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Mar
17
Mark Chadbourn on ‘Kingdom of the Serpent’ part two: ‘The Burning Man’
Posted in: UKSFBN Talks To on 17th March 2008 by UKSFBN admin
Mark Chadbourn's new novel, The Burning Man, will be published by Gollancz Books in mid-April. Long-time Chadbourn-fan Lizzy Hill dropped Mark a line on our behalf to ask him a few pertinent questions about the new novel, it's place in his canon of work, and some of the background to his ongoing series.
Lizzy Hill: Jack of Ravens - part one of The Kingdom of the Serpent - followed first Brother of Dragons Jack Churchill's epic journey through time from the Ancient Britons, via the Romans, Elizabethans, Vietnam and Woodstock, finally ending up in the modern day. Where will The Burning Man take us?
Mark Chadbourn: "Where Jack of Ravens was a quest through time, this one is a quest around the world. I won't mention the locations, of which there are several, because I don't want to spoil any surprises, but the starting point is the UK, and from there the group head east.
"The story deals with ancient forces coming back – in a way, echoing the Age of Misrule sequence. The world is divided into several 'Great Dominions' – essentially, geographical areas which were originally ruled by pantheons of gods in ancient times. As the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons enter a Great Dominion, their presence wakes the power in the land and brings the gods back.
"I'm very interested in mythology and the differences and similarities between the gods of different cultures. The Burning Man gives me a chance to compare and contrast as some of these tremendous archetypal forces return to the modern world.
"For anyone who loves mythology, you'll probably find one of your favourites in here – though I've not always tackled the most obvious gods. Some of the minor ones are more interesting because they're less familiar. And some of the familiar ones I've tackled in an unfamiliar way – in one case, going back to the earliest tales – the ur tales - where that particular god was very different indeed."
Lizzy Hill: The Kingdom of the Serpent trilogy is the sequel to the Age of Misrule and Dark Age trilogies. The Age of Misrule has an Arthurian and Celtic feel. The Dark Age has at its core, issues of our own dark ages - faith, plague / illness, war / politics and strips away the trappings of modern society to see how we would cope. Jack of Ravens has Gnostic beliefs running through it. What myths and beliefs do you explore in The Burning Man?
Mark Chadbourn: "The Kingdom of the Serpent continues with the Gnostic philosophy, but also pulls in the Arthurian and Celtic themes, which you will see much more clearly in the final book of the series. Behind the story, the aim is to show how Gnostic thinking underpins virtually every belief system or mythology, even if it wasn't classed as such at the time. This final sequence ties up all my thinking on all the philosophical and mystical issues that are threaded through the previous sequences.
Lizzy Hill: Do you need to have read The Age of Misrule and The Dark Age series before The Kingdom of the Serpent?
Mark Chadbourn: "A lot of people don't seem to realise that the three sequences I've written are all one big story, split up into bite-size chunks. Part of the problem is that my publisher has packaged them in different designs so they look like they should be separate tales. I am concerned that someone who picked up, say, Jack of Ravens, as their first book might be left high and dry. You really need to have a good understanding of what's gone before to 'get' that book.
"The over-arching story covers more than two thousand years of human history, the mythologies of numerous cultures, this world, the Otherworld and the world beyond death, and has a huge cast of characters, and supernatural beings and creatures, as well as its own internal mythology. It really is an enormous undertaking.
"I do tend to lose sleep about readers picking up random books without realising that, and not grasping the story or feeling that their time or money has been wasted because there are essential elements missing."
Lizzy Hill: In Jack of Ravens you also put your own spin on some historical events and conspiracy theories. Do you have strong views on these?
Mark Chadbourn: "I'm a student of history at degree level, so I've always had a deep interest in the subject, and I've also been very interested in conspiracy theories for many years – not necessarily in whether they're true or not, but on the psychology that underpins them.
"The lessons of history are pretty clear – you can't always trust people in power. And as someone who's worked very closely with politicians at the highest level I have to say my healthy suspicion of the establishment has very rarely been challenged.
"I think on many occasions it's usually a case of cock-up rather than conspiracy. The first instinct of most people in power is to cover-up to save face, which allows conspiracy theories to flourish, so they only have themselves to blame when their trust is eroded.
"But there are many important events where the evidence does point towards conspiracy, most notably the political assassinations in the US during the sixties."
Lizzy Hill: As a writer you like to bury ideas deep in your stories, using archetypes and memes. This enables your books to be read on many different levels, much in the same way the original storytellers did. Does this take a lot of planning, or has it become so ingrained in your way of writing as to be second nature?
Mark Chadbourn: "There's no planning at all. It's just a part of who I am, I think. I tend to think about all things very deeply, including whether to have tea or coffee in the morning. When you consider things to such a degree, the major themes, and the complexity, tend to develop naturally."
Lizzy Hill: The Burning Man is the penultimate book of a nine book series. How does it feel to be coming to the end and saying goodbye to characters you've lived with for the best part of a decade?
Mark Chadbourn: "I don't feel like I am saying goodbye. They still live on in my mind, having adventures and living their lives. I like all my characters immensely and enjoy spending time with them. Having said that, I am looking forward to developing new characters, new stories and themes."
Lizzy Hill: When, where and how did you come up with the idea for the series?
Mark Chadbourn: "The series, really, is me in essence – all my interests, thoughts, philosophy, beliefs, and questions – all rolled up into one. So from that point of view, the idea was always there just waiting to be distilled. I don't think there was one particular starting point.
"Often it's a matter of several different notions cropping up, and slowly you start to see connections between them – stuck in traffic on the M4, having a daydream of what would happen if some great, fantastical beast decided to drop out of the sky – or reading about the stone circles and the mysteries of their construction, and considering what the answers to those mysteries might be.
"Reality to me is all about patterns, and life is about trying to define what those patterns are when you're pressed up close against them. And stories are really trying to make sense of the patterns embedded in the mind, finding connections, seeing parallels. It's spooky when it happens."
Lizzy Hill: Your books have many references to music; lyrics and song titles appearing as chapter titles and various nods throughout the stories. What started this and did you realise how much your readers would pick up on it?
Mark Chadbourn: "I've always loved music. I was an obsessive in my teens and twenties, I've run a record company and managed bands. I've filled one of the big memory iPods and I'm ready to start another one. And as the books are all about the inner landscape of my mind, there had to be music in there, as it's so important to me.
"The books are all filled with codes and ciphers that I really put in for my own enjoyment, as well as to embed that deeper pattern we discussed earlier. I was surprised when readers started to pick up on these things I'd buried really deeply, and started to see the mysteries that are going on behind the main story. The music references are part of the puzzles."
Lizzy Hill: Do the characters ever 'get away' from you; does the story sometimes go places you hadn't planned, or do you find the characters doing anything you hadn't counted on?
Mark Chadbourn: "Yes, but that's how I work. I factor it in. I don't obsessively plot the books, which I think sucks the life out of them. I know where I'm starting and where I'm going, and a few of the events along the way, and then I let my characters find their way through it. The results are always surprising, to me at least, and I think my writing is better for that loose approach."
Lizzy Hill: As well as writing novels you are also a successful scriptwriter for the BBC. Do you find the two disciplines complementary?
Mark Chadbourn: "Definitely. They're both very, very different and just because you can do one, doesn't mean you can do the other. Screenwriting is certainly much more disciplined. It makes you think about every word because nothing can be wasted in a script. In books you have a lot more flexibility."
Lizzy Hill: And finally what's next after The Burning Man, besides the final book in the series?
Mark Chadbourn: "I've just completed a short novel for Solaris Books – The Lord of Silence, which is a sword and sorcery, noir, puzzle-cracking, romance, serial killer, adventure-mystery. With mad, dancing magicians. That should be out in 2009. I've also put together a proposal for a new sequence, so we'll see if anyone's interested in that. Bit early to talk about it at the moment."
For more information on Mark Chadbourn's writing, visit his website, www.MarkChadbourn.net.
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Tagged With: fantasy | Gollancz Books | interview | Mark Chadbourn | The-Age-of-Misrule | The-Dark-Age | The-Kingdom-of-the-Serpent
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