What genre are your young adult books?
This is a question I receive very often. There has been a lot of confusion about this, with my books even being described as 'medieval fantasy' and 'epic fantasy' on some websites -- resulting in some very confused medieval and epic fantasy fans! The Last Descendants books are best described as realist books with elements of alternate reality. So you won't find any dragons, elves, dwarves, swords or epic battles in the books. You will find a realist and at times sweeping story about a family facing hardship, danger and struggles, with some magic in it too. Belief in a parallel reality -- a version of our own world -- plays a large part in the characters' hopes, dreams and aspirations, but isn't the main focus. These characters and their struggles are at the heart of the books, making the feel of the stories closer to literary fiction in that respect. Some of the confusion about the genre of the book may have come from the different meanings of 'epic fiction'. A novel like The Bridges of Madison County or Doctor Zhivago is epic because it follows a group of characters across a broad sweep of times and settings. This is the way in which The Last Descendants could also be described as epic, not really the alternative meaning of 'epic', which usually means high fantasy.
To give you a sense of the mood of the books: they are set in a world like our own, but historically earlier -- so the feel of Kalitzstad, the city where most of the action takes place in The Eyes of a King, might be like a large European city around the time of the First World War. The soldier characters in the books use guns, including primitive assault rifles and machine guns. Over the series inventions such as gas heating and lighting, telegraph communications and the early wireless radio play a part. When I wrote the books, I was aiming to tell a story that could have taken place somewhere in our own world, with a bit of imagination, and to alienate the reader slightly from our own, familiar world. I realise this has put the books on the boundary between several genres, so I am all the more encouraged to see that they have found their audience of eager and adventurous readers, and I hope this brief explanation of the mood and atmosphere of the books gives you some help in knowing what to expect...
What age of reader are your books aimed at?
As a general rule, the books in the Last Descendants series are suitable for readers of 13 upwards. Some of my publishers (including Random House in the UK) have chosen to market the books as Young Adult books with a crossover into the adult market. Other publishers (for example Random House in Germany and some of my other English language publishers) have brought the books out on their adult lists. I have heard from readers as young as 11 or 12 who have read and enjoyed the books, but please be aware if you are this age, or a parent, that the stories have dark moments and that adult themes, for example loss and war, play a part in the stories of all three books. This is the reason that they carry 13+ guidance in some countries. As of September 2013 I have been working on a new book: this is a historical story set in Europe, for adult readers.
How long does it take you to write one of your books?
This is an interesting question, as it gets longer all the time... It took me about 18 months to write The Eyes of a King, and about two years to write Voices in the Dark. The Heart at War took slightly longer because I wanted to make sure I wrapped up all the loose ends from across the series very carefully, and made the book the very best it could be, before I declared it finished. I think there is something unique about the process of writing a first novel, because all those ideas which have been drifting around in the back of your mind for years suddenly emerge and demand to be recorded, with a kind of grace that only happens once. In a second and third novel, the writer must draw on something deeper, a resource which takes some time to access but which can ultimately be stronger and more enduring.
Who is your favourite character in each of the Last Descendants books?
In many ways Maria is my favourite character, because of the way she appeared in the books without any warning. About fifty pages into The Eyes of a King, Leo and Stirling go downstairs on a Saturday morning. As I was writing the scene, which was supposed to take a very different direction, quite suddenly I had a very clear impression in my head of someone appearing on the stairs above them, interrupting the scene, a stranger with a baby in her arms. This character appeared all at once: a beautiful, proud girl who introduced herself simply as Maria. She remained, and has become one of the most important characters in the whole series. Maria has a great inner strength and has developed a sense of pride and humour to protect her from the difficulties and humiliations she faces. She can be extremely kind, but is not afraid to fight either, and this can get her into difficulties. Perhaps she remained in the books because the other characters instantly relied on her as a friend, support and confidante. It was one of those moments in writing which really seem magical, and which I always remember.
There is another character very similar to Maria who has become a favourite too, but this character's importance doesn't emerge fully until The Heart at War, so I won't reveal who it is. It's enough to say that it's someone with the same humour and grace and will to fight, qualities which are needed more than ever in the time in which the final book is set.
I also enjoy writing about Mrs Andros, who always has something cutting (or at times, lacerating!) to say. At her worst she is in danger of becoming the real villain of the stories. But somehow she seems to redeem herself: she has an ability to cope in times of trouble, a no-nonsense approach to danger, and a great sense of loyalty to her family, even if she struggles to show it. She is always a very interesting person to write about, though quite a sad character too, because unlike most of the others she has struggled to recover properly from the difficulties she has faced and so they continue to shape the way she views her existence and her family.
Ask me a question!
This is a question I receive very often. There has been a lot of confusion about this, with my books even being described as 'medieval fantasy' and 'epic fantasy' on some websites -- resulting in some very confused medieval and epic fantasy fans! The Last Descendants books are best described as realist books with elements of alternate reality. So you won't find any dragons, elves, dwarves, swords or epic battles in the books. You will find a realist and at times sweeping story about a family facing hardship, danger and struggles, with some magic in it too. Belief in a parallel reality -- a version of our own world -- plays a large part in the characters' hopes, dreams and aspirations, but isn't the main focus. These characters and their struggles are at the heart of the books, making the feel of the stories closer to literary fiction in that respect. Some of the confusion about the genre of the book may have come from the different meanings of 'epic fiction'. A novel like The Bridges of Madison County or Doctor Zhivago is epic because it follows a group of characters across a broad sweep of times and settings. This is the way in which The Last Descendants could also be described as epic, not really the alternative meaning of 'epic', which usually means high fantasy.
To give you a sense of the mood of the books: they are set in a world like our own, but historically earlier -- so the feel of Kalitzstad, the city where most of the action takes place in The Eyes of a King, might be like a large European city around the time of the First World War. The soldier characters in the books use guns, including primitive assault rifles and machine guns. Over the series inventions such as gas heating and lighting, telegraph communications and the early wireless radio play a part. When I wrote the books, I was aiming to tell a story that could have taken place somewhere in our own world, with a bit of imagination, and to alienate the reader slightly from our own, familiar world. I realise this has put the books on the boundary between several genres, so I am all the more encouraged to see that they have found their audience of eager and adventurous readers, and I hope this brief explanation of the mood and atmosphere of the books gives you some help in knowing what to expect...
What age of reader are your books aimed at?
As a general rule, the books in the Last Descendants series are suitable for readers of 13 upwards. Some of my publishers (including Random House in the UK) have chosen to market the books as Young Adult books with a crossover into the adult market. Other publishers (for example Random House in Germany and some of my other English language publishers) have brought the books out on their adult lists. I have heard from readers as young as 11 or 12 who have read and enjoyed the books, but please be aware if you are this age, or a parent, that the stories have dark moments and that adult themes, for example loss and war, play a part in the stories of all three books. This is the reason that they carry 13+ guidance in some countries. As of September 2013 I have been working on a new book: this is a historical story set in Europe, for adult readers.
How long does it take you to write one of your books?
This is an interesting question, as it gets longer all the time... It took me about 18 months to write The Eyes of a King, and about two years to write Voices in the Dark. The Heart at War took slightly longer because I wanted to make sure I wrapped up all the loose ends from across the series very carefully, and made the book the very best it could be, before I declared it finished. I think there is something unique about the process of writing a first novel, because all those ideas which have been drifting around in the back of your mind for years suddenly emerge and demand to be recorded, with a kind of grace that only happens once. In a second and third novel, the writer must draw on something deeper, a resource which takes some time to access but which can ultimately be stronger and more enduring.
Who is your favourite character in each of the Last Descendants books?
In many ways Maria is my favourite character, because of the way she appeared in the books without any warning. About fifty pages into The Eyes of a King, Leo and Stirling go downstairs on a Saturday morning. As I was writing the scene, which was supposed to take a very different direction, quite suddenly I had a very clear impression in my head of someone appearing on the stairs above them, interrupting the scene, a stranger with a baby in her arms. This character appeared all at once: a beautiful, proud girl who introduced herself simply as Maria. She remained, and has become one of the most important characters in the whole series. Maria has a great inner strength and has developed a sense of pride and humour to protect her from the difficulties and humiliations she faces. She can be extremely kind, but is not afraid to fight either, and this can get her into difficulties. Perhaps she remained in the books because the other characters instantly relied on her as a friend, support and confidante. It was one of those moments in writing which really seem magical, and which I always remember.
There is another character very similar to Maria who has become a favourite too, but this character's importance doesn't emerge fully until The Heart at War, so I won't reveal who it is. It's enough to say that it's someone with the same humour and grace and will to fight, qualities which are needed more than ever in the time in which the final book is set.
I also enjoy writing about Mrs Andros, who always has something cutting (or at times, lacerating!) to say. At her worst she is in danger of becoming the real villain of the stories. But somehow she seems to redeem herself: she has an ability to cope in times of trouble, a no-nonsense approach to danger, and a great sense of loyalty to her family, even if she struggles to show it. She is always a very interesting person to write about, though quite a sad character too, because unlike most of the others she has struggled to recover properly from the difficulties she has faced and so they continue to shape the way she views her existence and her family.
Ask me a question!
