Des nouvelles de Paul Kearney

[jerome]

Paul Kearney à qui l'on doit Les Monarchies divines est en train de retravailler justement le dernier tome de la série pour une réédition. Voici ce qu'il en dit :

"UKSFBN: I also understand that you're re-working the final volume of your earlier series, The Monarchies of God for re-publication by Solaris. Why did you want to re-visit and revise the fifth book in the series; it seems like an unusual step for an author to take?

Paul Kearney: "I asked Solaris if they'd be interested in republishing the Monarchies series as an omnibus – which they were more than happy to do. But I've never been entirely happy with the final book of the series, and always wanted to give it a last tweak or two. Ships was written right up to the wire, and to me the last few chapters felt rushed, so what I'll be doing is slowing down the breakneck narrative of the last third of the book, and perhaps giving a closer look at the world beyond that final, apocalyptic encounter on the plains before Charibon.

"So at the moment, that's what I'm doing. Ships from the West is being revised and lengthened, and will appear as part of a huge one-volume door-stopper next summer, published simultaneously with The Ten Thousand. Fat fantasy at last!"

Il évoque aussi son nouveau roman : The Ten Thousand

"The Ten Thousand is based on a true story which occurred in 400BC. A Greek mercenary army found itself marooned in the middle of the vast Persian Empire; modern-day Iraq. In fact, the battle which killed their employer took place at the site of what is now Baghdad airport. It took them two years to march and fight their way back to the shores of the Aegean Sea, and by that time they had taken 40% casualties; but they had beaten every Persian army sent out to stop them.

Their leader, or one of them, was an Athenian called Xenophon, and he described their story in The Anabasis. It's a fantastic story, and one which has fascinated me for years. I thought it would translate well to a fantasy setting; moreover, I really wanted to get my teeth into a weird and strange and exotic world far removed from the more Euro-centric fantasies of my past."

Toute l'interview est ici