This is the conclusion of the interview that started on these pages yesterday with British author James Barclay, who has given the world the exploits of the mercenary band The Raven and Cry Of The Newborn, the first installment of his new two-part series, The Ascendants of Esotrea. I would recommend reading part one first, but to each their own.
Do you find that you draw inspiration from anything around you? For instance the whole idea in Raven of mankind's unwillingness to consider the repercussions of our actions as it might affect the future, or another people, or even another species or universe. Do you mean for that to parallel anything in current events, recent or otherwise?
When I began writing The Raven, I was writing adventures pure and simple. I wasn’t consciously paralleling current events. Introducing themes came later and I think you can see as The Raven books go on that the issues of blind politics, religion (positive and negative), authoritarian intransigence, arrogance and the potential consequences of an arms race. I was also keen to develop the Raven’s key themes around love and belief making a group of individuals infinitely greater than the sum of their parts.
How about Cry of the Newborn and its sequel; any parallels there?
I’m fascinated (morbidly mostly) by the controlling effects of a powerful religion on a society. What the Ascendants did was allow me to investigate what would happen if the central tenets of a faith were challenged by a new reality. Blind faith is a dangerous thing and I sought to demonstrate that. But at the same time I wanted to take a balanced view, showing how moderation and acceptance are far more powerful in the long term than denial, denouncement and violence.
As for the sequel, a central theme there concerns the challenge to authority of a power beyond that authority’s power to control. Whether the power is benevolent or malevolent, many of the issues are actually the same, but they are realised in different ways. Because the sequel, A Shout For The Dead, is set a decade after the end of the first book, I’ve been able to go into the longer term effect of the Ascendants on their society, on the core religion and on the attitudes of people in authority. And particularly, as the book unfolds, on the huge uncertainty the Ascendants bring. So many what ifs…
Do you ever find any of yourself creeping into characters, or maybe even traits you wish you had. I have this feeling that your favourite character in The Raven series was Hirad.
Well, you’re right. As I mentioned above, he was my character in my role-playing all those years ago. I’m absolutely certain I creep into my characters. I try not to but inevitably, a writer gives themselves in whole or part to their story and the outward demonstration of that is going to be in their characters.
There are traits I wish I had… utter confidence and the ability to say exactly the right thing every time would be damned handy. A lovely thing about writing is that your characters can say those words you wish you’d said in a similar situation. They can talk the tough words and fight the good fight like you cannot.
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