James Barclay

[Rups]

Ah the protectors turning up, I loved that and realised about a page before they did!


Please, don't get me wrong, I loved RavenSoul, truely great and I was distraught the closer I was to the end... Having the Raven together on dimension WATCH, was a lovely way to finish...

I do wish there was more of the ONE magic in there though...

I always want more...

[Wulfgar]

Well obvioulsy I was referring to Hirad and the Unknown themselves. Apparently my gf bumped in to them in the pub one night....

( I wish! )

[Styllian]

To be honest I wouldn't want a furious barbarian and a large man who looks able enough to rip my arms off without a second thought despite his age coming up to me in the late hours....

Even with a strong love of the Raven XD

[Wulfgar]

But imagine the story you could tell

"What happened to your arms?!"

"Well....."

[Boggy]

So what happened to the Wesman?

They were mentioned briefly, but never showed up in the book

Did they all die or did they leave Balaia?
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"I don't know half of you half as well as i should like;and i like less than half of you half as well as you deserve"

[James]

Well, you can draw your own conclusions on that. Suffice to say they came under concerted attack from the Garonin. Those not dead would have retreated into the Heartlands. No doubt Shamen would have been trying to open doorways. Did they succeed... well, who knows?

Welcome to the forum, by the way.
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'A human with a hand outstretched in friendship carries the fangs of a taipan in his palm.' A TaiGethen saying.

[Boggy]

Thanks for the reply James, me and a friend were discussing this and we did come up with our own conclusions

We discussed that maybe the Wesmen opened their own doors and escaped because the Elfs were trying to find them

have to say I really enjoyed Ravensoul and I'm looking forward to your next book

PS. Yeah I joined the forum a while back but never posted

lol
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"I don't know half of you half as well as i should like;and i like less than half of you half as well as you deserve"

[SimonD]

I have to admit to crying during this book, I once wrote to James about the Raven books and my dismay at the end of Demonstorm, I was so sad about the death of so many great characters that it put me off reading the The Ascendants of Estoria series (how could he kill them off).

However I saw Ravensoul in my local Waterstones recently and decided to read it, I honestly wasn't sure how I would feel but I am really glad that I did.

It's a fitting end to probably one of my favourite groups of characters, not just the Raven but The Protectors and Elves.

James, my hat is off to you. You really are up there with the likes of Tolkien for the great story telling and characters.

I guess I really need to get a hold of the Ascendants and give them a read then.

[Lizzy]

Welcome to the forum Simon
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Listen to Lizzy, she's always right! as said by Jovial

[James]

Welcome to the forums, Simon, particularly if you're planning on more posts like that

Thank you for your very kind words about Ravensoul and the rest of The Raven books. That's some pretty exalted ocmpany in which you have placed me...

I do hope you decide to read the Ascendants. They aren't everyone's cup of tea it seems but I hope you enjoy them.
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'A human with a hand outstretched in friendship carries the fangs of a taipan in his palm.' A TaiGethen saying.

[SimonD]

Thanks James, so far it's just the Ascendants that I have missed, the funny thing is that I registered this account years ago but never posted.
I find it a rarity for authors to actually post on forums, wow am I glad that you do.

Perhaps I should pester my thriller based authors to do the same (admittedly I don't tend to cry reading their books, quite a sight really, a 6ft tall ex sqauddie balling his eyes out on a train, not just a leaky eye I tell you, a full on water works.. how no one noticed (including my wife) I will never know).

I know I am not the first but... please see about doing something with Jonas and Sha-Kaan.

Please keep up the great work.

Oh and DON'T EVER KILL OFF people like Hirad and Ilks again (and I know I am going to be upset with you for the Ascendants 2nd book as I have already seen that some get killed off), please don't get as bad as Gerald Seymour, I stopped reading him because he always killed off the lead in most of his books

[Joibri]

(This was the most appropriate place I could find for this!)

As promised, finally read Ravensoul! Yay! It's strangely appropriate that I should go back to the Raven after so many years (though admittedly not ten!) and after so much upheaval in my life. That definitely helped me empathize with the Raven being called back to arms!

Anyhow, thoroughly enjoyed as always, James. Perhaps not my favorite of all the books and I can't place my finger precisely on why - maybe some of the edge was lost with me due to it being familiar, replaced by nostalgia of a sort? - but it was a delicious encore nonetheless. Particularly enjoyed the broader ideas it represented (simultaneously reading Ayn Rand, though, so 'novels of ideas' are kinda forefront in my mind right now!). For example, I'm sure you've been questioned already about Sol's task of opening the door and leading others to the light, or little things such as Auum claiming he and his Tai are 'servants of God' as opposed to 'Yniss', so I won't go there.

Was wondering your take on this though - does the story create the themes/ideas or do the themes create the story? I've always found it a tricky balance to maintain when writing. Don't want to bludgeon my readers to death with them, but want it to be more than a 2D romp.

I was especially grateful that Denser got a chance to redeem himself, though his decision to stay in Balaia was unexpected. Kinda sad that Erienne didn't get more time. Oh, and was wondering if Dila'heth was among the elves that survived? I liked her. But all that aside, I was particularly fond of how Sol and his family came to the forefront, particularly Diera. Do you think this reflects your shifting priorities as a family man yourself?

...Wow, that sounded like an interview. Sorry! Thank you for sharing the Raven with us one last time.
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(I am so out of the loop. But that's okay!)

Writer, reader, photographer; one foot in England, one in the US.