James Barclay

Ry_Darrick · Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Posts: 106

James, now that you have finished the raven books and probably ("never say never") will not write a book about them again, what do you wish you had done differently when you were writing them? Do you think you could have had even more success with different plotlines? Or did you ever think killing off a particular character was a mistake? Is there anything you regret about the raven books?

I'll be interested to see if you regret anything, such as killing off a character, because that's one of the reasons I love your books, but whether that halted a storyline or not I don't know..

James · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:35 pm Post subject:

That's a tough one, Ry... I think I'd write the openng of Dawnthief a little differently. Looking back, it's a a bit chaotic and could be smoothed to give new readers an easier start into all the characters.

I wish I'd introduced elven society earlier too. Though on the one hand, keeping it all on Balaia for three books was good and tight, having the elves would have added depth in, say Nightchild.

Most of it, I remain very happy with. I can;t say I regret killing off any character. The deaths all still feel right to me. I know Sirendor was popular though his involvment was very brief. He alone, could perhaps have lived longer.

As an overall point, if I was to write from scratch, I'd include more detail on the structure and politics of the colleges, more on the relationships between barons, lords and the college cities and more on how the country worked and its history. I think now I could do that without losing pace and tension.

That's for starters but I might come back with more.
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'A human with a hand outstretched in friendship carries the fangs of a taipan in his palm.' A TaiGethen saying.

Ry_Darrick · Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Posts: 106

James · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:49 am Post subject:

Yes, definitely. Although I went into a little more detail in Elfsorrow about elven society, the Ascendants showed me how to collate and present such detail. Actually, looking back at the Ascendants, I think I could have done that better too Smile

Never satisfied, some people, eh? We live and learn.

In a Shout For The Dead, you'll see what I mean. More intertwining of detail around the action and core plotlines.
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'A human with a hand outstretched in friendship carries the fangs of a taipan in his palm.' A TaiGethen saying.

Wulfa_Coldheart · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 97 Location: United Kingdom

Oddly, I was about to post a question much like this one.

I was going to ask James if he'd ever think of re-writing the Raven novels. I'm re-reading Dawnthief (inbetween writing my own epic dissertation) and whilst I am really enjoying it again, I did notice that James' writing style had improved a little since the first books.
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"You know what Jack Burton always says... what the hell?"

James · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:50 pm Post subject:

Well most writers improve with age...

There is a part of me that would love to rewrite The Raven and iron out the odd messy bit. But that might just as easily destroy the energy of the novels. You can pick at the corners of things for too long. Overall, best to let them stand as they are. Anyway, as I no doubt say often, I don't think I'll ever have the time.
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'A human with a hand outstretched in friendship carries the fangs of a taipan in his palm.' A TaiGethen saying.