Last week, I had a guest post on John Scalzi’s Whatever blog, talking about the “Big Idea” behind The Heir of Night, which centers around how good and evil are often portrayed in fantasy, particularly epic fantasy. Writing that post got me thinking about how, as an author, a big idea gets to “work its way out” through your story. In The Heir of Night (Heir) it’s definitely all about the characters, who they are, what code of values they subscribe to—and how they behave in relation to those values when the chips are down. So I guess that’s why Heir is quite an adventurous story (OK, it’s also because I like treks into dangerous territory, sword fights and hunts and battles with demons, to be strictly honest!) as well as being character driven: because it’s only when the going gets tough that the person you believe you are gets tested.
In this first book in the series, the two central characters of Malian, the Heir of Night herself, and Kalan, are both young (not unlike the five Stark children in George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones), but dark events are thrust upon them. How they deal with that is very much part of the story, so that Malian at the beginning of Part 2, despite her youth, already has a harder edge than the girl in the opening scenes of the book. By the end of Heir, she is presented with a request—and how she responds, based on the values she adheres to—or doesn’t— will cast its shadow over the play of events in Books 2 to 4 of the quartet.
But perhaps one of the more complex characters, in terms of values and being tested, is Malian’s father, the Earl of Night. Last weekend, someone who had recently read the book said: “Oh you can just feel the weight resting on him.” I have to say, this pleased me, because it is very much how I hoped that the Earl would come across: not as a straightforward personality, but as a man caught between opposing forces and conflicting values—between his personal inclination and difficult circumstances. The responsibility of leading not just his own house of Night, but the Derai Alliance itself, through those circumstances does rest very much on him—which means that his personal inclinations are tested, sometimes even severely tested. Needless to say, he is not necessarily an easily likeable man—but I hope that you will find him an interesting one!
Big ideas, big story, characters under pressure—or a tale of adventure, battles and hunts? I love stories that weave the two elements together, so it’s probably not surprising that The Heir of Night works at both levels.
--
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 now on sale in the USA/Canada and Australia/New Zealand and will launch in the UK in March 2011. 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 The Heir of Night, you can check out a new 5-star review on One Librarian’s Book Reviews—and there’s two great interviews with Helen, one at Over the Edge Books and the second on podcast here. (An added bonus with the podcast—you get to hear cute “Kiwi” (NZ) accents!)
Comments