Nightflier's Interviews - Ken Scholes

Ken Šols je trenutno ono što je pre nekoliko godina bio Brendon Sanderson. Izvanredan (relativno) mlad pisac, koji tek sada postaje poznat široj publici. Na "Bukspejsu" možete da pročitate moje prikaze prva dva njegova romana u serijalu Psalms of Isac. Treći roman trebalo bi ubrzo da se pojavi za Tor, kao i dve zbirke priča za drugog izdavača. Ken je bio veoma ljubazan, pa je za "Bukspejs" dao ovaj opširan intervju. Uživajte.

NF: It seems to me that the best way to start a conversation with an author is to ask him about his favorite works and role-models. So, what made you want to write? Do you have a favorite book? Can you point at some book and say "This one changed my life"?

KS: I've had a lot of influences and they've all been pretty life-changing in their own way. Initially, I came to love Story via television -- TV shows like Speed Racer, Star Blazers, Marine Boy, Thundarr the Barbarian, Land of the Lost, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Time Tunnel, Space 1999 and UFO. Tons more.

In the second grade, I discovered books and comic books and devoured all I could find. My biggest influence as a kid was probably Ray Bradbury and my favorite of his books is Something Wicked This Way Comes. Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising and Tolkien's The Hobbit are also early favorites. But for awhile my favorites were Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Louis L'Amour, Stephen King, Ian Fleming and a pantheon of others.

In later years, I added role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons to my list of places to find Story and I also had a deep love of movies -- Star Wars being the biggest life changer for me, though Planet of the Apes, Silent Running, Logan's Run and The Wrath of Khan were all influences, too.

I decided I wanted to be a writer when I read Bradbury's essay "How to Keep and Feed a Muse" when I was twelve or thirteen.

NF: Another frequent question is: How did you got published? Was it hard? What does it mean to be a published author in this economy? Did it make your life easier?

KS: Well, I was published the same way most people are. I wrote, revised what I wrote and submitted the work to paying markets. Initially, I started with short stories and broke in through magazines and anthologies. I also participated in (and won) the Writers of the Future contest, which I highly recommend. I had been published as a short story writer for nearly a decade before my first novel came out.

It was definitely hard work -- it took a level of stubborn tenacity along with a willingness to learn my craft by practicing. I think getting published is typically hard work for anyone, regardless of the economy.

It enriched my life and certainly the books have augmented my family's revenue but I wouldn't say it necessarily made my life easier. In some ways, the extra workload made my life harder. But it's very satisfying to tell stories people love, I get to meet some amazingly talented writers and hang out with them, I get to travel a little to promote the work and right now, the extra revenue is helping me take care of my baby girls.

NF: I am infamous for not reading short stories. But then I ran into "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham. Some time after I've read your second novel, Tor put on its website your short story "A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon". Once again, I was forced to reconsider my attitude towards stories. I've enjoyed it a great dead. My question is: Do you think that short stories are important to authors as a way to build up experience that will serve them in writing novels? What about market for stories? Does it exist outside anthologies? Does it exist for the stories that are happening outside universes established in novels?

KS: I'm glad you enjoyed "A Weeping Czar...."

In my case, I absolutely believe writing short stories is where I learned what I needed to learn in order to tackle something longer. By spending a decade on short fiction, when I did finally tackle a novel, I wrote one that was actually publishable straight out of the gate. That wouldn't have happened without all those years learning to tell a story in a smaller box. But do I think it's a prescription for all writers? Not necessarily. Some writers are more comfortable in the long form and struggle writing anything short. My heroes all came to publishing via short fiction so I wanted the same path for myself.

Also, my series was born out of a short story that appeared in Realms of Fantasy. So for me, short fiction is like a Research and Development Department for future novels.

The markets will always be there, I suspect, both in anthologies, magazines, websites, collections. But short stories are not terribly lucrative and rarely stay in print for long. More readers are interested in novels.

My short fiction is fairly wide-ranging and I like that. I have stories that fall more under SF, some more under fantasy or magic realism. I've taken a turn at some alternate and/or secret histories as well as playing with mythology and characters from literature.

NF: Do you yourself read short stories or do you prefer longer form?

KS: I like both and lean more towards short fiction these days only because of time constraints. But I also read a lot of non-fiction.

NF: I greatly enjoyed your novels - second more than the first. They felt very different than most of the fantasy out there. For one, you have made it known almost from the start that the world of Psalms of Isac is in fact our own world, after several technological and magical world wars. That's the approach made famous by Terry Brooks and Michael Moorcock among others. Were you influenced by Shanara series in any way?

KS: I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the books and I'm also glad that my second novel is better than my first -- it means I'm growing as a writer, I think.

Actually, to be honest, I've not made it known that it's our world though readers are certainly speculating. I drop more hints as the series progresses as to what's really going on. I enjoyed Shanara but haven't read beyond the first book. I'm also a big fan of the Elric series.

NF: You have presented the world and main characters only in broad strokes, leaving to the reader a lot of blanks to fill. In my review of your novels I compared your prose to a kind of fantasy haiku. Was that intentional? Did you wanted to somehow stand aside from the complicated world building of Martin, Jordan and Erikson? Or was it just that the story lead you to that kind of writing?

KS: It was definitely intentional. I wanted to tell a story that would be more accessible to people outside the genre and liked Elmore Leonard's advice about leaving everything out that isn't story. So I kept the wordcount lower than traditional fantasies and used short scenes and several POV characters to keep readers moving forward at a quick pace, never in any one character's head too long. I do leave a lot to the reader's imagination and don't spend a lot of time on explaining the intricacies of the world. I try to keep the focus on the characters. I've seen some criticism from fans of more traditional work for the brevity of the scenes and the scarcity of detail but I've also gotten some nice letters and reviews praising this approach. I'm going to stay fairly true to that approach at least through this series. Afterwards, I may tackle a more robust, more traditional epic fantasy.

NF: About that, when you write, do you plan ahead or do you just let it go and follow the story as it unfolds?

KS: It's a combination of both. I usually have the sense of the bones of a story when I sit down to write it but exactly how the meat and muscle hang from those bones develops organically as I write. And sometimes, those bones change as I'm moving forward. I don't typically outline or work from notes. I just sit and think and write, sit and think and write.

NF: Now, it may be just my imagination, but the world of Psalms of Isac reminds me terribly of Balkans. Insane mixture of oriental and western motifs - from Rudolfo's nomadic Gypsies to the quasi-Roman Catholic-like Androfrancine Order - it all reminds me of the invisible border between East and West that runs a few miles from the place that I am sitting right now. My question is: Most anglo-american writers seem to be inspired by Nordic mythology or by Far East - when they are writing fantasy, at least. How did you come to a decision to create a world that is so mixed up? What was your inspiration? How does inspiration work, anyway? Do you read, go to the museum, surf the internet to mine for ideas?

KS: Well, I'm a history major and it seemed that a composite of humanity's various cultures and societies would be a good starting place, but again, I didn't spend a lot of energy or time creating the Named Lands. I largely pulled from that background instinctively.

As to inspiration -- I draw it in from all around me. Sometimes books, sometimes movies, sometimes history, sometimes experience. It all goes into my subconscious and it's rarely an intentional process. Everything I take in sort of bubbles below the surface and then shows up when I need it. I never struggle to find ideas...they're all around me. The tricky part is spinning them from nebulous amalgamation of ideas into a finished novel.

NF: Most people here think that the author's life is filled with kind of lazy glamour. You work at home, have a lot money, go on conventions, tours, signings... Is that true? You will soon have three books in print. Is that enough for you to live on comfortably? Did the economic downturn had any impact on publishing industry?

KS: I think the economic downturn definitely impacted my hardcover sales. Paperback sales are too early to tell. But I was a relatively unknown author releasing a debut novel that was first in a series and in the midst of a terrible time in the economy. I'm certain all of these things have been factors. Still, the books aren't selling poorly and this year, Lamentation is coming out in France, Spain, Russia and Germany.

I suppose some authors' lives are filled with cash and glamour. In a few months, I'll have three novels out with Tor and two of them will be in paperback. I'll also have two short story collections out with Fairwood Press. I'm not anywhere close to being able to live comfortably on the revenue generated so far. I have a dayjob that keeps my bills paid. Someday, sales willing, I'll be able to live off the writing but that day is a ways off.

I do get out for a short tour each time a book comes out and those are a lot of fun, though they wear me out. I also get out to a few conventions each year but that's been cut back quite a bit with the birth of my twin daughters.

My normal routine right now is to get up around 3am, ride my exercise bike for about twenty-five minutes while I look over email and news, then drink coffee and write until it's time to get ready for my dayjob. I leave for work at 6am; I get home at 5pm. And then, I'm back to work for another hour or two on more writing before grabbing an hour with my family and going to bed around 8pm to start it over.

NF: Do you have any advice for the young writers who want to get published? Anything you wish to add?

KS: Absolutely! Write a lot. Finish what you write. Revise as best you can and send it to market. Then get on to the next writing project. Make friends who are ahead of you and behind you on the learning curve and learn in a community. Take advantage of conventions and of contests like Writers of the Future. Be persistent. Set performance goals you can reach (like writing one short story per month or writing so many words per morning) and then reach them.

Thanks for having me on, Ivan. I hope you continue to enjoy the series!

CANTICLE - Ken Šols

Krajem prošle godina napisao sam prikaz prvog romana nove zvezde epske fantastike, Kena Šolsa. Bio je to prvi roman u najavljenom serijalu "Isakovi psalmi", a pod naslovom Lamentation ("Jadikovanje", premda bih ga verovatno preveo kao "Lamentacija"). Nastavak ovog romana nosi naslov Canticle ("Hvalospev", odnosno "Kantikulum") i imao sam prilike da ga pročitam već mesec dana nakon "Lamentacije", te sam bio pošteđen mučnog čekanja. Naravno, Šols nije objavio dve knjige za mesec dana (mada se i to radi), već sam ja sačekao godinu dana s naručivanjem prvog romana i naručio oba u cugu.

Elem, redovni čitaoci bloga verovatno pamte da sam Šolsov prvi roman nahvalio gotovo neumereno, kazavši da je Šols sam vrh ponude mladih pisaca koji tek valja da se probiju. Nažalost, izgleda da umeće pisanja ne mora da donese i komercijalnu popularnost, pa je Šols i dalje u statusu "kultnog" pisca, što zapravo znači da je relativno mali broj čitalaca njegovu prozu prepoznao kao vrhunsku fantastiku, pa on i dalje mora da radi neki drugi posao kako bi se prehranio, a piše usput.

Na trenutak ću se osvrnuti na mane Šolsovog prvog romana - svedena postavka sveta, jednostavna i gotovo stilizovana karakterizacija i sistem magije/nauke koji ni najmanje nije razrađen - a ni preterano maštovit, ruku na srce. Ove mane prisutne su u izvesnoj meri i u "Kantikulumu", ali mora se priznati da je užitak čitanja drugog romana "Isakovih psalama" veći nego što je to bio slučaj s čitanjem "Lamentacije". Premda nedostataka i dalje ima, Šols je sada znatno bolji pisac u zanatskom smislu i ono što je u prvom romanu bila mana, sada je čak možda prednost. Čitalac je već sviknut na okruženje i likove koji su mu predstavljeni u haiku maniru i ponegde se taj način pripovedanja može doživeti i kao osveženje u odnosu na zamršene i detaljne svetove Stivena Eriksona, Martina ili Džordana.

Šols je u svom drugom romanu ovladao naprednijim tehnikama pripovedanja, pa vrlo vešto upravlja različitim gledištima i i čitaocu predočava čvršće utkanu priču nego što je to bio slučaj s pomalo iseckanom "Lamentacijom". U "Kantikulumu" priča teče znatno bolje nego u prvom romanu, a Šols ne samo da je zadržao prelep gotovo poetski jezij, već je - čini se - napredova i nadgradio svoj stil pripovedanja, tako da čitalac sada ima priliku da uživa u još umešnije sročenim elegantnim rečenicama, napisanim jednostavnim, ali opet upečatljivim stilom.

Naravno, u "Kantikulumu" se dešava znatno više stvari nego u "Lamentaciji". Upoznajemo svet u kojem su romani smešteni, otkrivamo sile koje delaju iza kulisa i saživljavamo se s likovima, koji su u "Kantikulumu" izrasli u potpuno trodimenzionalne ličnosti s kojima se čitalac može u potpunosti poistovetiti. Dobro, Rudolfo baš i nije Džon Snou, ali i nije pošteno porediti Šolsa s Martinom, zar ne?

Na kraju, moram reći da sam u međuvremenu pronašao neke nove ljubavi - Kej Kenjon je spisateljica (koja doduše piše sf) takvog kalibra da joj ama baš niko od mladih lavova fantastike zadugo neće prismrdeti - ali pola godine nakon što sam pročitao "Kantikulum" zatičem sebe kako željno iščekujem nastavak. Kada čovek čita fantastiku u meri u kojoj je ja čitam, reko se dešava da baš toliko cupka u iščekivanju novog nastavka nekog serijala. To je sasvim dovoljan pokazatelj da Šolsa ne smete izostaviti sa polica svojih biblioteka. This book has Nightflier's Seal of Approval.

LAMENTATION - Ken Šols

Pažljivi čitaoci Bookspacea primetili su moje jadikovanje nad tužnom činjenicom da više nema dobrih romana novih pisaca ma kakve fantastike. Gotovo kao da svi čekaju da Martin otegne papke, po ugledu na Džordana, i da Erikson objavi novi roman, a usput razmišljaju kako da unovče još jednu vampirsku limunadicu. Čak se i neki uspešni pisci epske i naučne fantastike okreću urbanoj fantastici, valjda u pokušaju da zarade pare za nova kola ili šta li već. Pomenuću samo Stiva Stirlinga i Denijela Ejbrahama.

Od zvezda i zvezdica u pokušaju nismo dobili bogzna šta. U toj grupi pisaca, koje ja zovem "mlađom generacijom", istakli su se na prvom mestu Senderson, pa potom Rotfas, Linč, Aberkrombi i Darham - s tim da je samo prvi (i polovično drugi) sopstvenim snagama izgurao svoj uspeh. Ovi sa začelja plod su marketinškog ispiranja mozga koje su izdavači sproveli nad čitaocima, a sve u nadi da će pronaći novog Džordana, Martina ili Gudkajnda. Kao što rekoh, Senderson je izuzetak - po tome što je prilično originalan i zanatski ispeglan. Ali nije uzbudljiv. Nije inspirativan. Senderson je "jak vrlodobar 4+" klinac, koji fakultet završava guzicom, a ne klikerom. Nije pisac koji vas tera da sa prijateljima prepričavate stranice njegovih romana i nagađate šta će biti s likovima u narednoj knjizi. A vrh je ponude... E pa nije.

Vrh ponude mladih pisaca je Ken Šols. Najpre, Šols ispunjava dva najvažnija uslova da bude veličanstven fantasta - debeo je i ima bradu. Verujte, to su jako bitni uslovi za svakoga ko se bavi fantastikom. Potom, pre nego što je počeo da piše romane zanat je ispekao na kratkim pričama. Za sada ima nešto manje od osamdeset priča i u njegovim romanima se zaista vidi uticaj kratke forme. Dapače, MPW u Šolsovim romanima gotovo i da jesu kratke priče, mesto dugačkih poglavlja kakva smo navikli da čitamo kod Džordana i Martina. Ali o tome nešto kasnije.



Prvi Šolsov roman, kojim počinje serijal Psalms of Isak, nosi naslov Lamentation. Na prvi pogled roman pati od niza falinki – uprošćena poetika, površan world building, sistem magije koji je pristutan tek u naznakama i kojem se ne posvećuje previše pažnje – međutim, po završetku poslednje stranice nameće se neizbežan zaključak da su sve te mane i nedostaci zapravo velike prednosti Šolsovog prvenca. Naime, pisac ne opterećuje ni sebe ni čitaoca komplikovanom predistorijom sveta u kojem se radnja odvija. Već u prvim poglavljima jasno stavlja do znanja čitaocu da je njegov svet zapravo naš svet, samo milenijumima u budućnosti, u kojem je u jednom trenutku nauka imala primat, da bi je nakon neimenovane kataklizme zamenila magija, koja je opet izazvala svojevrstan smak sveta, da bi je zamenio neobičan društveni poredak, u kojem i magija i nauka-tehnologija igraju ulogu arheoloških bauka, pod strogom kontrolom kvazireligijske organizacije, koju je pisac stvorio očigledno nadahnut katoličkom verzijom hrišćanstva.



Ovakva postavka romana po nekima je kopija Bruksove Šanare, međutim takav stav je pogrešan. Šolsov serijal je sasvim očigledno omaž Džeku Vensu i njegovoj Dying Earth. (Prava je šteta što se nijedan od naših velikih izdavača nije rešio da Dying Earth predstavi u prevodu srpskom čitalaštvu. Možda će nakon Hauarda i Lavkrafta Vens biti sledeći klasik fantastike objavljen u luksuznijem izdanju za srpsko tržište – bar se nadam.)

Lamentation je u poređenju s Martinovim ili Eriksonovim romanima uprošćen do najveće moguće mere. Zapleti su naizgled površni (ali se taj utisak već u narednom romanu raspršuje) – ali to ostavlja neverovatan manevarski prostor za karakterizaciju likova. Šols se i tu pokazuje kao lakonski pisac. Njegovi likovi bi nekom drugom piscu bili tek skice za dalju razradu, ali to mu nimalo ne smeta da opiše izuetno uverljive i životne protagoniste i antagoniste, krajnje nesvakidašnje i egzotične, koji neodoljivo podsećaju na Zelaznijeve. Isprva se može učiniti da su likovi stereotipni i plitki, ali se čitalac jako brzo stopi s njima, uviđajući da je pisac namerno izbegao zamršene priče i sudbine, opredeljujući se za varljivu haiku jednostavnost karakterizacije, sa tek primesom stila Džejmsa Herberta u Dini.

Na kraju, ne može se reći da je Lamentation doneo nešto novo žanru. Šols ne može ni da prismrdi Eriksonu, a pisac njegove generacije – Senderson – kudikamo je originalniji i maštovitiji. Međutim, Šolsov stil i zanos iznenađujuće osvežavaju i pružaju uvid u drugačiju fantastiku. Lamentation je na tragu najvećih romana sajens fentezija, koji je nekada bio najkomercijalniji iskaz svih mogućih žanrova i podžanrova fantazijske književnosti. U nešto malo ispod 400 stranica, Šolsu je pošlo za rukom da ispriča uzbudljivu i maštovitu pripovest, da čitaoca saživi s likovima zanimljivim i upečatljivim, te da postavi scenu za veličanstven nastavak, Canticle. Verujte, ovaj serijal i ovog pisca valja imati na umu.