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This is an interview I did with David Forbes a fellow member of this forum who will soon be releasing his first book "The Amber Wizard". It was done a few months ago and I recommend checking out his website www.davidforbes.net where you will find the prologue and the first chapter in the News section.First off thanks for agreeing to do the interview. I guess we should start with who is David Forbes?
Okay, the dreaded "bio" question. I'm 39 years old, married, with one son who just turned six. I've been writing since high school, mostly fantasy, with some science fiction and horror thrown into the mix. I've been working on the world of THE AMBER WIZARD for close to ten years. The original idea kernel was to write a sort of fantasy version of DUNE in which the main character becomes a relgious prophet as a way to cement power, though he doesn't actually believe in the new god he's worshipping. Most of that has long ago been jettisoned, though there are still pieces of it that will appear in the overall story arc through the five novels.
I worked in banking for sixteen years. I spent most of that time in marketing product management, and ended as an e-commerce manager for a regional bank. That bank was sold this year, and I took severance and decided to write full-time. I'd landed a three-novel book contract with HarperCollins based on their liking of THE AMBER WIZARD and the outlines I'd provided for the rest of the series, so it seemed a good time to make a career of it. I've also written a young adult fantasy novel called FOREVERNESS that's about a fourteen-year-old boy living outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (where I live), who gets caught in a war between angelic beings who are arguing over what they believe is God's plan for the world. It's a pretty cool book, very different from the big epic fantasies, and was much easier to write. It's currently at three different publishers to see if they want to buy it.
The other books in the series -- which is called the Osserian Saga -- are:
THE WORDS OF MAKING
THE PATH OF ASHES
THE COMMANDING STONE
THE FELL KING
I'm not much into playing sports -- don't have the time, and I blew out a disk in my back seven years ago, so that makes certain physical activities kind of difficult. I do work out and exercise regularly to stay in shape and help keep what's left of my back strong.
I read a great deal. Not as much fantasy as you would think, because I dislike so much of it. I love Erikson and George R. R. Martin. Below them, I like Tad Williams (though his latest didn't do much for me), Robin Hobb, Neal Stephenson (though he's not really fantasy), Clive Barker, Gene Wolfe, Ursula LeGuin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen R. Donaldson, Dan Simmons, Peter Straub, Stephen King, and Philip Pullman. I love Alistair Reynold's science fiction novels, and Michael Connelly's detective novels. And of course Tolkien.
Ok, here is a Malazan question for you. What would you say to someone to convince them to read MBotF?
That's actually a pretty hard question. He's a very difficult writer to access. I don't think a person who's never read an epic fantasy before would be able to fathom what the hell is going on, and would quit before they got into it. I think his writing is predicated on a rather deep understanding of the genre, and that if you don't understand how it works -- how new cultures are introduced but not explained until much later (if ever, in some cases), how the maps are really, really important, how his magical system is also largely unexplained -- then you just won't "get" it. There are so many races, so many characters, so many powers, that without a kind of understanding of how epic fantasies operate, a new reader is just not going to make it. They will be lost. I don't think I really could recommend these very long books to someone who hasn't read fantasy because I don't believe he or she could enjoy them. I almost didn't make it through GARDENS OF THE MOON because I didn't know what the hell was going on for a while, and didn't much care. I think that is by far his weakest book, and it's a shame it's the first one, because it really can't be skipped.
That said, for those who are familiar with fantasy, I would tell them that the world-building is staggeringly good, some of the stories are both beautiful and terrible (the Chain of Dogs), and the sheer scope of the tales makes them worth the effort to read.
Can you give us a brief synopsis of "The Amber Wizard"?
Well, I'll cheat a bit. Here's what will be printed on the rear book cover:
"As Gerin Atreyano takes his place as the Crown Prince of Khedesh after his father ascends to the throne, a stranger appears and proclaims that Gerin may be the amber wizard foretold long ago. Now young Gerin's training, both as prince and wizard, must begin in earnest. But his enemies place a secret enchantment upon him, pulling him down a path of darkness. As opposing forces mass across the land, arming for bloody war, he inadvertently opens an ancient portal using forbidden magic. And suddenly Gerin Atreyano faces a dual destiny as savior or destroyer of a world in chaos -- as he prepares for the dread reemergence of humanity's most powerful enemy: Asankaru, the vengeful and terrible Storm King."
Here's a different take on the synopsis from my blog (which, if anyone is interested, is at http://davidforbes.blogspot.com/ I'm using it to chart the course to publication, since I've never gone through the process before.
THE AMBER WIZARD, at its heart, is about the consequences of one's actions and how terrible crimes can resonate and affect the world centuries after they occur. The main character, Gerin Atreyano, is a prince and heir to the throne of the kingdom of Khedesh. He's young, brash, arrogant, and talented. He learns that he has the ability to become a wizard -- which were once a separate race of beings, and whose interbreeding with non-magical peoples has caused their powers to fade until they now stand on the brink of their own extinction -- the likes of which have not been seen for nearly two thousand years.
A mysterious divine being appears to him on several occassions to make cryptic pronouncements about the power -- and powerlessness -- of the gods, causing him to wonder if he's drawn the attention of the gods themselves upon him.
In THE AMBER WIZARD, Gerin faces a terrible dilemma. There is a force of death at work in his world, created by an act of his own making that went horribly wrong -- the use of forbidden black magic to summon the spirit of a dead wizard. Many are dying, and more will continue to die unless a proper balance can be restored. But the only way to correct the balance is by the sacrifice of an innocent, one who must be pure. And it must be done by Gerin's hand. He will also uncover the secret of an ancient crime so ghastly it will forever change how he sees the world.
While in summary it sounds kind of generic, the details in the book -- and the larger story that will play out over the next several volumes -- are pretty unique for this kind of fantasy. What exactly is mankind's relationship to the gods? Is there one god or many? What kind of events would cause a former polytheistic priest to create a new religion dedicated to One God alone, and why would such a new idea spread across the world like a wildfire? Is evil an external, incarnate force, or does it live only in the hearts of mankind?
What about the genre makes you dislike so much of it and how is "The Amber Wizard" different?
I think there's far too much that just parrots Tolkien without adding anything new to the mix. I pretty much don't touch anything anymore that has Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, etc., in it. I just can't stomach it. Tad Williams did a wonderful job sort of reshaping some of those tropes in his MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN books, which is why I was pretty disappointed in SHADOWMARCH -- it was just more of the same, without adding anything new or interesting.
I also can't stand Dark Lords who are simply EVIL and out to conquer the world. I just don't believe in that kind of evil (and it's something I'm going to tackle head on in my own books). People who commit evil acts don't think they're being evil. Hitler didn't wake up every morning and say, "I think I'll be evil today." What he did was unquestionably evil, but not from his point of view. I think the more interesting fantasies are the ones that show that point of view, who try to make the reader understand what drives a man or creature to commit heinous acts. Far too much fantasy just has some moustache-twirling psycho out to conquer the world for no real reason.
And that, by the way, is one thing I really love about Erickson. He avoids my biggest pet peeves!
Which authors have had the most influence on your writing style and do you see their influence in "The Amber Wizard".
I don't think my style has been influenced by anyone. I think style is something every writer develops largely on his or her own. Are you a plotty writer or a character-driven writer? What kinds of things do you emphasize? Scenery? Clothing? Physical appearance? Do you use dialog to advance plot or reveal character traits? Things like that are often not really under a writer's conscious control. It's more a factor of how one's brain works.
Of course those kinds of decisions are certainly influenced to an extent by what a writer has read and the kind of works he or she responds to. I dislike present tense and third person omniscient narrative styles, for instance. But it's funny how you really don't have a lot of control over your "voice," unless you're deliberately trying to copy another writer. And even then it's hard.
Now, if by "style" you meant "what you write about," there are tons of influences. Tolkien, of course, and Stephen R. Donaldson (though there are things about his writing style I detest immensely). I used to read a lot more science fiction when I was younger than I do now -- Larry Niven was one of my favorites, as were Heinlein and Asimov -- so I'm sure they've had some influence even if I'm not consciously aware of it. And I think I've already said that the kernel of the original idea for this series was inspired by Frank Herbert's DUNE, in which Paul Atreides becomes a messiah figure for the Fremen relgion and uses it to basically take over the human Galactic Empire. I thought that particular point was bascially glossed over -- Herbert was more interested in the uses of power than in how that power was actually gained -- and I thought it would be interesting to see how a person might consciously manipulate a religion to consolidate personal power.
So there are definitely influences, both deliberate and those that come simply from absorbing so much from other writers.
Quite often in fantasy, readers accuse authors of copying ideas from other authors. Is there anything in "The Amber Wizard" that you think may make people say "bah, he's ripping of >insert author name here<"?
God, I hope not! I doubt most writers accused of ripping off other writers actually see that in their writing (though I don't see how Terry Brooks' SWORD OF SHANNARA could have been anything but a conscious, blow-by-blow parroting of THE LORD OF THE RINGS). I had originally wanted a very "normal" kind of historical setting, with very few alien or magical races or monsters, except those that existed in that world's legends (much like vampires and werewolves exist in ours). I had a feudal system set up that avoided terms like "duke" or "earl" and had everyone as either a high lord or low, but then George R. R. Martin came alone and did the same damn thing, so I had to change that. And my agent said I needed more "critters" in the book to make it more palatable to editors, so I invented some monsters and other creatures to add into the mix. I'm certainly not aware of any "rip off" type sections, but then I'm probably not the best person to judge. When you read it you can let me know what you find!
Was "The Amber Wizard" the first manuscript you sent to publishers and could you tell us a bit about the process of getting it published.
No, it wasn't the first. I'd written a fantasy novel in the mid-90s called THE WIZARD'S GIFT that went through endless iterations. I finally did land an agent for that one, but he didn't really get what I was doing. He sent it out to a number of publishers. I received some positive feedback from some of them, but no one bought it.
This agent saw a very early draft of THE AMBER WIZARD and kept trying to get me to change it into something like a few of his other writers were putting out there. I hated all of his ideas, he hated what I was trying to do, so we parted ways. I gave THE AMBER WIZARD a rest for a while, wrote a young adult novel called FOREVERNESS (which is out at three publishers at the moment), and then returned to THE AMBER WIZARD. My current agent read FOREVERNESS first and really liked it, but when he read THE AMBER WIZARD he thought that would make a better "first" novel. So here I am.
What advice would you give to all the budding writers out there?
Getting published is a long shot, so you can't be discouraged. You can't let rejection stop you. I got at least 60 rejection slips from agents when I was trying to find representation for FOREVERNESS.
You also need to love what you're doing -- I spent years writing in the evenings and on weekends and holidays. I gave up a lot, but for me it was worth it. It's okay to write just for yourself, too, or for your friends, or for an online community. That's something you need to figure out for yourself. But no matter what, keep writing.
Ok, one last question. If you had to write a blurb for the cover what would it be?
Ah, I get out of this one! First, I'm a terrible blurb writer, at least for my own work. But I already included the actual blurb (written by my editor at HarperCollins) in one of my earlier replies.
Here is what you will find:
Front cover will say above the title:
A legacy of great power...and devastation.
The back cover will read:
For a thousand years, there have been no great wizards in the world--and even longer since a wizard-king reigned.
Now all must welcome and fear the coming of
THE AMBER WIZARD
>Same as synopsis above<
The inside front cover will have this excerpt:
Hollin withdrew a clear jewel from the leather pack. It was the size of his palm and cut with many facets. He held out the jewel and spoke in a language Gerin thought was Osirin. "Iva trestalkiri paran yi dakhal sethu…"
A spark of light flared at the heart of the jewel. At the same instant Gerin felt warmth ignite in his belly. It quickly worked its way outward into his arms and legs and up through his neck, as if he was being submerged in hot water. He felt the warmth in his skull and on his scalp; when it reached his face a faint amber light filled his vision, as if he were looking through a piece of colored glass like those in the windows of the hall. He looked down and saw that the jewel was glowing brilliantly with the same amber light.
Then the light was gone, both in his vision and in the jewel, as suddenly as it had appeared.
"By the Blessed Hand of Venegreh," whispered Hollin. "It is you."
Once again thank for taking the time to do this and hopefully the questions and your answers have given potential readers an insight into the type of book "The Amber Wizard" will be and the man behind it.
Thank you for your interest. I will keep everyone apprised about the progress of the book. I'm going through the copyedited version right now. It's on track to be published April 1, 2006.
Support David and the site and pre-order through the following links:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
I will leave this thread unlocked so people can leave comments or ask questions of David.
