Clarkesworld Anthology 2012 (52 page)

Another show in the running for Best Contemporary Fairy Tale has just been made available in the U.S. (thank you, Syfy):
Lost Girl.
Our scholars must set aside the basic Grimm and Andersen stories here and look to the old Celtic tales of the Sidhe.
Lost Girl
is the TV show you’ve always wanted to see, one based on that mass-market, urban-fantasy adventure series you love (or loathe), with the hot chick with a sword and a tramp stamp on the cover. In
Lost Girl,
there are werewolves and sirens on the police force and dwarves running underground pubs, and every fey who comes of age must choose to ally with the Light Fey or the Dark. The titular heroine, an orphaned succubus named Bo, allies herself with no one, choosing her human friends over strange fey. It’s the lovely hero myth and allegory of the outcast that weaves itself through these plots. The heaping spoonful of sex that comes with it may be an example of how to make fantasy shows more palatable for the masses, but as seeing as how that’s presented as an integral part of the heroine’s lifestyle, it’s slightly less gratuitous than, say, an HBO series.

It was good timing that
Lost Girl,
a Canadian series, was given a chance in the U.S. market, right when many gave up on
Grimm.
The concept of
Grimm
is awesome: Police investigation of fairy tale murders and a man with a monster-fighting destiny. But too much exposition—and spooky hand-wavium—weighed the storyline down in the first few episodes like a ten-ton anchor, saved only by the divine comedy of the
Blutbad
Monroe. Excessive amounts of excitement and too little useful information left the watcher as clueless as the character of Nick Burkhardt himself—the original fairy stories may have been tedious at times, but they were not quite so obtuse. But that same monster-of-the-week formula that kept Buffy fans coming back for more has served
Grimm
well as the season went on, and it’s given the characters a chance to settle into their roles. My hope is that when the writers decide to return to the larger arc, it’s a bit less we-made-it-up-as-we-went-along.

The one show that seems to have appeared on the scene and become the belle of the ball from the first episode is the aforementioned
Once Upon a Time.
Unfortunately, ABC is owned by Disney, as anyone who watches
Once Upon a Time
will be constantly reminded. Neither the Grimms’ nor Charles Perrault’s versions of the Snow White tale had the characters of Pongo or Maleficent, nor did they include subtle nods to the TV show
Lost.
(It’s also a little tough to see Jennifer Morrison and not wonder if Hugh Laurie is hiding behind a curtain somewhere.) I tend to agree with Zipes on many of his anti-Disney points, and I do hope this series doesn’t fall into the same ridiculous, gumdroppy-sweet, misguided holes as the Snow White films. All this aside,
Once Upon a Time
is a pretty darn successful TV show so far, in both ratings and storytelling execution.

Fairy tales became popular throughout history because they could be passed along via the oral tradition, a benefit in a world where the uneducated masses could not read. These days, those masses mostly
choose
not to read—and turn on their televisions instead. They will find wonder tales on that small screen, and beast tales, and fairy stories of all shapes and sizes, both new and old. But I hope that the popularity of these shows fuels a desire in these audiences to seek out the original tales—be those origins Italian, French, German, Dutch, or other—and experience them firsthand. After all, it’s not a retelling if you’re hearing it for the first time. And the jokes for those of us in the know are much, much funnier.

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a goddess, a force of nature, and a mess. She’s known for screwing up the alphabet, scolding vampire hunters, turning garden gnomes into mad scientists, and making sense out of fairy tales. Alethea is the co-author of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s
Dark-Hunter Companion
and penned the AlphaOops series of picture books. She has done multiple collaborations with Eisner-winning artist J.K. Lee, including
The Wonderland Alphabet
and the illustrated Twitter serial “Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome.” Her debut YA fairy tale novel,
Enchanted,
will be published by HMH (Harcourt Books) in 2012.

Straightforward and Unadorned Adventure: A Conversation with Michael J. Sullivan

Jeremy L. C. Jones

With The Riyria Revelations, Michael J. Sullivan wrote the books he wanted to read: fun adventures about loyalty and friendship. He wrote all six installments of the series before releasing the first through a small press, and he later self-published the rest at six-month intervals. His readership grew steadily, and by the fourth or fifth novel it was clear—in many ways, including financial—that the series was a hit. Lighthearted and rollicking, Sullivan’s “buddy tales” are set in a world of betrayal and injustice, relaying the adventures of a thief named Royce Melborn and a mercenary named Hadrian Blackwater.

“Royce and Hadrian form the two sides of my personality,” says Sullivan. “Imagine the angel and devil on your shoulders. That’s them. Most of the time I am Hadrian, dreaming of being the hero, of achieving something worthwhile. I believe in the inherit goodness of people. If given the chance, they’ll rise to the occasion. However, in serious situations, it’s Royce that comes out, as we are both very protective of the ones we love. I try to keep him at bay, and Royce can be a difficult person to befriend. You have to prove yourself to him, but once you do, heaven help the person who threatens you. Luckily, I get to be Hadrian most of the time. Even Royce doesn’t like to be Royce.”

Sullivan’s prose, as he says below, is “straightforward and unadorned.” His plotting is remarkably consistent over the course of the whole series. He employs traditional fantasy tropes but never takes them too seriously. His world is gritty but never glum, realistic but still wondrous. Perhaps most importantly, his is a world of both humor and hope—the books were written for his daughter first, and general readership second.

In November of 2011, Orbit began releasing The Riyria Revelations over a three-month period as
Theft of Swords,
Rise of Empire,
and
Heir of Novron
. Each volume contains two novels. With the exception of some line editing, they scarcely deviate from the originals. Below, Sullivan talks about the Big Three of craft —character, plot, and setting—as well as the arc of his career.

In what ways have your children influenced your writing life?

In many ways you can say that they enabled my writing. When we had our first child, my wife and I decided that one of us should concentrate on raising her. Seeing as how Robin’s electrical engineering career made significantly more than my commercial artist work, the logical choice was for me to be the one to stay at home. One of the side benefits was that I had time on my hands while Rebecca napped. Since early childhood I had enjoyed writing, so I used my free time to pursue creating novels as more than just a hobby.

Later, after years of rejections, I had given up on writing. My children had grown up and were now in school, so I had returned to commercial art and started my own advertising agency. My then thirteen-year-old daughter had been having difficulty reading—she’s dyslexic—so I decided to write something specifically for her. As she preferred to read stories in book form, rather than typed double-spaced manuscript pages, she prodded me into considering publishing again. The rest, as they say, is history.

What’s the fun part of writing fiction for you?

This question suggests that there’s a portion that isn’t fun, but I’ve yet to encounter that. So I’ll just mention the part I enjoy the most, which is creation. I love inventing things. One of my favorite school assignments had been a sixth grade geography project. I had been given a blank piece of paper and asked to draw a map of an island and inhabit it with whatever I wanted. I drew mountains, rivers, forests, and valleys, then I developed various tribes of people with different traditions and histories. I had a blast, but I think I scared the teacher. She got far more than she had been expecting.

So, yeah, the ability to create worlds and characters and put them into impossible predicaments and seeing how it affects them is pretty darn cool. They say some physicians have god complexes, but as a writer I actually get to play god. Can there be a better job?

Where does a novel usually start for you: image, plot, character, historical event, somewhere else altogether? And how do you develop the novel from there?

Each novel is different. In some cases it might be a single question that begs to be answered, such as, “What would you do with unlimited power?” Other times I may have a character or several that I really enjoy, and I’m just looking for the right setting and predicament to place him into. Creating isn’t a science; it’s random.

For the most part I’m inspired by a lack of something I want to see or read. That’s kind of how I got started with The Riyria Revelations. Because my books have many traditional elements, I’ve heard some people say they are not new or original. I wish that were true. I would love it if I could go to any bookstore and pick up another series just like it. Only I can’t. I know of no other series that is a fun adventure aimed at an adult audience (but not littered with profanity, gruesome violence, and pointless, gratuitous sex) that is easy to read with endearing characters set in a world that is as often pleasant as it is frightening. Rowling’s Potter books comes the closest, but those are young-adult. Tolkien comes next, but his aren’t nearly as easy to read or as fast-paced. So while the elements in the story are as familiar as a gun in a detective thriller, or poison in a murder mystery, The Riyria Revelations are unique as far as the books I’m familiar with.

Can you talk a little bit about building the world of Elan? Where did you start? How did you develop it?

I probably shouldn’t admit this, because in fantasy sometimes the world-building is placed on center stage, but for me I look at this aspect as the least important of the three pillars: character, plot, and setting. That being said: As most fantasy authors do, I have created an extensive background to my world. It actually goes back 8,000 years, but for the most part it is the proverbial iceberg, and only a very small portion is ever exposed.

I’m a lover of history—I read it all the time—so I start by developing the timeline. I’m sure that many readers are tired of worlds with multiple races. But for me, the dynamic is a classic one, and I utilize it: men, dwarves, elves, and goblins. My world has its own creationist mythology, including gods that represent each major race. As is often the case, there have been wars between the various nations. When you start reading the books, you’re in a world where men dominate. Elves are akin to Jews in the 1930s. Goblins are a boogieman story told to keep children in line. And dwarves are segregated from one another, lest they gain an upper hand.

But such was not always the case. There was a great war between men and elves, and it was only by the hand of the demigod Novron, the patron of mankind, that men were saved from total elimination by elven-kind. This aspect really is only hinted at in early parts of the book, but it is the entire impetus for the series as a whole. And men and elves eventually conflict again in the final volume,
Percepliquis
.

What part of Elan would you most like to visit?

Why, Percepliquis, of course. This is the ancient capital of the original empire that was destroyed and lost over a thousand years ago. It holds great secrets into mankind’s past, including many related to the war (and the end of the impending truce) spoken about above. It represented the height of civilization in the world of Elan. When it fell, much was lost, including magic and the great fighting techniques of the Teshlor. It is the dream of nearly every adventurer in Elan, and it’s strictly forbidden to even search for it. I’m a big fan of adventure, for going places where I’m not allowed, so how could I not want to visit there? I’m glad I did eventually get to go and could bring others along with me during its exploration.

And what part would you least like to visit?

There are actually two, and interestingly enough both are prisons: Gutaria and Manzant. Manzant is where one of the main characters, Royce, was imprisoned for years, and it’s highly regarded as the foulest place in Elan. Royce is a strong character, hardened by years of betrayal and having to make his way on his own. But even he nearly lost all hope while there. The other prison, Gutaria, is known to only a few, but it is even worse. Built during the time of the original empire, it was constructed with the use of magic. Time does not pass there. What’s more, those there are subjected to a dirge that dredges up their worst memory. Luckily for most, it was built to house just a single man, Esrahaddon, the wizard who has been accused of destroying Percepliquis. Having to relive the thing that you want to be forgotten the most, and being forced to endure it forever, seems like a fate worse than death.