Magic and murder: Meet the man behind this latest fantasy fiction novel – your next good read
Q. The fantasy world you have created is threatened by an ominous entity known as ‘Calamity’. What can you tell us about the nature of Calamity, and why it is so dangerous?
A. Calamity is a slow-moving nebula destined to intercept the path of this world in tens of thousands of years. Menhir scholars convey that every planet that has neared Calamity has broken apart. It is therefore vital that humanity leverages its collective energy and wisdom to discover a means of circumventing Calamity’s effects. Each of the six factions within the menhirs adopts a different set of goals and philosophies they argue will defeat Calamity. This is why the menhirs rose. This is the figurative dragon that society, and the menhirs, in particular, must slay.
Q. The Amber Menhir features three students, known as ‘ascendants’, entering an institution of learning and research by the same name. Can you tell us more about what the menhirs are.
A. According to the Menhir Conclave Charter, the five menhirs rose in response to Calamity’s threat and have since trained each generation of magical scholars in the skills necessary to save the world. The menhirs also store the discoveries of generations gone by, so that each and every ascendant connects to a well of ideas and imagination that dates back as far as the menhirs themselves. It is without hyperbole when the menhirs say that they are the world’s only hope of survival and prosperity, though the path forward will not be easy or cheap.
Q. Can you tell us more about the six noble magical factions which populate the menhir?
A. At the origin of the menhirs, a census was taken of the incipient magical aptitudes known to manifest within a small subset of the continent’s families. A group of intellectuals that would eventually give rise to the first menhir scholars identified six hereditary nuclei of magic. Members of these factions could witness the energies of each other and learn how to execute one another’s feats. These nuclei became the six Noble Factions, which have existed in total perfection and unmolested for millennia. And the menhirs are happy to convey the idea that this will always be.
Q. There is a degree of scathing satire and political commentary in your dealings with the menhirs, which are riddled with bitter and deadly rivalries. Why did you feel it important to include this?
A. You show me an organisation where resources and opportunities for advancement are limited, and I’ll show you a den of intrigue and infighting. To describe anything different in literature would be, I think, unrealistic, and worse, naïve. If there’s no infighting, then there’s been a genocide, and even that buys you only a little time.
Q. There is a subplot about ‘anomalies’ — unfortunate individuals whose magical powers deviate from the norm and who end up as laboratory guinea pigs. Where did this idea come from?