Tim Lebbon on his BFS Award-winning dark fantasy novel ‘Dusk’ : UK SF Book News

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Oct

14

Tim Lebbon on his BFS Award-winning dark fantasy novel ‘Dusk’

Posted in: UKSFBN Talks To on 14th October 2007 by Sandy Auden

Author Tim Lebbon was almost speechless last month, when he beat an incredibly strong line up of nominated authors to take the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel, for his dark fantasy Dusk, at an awards ceremony that brought the 2007 British Fantasy Convention to a close.

Dusk and it's sequel, Dawn, are set on the world of Noreela, where magic is slowly returning to the land but is opposed by some vicious factions of the populace. One boy, Rafe Baburn, carries the precious seed of magic needed to bring Noreela out of the savage culture it has regressed into, and the Red Monks will stop at nothing to see him dead as a result…

We caught up with Lebbon - now thankfully recovered from his speechlessness - to quiz him about his adventures on Noreela…

UKSFBN: Why did you decide to write a dark Fantasy novel, moving away from your more usual Horror theme?

Tim Lebbon: "It was an idea I'd been toying with for quite some time, and I actually started writing Dusk a few years ago. I don't read a massive amount of fantasy, but I'm aware that magic often plays a big part... so I was fascinated with the idea of writing about a world where the magic is no more. The analogy I used was, what would happen to us if electricity suddenly stopped working?

"Also, it wasn't a conscious decision to change 'genres' or anything like that, I just wanted to write a slightly different kind of novel, then discovered I enjoyed writing alternate world stuff very much. I'm currently writing the fourth novel set in Noreela."

UKSFBN: What differences have you found between writing Horror and writing Fantasy?

Tim Lebbon: "In a way, I can give my imagination a little more free reign when writing the dark fantasy, because it's rooted in another world. And that's the main difference. This is my world, so anything can happen there. I can write about sentient tumbleweed without having to explain why it exists (though in Dawn the tumblers do start to play a much larger role).

"But conversely, it's also more challenging because anything can happen. Any good story has to have a footing in human emotions, so I have to try to create believable reactions to, and interactions with completely outlandish things."

UKSFBN: Why aren't there any orcs or elves in your Fantasy novels?

Tim Lebbon: "I always had quite a strong idea of what I wanted to write about, and also a determination that creatures and other 'created' things would come out of my own head, not be nicked from other books. There are no orcs, elves or dragons in Dusk because someone else made them up.

"I wanted to write something with some unique, original creatures and landscapes. So I have sentient tumbleweed, drug mines, huge flying / floating hawks, skull ravens that peck a hole in your skull to get at your dreams, furbats that can be milked for the sex-drug rhellim, demonic creatures that live deep underground in the drug mines, and other weird and wonderful stuff."

UKSFBN: How important is character motivation to the story in Dusk and Dawn?

Tim Lebbon: "Oh, vital, just as in any novel. I could create the most outlandish world possible, but if the characters don't work then neither will the book. I think it worked out okay, though there are some characters I think work better than others."

UKSFBN: You have some characters motivated by good and some by evil in the books, but several fall in between. Which sort of character do you enjoy writing the most?

Tim Lebbon: "The ones that fall in between are always the most fun to write. For instance, the Red Monks in these books are brutal, and perhaps supernatural in their tenacity to prevent the reintroduction of magic into the land. They slaughter whole villages in the search for one boy. They're nasty! But they're doing all this from the very firm, very honest belief that they're saving the land of Noreela from doom. If magic returns, they believe, the land is finished. So to some they're saviours, to others they're almost demons. And I love that.

"Actually I think the only clear-cut characters are the two Mages, S'Hivez and Angel, who are pretty much bad through and through. Everyone else - even my heroes - have shades of both good and bad in them."

UKSFBN: Along with well motivated characters, what else does a good Fantasy book need?

Tim Lebbon: "A believable and fascinating setting. Some sort of political and religious system, at least as background. And monsters. Lots of monsters."

UKSFBN: Dusk and Dawn are not huge Fantasy bricks like much of the rest of the genre. Your stories (Horror or Fantasy) are always vividly but cleanly told, with no meandering. Why?

Tim Lebbon: That's just the way I write. Both books were originally longer, but edited down with the help of my wonderful editor Anne Groell. Trimming the fat is essential, I think, otherwise there's a tendency to get too bogged down in stuff that's not relevant to the story."

UKSFBN: What are you working on now?

Tim Lebbon: "I've just started The Island, the fourth book set in Noreela (that's a working title, for now). The third Noreela book, Fallen, will be out next spring.

"I'm also just about to start the second book in the series I'm writing with Chris Golden for Bantam, The Map of Moments. And I'm working on a couple of screenplays, some YA proposals which my agent is handling right now, and some other stuff that might come to something, might not..."

UKSFBN: And finally, how do you feel about winning the BFS Best Novel award, now it's sunk in?

Tim Lebbon: "WHOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!"

For more information about Tim Lebbon check out www.TimLebbon.net. For more about the world of Noreela (including free short stories), visit www.Noreela.com

Source: Tim Lebbon

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