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I can never write a long book ever again in my whole life.
But also, I felt that story was finished, and that Id completed it.
Credit: Candlewick Press (2)
That was the genesis.
It was another story I felt I could write.
But I was like, I dont want to do footnotes.
Candlewick Press
I was mildly making fun of some of my academic friends.
I was quite embarrassed.
And I didnt know whether to take that as a compliment or not!
Candlewick Press
Was Tolkien one of the influences for the books?
Because there is a sprawling mythology in them.Yeah.
I just remembered my first ambition.
Candlewick Press
So I sat down and I actually wrote quite a lot with my special black fountain pen.
And then I threw it away when I was 14 because it was my juvenilia.
Ive always regretted that.
But, 30 years later, I suddenly remembered that ambition to write a fantasy book.
Thats how [the series] started, basically.
Then shed wake up.
Only there are not a lot of girls in all those pages ofThe Lord of the Rings.
So I was also thinking of theChronicles of Pellinoras a kind of counter-argument.
What if there was this fairly utopian world where people were actually equal and it wasnt even a question?
There are women in authority, just as there are men in authority.
So that was one of the things behind it.
Thats one of the reasons I loved the books so much.
It was so funny, but also so relatable.I thought it was hilarious myself.
I made the mistake of reading it to a class of 10-year-old boys once.
That went down eventfully.
[Laughs] They got really quiet.
The whole ofThe Giftis structured around Maerads period.
So every significant event occurswhenshe has her period.
Like when shes really powerful when she discovers her power, all that kind of stuff.
Its all subtextual, but that was how I was writing it.
What made you decide to do it?Just simply that this is power.
When we first meet Maerad, shes pretty stunted in a way because shes had this brutalized upbringing.
Shes a bit backward in some ways, socially and sexually, and she hasnt had her period.
So shes quite old when [her period] does happen.
Maerads awakening into herself is a whole thing.
Thats what these books are about, Maerad discovering herself, and also relationships and love.
Of course, part of that is sexual awakening.
The thing about menstruation is, its part of maturity.
So shes growing up and becoming who she is.
In thePellinorbooks, that return is of a different kind.
Thats what the Elementals [in the books] are.
Its not there to be exploited by human beings.
It exists in its own right.
Whatweresome of the inspirations for the whole Barding culture you came up with?
That was one of my favorite things.Well there were lots of inspirations.
It was part of being a poet.
I joked to a couple of friends that it was my essay on poetry.
[Laughs] Bards obviously have got nothing to do with actual historical bards.
It was also the whole idea of an ideal community of learning and making and healing.
All those things go together.
[Laughs] That we can do that and also that we can actually love people.
So, it was just making a fantasy around that.
Maerad did have a crush on Cadvan when the series first kind of started.
And how could that be an equal relationship?
She also was really, just to me personally, important.
But then I was like, No.
Actually, why not?
But then it was about how to do this in a way that doesnt necessarily feel creepy.
And he has respect for her as opposed to just being her mentor and being patronizing.
How has it been returning to Cadvans story?
Did you feel like you learned anything interesting about him as a character?
I didnt want it to form shadows in later stories.
But obviously, Ive changed and other things have changed.
The world developed in this story in a different way.
These are things that get past proofreaders and editors and stuff.
Its really lovely, but I was also aware of that.
And there are other characters in the story, like Saliman.
I enjoyed writing him too.
But the whole book is examining Cadvans guilt, his deserved guilt, and his attempts to redeem himself.
So really he has to understand and take responsibility for what hes done.And hes done this really badly.
Its not an easy thing, its not a straightforward thing… Its much more complicated than that.
There are four books and now a prequel.
Have you thought about writing another prequel?
Or another book in the series?I dont know.
It takes such a long time to write books.
Thats why I could write the Cadvan book.
There was that whole question about the crime, redemption, and forgiveness.
At some point I had thought about Maerad.
[Laughs] If only you just think a book and then it would happen.
The Bone Queenis currently available for purchase, which you might orderhere.
you’re free to order the first book of theBooks of Pellinorhere.
