Of all the interesting characters in the TV show Game Of Thrones, none captured my attention as much as Brienne Of Tarth, played by the lovely and kick ass Gwendoline Christie.
But clearly I’m not the only one. In the following email interview, author and fellow Gwen-head Charlotte Bond explains that the main character in her new dark fantasy novella The Fireborne Blade (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook) was inspired by Thrones‘ most iconic knight.
Photo Credit: Kate Maxwell
To begin, what is The Fireborne Blade about, and what kind of a world is it set in?
Well, The Fireborne Blade is about knights, mages, and dragons. It’s set in a world divided into fourteen realms, each ruled over by a king. Each realm has its famous knights who guard the kingdom, compete in tournaments, and hunt dragons. Dragons are highly magical creatures and hunting them can prove perilous because when they die, the magic disburses in an unexpected and often fatal way. So you either have to be incredibly brave or incredibly reckless to hunt them.
The Fireborne Blade follows Maddileh, a disgraced knight who is trying to redeem herself by finding the legendary Fireborne Blade, which is said to be held in the lair of the White Lady, the oldest living dragon. As she travels deeper into the earth, through tunnels plagued by dragon-dead, ghosts, and soot drakes, she begins to regret her choice of squire, since Petros is arrogant, disrespectful and, well, a bit of a wimp. But she begins to expect there is something more to her squire, and when they finally reach the White Lady’s lair, there’s an unexpected surprise waiting for her.
As you said, Maddileh is a knight, and a dragon slayer. But she’s also a woman, and, as I understand it, she doesn’t always get the respect she deserves from her male coworkers. Sadly, this is not a total fantasy, as women still have to put up with this shit. Is that why you wrote The Fireborne Blade? Because you wanted to write a story about this crap and then realized it would work well in a fantasy realm? Or did you come up with the plot for Fireborne and then realize it would work really well if Maddileh was disrespected at work?
Well, the way I write stories is that often elements come to me in bits and pieces. I think the first thing was that I wanted to write about a disgraced knight hunting dragons. And then I wanted to add in a conflicting relationship, which is where Petros came into it.
However, this actually started life as a short story that I wrote (where Maddileh was a male knight) and put to one side because it didn’t sparkle. But it still lurked in the back of my mind, and later I went back to it when I had a yearning to write a fantasy novella. Reading through it, I decided that I’d read loads of books about male knights going on quests, but rarely had I read about female knights. I’d just been watching Game Of Thrones and was inspired by Gwendoline Christie’s amazing performance as Brienne Of Tarth: she was tall, smart, strong, and still kept her femininity. I realized I wanted to write about a similar character.
Once I’d settled on a female knight, I then had to imagine the world she lived in. I could have crafted my world with many women as knights, but that wouldn’t have had the conflict I needed. But I didn’t want outright hostility either, where all female knights are shunned. So I decided that the social structure would be that knighthood is like a boys’ club: girls can be in it, but they’ve got to be “one of the lads.” Ladies, you can be a knight, but leave your femininity at the door, please.
Obviously, The Fireborne Blade is a fantasy story. But do you think of it as an urban fantasy story, a grimdark one, or some other subgenre? Or just straight fantasy?
Oooh, tricky question. I mean, “grimdark” is usually violent, bleak, possibly amoral, and often disturbing; it’s frequently associated with wars and battles given the origin of the phrase (“In the grim darkness of the future there is only war.”) So I’m not sure it’s quite that, but I do feel that it’s got more grimness in it than you might expect from straightforward fantasy.
I would say probably “dark fantasy” might be accurate (straightforward fantasy but with a decent amount of blood and guts) or whatever term you would use to describe Dungeons & Dragons (as a lot of people have been comparing it to that).
Now, The Fireborne Blade is not your first book. Nor your last, as we’ll get to in a moment. Are there any writers, or specific stories, that had a big influence on The Fireborne Blade but not on anything else you’ve written?
I mean, I can never rule out Tolkien as an influence on my fantasy stories. The Hobbit was the first book I ever read independently as a child (and that was only because it had been read to me so many times I could practically quote it) and it seems an interesting parallel that my first book with a big publisher has a dragon in it. Perhaps Smaug has always been lurking somewhere at the back of my mind all these years…
But while Tolkien has dragons and a lasting influence on all fantasy, I guess much of my style and tone was more influenced by the modern writers I read. I love the dark tone and imagery of Anna Smith Spark’s work (although I could never aspire to the level of lyricism she puts in her prose); R.J. Barker’s Wounded Kingdom trilogy was definitely in my mind when it came to interesting and unusual characters; and George R.R. Martin’s Song Of Ice And Fire series was definitely a huge influence because I loved the unprincipled characters and the twists in it.
How about such non-literary influences as movies, TV shows, or games? Did any of those things have a big influence on The Fireborne Blade?
As I mentioned above, Maddileh was directly inspired by Gwendoline Christie’s Brienne Of Tarth, so Game Of Thrones certainly influenced me a great deal.
When it comes to the magical elements, did you ever watch a TV series in the ’90s called Merlin, which starred Sam Neill?
No, but I remember it.
That’s long been a favorite, and I kind of like the idea of the magic they use there, and the whole feel of the series as well. One of the reviews of The Fireborne Blade described it as “the fantasy equivalent of comfort food. Except this comfort food is more likely to eat you than you it!” That’s kind of how I feel about the Merlin series; it’s not ground-breaking, but it’s fun and interesting, and quite frankly, I’ll watch anything with Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson in it!
I also have to give a shout out to Dragonheart, which was some of the inspiration for The Bloodless Princes [the sequel to The Fireborne Blade]. In the sequel, Maddileh has to work closer with dragons, and so I rewatched the film to give me an idea of relative sizes, movement, speech, etc. I mean, just what does it look like when someone is walking along with a dragon ambling next to them? How do they sleep and share food? I decided I didn’t like the way Draco’s lips moved in the movie when he’s talking, so in my book, the dragons speak telepathically. But I did love the banter between Draco and Bowen, so little elements of that made it into the conversations between Maddileh and the dragon.
Speaking of the sequel, The Bloodless Princes comes out October 29th. What happens to Maddileh in this second novella, and when does it take place in relation to Fireborne?
It’s tricky to talk about book two without giving away spoilers for book one. But I’ll give it my best shot…
In The Fireborne Blade, Maddileh finds herself somewhat attracted to a young mage she meets called Saralene. By the beginning of book two, three years have passed and Maddileh is definitely in love with Saralane and the mage is in love with Maddileh too, which the reader comes to learn because we have some narrative from Saralene’s point of view. But they both hold high positions in the kingdom right now, making it tricky to be together. And there’s always that bit at the beginning of a relationship which is both agonizing yet delightful where you wonder if the other person feels the same, but you’re not sure, and you find yourself trying to second-guess every glance while also basking in that person’s presence.
However, something dreadful happens and Saralene finds herself alive but in the underworld, a place called the Gravelands. She has three days to try and broker a deal with the Bloodless Princes (who rule the Gravelands) that will enable her to return to the world, otherwise she’ll die down there for real. Maddileh has to go and help her get out alive, knowing that she will likely have to give up the precious Fireborne Blade itself to recover the woman she loves, and possibly even lose her own life in the attempt.
But if she’s going to have any hope of succeeding, she’s going to have to enlist the help of a dragon called Mienylyth. The dragon-hunter is now beholden to a dragon…and one with a very wry sense of humor and a no-nonsense approach to quests.
When in the process of writing The Fireborne Blade did you come up with the idea for The Bloodless Princes, and what inspired this second novella’s plot?
As many authors do, I wrote The Fireborne Blade as a stand-alone, book but with the possibility of expanding it. It’s always a safe bet when pitching to new publishers. So when Tordotcom said they wanted another book, I’d left myself enough breadcrumbs in book one to help me develop the plot for book two.
I’ve always been fascinated by death and underworlds, the mythology of it all, so that was the perfect place for me to start. I definitely had Greek myths in mind when I started out, but I wanted the Gravelands to be unique. However, as I began plotting what the underworld for my humans looked like, I started to ask myself what the dragons’ mythology and religion would be. After all, they’re intelligent creatures and would be just as sophisticated in philosophy and morals as the humans. Where do they go when they die? Who do they pray to? Or don’t they pray to anyone?
So I ended up building up a substantial amount of dragon mythology as well, so that the reader could understand Maddileh’s new companion better. But doing that changed the book drastically for me: it went from being a journey into the underworld, reminiscent of Orpheus and Aeneus, to being a bit of a treatise on how animals should be valued and respected as living, thinking creatures. It was incredibly challenging but thoroughly engaging to write two competing mythologies of the world, death, and life: one from the human point of view, one from the dragon point of view.
So, do The Fireborne Blade and The Bloodless Princes form a duology, are they the first two installments in a trilogy…?
As things stand, the novellas are a duology. I’m playing around with a lot of other ideas, and I’d love to write more about Maddileh, Saralene, and Mienylyth, if it turns out that readers love them as much as I do. After we published the cover reveal for The Bloodless Princes, I got several people asking me if the dragon-cat on the front could have its own novella, and I certainly had so much fun writing about Mienlyth in dragon-cat form that devoting a whole book to her would be amazing.
Upon hearing that The Fireborne Blade and The Bloodless Princes form a duology, some people will decide to wait until Bloodless comes out so they can read it and Fireborne back-to-back. But is there any reason why you think people shouldn’t wait? Or that they shouldn’t read Fireborne and Bloodless back-to-back?
Personally, my own reading habits are very weird and varied, and I wouldn’t dream of telling anyone what to read when. You’ve got to read what you want when you feel like it. Wanna wait and read one after the other? Sure! Go for it. Read one now, see if you like it, then pre-order the next as a nice surprise to turn up in October? Go for it; future you will applaud your buying choices.
I think The Bloodless Princes is a different style of book, with a different tone. The Fireborne Blade is constantly perilous and claustrophobic as Maddileh makes her way through the tunnels and all the dangers that entails. But The Bloodless Princes has a more laid-back pace and it examines the wider world and belief systems of humans and dragons. These books aren’t like episodes of Supernatural where there’s a formula with a monster of the week. They’re more like the Star Wars films 4-6 (not that I aspire to such greatness, of course!) where each one has a different feel and tone while following the same characters and bringing depth to a story that’s already been started. So reading them with a gap isn’t going to be a problem, but equally waiting and reading them one after the other is also going to be a satisfying experience.
Earlier I asked if The Fireborne Blade had been influenced by any movies, TV shows, or games. But to flip things around, do you think The Fireborne Blade and The Bloodless Princes could be adapted into some movies, a show, or a game?
Oh, I’d love to see the books turned into movies or a TV show! I think they’d be great fun, though I’m not quite sure how well it would work because the story of The Fireborne Blade is actually quite short, and a decent part of the book is made up of excerpts from The Demise And Demesne Of Dragons, which details the experiences of other knights. I guess you’d have to do a kind of Good Omens 2 type of thing with little minisodes in the main episode — that could be fun! There would be scope for flashbacks too, which would be great fun to see.
I think The Bloodless Princes would work well as a movie or TV series as it’s more linear. Perhaps the two books could be smooshed together to try and make one long film. I could certainly come up with ideas for a bridging episode to chart what happened between book one and book two (I have copious notes…)
I hadn’t thought of the possibility of them being turned into a game, but now you mention it, I think that would work really well. I have lots of obstacles in both books that prevents the protagonists from reaching their goals, and plenty of magical items that can help or hinder, so that would probably translate really well into the medium of gaming.
So, if someone wanted to adapt The Fireborne Blade into a movie or a TV show, who would you want them to cast as Maddileh and the other main characters?
I’ve already said that Maddileh was inspired by Gwendoline Christie, so that’s a no-brainer. But actually, the way I work is that I often “cast” my characters in advance of writing — by which I mean that I pick an actor / actress that I think represents the kind of person I want, and then I print a picture of them out and stick it in the front of my writing book. So for The Fireborne Blade, I had pictures of Gwendoline Christie (Maddileh), Emily Blunt (Saralene), and Hayden Christensen (for Petros). I think Emily Blunt is such a versatile actor, and I kind of imagined her as an amalgamation of her roles: the primness of Mary Poppins but with the ability to dissolve into a smile; that toughness and determination from A Quiet Place; the fighting talk and determination not to be overruled by the institution from Gnomeo And Juliet (please understand that my daughter was still only in single digits when I wrote this so, alas, we watched Gnomeo And Juliet quite a bit…) In my head, Hayden was in his Anakin Skywalker guise: young and arrogant, convinced he was going to come out on top.
Although Kennion didn’t get a picture, I kind of imagined him as maybe [Harry Potter‘s] Jim Broadbent or David Jacobi [Murder On The Orient Express] in a kind of intelligent but bumbling persona. The White Lady, in my head, is voiced by [Downton Abbey‘s] Maggie Smith, giving her that authority with an edge of wry amusement.
For the sequel, The Bloodless Princes are twins, and in my head they are Christian Bale at his most moody and enigmatic, a bit like The Prestige. Luciel, the most beautiful woman of her age, is Lupita Nyong’o [Us]. And Penn, the innkeeper, is based on a friend and fellow writer (so probably not available for acting duties).
What if someone wanted to make it into a game? What kind of game do you think would work best?
I don’t think it would work well as a video game because it’s not fast-moving enough (though a dragon version of Animal Crossing is something I would definitely buy!) and a card game might introduce too random an element to it. So I think it would translate best as a board game, with a main quest and magical items to obtain / use / lose. I really like the game Dominion, published by Rio Grande Games, and their artwork on that is amazing, so I’d probably like them to produce it.
So, is there anything else you think people need to know about The Fireborne Blade?
Just that I really enjoyed writing it, and I’ve been utterly blown away by the reception it’s garnered. Given that not everyone likes the same books, it’s been wonderful to see so many people saying how much they enjoyed it. I hope that if any of your readers pick it up that they have a blast with it.
Finally, if someone enjoys The Fireborne Blade, which of your other books would you suggest they read while waiting for The Bloodless Princes to come out?
Well, the trouble with my previous books is they’ve mostly been horror! So if you’re into fantasy, then they might not appeal as much.
That said, my micro-collection (which won an award!) has a mix of horror and fantasy in it, so The Watcher In The Woods might be a good place to start.
But to be honest, if you want more dragons, there are loads of other writers out there who’ve written great dragon stories. Of course, there’s the great Temeraire series by Naomi Novik; L.R. Lam has a book out called Dragonfall, which has the most gorgeous cover; and I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed reading an advance copy of The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee, which is an interesting new take on dragons and their handlers. And, of course, you could always revisit Smaug in his Misty Mountain home…
