay attention, if you know what’s good for you.) Others, like the Earl of Night, evolve through the telling of the story and with much patient and delicate chipping away on character nuance, and understanding backstory, from the author. But the most important thing for me, is that however fantastic the world or darkly epic the adventure, the characters have to be real. They need to feel pain and joy, hope and despair—and as the action of the story unfolds, the characters must react and change in response. This is most true for the main characters—for Malian, the Heir of Night; for Kalan, the young man trapped in a hateful life; for Asantir and the Earl—but every character, even the “bit” parts, have to be real and alive in the moment, however brief, that they step onto the page. So I hope that every character in The Heir of Night will live and breathe for readers—because for me, both as a reader and a writer, worlds and characters are what open up the wonder and magic and possibility of story.
Helen Lowe is a New Zealand based, speculative fiction writer. Her first novel Thornspell (Knopf, 2008) won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for “Best Novel: Young Adult” 2009, and Helen won the Award for “Best New Talent” in the same year. Helen’s second novel, The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night, Book One) is being published by Eos on 28 September (7 sleeps and counting down!). She also blogs on the first of every month on the Supernatural Underground and every day on her own Helen Lowe on Anything, Really site.
For more on Helen, you can listen to an interview she did with Ruth Todd of Women on Air radio, or check out early reviews of The Heir of Night at FantasyLit.com and Risingshadow.net. And we've got 5 galleys to give away before the book goes on sale -- e-mail [email protected] with your name and snail mail address for a chance to win! (US residents only, please.)
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