New C. S. Friedman interview

After finishing Wings of Wrath (Canada, USA, Europe), I knew I needed to have a chat with Celia. To spice things up a bit, I asked her to elaborate on some issues we have been discussing in our email conversations. And I daresay we ended up with a very interesting Q&A that should please fans and newcomers alike.

Enjoy!

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- Without giving too much away, can you give us a taste of the tale that is WINGS OF WRATH?

Under a presumed death sentence by the Magisters for killing one of their own, Kamala heads off to the northlands in search of arcane knowledge that she can barter for her survival. There her path joins up with that of Rhys, half-brother to Queen Gwynofar, who has been sent on an expedition to investigate some anomalies in a neighboring (and hostile) Protectorate. The Wrath of the Gods, that magical barrier which holds the Souleaters at bay, appears to be failing, and those whose job it is to sustain it appear to have disappeared. Together, Rhys and Kamala will discover the devastating truth of what the Wrath really is, and the extent of the Souleater invasion. Meanwhile the monk Salvator has claimed his father's throne, still refusing to make an alliance with the Magisters. Among those trying to manipulate him is the Witch-Queen, who has now made an alliance with the enemies of mankind, in order to prolong her own life. The nature of that bargain will transform her into something other than human, but it will also give her the power to pursue her dream: vengeance against the Magisters who abandoned her in her hour of need. In the end, an company of unlikely allies must seek out an ancient artifact, which theoretically will awaken members of Gwynofar and Salvator's bloodline to their true magical potential, but the cost of that awakening may be the very faith that drives them.

Many story arcs will be concluded in Wings of Wrath -- I do believe that each novel should be a complete read unto itself -- but some will carry on into the next volume, titled (you heard it here first!) Legacy of Kings. And while some mysteries are revealed in Wings of Wrath, many more are coming...including a few really big ones. I think my readers will find both books compelling and rewarding.

- Will you be touring to promote WINGS OF WRATH this winter? If so, are there any appearances you would like your fans to know about?

No, I'm going to focus on writing volume III right now :-) As well as a LITTLE Coldfire surprise for my fans...yes, there is a short story coming, though "when" and "where" are questions yet to be decided.

Right now I have no cons planned before Darkover in November. But if I do plan any other personal appearances it will go on my web page so that everyone can find out about it...along with other announcements of interest to my readers.

- What can readers expect from the final volume of the series? Any tentative title at this point?

Probably a 2010 publication date. I'm hoping to write this one a lot faster than my previous books, but I had to take off a half-year to deal with some health issues (all good now), so that will add up to about the same wait, as far as fans are concerned. Sorry about that :-(

As for what to expect...the culminations of desperate hopes, doomed alliances, and tales of faith, determination, and sacrifice. Colivar's past will be revealed, along with the true origin of the Magisters, and enough mysteries will be unveiled at last to keep a reader's heart pounding. The threat of annihilation will bring together unlikely allies, and foster unexpected treachery. The Witch-Queen's story is central to this volume, as is Colivar's, and Kamala will play a key role in the campaign to destroy the Souleaters for once and for all, while drawing towards her own final confrontation with the Magisters and their Law. In the end, the only ones who can save the world will be those least willing to risk themselves to do so, and their journey to that point will be a dark and terrible one.

It will be one hell of a read, I promise you that. :-)

- Though the novel garnered a lot of positive reviews from critics and fans alike, FEAST OF SOULS appears to have flown under the radar of most SFF readers. Any idea as to why that's been the case?

Not really. The original cover certainly didn't help, which is why DAW changed it. But the SFF market is a quirky thing, and there aren't always reasons you can point to as to why one thing will get noticed and another won't. Needless to say I hope the next volume will do better, and that word of mouth is providing exposure for this one.

Feast of Souls did get excellent reviews from the mainstream trade journals, so clearly it was on their radar.

- Some readers seem to have had trouble with the supposedly "sexist" elements of FEAST OF SOULS. What do you say to that?

Feast of Souls has a lot of themes that deal with gender and sexuality, not as a political statement of mine but just because it's part of the story. Much of that simply derives from its medieval setting. The real Middle Ages were not a good time for women, and prostitution was rife. You can't write about a world like that without some characters having attitudes that are disturbing to modern sensitivities. I, personally, don't believe there is anything sexist in these books (although given characters are sexist) and I kind of shake my head in amazement when people try to extrapolate my own gender politics from the story. So here is my true philosophy:

Men and women are different. Their brains are so different in structure that a scientist who is given one, with no other information, can instantly tell which gender it belonged to. And that's not even beginning to address all the myriad biochemicals which act differently in male and female, or which act the same manner but differ in quantities, timing, or context.

In the 60's and 70's, we wanted to believe that men and women were inherently the same, and it was only cultural and environmental factors that made us appear different. If you could somehow manage to treat boys and girls equally, they would turn out to be pretty much the same, give or take a penis. A lot of genre fiction reflects this philosophy, because that is the kind of world that many readers would live in if they had the choice. Not to mention it is a great setting for fantasy heroines, who (of course) are equal to their men in nearly every way, save perhaps for upper body strength and the ability to pee their name into the snow.

Science no longer believes that, however, and nor do I. This does not mean that individuals must be constrained by their biology. There have always been female warriors, just as their have been male nursemaids, though many cultures don't make it easy on them. But on the average, and reflected in society as a whole, the behavior of each gender has been shaped by evolution to serve specific needs, that maximize that gender's chance of passing down its genes to a new generation. How much of that is nature, and how much is nurture, and how much those differences might affect the genders' aptitude for sorcery, or any other magical enterprise...well, there is a lot of mystery about this stuff in real life, and so there will be a lot of mystery in my novels.

But I certainly do not feel any obligation to make gender balance in my novels "fair." To quote William Goldman, "Life is not fair."

That said...there is actually a REASON why all the Magisters are male. A plot reason. It matters. It matters a lot. So if you haven't figured it out yet...trust me, will ya? A book without mysteries is boring, y'know?

Any time you hear my characters talking about where their power comes from, and why it works the way it does, you should not be asking yourself, "What was Celia thinking when she wrote this?" but "What if the characters are wrong?" Anyone who has read my books knows that a repeated theme -- and one of the primary themes of this particular trilogy -- is that history transforms over time, sometimes dramatically so. In Wings of Wrath, an ancient religion discovers the truth about its own origins, and that discovery shakes it to its very roots. Maybe when the Magisters discover their own origins, something similar will happen :-)

Now, on to a comment I've heard that Feast of Souls reflects my own alleged belief that "all men are bad."

Poppycock.

In societies where life is "nasty, brutish, and short", people tend to be crueler to each other than our society approves of. The Middle Ages was one of those times, but there are certainly enough places where it is true right now that you do not have to work hard to think up examples. And in societies where casual cruelty is common, abuse of women is especially common, sexually and politically. They are the weakest members of society, generally incapable of fighting back, and thus are the perfect victims. And history teaches us that men who are frustrated with their own powerlessness may turn upon their own women to enhance their sense of being "in control". Certainly world events right now teach us that when fanatics who seek total domination of a society begin the struggle for control, the first victims of their tyranny are often women.
So... in some times and places men treat women very badly, particularly where issues of power are involved. That doesn't mean all men are bad. But it does mean that in such places, the general tenor of society may be harsher than we are accustomed to, and women may often be at the receiving end of that harshness.

So does it make me sexist, to set a story in a world where that is the case? Of course not. Not until our modern age was the ideal of true gender equality refined, and we still have not managed to turn it into reality. Earlier ages -- not to mention many countries today -- are rife with sexual violence, and the physical and/or psychological bondage of women is a socially accepted norm. (A recent survey in Egypt revealed that 80% of women -- 80%`--reported being fondled or mauled by strange men while in public; there is a thriving market in long pins meant to fasten the hijab, which women can pull free to stab their attackers with). When women do not have protectors, in such a society, they are vulnerable targets. When I decided to use a medieval setting for the Magister Trilogy, I made a conscious decision to include such tensions in my story. In the upper classes they do not matter all that much. But in the world of poverty that Kamala comes from, they are an inescapable undercurrent, that helped shape the woman she ultimately became. So did her experience with prostitution, which -- like it or not -- is a common practice in such societies, at every socio-economic level.

So...bottom line...I tell stories...sometimes men are assholes in those stories and sometimes they are not... just like real life. It has no greater significance. Really :-)

- While discussing Ellen Kushner's THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD last year, a number of feminist fantasy fans claimed that you were a female author who wrote like a man. Do you agree with this assessment?

No, I don't.

A well-rounded writer, who is master of his craft, can draw upon both "feminine" and "masculine" elements in his writing. Weaving them together, he creates a richer and more compelling work than he would get by focusing on either gender style alone. I attempt to be that kind of writer, and I pride myself on the fact that many readers in my early days (before my picture was available to fans) honestly could not tell guess whether I was male or female. (DAW deliberately avoided pronouns that would give it away, so we could watch that play out; guesses ran about 50/50.)

So, no, I am not a female author who writes like a man. I am a female author who writes like a damned good author. :-)

- In our last interview, I asked you what were your strength as a writer. By the same token, what would be your weaknesses, or aspects of your craft you feel you need to work on?

In terms of what I have actually published, I can't say I feel there is any weakness or flaw that runs through all my work. Each book has had elements that I thought were successful and elements I wish in hindsight I'd handled better, but they differ from work to work. In the writing process, however -- which readers don't see -- I'd have to say my nemesis is plotting. It takes me forever to come up with all the details, complexities, and quirks of action that a good plot requires, whereas I know that many other authors find that the easy part. I'm pleased with my final product, most of the time, but the path that leads there is sometimes torturous.

That's one reason that writing books takes so long, for me. The actual writing goes fairly quickly, once I know what I'm writing about. And I always know my ending before I start, so I know where I am headed. But figuring out how I am going to get there sometimes requires a lot of banging my head against a wall :-)

- How would you describe your work to someone who hadn’t tried your books before?

In the words of Locus magazine, A feast for those who like their fantasies dark, and as emotionally heady as a rich red wine.

- Do you have a different approach when it comes to writing fantasy or science fiction?

I have a different approach for every work, independent of genre :-) The first decision I make when I begin a book is what style it should be written in; epic fantasy demands a different tone than space opera. Then the structure has to be determined. Deciding who my main characters are, and how their viewpoints will impact the novel

I am a very POV (point of view) writer. Everything that takes place in my novels is viewed through the eyes of one of my characters. This lends great energy to my work, and it also means that all information should be suspect, since what you are hearing is what my characters believe...and they may not be right. One of my favorite themes is how the historical facts morph over time, and the relationship of myths and legends to the events which originally spawned them. The Magister Trilogy is especially focused upon this theme, as my characters must untangle the legends surrounding an ancient war in order to gain enough real information to fight the next one. Whole religions are focused around some of those legends...and the story of what happens to a man's faith when he learns that his religion was based upon wrongful assumptions is a powerful thread that runs through the Trilogy.

- You have been writing novels for over two decades. What has changed the most in the fantasy/science fiction genres since you began your career?

Well, when I began, science fiction was a field dominated by a strongly male readership. Many men would not read work by female authors at all (thus the choice by many authors to use their initials instead of names that would reveal a female source) and a book with a female main character was thus a big marketing risk. All that has changed now. Fantasy has become a larger field in its own right, and that readership is predominantly female. Both males and females, in both genres, are more open to stepping outside their comfort zone in search of a good story, but also more critical of bad ones. The field has so much drek in it that it's hard to get a book to stand out.

- The fact that there is a website dedicated to your work is an indication that interaction with your readers is important to you as an author. How special is it to have the chance to interact directly with your fans?

I really love to hear from fans, and I try to answer them all. I also love chatting with them at conventions. We're talking right now about setting up some kind of bloggy thing on my web page, to facilitate direct communication with my readers, so do watch for that!

- Many speculative fiction authors don't read much inside the genre. Is it the case with you?

I honestly don't have much time to read anymore, so no, not as much as I'd like. But not for want of interest :-)

- Have the plotlines diverged much while you wrote the Magister books, or did you have the entire plot more or less figured out from the very beginning? Were any characters added or further fleshed out beyond your original intention? Have you made any changes to your initial plans during the course of the writing of the series?

I always start off with knowledge of my world, my characters, the situation that will drag them into the plot, and the climax that story is headed towards. Sometimes a character that was meant to be minor turns out to have more potential than I expected, and will play a larger role -- Gwynofar in the Magister Trilogy is my best example of that -- and sometimes plot elements are added as I go along, to enrich the overall story, but the overall plan is usually pretty solid.

That said, I don't plan *everything* out in advance with a trilogy, because I know that as I write each book I will discover new avenues to explore, and I want the freedom to do so. Gwynofar is my best example of that. She entered into Feast of Souls because, well, a king needs a family. Which led me to the question, what kind of woman would Danton have chosen for a wife? How would she have survived the whitewater ride of his temper, his politics, his ambition? The answer was that she was a woman of quiet strength, who had served as his spiritual anchor for years, tempering his worst excesses; only when Kostas created a wedge between them was he able to manipulate Danton the way he wanted to. Once I had a handle on her inner strength, and how it had been shaped by royal protocol, I knew that she had the potential to become a kick-ass character, and I devoted a lot more of the trilogy's major story arc to her than I had originally intended. Not to mention she is one of the stars of Wings of Wrath.

But I should stress, that was all a very intellectual decision, regarding what was best for the trilogy. Never do I experience what some other authors talk about, moments when their characters "take on a life of their own" or "head somewhere unexpected." I was on a panel once where a fantasy author explained how her main character had appeared to her in a dream, and explained that he did not want the book to end in a fight scene, but rather a party. So she changed the ending of her book, and voila, it worked! Which of course begs the question, how strong could her plot have been if the climactic scene that she'd been building to for 400 pages could be removed so casually. So when my turn on the panel came, I said to the audience, very solemnly "If one of my characters ever refused to participate in my plot, I would kill him."

- As far as the Coldfire trilogy is concerned, given its popularity over the years, have you ever considered going back and write another tale set in that universe?

Wow, that reads just like you don't already know the answer! :-)

I am in fact preparing a short piece that I think will really excite my fans. I'm not going to say anything more here because the details are not finalized yet, but keep an eye on http://www.csfriedman.com/ for an announcement pretty soon!

- Given their reaction, do you get the feeling that many fans don't "get" the ending of CROWN OF SHADOWS?

I get some pretty strange questions about the end of that book, regarding things I thought were laid out pretty clearly. A number of people have written to ask me who Riven Forrest is, and what his relationship to Gerald Tarrant is. Some even ask me if he *is* Gerald Tarrant. Now, see, I thought that when Forrest raised up a glass (of blood) to toast a portrait of Tarrant, and referred to him as "Father", that kinda answered that question, but apparently it was not as clear as I thought. (Hint for anyone who needs one: He's Gerald Tarrant's offspring.) And not everyone figures out who "the stranger" is at the very end of the book, though, admittedly, the clues on that one are a little more obscure. Still, they get the big stuff, which is what really matters.

- Cover art has become a very hot topic of late. What are your thoughts pertaining to that facet of a novel, and what do you think of the covers that grace yo ur novels?

The cover sells the novel. Nothing is more important, outside of the text itself. If you look at a book and it does not interest you, you will not pick it up to find out anything else about it.

I consider myself especially blessed to have had Michael Whelan do my covers for many years. Some of his work brings tears to my eyes, as I see my visions being brought to life in ways I could not have imagined possible. Now he's moving on to other things than doing book covers, and Jon Palencar has taken over the covers for the Magister Trilogy. I could not possibly be happier with his work. I can't wait to see what he does with Volume III!

- More and more, authors/editors/publicists/agents are discovering the potential of all the SFF blogs/websites/message boards on the internet. Do you keep an eye on what's being discussed out there, especially if it concerns you? Or is it too much of a distraction?

Just don't have the time, honestly. Not if you all want me to write more books :-)

- What's next for C. S. Friedman when The Magister trilogy is done? Are there any projects in the works?

Yes, and I am VERY excited about the next one. It will be a fantasy series (haven't decided how many books yet) anchored in our own world, though it will involve other settings as well. As such it's a real departure for me; all my other books are set in alien worlds, or in other time periods. I really don't want to say much more about the concept this far in advance, save that it is one of the most exciting ideas I've ever had, and I think readers will love it.

As it is set in the modern world, there will be characters who are quite involved in being "connected", so expect me to be getting much more involved with online forums as I head into my research phase.

- Anything else you wish to share with your fans?

Only that they should watch my website for upcoming news, and that there's a link on the Contacts page if they want to drop me a line. I'd love to hear what people think of Wings of Wrath! And oh yeah, I am contributing a story to an anthology by this Pat guy, called Speculative Horizons, that will be coming out next year. Watch for it!