A question and answer from a recently posted interview.
With such a coloured past as Jorg’s is there any chance in hell of redemption?
Religious folk often tell us there’s always a chance at redemption, again though the interest (often insistence) that I see in redemption strikes me as one of the more unsophisticated demands of the genre and one that it’s outgrowing. I hope my writing is entertaining. If I just wanted it to be important rather than entertaining or commercial I might turn to literary fiction (and likely fail to do any of those things).
However, I do try to inject something of worth into what I write, and that comes in the form of my own poor effort to illuminate some corner of the human condition. The great writers (of which I am not one) turn the spotlight on us, reveal truths, reframe them and offer them up without judgement. If fantasy insists on heroes and redemption then the genre will never have anything any more important to say than do bodice-ripping romances or slick thrillers sold in airports.
I’ve always felt that a genre in which there are no limits in terms of imagination should not find itself corralled by simplistic expectations regarding its characters. Other authors have led the way in expanding the fantasy genre toward its full potential and I’m hurrying along behind.
Well said. The genre needs more authors who feel like that, and who actually take a stand and write like that!
ReplyDeleteGood interview, and I'm waiting impatiently to see just where you lead the poster bad boy in the next installment of the trilogy. Although I do feel the need to admit to being a hopeless romantic and have my fingers crossed that our Jorg finds his pot of gold at the end of his rainbow, I know a cliché if there ever was one :)
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