Author: Civilian Reader

An Interview with DEBORAH HARKNESS

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Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches and it’s sequel, Shadow of Night, seem to have taken readers by storm (the former debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list at #2). The series features a mysterious, magical text, vampires and witches. It actually sounds pretty intriguing, and I should really get around to reading it at some point. (Emma already reviewed the first novel for CR, in February 2011.)

In celebration of the paperback release for the second novel (of three, in the All Souls trilogy), Harkness’s US publisher organised a Q&A. Below are some of her answers.

NB: I have tweaked the wording of the questions, but none of the author’s answers were changed, altered or truncated.

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, the first book in your series, begins with Diana Bishop stumbling across a lost, enchanted manuscript called “Ashmole 782”, in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Your protagonists, Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont, are still trying to uncover its secrets in SHADOW OF NIGHT. You had a similar experience while you were completing your dissertation. What’s the story behind your real-life discovery, and how did it inspire the creation of these novels?

I did discover a manuscript – not an enchanted one, alas – in the Bodleian Library. It was a manuscript owned by Queen Elizabeth’s astrologer, the mathematician and alchemist John Dee. In the 1570s and 1580s he became interested in using a crystal ball to talk to angels. The angels gave him all kinds of instructions on how to manage his life at home, his work—they even told him to pack up his family and belongings and go to far-away Poland and Prague. In the conversations, Dee asked the angels about a mysterious book in his library called “the Book of Soyga” or “Aldaraia.” No one had ever been able to find it, even though many of Dee’s other books survive in libraries throughout the world. In the summer of 1994 I was spending time in Oxford between finishing my doctorate and starting my first job. It was a wonderfully creative time, since I had no deadlines to worry about and my dissertation on Dee’s angel conversations was complete. As with most discoveries, this discovery of a “lost” manuscript was entirely accidental. I was looking for something else in the Bodleian’s catalogue and in the upper corner of the page was a reference to a book called “Aldaraia.” I knew it couldn’t be Dee’s book, but I called it up anyway. And it turned out it WAS the book (or at least a copy of it). With the help of the Bodleian’s Keeper of Rare Books, I located another copy in the British Library.

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Are there other lost books like this in the world?

Absolutely! Entire books have been written about famous lost volumes – including works by Plato, Aristotle, and Shakespeare to name just a few. Libraries are full of such treasures, some of them unrecognized and others simply misfiled or mislabeled. And we find lost books outside of libraries, too. In January 2006, a completely unknown manuscript belonging to one of the 17th century’s most prominent scientists, Robert Hooke, was discovered when someone was having the contents of their house valued for auction. The manuscript included minutes of early Royal Society meetings that we presumed were lost forever.

SHADOW OF NIGHT opens on a scene in 1590s Elizabethan England featuring the famous School of Night, a group of historical figures believed to be friends, including Sir Walter Raleigh and playwright Christopher Marlowe. Why did you choose to feature these individuals, and can we expect Diana and Matthew to meet other famous figures from the past?

I wrote my master’s thesis on the imagery surrounding Elizabeth I during the last two decades of her reign. One of my main sources was the poem “The Shadow of Night” by George Chapman – a member of this circle of fascinating men – and that work is dedicated to a mysterious poet named Matthew Roydon about whom we know very little. When I was first thinking about how vampires moved in the world (and this was way back in the autumn of 2008 when I was just beginning A Discovery of Witches) I remembered Roydon and thought “that is the kind of identity a vampire would have, surrounded by interesting people but not the center of the action.” From that moment on I knew the second part of Diana and Matthew’s story would take place among the School of Night. And from a character standpoint, Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, and the other men associated with the group are irresistible. They were such significant, colorful presences in Elizabethan England.

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In SHADOW OF NIGHT, we learn more about the alchemical bonds between Diana and Matthew. In your day job, you are a professor of history and science at the University of Southern California and have focused on alchemy in your research. What aspects of this intersection between science and magic do you hope readers will pick up on while reading SHADOW OF NIGHT?

Whereas A Discovery of Witches focused on the literature and symbolism of alchemy, in Shadow of Night I’m able to explore some of the hands-on aspects of this ancient tradition. There is still plenty of symbolism for Diana to think about, but in this volume we go from abstractions and ideals to real transformation and change – which was always my intention with the series. Just as we get to know more about how Elizabethan men and women undertook alchemical experiments, we also get to see Matthew and Diana’s relationship undergo the metamorphosis from new love to something more.

Did you have an idea or an outline for SHADOW OF NIGHT when you were writing A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES? Did the direction change once you sat down to write it?

I didn’t outline either book in the traditional sense. In both cases I knew what some of the high points were and how the plot moved towards the conclusion, but there were some significant changes during the revision process. This was especially true for Shadow Of Night, although most of those changes involved moving specific pieces of the plot forward or back to improve the momentum and flow.

The events in SHADOW OF NIGHT span the globe, with London, France, and Prague as some of the locales. Did you travel to these destinations for your research?

I did. My historical research has been based in London for some time now, so I’ve spent long stretches of time living in the City of London – the oldest part of the metropolis – but I had never been to the Auvergne or Prague. I visited both places while writing the book, and in both cases it was a bit like traveling in time to walk village lanes, old pilgrim roads, and twisting city streets while imagining Diana and Matthew at my side.

It’s perhaps lazy to refer to Twilight, given the inclusion of vampires in your novels. But, unlike Stephanie Meyer’s leading couple, Bella and Edward (who meet in the halls of a high school and, from my limited exposure to the movies, seem entirely controlled by their rampant hormones), your main characters Matthew and Diana are established academics who meet in the library of one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Your vampires and witches drink wine together, practice yoga, and discuss philosophy. Did you conceive of these characters because of something you thought missing in the fantasy genre?

There are a lot of adults reading young adult books, and for good reason. Authors who specialize in the young adult market are writing original, compelling stories that can make even the most cynical grownups believe in magic. In writing A Discovery Of Witches, I wanted to give adult readers a world no less magical, no less surprising and delightful, but one that included grown-up concerns and activities. These are not your children’s vampires and witches.

HarknessD-AuthorPicA DISCOVERY OF WITCHES was a huge success, and has now been published in 37 countries. What’s your reaction to the novel’s success? Was it surprising how taken fans were with the novel?

It has been amazing – and a bit overwhelming. I was surprised by how quickly readers embraced two central characters who challenge our typical notion of what a heroine or hero should be. And I continue to be amazed whenever a new reader pops up, whether one in the US or somewhere like Finland or Japan – to tell me how much they enjoyed being caught up in Diana’s world.

Last summer, Warner Brothers acquired the movie rights to the All Souls trilogy (Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer David Auburn has been tapped to pen the screenplay). Are you looking forward to your novels being portrayed on the big screen? Any casting ideas, from family, friends or fans that have caught your fancy?

I was thrilled when Warner Brothers wanted to translate the All Souls trilogy from book to screen. At first I was reluctant about the whole idea of a movie, and it actually took me nearly two years to agree to let someone try. The team at Warner Brothers impressed me with their seriousness about the project and their commitment to the characters and story I was trying to tell. Their decision to go with David Auburn confirmed that my faith in them was not misplaced. As for the casting, I deliberately don’t say anything about that! I would hate for any actor or actress to be cast in one of these roles and feel that they didn’t have my total support. I will say, however, that many of my readers’ ideas involve actors who have already played a vampire and I would be very surprised if one of them were asked to be Matthew!

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Fans of the novels can also join Deborah Harkness and her editor Carole DeSanti, the author of The Unruly Passions of Eugénie R, for a virtual book event on BookTalk Nation on June 4th at 2pm EST. You can join by phone and buy personalized copies of the book by ordering online here. For more about Harkness’s All Souls trilogy, be sure to check out her website.

A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night are published by Penguin in the US and Headline in the UK.

Guest Post: “On Writing Fiction vs. Writing Games” by Richard Dansky

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A 14 year veteran of the video game industry, Richard Dansky is the Central Clancy Writer for Ubisoft/Red Storm. Named by Gamasutra as one of the top 20 game writers in 2009, he has written for games ranging from OUTLAND to the upcoming SPLINTER CELL: BLACKLIST (which I’m rather looking forward to). Richard is also the author of six novels, including the critically praised Firefly Rain. He lives and works in North Carolina with his wife and their statistically improbable collections of books, scotch and cats. His latest novel is Vaporware.

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ON WRITING FICTION VS. WRITING GAMES

RichardDansky-DinosaurPicThe big difference between writing games and writing fiction is whose story you’re actually telling. When you’re writing fiction, you’re writing a singular, defined narrative. The characters do what you want them to do. They say what you want them to say, when you want them to say it, and the plot moves, one page at a time, toward the conclusion. The reader receives the narrative; the story’s told in linear fashion, and while the reader can adjust the way they receive it by reading out of order – or by skipping the bits with Tom Bombadil and getting straight to the barrow-wights – the text is set on the page. It’s the writer’s story, not the reader’s.

In games, it’s not your story, it’s the player’s. Every piece of writing you do, every word you put on the page isn’t there to advance your story to a singular conclusion. It’s there for the player to pick up and put on and experience, and then to make their own. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true. Without the player actually playing, those story elements sit there inert. They’re pure potential, waiting to be actualized by the player engaging with them. Until then, they just sit in memory, waiting to be triggered by the player’s actions.

What this produces is a very different kind of story. For all the classical genre tropes that so heavily infest game writing, classical storytelling techniques need to be adjusted to allow the player room to play. It’s what I called “the player-shaped hole” at my Game Developers Conference talk a few years ago, the possibility space around what the player might do at any given moment. And even in the most straightforward game, the list of things the player can do at any given moment is surprisingly large. Shoot? Maybe, but even with that there are innumerable choices to be made (weapon, rate of fire, choice of target, etc.). Move? Duck? Jump? Check inventory? Use a healthpack? Fiddle with the controller? All of these things the player can do, things that might be incorporated into their personal story of playing have to be accounted for so that when the player looks back on their experience, it feels like all the choices they made were the right ones at the time. Before it happens, it has to be open; in hindsight, it has to be seamless.

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That’s not to say that the gap between writing fiction and writing games is insurmountable, though I confess, as someone who’s done both, it’s often easier to go from the ultimately interactive scenario of game writing to the ultimately dictated scenario of fiction than the other way around. And a look at the writers working both sides of the fence these days – Austin Grossman, Erin Hoffman, Lucien Soulban, Jay Posey, and many more – might even suggest that there’s some potential benefit to laboring in the vineyards of games and learning the hard way to tell stories not your own.

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If you want to learn more about Richard Dansky and his work, be sure to check out his website and follow him on Twitter.

Quick Review: “Poison” by Sarah Pinborough (Gollancz)

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Pinborough-FTN1-PoisonAn intriguing tweaking of the classic Snow White Fairy Tale

A beautiful, sexy, contemporary retelling of the classic Snow White fairy tale, illustrated by Les Edwards.

POISON is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Snow White story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the jealous queen, the beautiful girl and, of course, the poisoning) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. It’s fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of ONCE UPON A TIME, GRIMM, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and more

This book isn’t very long, so it’s a little tricky to review at any great length without ruining the whole story. Pinborough has taken this classic story and approached it with a modern sensibility, tweaking the tale here and there to make it a little more edgy and fresh. I must admit that I’m not the greatest fan of fairy tales to begin with, which probably makes you wonder why you should care about my opinion on this book. My lack of familiarity with the source material will also have had an impact on how much I got from this novella. I can see why people will enjoy this, though. I liked it a fair bit, too.

Poison is basically a story about two young women: one an evil step-mother (Lilith) and the other a princess (Snow). They are the same age, more or less, with the King having decided on a younger model after the death of Snow’s mother. They are also, of course, very different. Snow is carefree, confident, and quite fun (she can often be found drinking and hanging out with the dwarfs, pulling practical jokes), and she’s a bit of a tomboy. Lilith, on the other hand, is cold, calculating, self-conscious, surprisingly insecure, and highly resentful of the male-dominated world in which she lives (understandably – she seems to be better suited to ruling than her warmonger, imperialist husband). She yearns for power and the ability to wield it, and takes her husband’s latest campaign abroad as an opportunity to wield it in his name.

Pinborough’s characters are interesting – they are clearly identifiable as those in the original, but updated and a little more modern. At times, the dialogue and writing felt a little archaic, which was at odds with the contemporary feel I think the author was going for. Nevertheless, they’re all pretty interesting. Lilith controls a psycho-Aladdin, for example! That was a very cool development, I thought. That’s also all I’m going to say about it, lest I ruin that darkly delightful character for you. Lilith’s grandmother, the old crone of the story, is as wicked and devious as the Queen. She’s also a bit dotty, which added some extra levity (she mothers Lilith a bit, and her first scene made me chuckle). The Huntsman seems to be the typical manly-man of fairy tales (who seems to have some magical stud-powers…).

Despite not being the biggest fan of fairy tales, I thought this was a pretty interesting, quick read. I didn’t love it, unfortunately, and there were a couple of fleeting lulls in the narrative, but it was still a good read. If you’re looking for a new, fresh and modern take on this classic fairy tale, and enjoy the swathe of fairy-tale-related reinterpretations (Grimm and Once Upon a Time in particular, I think), then Sarah Pinborough’s Poison will be right for you.

A quick, fun, diversion; an intriguing contemporary take on one of the all-time classic stories. I’m looking forward to seeing what the author’s done with Beauty and Charm, the other two novellas in the ‘series’ (also published this year by Gollancz).

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The Complete Covers for Sarah’s three Fairy Tale reinterpretations

Upcoming: “The Language of Dying” by Sarah Pinborough (Jo Fletcher)

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I wrote an earlier “Upcoming” round-up for the talented, unstoppable Sarah Pinborough. Since then, though, I’ve learned that she has another novel coming out this year. Here’s some info and details about The Language of Dying…

Tonight is a special, terrible night.

A woman sits at her father’s bedside watching the clock tick away the last hours of his life.

Her brothers and sisters – all broken, their bonds fragile – have been there for the past week, but now she is alone.

And that’s always when it comes.

The clock ticks, the darkness beckons.

If it comes at all.

The Language of Dying will be published by Jo Fletcher Books in December 2013.

Upcoming: “Your Brother’s Blood” by David Towsey (Jo Fletcher)

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I kind of stumbled across this by accident, but it sounds pretty great. So, here’s some information about David Towsey’s debut novel, Your Brother’s Blood, coming from Jo Fletcher Books in September 2013… The publisher’s blog included the following comment, “Think The Road – but also think Warm Bodies, this book is going to stir up a storm.” This sounds right up my alley, then. Here’s the synopsis…

Thomas is thirty-two. He comes from the small town of Barkley. He has a wife there, Sarah, and a child, Mary; good solid names from the Good Book. And he is on his way home from the war, where he has been serving as a conscripted soldier. Thomas is also dead – he is one of the Walkin’. And Barkley does not suffer the wicked to live.

Book Trailer: “The Bone Season” by Samantha Shannon (Bloomsbury)

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I mentioned a few days back that a copy of The Bone Season had arrived unexpectedly. I’m looking forward to reading the novel, and may also host an interview with the author, closer to the release date. Check out the trailer (above), and the synopsis (below)…

Welcome to Scion, no safer place.

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, kidnapped and drugged, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite creature with dark honey skin and heavy-lidded yellow eyes. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season will be published in the UK by Bloomsbury, on August 20th 2013.

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Book Trailer: “A Delicate Truth” by John le Carré (Viking)

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I’ve never actually read a le Carre novel, much to my shame. I’ve always wanted to, but with an ever-growing TBR pile of ARCs and other novels, short stories, comics, etc., they always seem to get missed. (And they’ve been re-issued a few times, so I don’t have an excuse of them not being prominent…)

I’m hoping to get to this one some time soon. It’s out now. Here’s the synopsis…

A British civil servant is dispatched to Gibraltar where a top secret counter-terror operation (codename: Wildlife) is being mounted. He has been assigned by a Minister of Her Majesty’s Foreign Office to be his eyes and ears on the ground. The mission is so delicate that not even the Minister’s private secretary, Toby Bell, is admitted to the plan. The operation goes off without a hitch. Or does it?

Three years on, Sir Christopher “Kit” Probyn, a former British diplomat, is enjoying his well-earned retirement. Brought face to face with a living ghost from his past, he desperately appeals to Toby for enlightenment. With the surreptitious help of Kit’s daughter Emily, two men a generation apart, both loyal servants of the Crown, will separately discover whether Wildlife was the triumph it was made out to be, or a tragedy ruthlessly suppressed by the Foreign Office to which they owe their allegiance.

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US / UK Covers

GIVEAWAY! Brandon Sanderson’s THE RITHMATIST (UK Only)

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I have an extra copy of the UK edition of Brandon Sanderson’s first YA novel to hit shelves, THE RITHMATIST. Being the sharing fellow that I am, I’ve decided to give it away!

Usual rules/guidelines apply – leave a comment (with some form of contact detail), or email me at civilian[dot]reader[at]hotmail.co.uk.

I’ll pick the winner on Monday (27th May), in the evening.

Here’s the synopsis for the novel…

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist.

Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings—merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery, one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.

Sandman, Vol.1 – “Preludes & Nocturnes” (Vertigo)

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Sandman-Vol.1The Start of the Classic, Hugely Popular Comic Series

Writer: Neil Gaiman | Artists: Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg & Malcolm Jones III | Colorist: Daniel Vozzo

An occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman.

This book also includes the story “The Sound of Her Wings” which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl, Death.

Collects: Sandman #1-8

This book starts with a great, century-spanning first chapter/issue, as Morpheus is summoned, trapped, and held captive for generations. The atmosphere and writing is superb, and it’s not difficult to see why this series grabbed so much attention when it first started. I was absolutely sucked into Gaiman’s story.

The first storyline is, effectively, a quest tale. After the first chapter, Morpheus is freed (that’s not really a spoiler), and sets out to reclaim three precious, powerful items that were taken from him. These are the items that make him who he is, allow him to perform the role of the Sandman. Gaiman has, however, populated his story with so many weird-and-wonderful creations and characters from mythology, literature and fable. At first, he must relocate his pouch of sand (in this chapter he meets Constantine – a very dark story towards its end, and very cool); then his helm (which requires a trip to a very twisted Hell to see Lucifer), and finally his ruby amulet (a really twisted story about a serial-killer with mind-control powers).

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The series was re-coloured, recently.
Here are two examples of the re-done pages (above and below): new on the left.

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I was surprised to see some other DC characters appearing: John Constantine, Etrigan (that most garish of DC demons), and some members of the Justice League. I had always been under the impression that Sandman was a wholly original title and character, taking place in a new setting. The book and story don’t suffer for these cameos, though. I was just surprised. Maybe I should have investigated it a little more beforehand…?

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Enter, Constantine [#3]

The story is, as I’ve mentioned, quite superb to begin with, and I found myself almost immediately hooked. “One more chapter” became three, and then all eight. I lingered over so many pages and panels, and got completely sucked in. Things change mid-way through, a bit, and got much weirder. Not bad-weird, just… weird. (Minus one for Eloquence…) The artwork also shifts to something often less clear and inconsistent. There’s a rawness to it, though, that I can certainly see appealing to many people. Would I have preferred something a bit more conventional? Certainly, but it can’t be denied that the artwork packs a good amount of punch as well.

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The Sandman prepares to go to Hell… [#4]

Not bad, but not as amazing as I had expected. This shouldn’t be a surprise, though, given just how popular this series has become. I really like Death (quite looking forward to getting around to reading her mini-series). Despite the couple of minor niggles, I’m really interested in reading the rest of the series, as well as its various spin-offs.

A classic of the genre and medium, this is certainly recommended.

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Enter, Death [#8]

An Interview with BEN KANE

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Despite my genuine love for historical fiction (I have read so many, but all before I started this blog, really), the genre hasn’t featured much on the site. Well, I’m hoping to address this in the coming months. First up, though, is this interview with Ben Kane, an author of awesome historical fiction.

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Ben Kane?

A forty-something Irish ex-veterinary surgeon, who naively decided to write bestselling novels after backpacking for nearly three years through more than 60 countries. I’m an avid rugby fun, am too fond of beer, and I love books.

Let’s start with your latest novel, Hannibal: Fields of Blood, which is about to be published. How would you introduce the novel to a potential reader?

It’s set during the second war between Rome, and Carthage, when the great general Hannibal had invaded Italy. There are Roman and Carthaginian main characters, to show that neither side was ‘good’ or ‘bad’. This is not just a story of a war and battle – although there’s plenty of that in there! It’s about soldiers, comrades, families and how hard life was 2200 years ago, not just for men but for women.

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What inspired you to write the novel and series?

I’m a lover of history, and always have been. Ancient history strikes a real chord with me, and there are few conflicts or leaders who appeal to me more than the Second Punic War, and Hannibal Barca. When the chance came for me to tell the story of this war, I jumped at it!

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I fantasised about being a writer from about 1999/2000, but I didn’t start doing it regularly until 2003, when, as a vet, I had the weekend ‘on call’ from hell. At about one o’clock on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, I had been called out about six times in the previous five hours. That was after working a whole week, and all day Saturday. The pager went again, and I threw it against the wall and made a vow that I would not do this for the rest of my life. I started writing at once. No, I don’t look back on that moment fondly, but I’m glad it happened!

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What’s your opinion of the historical fiction genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I think that it has been going through a bit of a renaissance over the last ten years, which is terrific. For a period of perhaps twenty years before, it had been bit forgotten, a bit neglected. Now it seems that everyone loves it, from Hilary Mantel down. My work fits in somewhere close to Bernard Cornwell’s books ― at least that’s my aim! (Waits to be shot down in flames.)

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

I’m currently writing Clouds of War, the third book in the Hannibal series. Once I’m finished that, I’m moving 1500 years forward to the Hundred Years War. Crécy will be the first of at least three novels set during the bitter war between England and France that started in 1337 and lasted until 1453. Like all of my novels, I will have characters on both sides of the conflict, and at least one major female character.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

I am midway through the third Tyrant novel by the amazing Christian Cameron. If you haven’t read any of his books, please start. He’s one of the best historical fiction writers out there. Any number of Roman texts are on my desk – one excellent one is The Navies of Rome by Pitassi.

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What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

That, having walked on an unapproved crossing (minor road) into the Irish Republic, late at night, to do a calving, I was pursued upon my return to Northern Ireland by a car full of armed police, and soldiers.

What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?

Three things. Firstly, my annual one week holiday, without kids, with my wife. Also, finishing the current Hannibal novel and starting the new one on Crécy – a totally different time period.

Thanks so much for your time!

Thank you!

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Hannibal: Fields of Blood is published in hardback and as an eBook on June 6th by Preface (UK). An eBook short story, Hannibal: Patrol, is available now. In addition, the latest in Kane’s other historical series, Spartacus: Rebellion, will be released in paperback tomorrow.