Dear Reader
I recently read one of those rarest of beasts- a standalone fantasy book that was both excellent and whole and complete in and of itself. The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie* in which gods are numerous, gregarious and always on speed dial. The humans in this world have direct access to their deities, making offerings of anything from water to a human sacrifice in exchange for favours. It was brilliant fun. The story was told in both first person and second person ‘you’ from the point of view of one of these gods. It offered such a unique reading experience I immediately came away thinking-how can I use this? How can a borrow even an atom of this genius to sprinkle into my own work? I looked at my manuscript, The River of Bones, already in its third draft and sneered at it because what was it doing to push the boundaries of storytelling? Exactly nothing. Third person, present tense, multi pov, pseudo- late medieval setting. So far so classic fantasy. What could I tweak? A magical wood plays a prominent part, should I add a chapter from the point of view of a tree? Could I switch to first or even second person when the lesser characters come into play?
After I had a little lie down in a darkened room with a wet flannel on my forehead, I realised that what I loved about The Raven Tower was it’s voice. The narrator of The Raven Tower had such a distinctive voice it immediately established intimacy with the reader. It inspired confidence. It made you want to stay along for the ride with this story wherever it may end up. That is what I actually hope to achieve with my POV characters in The River of Bones: Yorric the skeptical lawyer with a really magical problem and Hester the Grim Piper, hands full shepherding the restless dead. They live rent-free in my head and if I can give them a voice so powerful they get to live rent-free in yours, I’ll be a happy writer.
Sincerely yours,
K L Wapshott
*If a sequel comes out I’ll eat my words but also buy that book faster than you can say ‘available in all major bookstores’.