Interview with Don Bassingthwaite, Author of Word of Traitors

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Toronto-dwelling fantasy author Don Bassingthwaite, a student of anthropology, a fan of kilts, and an all-around nice guy who I've had the good fortune to work with. We talked mostly about breakfast cereals...but also a bit about fantasy, genre, inspiration, and his latest works.

Don, you've written six Eberron novels, two Forgotten Realms novels, two Dark Matter novels, four World of Darkness novels, and a slew of short stories mostly with White Wolf and Wizards of the Coast. I'd venture to say this makes dark speculative fiction your niche of preference, though I'm doubting that defines you. How would you describe your literary genre of choice? Have you written precisely the sort of novels you've always wanted to?

I think dark fantasy is a fair assessment. I would make a distinction between the dark fantasy of my World of Darkness and Dark Matter novels (which I suspect would be labelled urban fantasy these days) and the more straight-up fantasy of my Eberron and Forgotten Realms novels (plus one other written for another company that ended up never getting published), but they are similar in that they tend to have something of a darker edge. For the World of Darkness and Dark Matter novels, the darkness is pretty much implied in the genre (and the names!) but for the Eberron and Forgotten Realms novels, I lean strongly toward a sword and sorcery flavor of flawed characters and fairly disturbing villains. I wouldn't go too far in saying what I write is dark-dark, though. I learned early on that I'm no horror writer. I can write a good scary scene, but it's not in me to maintain it over a novel.

Since the novels I've got in my head are basically dark fantasy, I'd say that I have been lucky enough to write the sort of novels I've wanted to. That's not to say they're necessarily the kind of novels I've always thought I'd write. I enjoy a good multi-volume epic every now and then and those were probably the sort of stories I initially pictured myself writing way back when I started. With more books under my belt, though, I can't see myself actually doing that—my stories tend to be on a different, smaller scale.

That said, every so often I do have the hankering to write a rollicking space opera adventure and I haven't done that yet.

Of course! What writer hasn't thought of laser swords and blasters now and again? So how far might you be willing to stray from the familiar genre of dark fantasy, either for a good opportunity or merely the challenge of expanding your horizons? Are you locked into science fiction and fantasy, or can you imagine yourself taking on something outside of speculative fiction altogether? Be it pure mystery, real world fiction, or something else.

To be honest, I really can't. I consider writing a mystery once upon a time, but I'm just not familiar enough with the genre. You really need to know the conventions before you attempt it. If by real world fiction you mean an adventure story of some kind, I might consider that (there are plenty of examples there that already border on SF—James Rollins, for example) or maybe historical fiction if I felt the right story. In general, though, fantasy and science fiction are what I like to read, so that's what I want to write.

Well then, I'll always be able to talk about your work as a speculative fiction Examiner! Good. Next question: What would you consider your writing fuel? Can music inspire you? Other books and stories? Does something ever trigger an instant "Holy crap, I just thought of the best idea" moment, or are all your books the result of a slower build-up?

My writing fuel is coffee and deadlines. But really—my inspiration tends to come from things I've read (from nonfiction or in the news) or seen in museums or such. I'll see something with an edge to the unusual and it will stick with me or I'll make a note of it and sometime later it may end up in a story. I've got a whack of news stories and photos grabbed from the web that I'll sometimes go back and flip through. Except in a couple of rare cases, though, I'm not so much inspired by music. Some people are musically-inclined. I describe myself as muscially-"declined"—it's a rare song that actually sticks with me.

My books are generally the result of a slower build-up, though usually I'll have the vision of key scene in mind as I structure the story (in my most recent book, Word of Traitors, it was one character changing the course of a battle with a powerful song). Often something cool will come to me, but that tends to be smaller things as I'm writing along—an ideal solution, something I hadn't thought of before, to a knotty problem.

Let's talk about Word of Traitors. It's the middle book in a trilogy about Darguun, a nation of goblins. You've pretty much taken ownership of the culture of Eberron's goblinkind—the dar, as they call themselves—and have even fleshed out a fair amount of their language. And you've done this before, with the Dragon Below trilogy, which includes a glossary, pronunciation guide, common expressions, and everyday pronouns in the language of the humans of the Shadow Marches. These look like world-building inclinations, which makes it surprising to see in shared world, tie-in fiction! Yet fans seem to love the flavor and culture of it. What drives you to create such linguistic details?

I did my undergraduate degree in anthropology with leanings toward cultural anthropology and historical linguistics and the disciplines still influence me. Language is a key component of identity (another that you might notice running through my books is food, but that's another topic). It's difficult to consider writing non-human or even an outsider culture like the Shadow March humans without sprinkling it with words of their own invention. One of the most important things in writing the goblins, for example, was knowing what they called themselves. It just seemed ridiculous that they'd called themselves goblins, hobgoblins, and especially bugbears. But at the same time, as you point out, Eberron is a shared world, so I couldn't completely ignore the standard names—so I found a rationale for why they would have started using the human terms.

Incidentally, I don't think world-building inclinations are at odds with shared world writing or reading. Eberron is a roleplaying game world and over years of experience writing game tie-ins, I've found that game designers tend to focus on different things than fiction writers. Details that are necessary to fill in a story aren't important for games (although they can fill out the game experience, which I think is why a lot of people like them).

Agreed, and it seems to me that you've found that rare zone between game world and story world that works. At a glance, the Legend of Dhakaan trilogy is about a nation, Darguun, struggling with its own identity; trying to find legitimacy in a land where humans are dominant, yet trying to hold onto the ancient traditions of its long-gone predecessor, the Empire of Dhakaan. At the same time, it's also about a handful of characters: the shifter Geth, the human Ashi, the hobgoblin Ekhaas, and a few others. In all of this, what aspect holds your greatest personal interest? Creating the politics of an unorthodox nation? Developing a bestial, decidedly nonhuman culture? Chasing the character arcs? There's a lot going on...so what would you say is at the heart of this trilogy?

That's really two questions, I think. For me, the aspect that holds the greatest personal interest is definitely developing the nonhuman culture. I really enjoyed playing around with assumptions about goblin culture and taking them in directions that are new and different but that also make sense and build on what readers like about goblins. It's easy to say in a game world that a nonhuman races behaves in such and such a way, but to turn that into some real behaviour is something else. Hobgoblins have always been depicted as violent but disciplined—I asked myself how would that work in an actual society and ended up suggesting that goblins believe in two kinds of honor: atcha, honor gained by doing great deeds, and muut, honor gained by doing your duty. Then I was able to use that to guide and extrapolate other situations, so it all flows together.

On the other hand, the complex relationship between Darguun and the rest of the Eberron world and with the fallen Empire of Dhakaan are central to the story (the trilogy was always intended to be somewhat epic in scope) , but I'd say the character arcs are definitely at the heart of the books. I'm really pleased with the three main characters, all of who started in the books of my previous trilogy, The Dragon Below. Ashi is a barbarian woman who finds herself forced into an important position in one of the great dragonmarked houses. Ekhaas is a hobgoblin duur'kala, a sort of singing historian devoted to her people's glorious past, who finds herself caught between that past and a changing future. I'm probably most pleased with Geth, the shifter fighter, though. Through the books of The Dragon Below, his arc was about accepting the deeds of his past; through the books of the Legacy of Dhakaan, it's become about finding a balance with his current deeds and what people expect of him. I'm really not someone who plans out character arc—it should grow naturally out of the story—but I'm really happy about how Geth's emerged and wrapped up.

Geth was fun to read about from the moment his former comrade-in-arms, Singe, attacked him in the beginning of book 1 of The Binding Stone. Now it's almost 6 books later. He seems to be the closest thing you've got to a primary protagonist. Is there anything of Don in Geth? Why did you choose a shifter (a human-lycanthrope descendant, for the uninformed)?

There's almost never anything of me in a character—they're completely made up. I will admit, however, occasionally finding Geth easier to write when I was really pissed off about something. I chose to make Geth a shifter partly because shifters are (or were at the time) one of the distinctive races of Eberron and partly because, when I was writing the novel, I wanted a character who was a little more wild and primal. Although I must admit, I can't remember now whether shifters just fit what I wanted for the character or whether I was inspired by shifters to make the character.

And we'll get to see Geth at least once more in your next book, The Tyranny of Ghosts, the conclusion to the Legacy of Dkakaan trilogy which is slated for release in June. Without spoiling anything for those who might not have started on this trilogy, what can you tell us about this third book?

The Tyranny of Ghosts picks up pretty much exactly where Word of Traitors left off with the heroes in peril... which isn't actually saying much but I always find it hard to say something spoiler-free, especially on a third book in a series with as much going on as Legacy of Dhakaan. I have a lot to wrap up! However, I think I can say that where Word of Traitors was largely focused around the city Rhukaan Draal, with The Tyranny of Ghosts, the characters go back out into the land of Darguun. Readers who know Eberron will be pleased to see some places that have never been seen before; I think all readers will be pleased to see the resolution to the personal stories of many of the characters. The Tyranny of Ghosts also touches on the effects that events of the first two books have beyond the borders of Darguun, how do the dragonmarked houses and the other nations of Eberron react to what's been happening, and so forth. Nothing earthshaking, just reactions. I was pleased to be able to do that—I think it builds the sense of the world and shows you that things aren't happening in isolation. I think readers will really like seeing that, too.

All right. If some big-name Hollywood producers wanted to make the Legacy of Dhakaan into a trilogy of movies, and approached you for authorial input, who would you want starring in it? Any particular composers you'd want doing the score? Orchestral or electronic? Would there be any songs on the soundtrack? If there was a rock single (you know, the ones that play during the credits, or in a promotional music video), who would be your artist of choice to record it?

Oh boy. That's a whole can of worms, isn't it? Personally, I think Legacy of Dhakaan would make a better animated movie just because so many of the characters are non-humans (Hello Hollywood—next Avatar right here!). However, if they were going to do it live action...Geth would be a toss-up between Liev Schreiber for the look and Ray Park for the fighting style. Ashi would be Rebecca Romijn for height and the moves (although she's a little older than I picture Ashi). Ekhaas, believe it or not, would be Beyonce—I wouldn't have thought it, but when I first saw the cover art for The Tyranny of Ghosts, I thought the artist (the outstanding Michael Komarck if I haven't mentioned him before) had made her look too pretty and too much like Beyonce for a hobgoblin. The more I thought about it, though, the more I could see it.

I've never really thought about the soundtrack before, but I'd be inclinded to go with orchestral. Composer might be either Michael Giacchino (I really liked the sound track from Star Trek) or Paul Haslinger (I still haven't seen Underworld: Rise of the Lycans but the soundtrack is part of my writing mix). Single for the closing credits... wow, I don't know. Green Day. Or Lady Gaga. Or maybe Beyonce again.

All right. Here's the real question. On your website, you say you're a fan of breakfast cereals. (So am I!) What are your absolute favorites? What does a talented dark fantasy novelist eat to start his day?

There should be at least one square, one flake, and one moderately sweet cereal (any shape) on my breakfast shelf at any time. Currently, those cereals are Shreddies®, Almond Oatmeal Crisp®, and Strawberry Miniwheats®. I move between them depending on my mood in the morning. Occasionally I mix cereals—I highly recommend Shreddies® and Cheerios® (original only) in roughly equal proportions, Shreddies® on top to hold the Cheerios® down (floating cereals are wrong). In all cases, brown sugar and milk to within 1/2" of the rim of the bowl.

Alas, I was hoping for Count Chocula® or maybe some new one I haven't heard of (Goblin-O's?), but we'll forgive you. Thanks for your time, Don!

       For more info:  Check out Don Bassingthwaite's website!