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- Paul, congratulations on your renewed success! The Monarchies of God is back in print, the Macht trilogy is almost complete and next year the Sea-Beggars series will finally be concluded after a lengthy delay. This would appear to be a turnaround from a few years back when you seemed on the verge of giving up writing. What are your views on the publishing business and writing now?

That it’s a crazy mixed up business! I’m also in negotiations at the moment (he touches wood) for the novelisation of a major TV franchise. I’m snowed under! The Ten Thousand seems to have reopened a lot of doors for me, and the Macht books are also selling amazingly well in France and (wonder of wonders) the US. Suffice to say, I have three books to hand in within the next fourteen months…

I give a lot of credit to both my old agents, John McLaughlin and Charlotte Bruton, and especially to my new one, John Jarrold, who is a bit of a Macht himself when it comes to battering away at publishers and editors. My editors at Solaris and Titan have been brilliant too. The business itself has changed out of all recognition since I first started out in it, but it’s still chock-full of good people.

- Between The Monarchies of God and the Macht trilogy, which series do you feel makes for the best entry point for readers not familiar with Paul Kearney? Why is that?

Probably the Monarchies, since I think it’s less dark and dense than the Macht books, and more of a ‘normal’ fantasy – i.e. it has magic, werewolves and a European-type milieu. The Macht books are, as I’ve said elsewhere, not fantasy at all, strictly speaking, but science fiction in the sword-and-planet sense of Robert E Howard or Burroughs.

- Speaking of The Monarchies of God, how has the new omnibus editions been received thus far?

Pretty darned well. In France they’re on their third edition, and my Spanish publisher is bringing out beautiful editions of the original five volumes. Like a lot of fantasy readers, I do get a visceral thrill at seeing those big fat-spined volumes on my shelf. Smaller fantasy books tend to get lost in between the Martin, Jordan and Erikson behemoths…