DW:  In both of your novels, you certainly demonstrate that you have a solid grasp on, and deep understanding of, many (what could be called) “Biblical” concepts – far more so than many “Christian” authors I know of/have read.

I don’t believe it is necessary to study religion to find understanding; all you need is within yourself. If I display a grasp of ‘Biblical’ concepts that is coincidental as I don’t claim any knowledge of the contents of your Bible, which I tried to read but found the writing style obscured my inner sight. All I have done is to reflect on the world I see through the eyes of my soul.  I have allowed ideas to come through me rather than from me.

DW: One of my favorites was the idea of the wildfire revealing who you are on the inside, transforming you so that your inward nature is directly reflected by your outward appearance. You addressed this in part in your web post “The Lifesong and the Search for Truth”.

I suspect that would be a horror for most people, as would the presence of a telepath nearby. I doubt any of us would look very beautiful with our inner nature and thoughts on display. But a beautiful soul is something worth striving for, isn’t it? The state of our soul is our own special secret creation. That makes life a journey, rather than an achievement.

I am wary of people who claim to have ‘found’ the way to enlightenment. People are clever enough to puzzle out their own path. But we can all do with some inspiration to get us moving in the right direction, so if you are a singer, sing! If you are a writer: write!

DW: Please know that I absolutely am not going to try to engage you in a religious discussion, and will by no means attempt to foist my own set of beliefs upon you… I was only curious if your Atheism has been from your youth, or do you come from a religious background, which you subsequently left? I’m only curious because of your remarkable grasp on many underlying concepts that I feel have been obfuscated/hidden and are sorely needed among those that claim to follow Christ.

I appreciate your considerate approach. You are the kind of Christian I get on very well with. My wife is Roman Catholic, my best friend at school became a pastor; both understand religion is a personal path. To me, the sensation of spirit doesn’t imply worship is appropriate. I choose to walk alone. And my atheism is definitely not spelled with a capital A; I don’t use it to classify or limit myself.

I have been an atheist since about thirteen, when I worked out for myself that going to church wasn’t right and proper for me, it was a one-sided dialogue and simply traditional. Before that I wasn’t Christian, I was too young to know what Christian was. After that, I was the kid at school who refused to sing the hymns. I guess I’ve finally found a way to change the words

In the Tale of the Lifesong, I present a world that has entranced my inner eye. That you find deep concepts in it is due to the fact that you are able to see them in any world, I don’t believe it’s due to any special ability on my behalf of being able to express them, but thanks for the compliment.

I aim to be ‘true’ in my telling of the story; I am guided by my sense of ‘off-key’ notes, which I try to reshape into a harmony. I believe the less we explain in our stories and the more that it is up to the interpretation of the reader, the more powerful those interpretations can become because they are moments of discovered truth, entirely personal and (hopefully) therefore genuinely enlightening, rather than just dazzling displays of intellectual wizardry.

In the Lifesong, I seek to understand the magic I sense whispering under the surface of life, the essence of a beautiful song. That some people enjoy sharing my journey of discovery is a bonus. Maybe we are not that different, after all.

DW:  Ametheus is a terrific character, and it is probably impossible to recall exactly how he evolved in your mind, while you were developing him, but I’d love to know how you came up with the three facets, and assigning one to focus on the past, one the present and the third on the future. I’d love to know if you felt that type of dichotomy (trichotomy?) was merely a byproduct of pure chaos, or at its heart.

This trichotomy is at the heart of existence. We were, we are, we will be. It’s easy to understand Ametheus because we have may have some similar qualities ourselves: the part that lives in the past, holds grudges and is easy to anger, the part that lives in the future and maybe overestimates the amazing talents we have yet to reveal, and the humble part that lives in the Now and is maybe not quite what we want to be.

I really don’t develop these characters in the sense you are thinking of. I sink deeper into them. I try to understand who they are, and reveal it, rather than saying to myself ‘here’s Mr X, he’s going to be a placeholder representing un-love, despair and wrath’. I get flashes of inspiration, then work to understand the gift of vision I have been given.

DW:  Why did you decide to bring back Kirjath for Second Sight? He was such a terrific villain in the first volume, was it just hard to let him go? Ametheus doesn’t really factor in until they leave Oldenworld — did you feel the beginning of the book lacked enough tension without a true villain?

No, I closed my eyes, and there I was, floating above the grave thinking ‘how dare they bury me?’ And so I ventured forth, and tried to survive, with my failing essence, and my bitter need. You cannot kill me, you cretins.

DW:  Would King Mellar have gone mad anyway if Kirjath’s spirit had not ‘possessed’ him?

Yes, it comes from taking away the crutch he has used all his adult life. If you become familiar with projecting stability and order through such a powerful talisman, when it is removed from you the contrast would surely induce paranoia and madness. It is the fatal flaw of relying on Order (or becoming too powerful or famous — you never want to give it up). But without Kirjath, Mellar’s madness would not be so very dangerous. We’ll see how that plays out in a new tale of the Lifesong, perhaps?

DW:  Ashley’s “power” seems to be presented in a much more subtle way than Tabitha’s, yet it seemed (to me, anyway) to be every bit as unique/powerful. Did you plan on making Ashley a new Wizard from the outset, or was that a happy development along the way?

You might remember a slip of the tongue by the Riddler very early on that might begin the change in Eyri. The Darkmaster, Ashley, and Tabitha are touched by the flux. Take it from there… I didn’t intend for them to become wizards, but someone else did.

DW: Loved what you did with Ashley and Sassraline. It was fascinating to watch you deal with the issues of lying in order to save one’s skin, using flattery as a tool of manipulation, and also the nature of worship to begin with.

Flattering dragons is what you’re supposed to do, according to legend. The spin here is that he really has to make it believable, because he’s communicating with thoughts not words, so he can’t really lie, he has to find a truth that creates the desired effect.

DW: Ashley’s ability to project ideas/illusions into the minds of others, did you know he’d be able to do that from the outset (and saved that for the right time) or did that present itself as you wrote the scene of Sassraline’s humbling?

Sit in a cave with a hungry dragon long enough and you’ll come up with a solution. Or get eaten. You have to realize I’m sitting there with him, for days, and the only way I can escape from that scene is to escape from that scene. That’s where I find the genuine plot, the path with heart. I know he’s in the cave (because I’ve seen it); I don’t know how he escapes (because I’m blinded to this part of the story) – so I have to work it out. I usually get flashes of vision, not understanding or plot or motivations. I’m constantly trying to work out ‘how do I get there, from here’?

DW: Did you have the basic arc for the whole tale (From Riddler’s through Second Sight) in mind from the outset, or did you finish Riddler’s Gift first, and then regroup and wonder where you could go from there, for a second book?

Holding onto a master plan when the story is about developing wizards?

This is impossible, because they have the power to change things as they develop, in ways you cannot plan. I wanted to follow their journey, rather than dictate it, and so I had to give them freedom.

If I shoe-horned them into a pre-defined pattern, what would I learn? The only way to retain the integrity of the story was to imagine myself in their position, given their powers, and see what they would do.

So the plot is entirely organic.

This makes my writing process very slow. My coffee generally goes cold. After some time, I am suddenly blind-sided by vision. Occasionally, for fun, I’d finish a chapter and then Zarost would propose ‘How can it possibly get harder? What’s the worst thing that could happen?’ Then I’d write that bit, find myself even deeper and ask ‘how the hell do we get out of here?’ That could take a few days to solve, while Zarost chuckled to himself. Sometimes, I followed my curiosity, as in ‘What’s happening with Ashley?’ If I was really lucky, I’d hear voices, and take dictation – those scenes came out with special resonance and explosive speed.

It got progressively harder to write, until by the fourth movement of Second Sight, I was really beginning to understand Ametheus and was searching for a way to find peace through annihilation. For the record, I didn’t do anything to the chicken, but I enjoy peri-peri.

DW: On the over-arching theme of Chaos vs Order. Did you start with that theme and contemplate which genre would make sense, as far as how best to express your thoughts on it? Or did you decide to write a fantasy novel, and the theme evolved out of the process of fleshing out the characters and the world?

The first question presumes that I planned to express a certain theme. I didn’t; I witnessed it.

You might say it grew out of the world as I explored it, although the three axis magic system was an early concept that comes from being fascinated with three-dimensional mathematics. So Dark and Light were pitted against each other on the first axis in the simplified environment of Eyri, and Chaos and Order were natural adversaries on the third axis in Oldenworld.

I wanted to express the idea of different organizations of the same power, and the freedom of escaping the confines of indoctrination along a certain axis. So far, the second axis is largely unexplored (that of Matter/Energy), and the Lifesong defies classification within the science of the times. But these were very far in the background of my thoughts as I wrote the Lifesong series.

You will find many themes in the Lifesong, depending on what you bring to it as a reader, precisely because I wrote it without the intention to prove a point or present a particular view. I aim for revelation (for myself) rather than trying to disguise some kind of religion (for others).

The inspiring video you posted of Thijme Termaat (I Paint) expresses this perfectly.

You might be able to find themes in his collection. Likewise, the Lifesong fantasy series is a collection of mental paintings. I express what comes through me. The theme is not intended, it is experienced.

So although things like theme, subtext, context and conceptual analysis might make sense in an English literature class, it makes no sense to me as a writer. I deliberately walked a different path for the Lifesong. It has no literary aspirations. It means only what it means to you. It is a creation, rather than a construction.

My life has been a continual search to raise my consciousness, to become, somehow, more. Writing is the best path I have found, given my nature. I suppose I could write in any genre, but I find my muse tends to lead me down pathways that involve magic, music and freedom.

DW: Did you ever consider ending Second Sight with a “Cleansing of the Shire” type of epilogue, where we could return to Eyri to pick up some of the loose ends?
I believe in ending a story when it is done. Epilogues are what come after the story, and I think it’s best to avoid them. A little lingering mystery is good. There are threads that continue beyond Second Sight, and some things I chose not to conclude because once the story gets going they would slow things down and unravel the intensity of what was happening Oldenworld. They can be woven into a sequel, when Tabitha returns to Eyri and finds that things are … altered. So I’ve left these threads to use if they add something to the conflict of the next book, rather than weakening the climax of Second Sight by ‘tying off loose ends’.

Tabitha Serannon is a young girl who seems to be foolish, and easily turned around. Don’t let this fool you, throughout the novel her strength increases until the final climax. She is often accompanied by a man entitled The Riddler, and through this companion, we find not only the mystery of the novel, but the humor as well.

As the story progresses into a dark mist that keeps your mind probing in different direction, hoping to find a light, The Riddler guides you through his twisted speech, and his manner of avoiding the truth, while never telling a lie. I found myself looking for pieces that included him, just to see what he would say next. Most chapters begin with a quote by The Riddler, and give you something to think about before plunging into the next piece of your journey.

Aha! I must admit to being the same, because ‘putting his head on’ allowed me to see everything in a different (upside down) way, but being an interfering sort who tries hard not to interfere, he had to duck and dive through the story like a weasel through wildfire. This leads me on to a question posed by David Wagner:

Are all of the “riddles” at the beginnings of the chapters your own creations, or did you coop/modify sayings/proverbs from other sources?

The riddles come last
when the story is done.
They hint at what’s coming
but are sometimes just fun.
They come from a mind
where echoes are found
of what came before,
and songs tumble round.

-Zarost

“If reading The Riddler’s Gift is comparable to enjoying an amazing, detailed work of art in an art gallery somewhere, then reading Second Sight would be the equivalent of stepping outside the art gallery and enjoying/contemplating the stars.

Second Sight works on many levels. It has a fascinating cast of characters, both major and minor. It has interesting, varied environments. It has plenty of action and suspense, with near-perfect pacing. But to me, most importantly, it dealt with huge issues, both temporal and eternal, mortal and divine, in a way that not only didn’t distract from the story-telling, but greatly enhanced it.”

Off-handed criticism is easy to inflict; genuine praise is much harder, because you have to identify specific qualities from your memory of a long journey, and explain the reasons for the highs without giving away the story. David has provided a deeply considered analysis of the characters and milieu of Second Sight in his blazing five-star review.

If there’s one thing that’s consistent with reviews of my fantasy books, it’s variety. Every reader who has ever commented on the Lifesong has their own unique reaction, things they love and hate, details they hold onto and things that pass them by. I don’t think it’s possible to write a perfect book, loved by all, but I’m glad to have brought something to life that strikes a chord with like-minded souls.

I’m an atheist, and yet, The Tale of the Lifesong is deeply spiritual. How can I write it? Because atheism (or any ism or ity) is a point of view, and when I write, I lose myself. I am inspired.

In that state, I cannot instruct or preach. I am an instrument and the Lifesong is the music. I am not trying to offer you the Truth; I am dancing and invite you to join me. Isn’t being alive beautiful?

As to the truths that might lie within the Lifesong, I don’t think life has truths and laws, it is an organic and fluid situation … we are always required to engage the present moment, to evolve; to be alive. Truths and laws are, in a way, laziness, the natural tendency of the mind to simplify things and to find patterns in recurring events. In this respect, ‘truth’ is what we need to guard against. It can lead to narrow-mindedness, arrogance and fundamentalism.

The wisest path I can see is to reflect on one’s situation and try to consider all the consequences before acting. We are always learning, and never ‘know’ the truth of how to live. Intuition can be helpful, but when we believe our intuition guides us to Truth, we end up ‘knowing’ that the earth is flat, that witches must be burned, and that the charming conman really can save us from the impending disaster of our own spiritual annihilation.

What I suspect is that spiritual knowledge is too individual to be taught, but some people have a magic about them, acquired through the choices and actions that form their character. They’ve got it, but they can’t pass it on very easily. That’s why the wizards (the learned) are not nearly as powerful as the sorcerers (the self-taught) in the Tale of the Lifesong. And the Lifesinger simply enlivens, not claiming any knowledge for her own, but willing to share the joy with everyone.

To me, that power is worth more than all of them put together.

Fantasy writer Ty Johnston is touring the blogosphere this month, in part to promote his latest e-book novel,

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and for a lot of people this is a special time of year. Couples share gifts and love with one another, and even those who have yet to find that special someone often will celebrate the holiday with friends or with another who has potential to become that special someone.

As a fiction writer, I would like to think I know a thing or two about love. At the very least, I would hope I can convey such emotions in the written word. But since I write mostly epic fantasy in which swords and slaughter are usually on the menu, how can my writings relate to love?

Remember the old saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder?” Well, misfortune and disaster can also make the heart grow fonder, at least under certain circumstances. What can bring people closer together than facing seemingly unbeatable odds together? Even the individual will often find a new love for his or her fellow men and women after surviving what appears to be insurmountable obstacles.

True, sometimes bitterness can fill the heart after one comes face to face with deadly circumstances. Some will become hateful, believing they have seen the worst there is and that the world is filled with nothing but horrors and those who must be detested. That way can lie madness.

Yet there is always hope. In a world of love, there can always be hope.

Despite the darkness that seeps around the edges of my stories, and sometimes drops right into the middle of them like a bomb going off, ultimately I write about the hopes of mankind, about the love we can all share with our intimates and with those we barely know.

To me, that is what epic fantasy is about. Hope. Yes, there will be losses, favored characters who ultimately fall to an enemy, but such only reinforces the love that can be found or rediscovered at the end of a tale.

Happy Valentine’s Day, from my sword to yours.

More Books by Ty Johnston

“Other than The Heroes, by Joe Abercrombie, this book by Greg Hamerton is the most enjoyable fantasy book I’ve read in the past year. That includes all the noteworthy books listed in my 2011 Reads list over there on the right side of the blog page there. GRRM’s entire series, Pat Rothfuss’ latest, books by Brett, Parker, Scalzi, Sanderson, etc. All of them. I’m belaboring this to let you know that I am not saying this lightly, or off-the-cuff.

The author does a fantastic job (pardon the pun) of crafting rich, complex characters. They lend themselves to shades of grey that are unexpected and yet feel oddly natural. You expect the heroine Tabitha Serannon to remain naive and good-at-heart, in spite of her trials, but as she accesses magic that is well-beyond her experience and expectation, it impacts her, changes her, in ways that catch you off guard. In fact, I can’t think of a single main character, good or evil, that doesn’t go through some level of transformation, or that isn’t blind-sided by an unforeseen event (or series of events) that forces them to course-correct. It is all deftly handled, and thoroughly entertaining to read.”

Being a writer himself, he makes some interesting observations about the action, dialogue and craft and offers some useful insight into the danger of sequels. Read the full review on David Wagner’s blog

Thanks David, and good luck with your own writing!

Criticism is always hard to take, and I have great respect for Mr Donaldson as a writer. But this book is crushed to death under its own weight and it drags the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant down with it.

I review it not to point my presumptuous little finger at a great writer’s faults, but to try and understand why the book itself has lost me as a reader, so I can avoid this style of writing in my own fantasy novels. It’s particularly instructive for me, because I deal with similar themes in Second Sight, on a similar stage, with similar stakes (a world wracked with chaos; a female mage striving to save the essence of life; the world will end by her causing the conditions for the Apocalypse).

There’s a strange kind of resonance I suspect many authors have discovered. Similarities emerge between writers when they write about a similar theme. As you write, you discover the same entities and challenges. To put it another way, when you work with the stuff Tolkien delved into, you come face to face with the same Balrog, regardless of whether you’ve read Tolkien or not. It’s not a case of copying; it’s a case of working with the archetypes that lurk in the place writers find themselves in. So I appreciate that what Donaldson is attempting to work with here is extremely difficult: gods, mages with staggering powers, doom and apocalypse, and the meaningful culmination of story arcs from two trilogies with many potent characters.

The opening is definitely not designed to cater for mainstream readers. When you compare it to something like Mordant’s Need, it’s plain that Donaldson knows how to write a cracking opening scene, but has chosen not to. I know we are well into a series here, but I would have still made some kind of concession to engage readers. For pages and pages we must endure the introspective exposition that is Covenant’s trademark, his fractured, floundering grasp on reality, then Linden’s self-doubt, and piles of explanation.

As an author, I have a large working vocabulary, and there’s some academic enjoyment to be found in encountering obscure or archaic words. But the language and the overwrought specificity (see?) of this book comes across as pedantic. I know it’s partly a deliberate stylistic technique to establish continuity with the ‘otherworldliness’ of The Land, but if I read percipience one more time I am going to bleed from the eyeballs. Where oh where was the editor’s red pencil? Kill the darlings, they say.

This ‘ornate and heavyweight’ style makes it ‘different’ in a market of gritty, action-driven fantasy novels, but different is not necessarily a good thing. It makes the dialogue strange and off-key. I also struggled to understand the complicated web of conflicting motives, so Donaldson has to continually remind me what is at stake for each character, and then agonise over every possible ramification of their choices, which slows the pace even more. The strict rules of established behaviour lead to some painfully polite posturing. I wished Brand the Haruchai would say ‘fuck you’, just once, and kick the Manethrall’s head in, but instead he says ‘we will hear no more of this, Manethrall. You are unjust …’ This wooden dialogue just isn’t convincing from people who are all living rough: fighters, survivors, dirty smelly tough-as-nails folk, people who haven’t given up in an endless fight against ultimate evil.

When some action does eventually happen, the excitement is ruined by unrealistic stop-start pacing. The rising dread of She Who Can Not Be Named (Donaldson’s Balrog) is made ridiculous by being spoken to, answering in English, and then being ‘paused’ while the hero devises some get-out clause and thinks it through. The last time I was chased by a deadly snake, I didn’t have a moment to think of anything beyond run. The bane is supposed to represent a threat ten thousand times worse.

Donaldson is the master of writing about self-torment and hand-wringing indecision, but these qualities in a lead character become tiresome and eventually, unbearable. Even while running from death, characters pause to consider the outcome of everything they do, as if Donaldson is trying hard to explain everything in case we readers don’t get it. This makes me feel that he knows it’s too complicated. Actions should be obvious and believable, given the situation. Instead the characters look over their shoulders all the time and try to explain why they are doing what they are doing.

While the despair and self-doubt continues the style of the Covenant books, it has been elevated to such a degree by now that it overwhelms the story. There are hints that the author cares deeply about the inspirations of his characters and their morality, but overall the mood is just too serious and entirely humourless. Even the giants laugh at unfunny moments, deliberately controlled by the author, and they seem like miscast extras going hohoho in the background of a funeral scene. I know Donaldson is trying to do something with the symbolism and metaphors and deeper meanings, but because it’s so complicated and contrived I just don’t get any of it.

The second and third books of the final cycle interfere with my memory of the previous trilogies and break their spell. This ponderous tale needs to be cut down to size, to make it able to stand on its own as a story. In the attempt to forge the Unifying Conclusion of Great Significance with such meticulousness, Donaldson has throttled his own creation.

If he ever writes short standalone fantasy stories I’ll be right there in the front of the queue. But I’ve abandoned Covenant, Linden and The Land to collapse and annihilation. They do not seem worth saving.

As a fantasy author, what do I take away from this?

• When the seminal story is concluded (in this case, end of the first trilogy), end the series. Sequels can eventually suck the life out of the whole world. Be especially wary of writing the ‘last’ book that points back at the whole series and ties it up: you cannot make it better than it was and like analysing a joke, over-scrutiny of the original story leads to a dissipation of the magic.
• Readers don’t need reasons for everything; they should be able to puzzle motives out as things develop.
• Evocative writing is more engaging than prescriptive writing.
• Lead characters need to be decisive, so they move through the story.
• Extended internal dialogues are story killers.

I loved the first Chronicles and applauded the second. The third Chronicles began in a cunning way, and I was eager to be swept away into the Land once again. But this book, Fatal Revenant, dragged at my heels.

.

It could be cut by 400 pages and still tell the same story, and the excessive use of anachronistic (damn, he’s doing it to me too now, I mean to say old) and downright obscure adjectives highlight the problem: Donaldson insists on telling us exactly what every single thing means, and every possible outcome, repeatedly, with painful precision. There is no space to wonder, to guess; to fill in the blanks in the writing: to be amazed.

In the earlier books I enjoyed the poetry of the Land, the way the atmosphere of the story made me feel. There was a special beauty to the fact that the world was a dream-world which Covenant did not believe in. It was real but unreal–that ambiguity was essential to the magic of the book.

But now the Land has become too real or too defined to be believable. Being the only world that exists for the lead character, it becomes a stock-fantasy story and reads like a fictionalised role-playing game with staged combat scenes. The plotting is arduous, with character motivations analysed so often that I became suspicious of the plot. I knew that if I stopped to think about it, I’d see that the characters probably wouldn’t do what they were doing unless the author had insisted that they did. It doesn’t ring true.

There are some high-points, great fantasy inventions, wonderful wizardry and moments when Donaldson works his old magic to good effect, but on the whole I found I couldn’t empathise with Linden Avery. I just didn’t care what she did.

Fatal Revenant also has tons of back-story. It’s a classic case of ‘show don’t tell’ gone wrong. I can’t believe that anything Donaldson writes is accidental, but he has perhaps over-analysed this manuscript, filling it with reminders, patches and information readers ‘should know’. This exposition drags the whole series down. Linden is so insecure and uncertain. She is a woman of shallow emotions who is rather desperate as a heroine. The Extended Unabridged Chronicles of Linden Avery, the Chosen has become too tiresome for me.