Fantasy Book Club discussion

To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts.

Thank you, Janny. We appreciate that you are taking the time to answer questions about your book, this month.

So that anyone can view this, please mark your spoilers.
:)

Hi, Janny, Did you enjoy writing a one-off story rather than your huge, and lovely, series? Was it freeing or difficult to achieve? As in, having to fit everything between one set of covers.

Hell's Chasm was, put simply, the most fun I have ever had writing a book, bar none. It was that bit of alchemy where, once the first chapter was established, it just poured out. I finished each day, still going - the book just came on like a freight train, unstoppable. I was slashing out notes in the dark at night, and woke up every morning writing shorthand notes. It was an amazing experience.

I had always wanted to do one off novels in between the huge series; unfortunately, publishing being as it is, the editors were hard against this, and still are. I had to beg and plead to do this book, which is the exact opposite of huge and long - it is a 5 1/2 day plot start to finish, set up hour by hour at the start, sort of a Fantasy 24, though at the time I did this, I had never heard of the TV show. (no time for TV!)

Also, the story came about because of the series - and so many (legitimate) reader complaints about big series and their tendency to 'sprawl' - I was in a section of Arc III of Light and Shadows where I was building the work to 'world view' and there were not enough volumes on the ground, yet, for the arc structure to be apparent, yet. Sometimes reader comments (on our own, or any other book) can fire an author to do something. In this case, I was sick to death of seeing comments that unilaterally damned series for 'sprawl' and various series authors, for being 'unable to finish a story.'

Hell's Chasm was designed to be the antithesis - it would just narrow in focus and get more intense and by gosh finish with all the loose ends tied up tight. Effectively deliver a very taut story with very wide scope in a very tight package - demonstrating as best any author can do, that a story can be written to its correct length on the page and just plain deliver in a well orchestrated fashion. That an author with seasoned experience could work in any format, and keep a story reined in and on track.

'proof' as it were, that sometimes authors involved in long works may well know what we are doing. ;) and to me, the only sort of acceptable retort to the comments set forth in a critical review. True professionals do not write comments to that sort of thing - we respond with our art, best we may.

Thank you for being here, Helen, and for so graciously breaking the ice.

For any one else, there is no such thing as a silly question,, so don't be self conscious, I don't bite.

Thanks :)

I enjoyed it as at that point I was busily collecting the series (I'd planned to read when it was finished), thinking she'll finish soon and I can read it. At that point I'd read the trilogy, shorts and the two other singles so I knew you could do it.

By the way, you have the honour of remaining in paper format in my house, congratulations! lol

Thank you Janny for this opportunity. This is the first and only (so far) book I've read of yours, and precisely its being a standalone appealed to me because I didn't want to try a longer series as a first. I have to thank this wonderful group for the recommendation.
My first question my be kind of spoilery, (view spoiler)[in my view the book is split in two parts, the first played by the pair Taskin and Mykkael in the city, with Anja disappearance as the conduit, but it's mostly about themselves and their conflict, the second is pure Mykkael and Anja in Hell's chasm. I love the princess you created, but it was easier to relate to Taskin and Mykkael of the first part. Why did you choose for such separate settings and characters in the plot? (hide spoiler)]
The second is about the style and language. I struggled a little with the complex phrasing but I soon felt the subtle choice of words, and the masterful descriptions absolutely added to the story. Is it a writing style found in your other books or did you choose it for this book only, and if so, why? Thank you very much.

Alissa wrote: "Thank you Janny for this opportunity. This is the first and only (so far) book I've read of yours, and precisely its being a standalone appealed to me because I didn't want to try a longer series a..."

You should try Sorcerer's Legacy, it's another of Janny's stand-alones. Then I recommend the trilogy. By then you'll be longing to read the epic series!

Hi Alissa, I will answer your questions separately (during breaks in my current work).

With regard to that midpoint shift, it's a bit of a signature with my work - where one problem that opened a story may become solved, only to have the bottom drop out and the stakes against the protagonists get higher, or there may be an unveiling that creates a major shift in vantage that redoubles the stakes. This is the non spoiling portion, I will hide the rest under tags, in case anyone who has not read far enough is following this discussion. I have tagged it spoiler but DO NOT CLICK if you have not read the whole book! It will be interesting to see whether any of these points arise in reader discussion.

(view spoiler)[ Yes, the book falls into two 'halves' as it were, it seemed a natural structure, given that, all things equal, Mykkael is the central protagonist.

My reasons for the focus of the novel to be his vantage, above even the most active secondary characters:

The story has lots of themes. One, and the major: what choices face the warrior who actually stands at the front line. When does the individual ethic supersede the chain of command. When does the letter of the law matter, and when does the spirit of the law count more, in the breech.

Taskin represented the letter of the law - and is presented as the emphatically competent and just stance. He is bedrock loyal and yes, honorable. And those very qualities make him hesitate at the crux.

Mykkael is a patched together spirit still burdened by absolute failure. The test that faces him is, literally, his worst nightmare come true, and a repeat of a horror he still cannot face without inward grief and a flinch factor.

The earlier half of the book focuses on the differences, also, when a closed and homogeneous culture is faced by both an outsider, and an outside threat, beyond its experience. The braiding of these bits - to fashion a tense intrigue and active suspense all combined to confound the hero. I did not want to have 'pure black and white' morality - each character passionately acts from their stance of sound character. Each acts in accord with their values. So even the secondary characters are stand up people - or have their moment where they script their strengths, and their smaller actions MATTER. Nobody is marginalized, even when the 'stereotype' might try to lessen their impact - without all of them, the entire kingdom would fail.

Part two takes on a different drive - survival of the princess and survival of the kingdom at large. She is the key. Her rite of passage, underwritten by our hero - is the thread that will make or break salvation for all. So naturally, more of the weight of the plot falls to her courage, or lack of it, her inexperience, and her underlying (but undeveloped) qualities of character. Riding on her life: the fate of everyone. Riding on Mykkael: the heartbreak of knowing how badly the odds are stacked against; knowing ahead, the horror of what she must brazen out, and the awareness, that if he falls short (again) history could repeat itself. And if he fails, and survives, he will NEVER clear the infamy attached at this point to his name.

If you actually take apart the plot, section by section, through part two, you will discover that all of the threads in part I are not dropped at all. They are integrated throughout - what is happening in Sessalie, and the roles of Taskin, Jussoud, and the threat that is now unveiled and in motion - are moved in lock step with the flight through Hell's Chasm. Perhaps some readers lose that focus, given the major action shifts to the princess and Mykkael. Yet if you were to detail the actual timeline of what happens in the court, you will also note that, woven in, Taskin falls prey to his mistake, AND overcomes it. That Jussoud carries the breach, and picks up Mykkael's absent responsibilities, and the whole host of smaller characters - each one - step to the fore to pick up the pieces.

I did not wish to write a book that ONLY made the acts of one character or two important - but a story that points out that the choices made by all players count. And that the part of the women, even in such a society, must never be marginalized. All of the females in this story have agency, one way or another.

It is quite clearly stated (in the passage where the physician is in company of the party guarding the King, and they are retreating to Dedorth's Tower, in accord with Mykkael's last instructions) that the salvation for Sessalie rests with the viziers and the shamans, and rides ENTIRELY on Mykkael and the princess winning through. That Anja's survival is the mainstay. We know from Mykkael's assessment that he does NOT expect the kingdom to hold out; that he expects to win (if he does) for an empty cause, that his effort is not likely to save anyone.

The fact his character and his choices do, in fact, motivate a cohesive defense - it is demonstrating, behind him, that his earlier integrity and handling of his responsibilities MATTERED.

The defenses and the loyalties he laid down, early on, weave the backstop to his shattering fear of the future.

If you are a reader that values interpersonal relationships and tension above action, perhaps, then, Mykkael's plight in the second half may not resonate quite as strongly.

If you are reader who likes hard action/adventure - then the first half may crawl by and not seem of importance.

I am an outward bound graduate; I have ridden horses life long, and been moved by their empathic senses and courage - beyond even the bounds of survival, they will give. So the courage and strength of the horse is something I have always found to be underrated in fantasy; and there is another theme I set about to 'correct' the record. These horses act and react as a real animal will. Horse folks will recognize their individual natures, stat, and know that NO horse would come through such an ordeal 100 percent sound. I styled some of the stresses on them on the Tevas Cup, a real life endurance race that takes place over 24 hrs, over 100 miles, in desert mountain terrain.

The pressures of invention required in wilderness survival, the stakes on getting hurt where there is no help or shelter, the factors of exhaustion and endurance faced by human beings under pressure - these are very real things, and how to handle adverse circumstances with only what is at hand, and how to 'live in the moment' and handle each problem directly without losing morale -all of those experiences are bundled into that second half.

You may resonate to that; or you may not. I had never anticipated the 'split' factor to the story - that his been pointed out by reviewers who favored one side or the other....to me, the urban pressures of society offered ONE prong of suspense, and the dangers posed by nature a SECOND one, with the overarching threat to the kingdom being the primary driver.

So I did not perceive the 'split' - only that the court intrigue obstacles against Mykkael solving the mystery were one set of hurdles, and the ordeal of seeing a young, untried and inexperienced teen through a horrible chase posed a second, very different set of hurdles.

And that in the very end, the physical shortcomings of his humanity would NOT be 'enough' - he is strong, but no superman - and that it would be the courage of the women - not his, not Taskin's, that would ultimately win the day.

No character is isolated. No victory is possible without many supporting characters also making the right choices.

Without Lady Phael, Bertarra, Anja, and Shai, without even Cade's wife - the disaster would not be averted. Taskin's great triumph and overriding justice would not have mattered; and Mykkael's sacrifices and final reprieve would have failed. (hide spoiler)]

Alissa wrote: "Thank you Janny for this opportunity. This is the first and only (so far) book I've read of yours, and precisely its being a standalone appealed to me because I didn't want to try a longer series a..."

Here is your response on the style.

A book is the gift of experience, shared with somebody else. I don't write the same story twice, and yes, I do tend to temper the style to fit the story. I was a reader long before I ever decided to write, and the broad experience gained over many many books has given me a deep appreciation and love of the English language.

Some writers prefer what they term a 'transparent' style, but in fact, no such thing exists. Everyone has an individual way of delivering a story's content. Some prefer to sketch in the framework lightly and leave lots of room for the reader to supply their own details. Other books will go into more depth of detail, and deliver a more fleshed out experience.

When I sat down to think about what I wished to portray, I realized the books that 'stuck with' me the most - the ones that I recalled long after I finished, even decades later - they were the ones that carried more impact because they took me places I would not have imagined on my own.

One writes the sort of book one wishes to read. And I like a world, a character, a scene, that is so THERE that you can see, feel and touch it. Where the passion of what the character is feeling may not be yours at all, but that will reach out and brand itself into your psyche.

I don't go for fluff, but for driving home the impact.

Not every story I've done will have quite this depth of style. A few are simpler and faster paced, and the Light and Shadows series is actually lots more complex. This book falls just right of center, in range of style and complexity.

As a visual artist, and a musician, and a bit of a wilderness enthusiast, lots of the nuance of those life experiences will spill onto the page. For some people that adds to the adventure - the sense of an experience they may not have had. For some it detracts; and that is just individual taste speaking. I'm not writing YA, so having a style that immerses the reader also suits the audience the books are aimed at. There IS a nuance in the subtle choice of the words. No two words have the same meaning - or are 'interchangeable' - so the complete range of the style is in fact much more precise. It delivers a sharper edge, a tighter focus, than choosing a word that has nearly the same meaning, but averages out the delivery.

I enjoy quick easy reads as much as anyone, when I just want to turn off and escape. As a writer, I take a more thoughtful approach - I'd rather risk the polarized response, and have selective impact, than aim for the middle ground.

Your response - that it took time and you adjusted - that is a common point of feedback. I do believe style adds to the story, but certainly not for everyone.

Thank you very much for your reply Jenny. Definitely you didn't deliver main characters of "pure black and white morality"! (view spoiler)[I cared for Mykkael immediately: he is mysterious, flawed, conflicted, a warrior without roots or aim by birth and deeds but with a steel determination that drives his actions and an integrity of character that inspires men. I could easily feel for him and wanted to know more about him. Taskin is a man of high moral values, one I could admire: just, stern and stalwart, a warrior born and nourished in a sheltered kingdom, but thanks to his intellect, not hidebound. I enjoyed their interaction a lot, and I don't know, they took center stage so smoothly that I think I related to the investigation through them, and got frustrated along with them at the clash of cultures. Taskin didn't despise or destroy what he could not understand and I think his reliance and growing relationship with Jussoud (or the fact that he acknowledged the qualities of a foreigner in the first place) is a consequence of that: he cannot understand Mykkael but he perceives honesty behind his behavior and cannot blindly dismiss him; even when the evidence seemed to prove him differently, Taskin coherently keeps probing, and he starts to change by small degrees during the story as reaction to the events and to Mykkael's unyielding ways. All of his hesitations and his mistake were aggravating but then I realized that for a man whose core beliefs were being so badly shaken, whose very life-source -honor and loyalty- may have been threatened, he behaved admirably. They are marvelous to read about while the mystery tightens and the tension grows, and then when I thought all the careful details and pieces were going to click into place I was in for big surprises instead. I probably focused a little too much on them :) and your powerful world-building to the detriment of all the other players, or maybe it added to my own entertainment as did the element of my own perception throughout the book of course.

Your view about the second part of the book are giving a more rounded vision, thank you. I was engaged in reading both lines of actions, the princess and the warrior riding in Hell's Chasm and the warded in the castle growing to realize the truth, and slowly coming to the understanding that only concerted efforts can save the kingdom from doom. In this part although it was more difficult to relate to Anja and Mykkael so I yearned for more action on Sessalie's side of the race, where, as you say, all characters matter but for some their eventual decisions are not plain and it was difficult to predict what was going to happen next. Given the story that far, I was uncertain not just of the ways to get to the denouement, but of the outcome itself and that added a lot of thrill and sense of urgency. Yes, being a reader who likes action but loves unconditionally interpersonal relationships, tension and carefully tended casts of characters and strong settings, I couldn't help comparing the differences in the halves of the book, but I enjoyed every page of it, and most importantly, the epilogue, its intensity, its coral quality. Personally I would have liked that things could have gone differently, but as they were coherence demanded no less, and endings are a linchpin of a good story and can make the difference between a book I liked and I book I loved thru and thru and which will always be a favorite. I was left with a bitter sense of void when I reached the last page, and a slight vexation (still here that) at knowing there won't be more. But probably my kind of reaction was inevitable.

I'm glad you mention the horses. I read some reviews and there was some buzz about them. Actually, I couldn't resonate to them at first because I've no experience with them. But I enjoyed them in the adventure, came to care, and they were most important characters as the book's title is an indication. I understand now when you say you share your experiences with us through your books. The difficulties of the wilderness, of being left to your own devices in a hard environment, the fright of flight, the fight against impossible odds and magical beings...the pressure was palpable, and now that I'm reading your review, I reakise why I felt a "split" between halves, I was an observer there, while I was more immersed in the first set of hurdles, in the subtle innuendo of the evil at large. (hide spoiler)]

The writing style you chose and managed surely drives home the impact and, at least for me, it was also a part of the story as much as the story itself, a rounded element. As a reader of both YA and adult books, and of both easy reads and complex series, I feel there's a difference between the writing style as a medium to convey plot and images (the "transparent" style), which of course needs to fit and is essential to a "well written" book for events narrated, pace set and characters portrayed, and the writing style that not only eases but adds to the tale, where the structure, the choice of words becomes an element and plays the opposite of an ancillary function in the book. That is true, I think, even for more lighthearted or recreational reads, it just calls for different analysis and results. That's what I felt with Hell's Chasm and that is probably why I related so strongly at once, to that complex-good that just pulls you in and doesn't let you go. I'm glad Hell's Chasm depth of style stands in-between your other books, I'm very happy I asked, because as reader I like vivid experiences and emotional impact, which cannot be achieved if at some point you cannot immerse in what the author is showing you. Love for the English language may influence as well. I agree it is a matter of taste and target, but so all the better for your focus choice.

Thank you very much for the time and care you took in replying, it is really something precious that now a reader can connect to an author and enhance a reading experience even more beyond the book itself.

Helen wrote: "You should try Sorcerer's Legacy, it's another of Janny's stand-alones. Then I recommend the trilogy. By then you'll be longing to read the epic series!"
Thank you Helen for your suggestions, I read the blurbs and I've plumped up a tad my to-read list ;).

Alissa wrote: "Thank you very much for your reply Jenny. Definitely you didn't deliver main characters of "pure black and white morality"! I cared for Mykkael immediately: he is mysterious, flawed, conflicted, a ..."

Alissa, I am SO pleased to see that others appreciate Janny's rich writing style. Yes, her stories are great and deep and her characters lively and totally rounded, but what really tweaks me is her, as you say,"love for the English language. She employs a very large and very specifically focused vocabulary and puts it all together in a melodious style that often verges on the poetic -- it is that focused. Just my opinion, but I think you would really enjoy the stylistic exquisiteness of her Wars of Light and Shadow series.

My thoughts exactly -if phrased much more beautifully- thank you for your advice, gladly taken, now I've got The Curse of the Mistwraith on my kindle and I hope to start soon.

Alissa, my post is certainly no more beautiful than yours -- appreciations for fine quality need not be compared with each other, as they are all expressing sincere admiration. I am just an old, old fan of Janny's and have been soaked in the fine, aged brandy of her style for years. Please enjoy Mistwraith. Perhaps you will, like me, be totally hooked on the immense depth and detail of this amazing series. For decades I have said that Tolkien and Donaldson were the greatest. Now I say that there is a new sheriff in town.

@Charles sorry my digression was open to interpretation, I wasn't comparing posts, I was just saying that I agree with you and genuinely liked your wording. And yes, I'm absolutely captivated and want to read more tales of Janny's crafted prose and imagination.

And I was in no way objecting, just enjoying the freshness of your enthusiasm. And thank you for the compliment about my wording. I am honored.

I found that my appreciation of Janny's style played a large part in my staying fascinated through a 10-book series. I am now breathless waiting for the conclusion to come out. Glad you are on board.

Alissa wrote: "My thoughts exactly -if phrased much more beautifully- thank you for your advice, gladly taken, now I've got The Curse of the Mistwraith on my kindle and I hope to start soon."

Thanks, Alyssa, for going on to check out Curse of the Mistwraith - be warned - this is the 'deep end' of complexity with regard to my career....it will take longer to unveil the characters and world - the curve is steeper, but the amplitude of the payoff will carry it off (hopefully! grin, every reader is different, and this is a very deep series).

Thank you for your message Janny. I want to enjoy reading more of your books, and actually, after reading all the blurbs, for starters I've got both Curse and The Master of White Storm (with plans for Sorcerer's Legacy as well). All sound very intriguing but surely I want to be ready for the complexity, considering that with my level of English I *did* struggle some with To Ride Hell's Chasm --while getting more and more captivated. If the Light and Shadows series' story and style are even deeper, would you recommend reading another book first? I'm sure this journey will be much fun but I don't want to rush it :) Thank you.

Alissa wrote: "Thank you for your message Janny. I want to enjoy reading more of your books, and actually, after reading all the blurbs, for starters I've got both Curse and The Master of White Storm

Hi Alyssa - good question. Here's a rundown of my works, simplest to most complicated - I never write the same story twice, so perhaps this will give you an overview to help you know where to start off.

Sorcerer's Legacy was my first novel. It is a very fast moving, very direct court intrigue, with a female lead - she is pregnant and widowed at the start, and winds up the key player (and her unborn child) in a war over a succession that involves some rather nasty sorcery. This is the book that caused Ray Feist to invite me to co-write the Empire series, and it is a good entry for folks coming in from there. This is THE SIMPLE book - and it is a standalone. It is entirely different than anything else I've done (due to the very odd way the idea for it was conceived).

Cycle of Fire trilogy, starting with Stormwarden came next - it is the ONLY coming of age quest I have ever done. and Likely Ever Will. It centers around three younger characters - two late teens, and a younger girl - all of whom are flawed, on a world that is not at all what it seems, and against stakes that have a twist that (for its time) was not at all common in Fantasy. None of the three books are cliffhangers. All of the characters will have to play through their shortcomings, and not all will make sound choices.

The Master of White Storm comes next - and was written roughly comparable (in time span) with the middle of the Empire series. It is certainly Sword and Sorcery, but has a psychological angle - where the story reveals the very human man behind the legendary hero....it is told 'episodically' adventure by adventure - but each chapter 'unlocks' more and more about the main character, who we don't understand a whit, at the start. This book absolutely ties together by the midpoint - and the adventures by then have bound the reader to the main character's fate in such a way that the 'episodic' feel drops away and blends into a climactic rush that is signature for my style. The unlocking of Korendir's character is actually very good 'practice' for the starting sequences of Mistwraith as a reader coming off this book will know my stuff well enough to hang on until the shoe drops.

Wars of Light and Shadows is the deepest of all these books, as it 'assumes' the reader of my works will look carefully at what is on the page/what is written between the lines/and the 'larger than life' facet they've come to expect will make them 'quick on the uptake' that sometimes there is 'play' in the language, that sometimes there is a little 'over the top' humor going on - that it is serious, but there are sequences that have a little authorial 'wink' to them. New readers may mistake this as 'pretention' or whatever - and miss out on the fun that is sort of cloak and dagger comic relief. A comic relief that WILL turn serious (later) and come back to haunt in odd ways.

This book is so huge, the concepts writ so large and deep - simply - I could not put it all on the page at once (or it would have read like a rule book!) So I disguised many of the facets in 'classic' settings or 'classic tropes' - and unveil them with devastating effect later on. Sometimes much later on. You therefore encounter stuff at one level - read for one kind of suspense - and are thrown a reverse curve later that will utterly revise what you thought you saw. I do this in very careful stages; and you 'experience' them as you go. You are not told. You live them with the characters. So for the opening sequences of Vol I, this may make the story seem to 'go nowhere' - (some readers don't have this difficulty; others do - the way the first book opens/and the crash course in my style is a little difficult for some, while others will sail right through.) Readers expecting to 'skim' what they think is not important are gonna get real lost, real fast, as what is happening has a lot salted in; there is no 'window dressing.' By the half point, all those bits coalesce with a vengeance, and from there you have a cohesive experience to a right hammer of a denouement. No cliffhanger.

The next two volumes deepen the characters and their conflict and leave a lot more room for 'fun stuff' and humor. The Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark WERE designed to be read as one volume - they were split at the half point because the publisher was afraid the binding of the paperback would rip apart. Ships has a pause point at that center pin (typical of my work) - but Warhost has the delivery of the finale, in spades.

The next 5 volumes are subtitled Alliance of Light - because this stage of the series raises the stakes to 'world view' - starting with Fugitive Prince, it STILL centers around the original characters - but the conflict shifts, and the setting of it is widened - and you will 'discover' that you are no longer in what you THOUGHT was a typical Medieval fantasy setting. Nope. Not a bit. The factions are unveiled for what they really are, and the 5 volume arc - no cliffhangers, either - will ALSO follow the contour for each book - there will be a 'half point' tipping point for the arc at Peril's Gate, and the denouement of Alliance of Light will accelerate and converge - to the last book, Stormed Fortress, that is PURE finale for that arc.

Arc IV, Sword of the Canon opens with Initiate's Trial, and that one lifts the conflict to a whole new stake/staging for the Mysteries. Destiny's Conflict will finale that arc, and it is nearly done.

Song of the Mysteries is the last and final book in the series, it is ALL denouement.

Just as each volume has a halfpoint acceleration, so does each arc, and so, too does the series, entire, with Peril's Gate the tipping point for the whole shebang. Every volume will move 'faster' from that point onward, as all of the threads are moving into convergency.

NONE of the books are cliffhangers. But each arc start will 'gear back' just a tad as the stakes are unveiled to be deeper than you presumed.

That overview ought to give you a little 'map' to guide your choices. The language in the bigger series is just a little bigger - however - if you don't rush, you should be fine. The context will make some of the archaic terms (sailing vernacular, etc) understandable if you don't over obsess on getting 'everything all at once' - the books do explain themselves as they go, so if you are a little in the dark, DON'T worry - you'll encounter the key along with the characters' experience.

NOBODY gets all of the levels of this, in one take. It is not possible. Rediscovery of what wasn't obvious is part of the story's magic.

Unlike many fantasy works today where everything is handed to you 'up front' like a rule book - this story unveils itself as it goes, and the discoveries are those you make on your own, as you experience and encounter them - just as the characters do - and just as YOU get to really know what lies under the skins of the characters who are not what they seem at first glance.

Thank you!! It's really a helpful map. Learning about the "place" of each book and about the structure of the Wars of Light and Shadows I've decided to treat myself to The Master of White Storm before diving in The Curse of the Mistwraith, and select a suitable period to approach a longer series (lately I'm favoring standalones or short series).
You are right, getting it all at once would deprive the story of its magic as much as not getting enough to feel the trepidation of discovery due to environmental or linguistic circumstances. Fortunately, sometimes Italian and French come to my rescue with all the archaic terms not of Germanic origin. I don't like to be the "omniscient" reader, I want to be into the story, amongst the characters. I'm sure I'll love this adventure.

Hi Janny,

I finished To Ride Hell's Chasm a few days ago and thought it was indeed one hell of a ride. I'm glad I got to read the second half in one sitting as the pitch of tension throughout Mykkael and Anja's mountain journey was truly intense. As someone who loves scrambling through rugged mountains and canyons, I have to ask: did you base Hell's Chasm on any real-world places you've ever visited, or is it entirely a creation of your imagining?

Also, I know you're an artist as well as an author, and I saw on your website you've some very cool artwork related to the book. I'm curious: do you do art for all the books you write? Does the art ever help your writing? (Like, do you sketch characters and scenes before you write them, or to spark ideas if you ever come to a plot impasse?)

Courtney wrote: "Hi Janny,

I finished To Ride Hell's Chasm a few days ago and thought it was indeed one hell of a ride. I'm glad I got to read the second half in one sitting as the pitch of tension throughout Mykk..."

Hi Courtney,

Those are great questions.

I will answer the first, and come back around later to tackle the second.

Hell's Chasm isn't precisely any 'real world' place I ever visited, however, chasms, flumes, ravines - I've been to a few, so no doubt they helped play a part in the imagining. I went to the Flume in New Hampshire as a child, many times - where fast water runs down a narrow channel. I went to a very narrow gorge in Australia when I was there - so very narrow that the water was ice cold - sunlight never got down that deep for long enough to heat the rock. You could touch both sides of that chasm with your hands, with just a narrow ribbon of sky and trees overhead.

I did imagine that the place where Hell's Chasm lets out - into that huge basin with the waterfall - I've been in rugged mountain terrain that had basins of this sort - also another one, The Basin, in NH - where the water flows in and swirls and falls out - the one in the story is vastly bigger, scaled up as it were - and I did picture the place where the falls roared out of it as opening into something as vast as Grand Canyon. So my trip to Grand Canyon would have figured in, there - of a small, narrow slot gorge opening out into a much vaster expanse.

The story required very rugged terrain, very closed in - to amp the tension of being chased both by supernatural stuff and very scary huge natural predators.

If I go back to the seed ideas for this story there were three: one was turning the 'unwilling royal bride' trope upside down. The second was two naturally heroic characters set at odds BOTH for admirable reasons. The third was the very real endurance race, the Tevas Cup - where horses are superbly conditioned and run a 100 mile race in 24 hrs over extreme desert and mountain terrain. I wanted to use that concept - but make the extreme endurance of the horses over rugged terrain the key necessity to save a kingdom. Pitch a little, tiny country, very isolated, very homogeneous - think Switzerland - as the setting for events beyond the pale of it's isolated experience, and away I went.

Courtney wrote: "Hi Janny,

I finished To Ride Hell's Chasm a few days ago and thought it was indeed one hell of a ride. I'm glad I got to read the second half in one sitting as the pitch of tension throughout Mykk..."

Your second question - do I do the artwork for all of my books - basically, yes. It did not start out that way. I had to earn my way in the cover market separately - break in with a portfolio just as any other aspiring artist would. I did not get to do the cover art for the very first release of my first novel - the art director wanted my work on it, but editorial felt that might be 'too much power' for an author just broken into print.

Ever since then, however, I have done my own cover art - even at times 'competing' for the job when a reissue changed the marketing presentation from a scene or a portrait to a graphic image. The only exception was once, when I was so overloaded - there were four covers due on reissues/I had a heavy writing deadline, and the British cover (last round) for Fugitive Prince was Don Maitz - the commission didn't go far astray, since he is my husband - and the image fit the story perfectly.

A very few of the foreign editions shifted the cover artist to one of their choice - and some great images have come out of it. The French translations looked spectacular and fit the books very well.

I have always enjoyed painting and the very earliest doodles and attempts to draw always had fantasy subjects, or wildlife. It seemed natural to develop what skills I had and apply them towards the books because at the time I decided to aim for writing, everything looked like Conan the Barbarian. And as much as I admire Frank Frazetta's artistic gifts - which are prodigious - I did not see my stories fitting that muscles on steroids/women with huge bazoongas and butts. To represent the characters as I pictured them, required breaking into the field separately and going head to head with the best.

The two modes of thought - words and pictures - are quite different, and in fact, they don't blend well at all. Chapters I write just after coming in off a painting are a mess, and require a nasty amount of editing on my part just to make them work. And the first sketches done after a strong bout of writing look disastrously clumsy. Visual thought and symbolic thought (words) use different skills, and shifting back and forth on a deadline can be challenging. If I do a little of both, every day, it's much easier, but often one deadline or the other will take charge of my time schedule to the exclusion of the other.

You asked if the artwork ever inspired the writing, and yes, this happens quite easily. My first novel Sorcerer's Legacy actually happened because I did a painting - of a snow scene/wizard and heroine - for the purpose of exhibiting something NEW at a Brighton England Worldcon. I did the snow scene because it was July and very hot, and I was living in a field hand's quarters converted into an apartment, overtop of a colonial carriage house. No AC, very hot! I figured painting a snow scene would keep me focused while I sweated it out.

To get the work through customs, the paperwork had to be done in advance, and I did not have the money to attend, so, the art was going over in the hands of an agent. When the paperwork was done, far in advance, the picture was not quite complete, yet. I had used color pencil to rough in the jewelry on the lady's costume. The agent kept asking and asking 'what the sale price for the piece was' and I kept saying 'Not for sale/not finished!' Apparently that did not register - so the ONLY way I could prevent the painting being sold, unfinished, was to attach a story to it, since I don't sell works that apply to a written work.

To back my fib, I wrote 18 pages as fast as possible, shoving the poor heroine into trouble so deep, she'd never buy her way out....and when I met with my local writing group, well, they loved it! So much they thought it might sell. So I figured an ending to the tale, wrote it up, submitted, and lo, it did sell.

To this day, I have a running 'wager' going - that nobody can foresee the ending of the book after reading chapter one. Nobody's scored the correct ending, though one person did come up with an intriguing alternative.

The entire inspiration for my Cycle of Fire trilogy, starting with Stormwarden began with a painting. My landlord, also an author, was Daniel P. Mannix - he was a dedicated falconer, among other things. One day there was a goshawk in his garden trying to nab a chicken, and he threw a bushel basket over it. Turned out it had only one eye, why it was so easy to catch, and why it was also weak with starvation. I watched him man that hawk outside my window, and took some fabulous pictures of it. This, combined with other photos a friend took of a very nasty storm coming in over Nantucket Island - I took the hawk, that storm, and put a wizard into the picture - just to do a cool painting - and about halfway through the image, wondered just who that wizard was and what he was doing there with that hawk - and the story went and took me by the throat.

Those are the most graphic instances of a painting creating a novel (though the same happened with a short story. I did a work titled Wizard of the Owls, and Marion Zimmer Bradley wanted it on the cover of her magazine. Since all the cover images related to a story, I had to come up with a story for it after the fact).

I do keep a very detailed sketchbook for my larger series, and fill many a dull moment at a signing/or in an airport enroute to conventions, drawing up places and sites from the novels. Sometimes these images get redone in oils as part of a cover image. Sometimes they are nothing more than for my own amusement, since, as my husband put it, if I don't show what this stuff looks like, nobody will ever know.

That sums up my feelings - any book can have as many interpretations as there are illustrators that pick up a brush or a pen, and reinterpretations can occur at any time. But you really only have one shot at seeing how the living author pictured it.

That makes all the work in getting my drawing and painting skills up to high bar required of a professional worthwhile. And nobody buys one of my books misled by the cover image, pretty much the art fits the story.

At this time, I wish to say thank you for the privilege of participating in this discussion here at Fantasy Book Club, you have all been tremendous. I have been a participating member of this club for many years, now, and it has always been an enjoyable experience.

Thank you also to Sandra for putting this title forward as her parting shot. She reads a tremendous number of books in many many genres and it's an honor to have made her toplist in fantasy. She also has my applause and my nod of thanks for her years of hard work as a moderator for this discussion board.

To the readers who participated thank you for your astute questions, your interest and your enthusiasm. Enjoy your next book, whatever it may be.

To the readers who lurked or came late to the table, thank you for your presence. My 'Ask the Author' option is turned ON and you are most welcome to direct questions to me, or through private message if you are shy.

I remain a participating member of The Fantasy Book Club as well, and if questions are put up in an archived discussion, I will very likely see them and respond.

You are a great group, here. Happy reading, wherever your books take you in the future!

Janny, thanks so much for your wonderfully detailed responses to my questions! I'd never heard of the Tevas Cup endurance race before, that sounds fascinating. Equally fascinating to see the stories you shared about your art. Not being an artist myself, I never would have guessed that writing and painting are so different that the creative processes don't easily mix. I'm in awe that you have such talent in both fields. Haha, and I'm sure many of your fans wish they could see that sketchbook. :)

Thank you very much Janny for all your responses & the Club for the venue!
I loved To Ride Hell's Chasm and the possibility to talk with Janny & the others has been a terrific experience and an enhancement to the reading. I see both The Master of White Storm and The Curse of the Mistwraith, my upcoming reads, are already in the Club's library, but I'm looking forward to another group read of one of Janny's works!

Thank you again, Janny.
:)
Great answers to some wonderful questions.

Wish I could have been more involved myself, but it's been a tough year.