Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Please join us in welcoming Daniel Abraham to a Q&A!

We're planning to schedule it for roughly after we finish the first LPQ book later this month. I can't wait!

Many thanks to Silvana for setting this up! :D

Thanks for taking the time DA. I'm a huge fan of the series and it's a member of my top five of all time. I love all of the subtle nuances in both the character interactions and body language. The Eastern cultural influence also makes it quite unique.

No freaking way. One of my favorite authors!

Hmm now I definitely need to read this

Sweet!

Omgomgomg !
I love him lol
Just finished the The Dragon's Path series and it was wonderful !
Starting on LPQ series !
*girly squeels* hahaha

Emelia wrote: "Omgomgomg !
I love him lol
Just finished the The Dragon's Path series and it was wonderful !
Starting on LPQ series !
*girly squeels* hahaha"

That's another series on my list. :-)

Veronica wrote: "That's another series on..."

You will love it !
Especially Marcus and Yardem...they are hysterical together !
Just an amazing series Veronica !

Great score, Silvana! I hope everyone asks lots of questions abt both series and also abt the craft and the process, some general life stuff...

Emelia wrote: "Veronica wrote: "That's another series on..."

You will love it !
Especially Marcus and Yardem...they are hysterical together !
Just an amazing series Veronica !"

Sounds good to me! I already own the first book and I'm always on the lookout for the rest whenever I'm in a used bookstore.

Yes, please provide the questions here already so they will be there when he reads the thread and can answer at once instead of too many back and forth.

Also, provide spoiler tags would not hurt as not everyone has read the whole series.

Is it appropriate to ask him what kind of deodorant he uses? or If he wears tighty whities or boxers? or Does he brush his teeth with his left hand or right hand? or If he farts under the blankets or open blankets open to let it out? Lol I crack me up sometimes.

You can always try :)

J.J. wrote: "Is it appropriate to ask him what kind of deodorant he uses? or If he wears tighty whities or boxers? or Does he brush his teeth with his left hand or right hand? or If he farts under the blankets ..."

Bwah ha hahahahahahaha

My questions:
1. We discussed this a bit in the thread, but most readers seem to appreciate that one of your main POVs in the first book was a mature/older woman, which is rare in the fantasy genre. We also compared this with your other series, Dagger and Coin (Clara) and of course Expanse's Avasarala. What makes you include them?
Is it because their way of thinking? life experiences? your own life experiences? :)

2. The setting was lush and well developed. I liked the focus on a city state and the Asian-like world. You might received this question alot, but what made you choose such worldbuilding, especially that particular central (?) Asian feel? Do you have another series to recommend with similar feel? Asking as an Asian, I'd love to read more of this kind of world.

3. The concept of Andat. Why it has to be a person? If you can give shape to an idea and it is a form of elemental magic, supposedly you want to destroy your enemy, why not create a natural disaster, or a undying firestorm or some gigantic weapon? or make your city stay rich, why not bound the thing into a well of gold or something? Is it because it has to reflect the poet in the most lifelike form?

4. Just in case you did not know yet, you are one of my ultimate fave authors for many reasons, One of them include the fact that you can write both great SF and Fantasy. How does it feel to write in different genre? Are you planning to write another fantasy series? I hope the answer is yes.

Thanks, Daniel!

[For buddyreaders, I'll provide the link two days from now and have your questions in this thread beforehand.]

Holy, this is so awesome! Thank you, Daniel for writing LPQ, such a great series!

Seeing that Silvana has asked thequestions I wanted to ask, I have only one question left.

What do you think about The Expanse TV series adaptation of your novel? Do you watch each episode and do you love them?

As an avid listener to Syfy's The Churn podcast, I feel like I could answer your question, Petrik, but I'll hold my tongue (well, fingers) ;p

Silvana wrote: "As an avid listener to Syfy's The Churn podcast, I feel like I could answer your question, Petrik, but I'll hold my tongue (well, fingers) ;p"

lol! let him answer my question!

Super questions Silvana. I second the first one as a hardcore fan of Amat.

Thank you for taking the time to do this Q&A. This is a real privilege to have you with us.

I'd like to ask something of your writing process.

Do your first ideas for stories spark from the world building, or a theme, or a particular scene or character? What tends to come first, and what elements follow?

Who was one of your most difficult characters to write? Have you had a character that changed considerably in trying to pin them down? Conversely, have you ever had an Athena character, who seemed to emerge fully formed from your head?

Also, an open-ended question for your thoughts on a philosophical/moral issue:

In the Long Price Quartet, many characters are described as puppets, forced or coerced to commit actions they do not wish to do, saying they have no choice. Do you believe we are responsible for our actions, regardless of circumstances, or are we bound by our situation and circumstance, to act as we do? What of the andat? To what extent do they have free will? If their very nature is codified in a poem, then is it true they are unable to grow or act against their programming?

I have provided the link to this thread yesterday, hopefully he'll be here soon :)

I am very excited. A Shadow in Summer proved out to be one of my best February reads.

Hmm I am bit worried as he has yet to respond. I'll post a reminder tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Sorry I'm late, folks. I'm an idiot and misplaced the link. :(

Anyway, I'll try to catch up...

J.J. wrote: "Is it appropriate to ask him what kind of deodorant he uses? or If he wears tighty whities or boxers? or Does he brush his teeth with his left hand or right hand? or If he farts under the blankets ..."

I'm guessing no, but if you get him a little drunk first, he might answer anyway.

Silvana wrote: "My questions:
1. We discussed this a bit in the thread, but most readers seem to appreciate that one of your main POVs in the first book was a mature/older woman, which is rare in the fantasy genre..."

1: There's this idea that I really like about writers having a theater troupe in their head. Certain types of characters show up in someone's work over and over, and I think it's pretty clear that Amat and Clara and Chrisjen are all played by the same actor. As to where that actor came from... Well, I can speculate, but I don't know. I have been fortunate enough to have some really interesting older women in my life, and I find their company delightful.

2) So, as a Westerner, I always feel a little uncomfortable with the idea that TLPQ has an Asian setting. The whole Long Price Quartet was built to try to do something I hadn't seen before, and -- as you point up the standard for fantasy is European fake-medieval. My actual knowledge of medieval Asia isn't anything like encyclopedic. I could take my impressions of hopping vampire movies and a raft of half-remembered foreign films I watched growing up and make something evocative and new (while hopefully still putting fully-realized, recognizable people in it).

3) The translation has to be into a form that includes volition. The ideas that the andat embody are always there, but not in a way that has consciousness or will. Those come in as a part of the translation. So you could make "water-moving-down" as a well or a statue, but since wells and statues don't exert will or really do anything, it wouldn't help you much.

The alternative is to translate the idea into an animal -- a dog or a cow or something that can take action -- but we understand human minds way better than we do animal minds, so making the andat human is actually the easiest path to creating the thing you want.

4) I love playing in different genres, and I expect I'll keep on doing that. I have a few more SF books under contract, and I am literally getting on the phone with a publisher to talk about a new fantasy trilogy in 2.5 hours. Plus I have a cunning scheme about a Cornell Woolrich-esque series of crime/horror stand alone novels outlined....

Petrik wrote: "Holy, this is so awesome! Thank you, Daniel for writing LPQ, such a great series!

Seeing that Silvana has asked thequestions I wanted to ask, I have only one question left.

What do you think abo..."

I love the show and it exhausts me and I have no idea what it looks like to anyone else.

You see, Ty and I have been *deeply* involved in the creation of the show since the very start. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby invited us to come be part of the writing room and we got a script in the first season, and it's only gone up from there. For two of the three seasons, Ty was on set from the first day of filming to wrap. I've spent a third of the year away from home for the last three years either in Los Angeles for the writing room or in Toronto for filming. I have seen every episode a thousand times and in a thousand different ways before it airs -- brainstorming, outlines, scripts, rewritten scripts, dailies, first cuts, producer's cuts, studio cuts, network cuts, cuts without the VFX, cuts with VFX, cuts with temp soundtracks, cuts with the actual soundtracks, cuts with and without color correction. My experience of the episodes is so intimately tied to my experience making them, I can't tell what they look like to anyone else.

I think we have an amazing team, and the third season just coming up has (to my tastes) the strongest run of episodes we've done yet. My fingers are crossed we get a good, solid season 4 and on after that.

Melissa wrote: "Thank you for taking the time to do this Q&A. This is a real privilege to have you with us.

I'd like to ask something of your writing process.

Do your first ideas for stories spark from the worl..."

The first ideas for stories come in all kinds of forms. Sometimes it's a set of obstacles. TLPQ started because I was at Clarion West on a Sunday night, I had a story due Tuesday morning, the instructor (Connie Willis) had said the story had to begin with someone getting hit in the head, and I'd just read a Walter Jon Williams story where people used mudras as conversational inflection. The short story I wrote was the introduction to A Shadow in Summer.

Other times, I'll have scenes show up while I'm daydreaming, and I'll follow them. Or I'll be doodling around with things I like and seeing how they'd fit together. The Dagger and the Coin was intentionally a mix of a bunch of things that interested me -- the Medici bank, Walter Tevis' The Queen's Gambit, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen's Diary of a Man in Despair, Londo Mollari, Torve the Trog from Alexi Panshin's Anthony Villiers books, the movie Secretary -- that I put in a bender and poured over the closest thing I could make to a classic epic fantasy plot.

Also, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon. He has a diagram in there he took (credited) from one of those middle-aged fascinating women I was talking about earlier. (Maureen McHugh)

Melissa wrote: "Who was one of your most difficult characters to write? Have you had a character that changed considerably in trying to pin them down? Conversely, have you ever had an Athena character, who seemed to emerge fully formed from your head?"

I have a weird relationship to the characters. I know a lot of folks who talk about the characters taking on a life of their own, and I had that experience a few times when I was starting up. But the longer I go on, the more it feels like an organic process of me imagining my way into their place. Anyone you write -- unless they're totally built as a caricature -- is an aspect of your own personality and your understanding of what people *are*. I have a basket of tricks -- Asking myself 'if I were doing this thing, why would I be doing it?" for example -- that help me out. But even writing a draft feels more like me fooling around with the words and the story until it feels right than anything specific to a character.

My experience divides more into easy and difficult days at work than easy and difficult characters.

Thanks for coming by and answering our questions... Silvana did a good job summarizing many of my/our thoughts from the Buddy Read thread...

Reading your answer about Andat made me latch on to the term anthropomorphism in a way I never did while reading the book...

Melissa wrote: "In the Long Price Quartet, many characters are described as puppets, forced or coerced to commit actions they do not wish to do, saying they have no choice. Do you believe we are responsible for our actions, regardless of circumstances, or are we bound by our situation and circumstance, to act as we do? What of the andat? To what extent do they have free will? If their very nature is codified in a poem, then is it true they are unable to grow or act against their programming?"

I believe that free will versus determinism is a failure of category. The andat are capable of acts of will and attention in part because they are extensions of the poets' acts of will. As ideas with will and form, they have intention just the way we do. And "just the way we do" is the central mystery of consciousness.

Free will is, at heart, a philosophical concept. Determinism is a scientific one. Comparing them as if this weren't comparing dogs to grammar rules leads to false profundities like "You don't really feel happiness, your brain just makes you think you do." or "Learning new things changes the actual structure of your brain!" The first of those is idiotic, the second is trivial.

The andat have free will and are responsible for their actions. The poets have free will and are responsible for their actions. They are constrained by their physical ability (less an issue for the andat) and their beliefs of what is possible.

We should have this discussion again after The Price of Spring. :)

Daniel wrote: "Sorry I'm late, folks. I'm an idiot and misplaced the link. :(

Anyway, I'll try to catch up..."

Such an honor to have you here !
Just finished Dragons Path series and it was amazing !!
Look forward to finishing LPQ series. Getting close !

I know this is a Q&A about Long Price Quartet but I just have to ask; Where did you come up with the idea for Dragons Path?
It was incredible how you made banking so fascinating and how the same rules apply today.

The classes of inhabitants were brilliant and of course Marcus & Yardem are my faves, outside of Cithrin, Clara, and Kit ;)
Dragons Path is my favorite series to date, but I have not finished Long Price yet. Thank you for such wonderful books Mr. Abraham! So happy your work has hit the tv world.
Any plans to make Dragons Path a series?
Please? ;)

Hi Daniel! I wanted to say that you are one of my favorite authors for many reasons, so I’ll try to touch on them in my questions:

- one thing I’ve noticed in the three series I’ve read (D&C, LPQ, Expanse) is this ability to make the reader connect with the characters of the book on a completely different level. I find it difficult to hate a “bad” character that you write because of this. I’m curious as to where this skill came from, is it from working with people? Your thought process? An exercise you perform in your mind in planning out your book before you write it? Could it be age/ life experience?

- in the LPQ I felt as though I wouldn’t have felt the same about the series without some life experience under my belt. As a young adult I would have passed the series over. Do you find that as you age and grow as a person that your goals in writing have changed as well?

-I also enjoy the unique cultural traits found in your series. I’m curious as to how traits such as unique poses and gestures, and the melding of languages became the signatures of your series? A particular area you traveled? A people you are interested in?

-can you recommend any authors to us that you feel are either under appreciated, up and coming, or otherwise that we would enjoy reading being a fan of your work?

Long winded I know, don’t feel as though you have to answer all of them, especially if they are too personal. Thank you for your time!

Daniel wrote: "Petrik wrote: "Holy, this is so awesome! Thank you, Daniel for writing LPQ, such a great series!

Seeing that Silvana has asked thequestions I wanted to ask, I have only one question left.

What d..."

Thank you so much for this awesomelt detailed answer, Daniel! I didnt know that you and Ty were THAT deelpy involved with the TV production. I haven't caught up completely with the TV series yet but from what I've heard so far, it's all a positive response. Some even calling it the one of the best sci fi tv series of all time!

Anyway, thank you for the answer, i really appreciate it! I'll be watching you answer all the other member questions :D

Daniel wrote: "Silvana wrote: "My questions:
1. We discussed this a bit in the thread, but most readers seem to appreciate that one of your main POVs in the first book was a mature/older woman, which is rare in t..."

Thanks for the elaborate answers. I am looking forward to explore the world further in the later books, including the andat.

And a new trilogy! We all will be looking forward to that.

"Cornell Woolrich-esque series of crime/horror stand alone novels" is something I've never heard of so I will definitely check it out. And thanks for thinking "stand-alone" because I think we don't have enough of those.

I hope you don't mind having long Q&A session (since we're going to read till the end of the series) but feel free to drop by anytime.

Daniel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "In the Long Price Quartet, many characters are described as puppets, forced or coerced to commit actions they do not wish to do, saying they have no choice. Do you believe we are re..."

Thank you for this reply, Daniel. We had discussed these things with Mel a lot during the buddy read and I am sure we will continue to be amazed by the series as we read on. I like this sentence particularly: "The andat are capable of acts of will and attention in part because they are extensions of the poets' acts of will." It just proves that an idea, once incepted, is one of the most dangerous things on Earth, regardless of the form.

I wanted to congratulate you on the depth of your protagonists. I really thought that when it comes to character development you are on Dostoyevski's shelf.

I know this is a Q&A about Long Price Quartet but I just have to ask; Where did you come up with the idea for Dragons Path?
It was incredible how you made banking so fascinating and how the same rules apply today.

The classes of inhabitants were brilliant and of course Marcus & Yardem are my faves, outside of Cithrin, Clara, and Kit ;)
Dragons Path is my favorite series to date, but I have not finished Long Price yet. Thank you for such wonderful books Mr. Abraham! So happy your work has hit the tv world.
Any plans to make Dragons Path a series?

The idea behind Dagger and Coin was to take as many things as I could think of that I really got interested in and find a way to shove them all into a fairly traditional epic fantasy sausage. The model was Babylon 5, and the way Straczynski took Lord of the Rings and The Demolished Man and pretty much anything else that seemed awesome, sort of scraped off the VIN numbers, and used them to make something entirely his own.

At this point, I'm sorry to say, no one has optioned the books. But who knows...

Margret wrote: "one thing I’ve noticed in the three series I’ve read (D&C, LPQ, Expanse) is this ability to make the reader connect with the characters of the book on a completely different level. I find it difficult to hate a “bad” character that you write because of this. I’m curious as to where this skill came from, is it from working with people? Your thought process? An exercise you perform in your mind in planning out your book before you write it? Could it be age/ life experience?"

I was convinced young that you couldn't totally hate someone if you really understood them. I think that was Orson Scot Card, so some irony in there, but it's where I ended up.

I remember hearing Tim Powers speak years ago and talk about how he wanted his villains not just destroyed but humiliated. I realized I didn't want my villains destroyed but understood and forgiven.

Margret wrote: "- in the LPQ I felt as though I wouldn’t have felt the same about the series without some life experience under my belt. As a young adult I would have passed the series over. Do you find that as you age and grow as a person that your goals in writing have changed as well? "

My goals in writing are a moving target, but TLPQ were also the published novels I wrote when I was youngest, so take that for what for what it's worth. I think it's more of a project-by-project thing, though. It would be fun to write some YA.

Margret wrote: "I also enjoy the unique cultural traits found in your series. I’m curious as to how traits such as unique poses and gestures, and the melding of languages became the signatures of your series? A particular area you traveled? A people you are interested in?"

Nope. Made 'em up. Well, technically, I stole and elaborated them off of a story by Walter Jon Williams, but he's cool with it. He's by for boardgames every Sunday night, so no hard feelings.

Margret wrote: "can you recommend any authors to us that you feel are either under appreciated, up and coming, or otherwise that we would enjoy reading being a fan of your work?
"

I tend not to read much in the genre I'm writing in, and given how long these present projects have been running, I'm pretty badly behind on up-and-coming writers.

I would recommend some favorites, though:

Medici Money by Tim Parks
Anything by Sarah Waters
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

Daniel wrote: "I remember hearing Tim Powers speak years ago and talk about how he wanted his villains not just destroyed but humiliated. I realized I didn't want my villains destroyed but understood and forgiven."

That's a really interesting concept. I think 99.9% of authors fall into one group or the other. Although LPQ was my favorite of the two series I think Geder was a character although understood could never actually be forgiven. Whereas several characters in this series we find more redemption. I think this reflects real life and is why it's so powerful. It shouldn't be universal forgiveness or condemnation for every characters. There's levels of crimes and acts of contrition.

Scott wrote: "Daniel wrote: "I remember hearing Tim Powers speak years ago and talk about how he wanted his villains not just destroyed but humiliated. I realized I didn't want my villains destroyed but understo..."

Yeah. I want them understood and forgiven. But I don't always get what I want. With Geder was unsalvageable. But at lease I could make hating him complicated.

Daniel wrote: "The idea behind Dagger and Coin was to take as many things as I could think of that I really got interested in and find a way to shove them all into a fairly traditional epic fantasy sausage. The model was Babylon 5, and the way Straczynski took Lord of the Rings and The Demolished Man and pretty much anything else that seemed awesome, sort of scraped off the VIN numbers, and used them to make something entirely his own.

At this point, I'm sorry to say, no one has optioned the books. But who knows... "

Well, I will keep hoping it will get picked up, would love to see it on the big screen as well as on TV.

Is there anything you have written that is sketchy lol
All your books are just amazing.
Thank you so much for taking time out to be here.....
You just made many people very happy !

Daniel wrote: "Yeah. I want them understood and forgiven. But I don't always get what I want. With Geder was unsalvageable. But at lease I could make hating him complicated. "

Throughout the series I found myself feeling so sorry for Geder, while still disliking him. I still do pity him.
First sign of a great author, sympathy for the devil.

Daniel wrote: "Yeah. I want them understood and forgiven. But I don't always get what I want. With Geder was unsalvageable. But at lease I could make hating him complicated.."

I think the contrast makes him a great character. Plus having characters in the other series who have different levels of forgiveness and understanding make it unpredictable and up to the reader. If somebody always writes the total redemption character it gets boring because you know it's coming.

Emelia wrote: "Is there anything you have written that is sketchy lol"

Not everything I wrote was published. There are plenty of things I do -- even now -- that get turned down. It's a lot easier to look like a brilliant writer if you just say all the less-than-brilliant stuff doesn't count. :)

Daniel wrote: "We should have this discussion again after The Price of Spring. :)"

Thank you for responding so thoughtfully! I really liked your description of writing characters as imagining your way into their place, and the free will of the andat as an extension of the poet's. I realize having not finished TLPQ I'm somewhat handicapped in discussing it. I'm afraid this simply means that you'll have to come back and be subjected to a fresh slew of questions from us. :)

I'm loving all the recommended titles and books you mentioned as influences. More to add to the to-read list.

If I may ask one more question, inquiring minds would like to know:
What games have you been playing recently at board game night?

Daniel wrote: "I was convinced young that you couldn't totally hate someone if you really understood them. I think that was Orson Scot Card, so some irony in there, but it's where I ended up."

In addition to Margret, I'd also like to add my appreciation for the depth you give the villians as well as protagonists. It's a great character who you can both dislike, yet also sympathize with because you understand their motivations. I also remember the bit about understanding and loving one's enemy from Ender's Game; it's one of those passages that resonated with me.

Like Scott said, I think there is a place for different kinds of villains, but all the same, Penitence, Forgiveness, and Redemption of characters is one of my favorite kinds of arcs. Reading these hints of such themes, I can't wait to read the rest of TLPQ. :)

Melissa wrote: "If I may ask one more question, inquiring minds would like to know:
What games have you been playing recently at board game night?"

Merchants & Marauders
Shadows Over Camelot
Elder Sign
Castles of Mad King Ludwig