Ladies, gentlemen, boys, girls, cats, dogs, wizards and dragons and other carbon-based lifeforms, I am delighted to say that the wonderful Juliet E. McKenna is the latest writer to add her voice to our What The Author Says feature as Juliet discusses Eastern Tide, the fourth volume of her Aldabreshin Compass series (sorry, we’re still waiting on the cover art so no pic yet) and just how a good writer balances the narrative thrust built up by preceding volumes while still trying to move the tale and characters in new ways to keep the reader interested:
“The Aldabreshin Compass turns to its final point as the tide of events sweeps Kheda eastwards from the western shore where we last saw him, to bring him all the way home.
The final novel in a fantasy series presents various challenges. After, in this case, three previous volumes, events have generated their own momentum that inexorably steer the story. How familiar characters will react is well-established. The writer absolutely must keep faith with all this yet must continue to wrong-foot the reader with unforeseen twists. If the series has been full of peril thus far, the author has to find ways to escalate the challenges without tipping the characters into a cataclysm they cannot hope to survive if this fantasy world and crucially its internal logic are to remain intact.
I faced all these complexities writing Eastern Tide. Compared to The Tales of Einarinn, the Aldabreshin Compass sequence has drawn far more of an on-going arc, both as regards overall plot and for the individuals within it. Kheda, the central character, has come a long way from the security of his former life as a powerful warlord, surrounded by wives and children. Faced with fighting magic, in a culture where wizardry is a capital crime, he has been forced to compromise his beliefs to save his people. As a consequence he has come to question those fundamental beliefs and all that rests upon them, for himself and for his people. His travels, seeking to save his home, have taken him far away with unexpected companions.
In many ways, an easier choice for a writer would be to take him further on that journey. The harder choice but the more intriguing one for the reader, more satisfying as far as the overall story goes, is to bring him back home again. Now he has to face the world he knew in the light of his new ideas. How can he fulfil his responsibilities as a ruler, when his beliefs have changed so much? How can he fulfil his responsibilities as a father, when he has sacrificed his children’s happiness for the sake of his wider obligations? How can he return to a marriage of policy and expedience, when he has fallen in love with another woman? What will he do if she refuses to return his love, now he has abandoned beliefs she still cherishes?
Kheda has travelled incognito to avoid curious eyes as he’s made deals with wizards that his culture would utterly condemn. As a result he’s learned that mages are men and women of good, bad and indifferent character just like his own people. They can make good and bad choices as they use their magical power, just as the warlords he deals with wield their military and political might. He’s also gained a better understanding of just why the Aldabreshi have historically hated magic. He’s seen it abused for personal aggrandizement and been caught up in the catastrophic results of magic wielded with the best of intentions but without any clear appreciation of the likely consequences. Mages can indeed be very dangerous to know. Thanks to them, dragons are threatening the Aldabreshin Archipelago once again.
Kheda alone has the knowledge and wizardly contacts to save the domains of warlords he doesn’t even know, of those he’s allied with, and of those he detests. Who will he choose to help? How will he help them? He has no authority travelling as a nameless slave. Reclaiming his rank gives him the power to act but also makes him the focus of keen attention. His old enemies have not forgotten why they want him dead. Everything he does is scrutinised with considerable curiosity. The danger that his dealings with wizards will be uncovered becomes all the more acute. What will happen then?
Juliet E. McKenna”
Tue, Jun 13, 2006
Books, Interviews