Exclusive Interview: “Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain” Author Howard Andrew Jones

 

With Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain (hardcover, Kindle), author Howard Andrew Jones has reached the half-way point of his five book sword & sorcery / sword & sandal fantasy series The Chronicles Of Hanuvar.

In the following email interview, Jones discusses what inspired and influenced this third book, as well as where things stand for books four and five.

For people who haven’t read the first two books, Lord Of A Shattered Land and The City Of Marble And Blood, or the interview we did about Shattered, what is The Chronicles Of Hanuvar series about, and what kind of a world is it set in?

The series has a sword & sandal / ancient Mediterranean vibe, and it stars Hanuvar, the last general of fallen Volanus. The handful of his people who have survived the destruction of his city have been sold into slavery, and it doesn’t matter if they were sent to the furthest outpost of the empire or its rotten heart, he means to set every last one of them free.

And then for those have read those books, and thus can ignore me writing SPOILER ALERT, what is Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain about, and when does it take place in relation to The City Of Marble And Blood?

It takes up pretty much right where Marble And Blood left off. Hanuvar’s finished his work in the empire capital, and has now headed into the south of the peninsula to work out the liberation of more of his people. He’s still searching for his daughter, who he’s learned escaped alive and was last seen somewhere to the south.

When in relation to writing The City Of Marble And Blood did you come up with the idea for Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain, and what inspired this third book’s story?

Once I realized Hanuvar was heading south, I started thinking about the eruption of Vesuvius (in southern Italy), and the gladiator rebellion of Spartacus (who camped on Vesuvius — years before the eruption) and I realized I couldn’t very well have an adventure to the south of my not quite Italy without a gladiator rebellion… Not to mention a host of other surprises and new encounters with some of the most entertaining antagonists from the previous books. The ideas came pretty quickly.

As we discussed in the interview we did about Lord Of A Shattered Land, the Hanuvar in The Chronicles Of Hanuvar is somewhat based on Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who’s best known as the guy who invaded Italy by leading troops on elephants through the Alps. Is any aspect of Lord Of A Shattered Land based on something Hannibal did?

Hanuvar’s past is very similar to the past of Hannibal, but Hannibal died years before Rome destroyed Carthage, so this is all a big “what if.” But his genius level tactics and moral integrity are certainly inspired by the historical Hannibal.

Lord Of A Shattered Land and The City Of Marble And Blood were sword & sorcery / sword & sandal fantasy stories. Is Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain one as well?

Oh, it’s definitely the same kind of thing. I’m having too much fun writing sword-and-sorcery with historical trappings to stop now.

Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain is obviously not your first novel. Are there any writers, or specific stories, that had a big influence on Mountain but not on anything else you’ve done, and especially not the previous Chronicles Of Hanuvar novels?

The biggest influences over the entire series are the great historical writer / historian Harold Lamb, closely followed by Robert E. Howard, Leigh Brackett, and a number of others.

For this particular book, Karl Edward Wagner was an important influence, and fans of his Kane in particular might find that one of Hanuvar’s recurring adversaries in this book feels familiar…

How about non-literary influences; was Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain influenced by any movies, TV shows, or games?

Oh absolutely, but it’s a pretty scattered list. I love the great hard-boiled dialogue in Justified, for instance, especially the way it’s so revealing of character, and I try to aim at that high bar when I’m writing dialogue.

I loved the tight storytelling of Batman: The Animated Series, and the original animated Avatar show, especially how most episodes could stand alone at the same time that they built a larger arc.

And because I grew up watching original Star Trek reruns I think all off my fiction ends up being a little informed by Trek, even though it doesn’t have any space ships or aliens or phasers or science fiction trappings.

Now, in the Lord Of A Shattered Land interview, you said The Chronicles Of Hanuvar was going to be a five-book series. Is that still the plan?

There are as yet no official plans for more, but there may be a couple of additional related surprises…

And do you know yet what the fourth and fifth books will be called, and when they’ll be out?

I’m currently writing book 4, which is titled Daughters Of The Silver Towers. I plan to turn it over at about the same time Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain gets released, but I don’t know when Baen will release it.

I’m not yet in love with the title of book 5 so I don’t want to share it. As for when I’ll be done writing that one, so far the Hanuvar novels have taken about 9-10 months to write and revise, but I’m not sure when it will be slotted into the production schedule.

Is it safe to assume that if someone is interested in reading Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain that they should go back and read Lord Of A Shattered Land and The City Of Marble And Blood first, and in that order?

I think that each book does stand alone, but I also think it would be a whole lot more fun to start with the first. Each one reads a little like a season of an adventure show, and while it can work to start watching at the third season of a series, it’s usually more rewarding to begin at the beginning.

So, is there anything else you think people need to know about Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain or The Chronicles Of Hanuvar series?

These books have a different vibe from a lot of modern fantasy, and I always try to be clear about that. Each chapter functions pretty much as an individual adventure that ties into the next — again, an awful lot like a modern adventure TV show. I am not a big fan of slow pacing, and my work reflects that. Things get cooking pretty fast in every book. Hanuvar’s not struggling to find himself or master skills — this guy’s already really good at what he’s doing. Think Aragorn, or Captain America, or Conan. The books may have some somber elements, but they’re not grimdark, either, because Hanuvar is a heroic figure, trying to save his people. He’s essentially selfless. You want adventure, dark sorcery, heroic deeds, and a really smart, capable hero? That’s what I’m trying to give you.

Finally, if someone enjoys Shadow Of The Smoking Mountain, and they’ve already read the previous books in The Chronicles Of Hanuvar series, what sword & sorcery novel or novella would you suggest they check out?

My good friend John C. Hocking’s Conan novel, Conan: City Of The Dead, [which is] two novels in one book. Talk about high octane sword-and-sorcery!