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.
I thought the whole relationship with the dragons in The Raven series was really nice. The Kaan could have squashed our world flat, but chose not to, because of our obvious use to them, still they regard most humans as a blight upon existence. What was your inspiration for their characters and viewpoint?
I’m not sure about my inspiration for them. I wanted my dragons to be enormously powerful. So powerful that no man could ever kill one. I wanted them to be intelligent and to have their own society with its joys and tragedies, conflicts and needs. The idea of a link between dragon broods and other dimensions grew as I wrote Dawnthief. It makes dragons flawed, it means they are reliant on others for their survival and forces them to be benevolent dictators rather than pure tyrants.
The Kaan, typified by Sha Kaan have no particular love for humans because they believe them to have fatal flaws that could lead to the destruction of themselves and hence the dragons. They fear that and hate the fact humans can be so blind and arrogant. Only a few demonstrate the strength of will that they respect. Hirad and The Raven were such people.
I've read reviews comparing the Raven books to the Magnificent Seven, the cowboy movie with Yul Brynner and company. Is there any validity to that? Are you even a fan of the material?
I certainly enjoyed the film when I was young. And I’ve seen Seven Samurai since. While I didn’t consciously mimic the "band of people protecting the helpless" theme, it still happened that way and I think the comparison has credibility. I didn’t base The Raven on the magnificent seven but the parallels make me laugh now (Seven people in The Raven, a bald guy, people who’s skills are just beginning to decline... I can see where it comes from.)
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