Gradual Interview
(answers from September 2004, as of Jan 11 2026, 11:27:00 PM)
www.StephenRDonaldson.com
© 2004 by Stephen R.Donaldson

dlbpharmd

Mr. Donaldson:

In a previous answer this month you mentioned the injury to Vain at the One Tree as being crucial to the overall victory achieved in White Gold Wielder.  This has sparked something of a debate at Kevinswatch.com.  Personally, I have never seen Vain's "damage" as anything other than an accident, and an obvious clue to his purpose.  Would you elaborate on this please?

I think of the "transformation" of Vain's forearm as the catalyst which makes his later changes possible.  After all, how can you possibly have a Staff of Law that doesn't come from the One Tree?  Vain carries the true victory of the Quest for the One Tree with him when Covenant, Linden, etc. flee the sinking Isle.

(09/06/2004)

Todd

First, the requisite thanks for this forum. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it, and how valuable I consider your insight.

I have a rather simple question. You mentioned in your Essay on Modern Fantasy that Lord Foul's Bane had sold 5 million copies. As that was many years ago, I was wondering if you could tell us what the current sales totals are for your works.

Thanks!

I don't have anything like reliable figures.  I do get US and UK royalty statements; but information from other countries is sketchy at best.  However, I think we can safely say that LFB is up around 10 million copies worldwide, with the rest of the "Covenant" books not far behind.  Beyond that, who knows?

(09/06/2004)

Sean Farrell

Dear Mr Donaldson,

You have mentioned before that when writing the Second Chronicles, you were already laying plans for the Third, but that you were also aware that the Last Chronicles were going to be extremely complex and very difficult to write, hence the wait of twenty years or so. My question is this - with these ideas in your head for all that time, and especially given their complexity, have you at times sat down to develop the themes and structures of the books in the extended interval, or did you literally not touch Thomas Covenant for twenty years?
By the way, thanks again. Your books are the reason I read at all - always in search of something even better - so far in vain...

I literally did not touch "Covenant" for 20 years (or thereabouts).  Over-simplifying the truth as egregiously as possible, I did not accept the challenge of returning to "Covenant" until I had completely run out of other ideas for stories.  At that point, I decided that my apprenticeship must be over.  <rueful grin>

(09/06/2004)

Will Ballantine/Del Rey be repackaging the second Chronicles as well? It wouldn't make much sense to do the first without the second.

I have no idea what Ballantine/Del Rey's plans may be.  Since most publishers don't indulge in long-term planning, B/DR probably won't think about repackaging "The Second Chronicles" until after they see how the repackaged first trilogy sells.

(09/06/2004)

Dave, Ellington, CT

Mr Donaldson,

First of all, thanks for all your great work.  I've been a fan since the early 80's.  I'm anxiously looking forward to the 3rd Chronicles.

Now my question.  In this forum, you've mentioned a lot of other science fiction and fantasy authors and novels.  Other than your own work, and maybe that of Tolkien, can you recommend a few novels (or series) to your fans.  Maybe three science fiction and three fantasy from different authors?  Doesn't necessarily have to be your top three in each category.  I know that's hard to do.  Maybe a few that fall in your top ten though.  That'll give us something to read while we're all waiting for the 3rd Chronicles, and get an idea of what you like to read.

Thanks,
Dave 

Buried away in the recesses of the Gradual Interview is a previous answer to this question.  Today's answer:  (fantasy) Steven Erikson, "The Gardens of the Moon," Patricia A. McKillip, "Ombria in Shadow," Tim Powers, "Last Call"; (SF) Alfred Bester, "The Stars My Destination," Walter Jon Williams, "Hardwired," China Mieville (whose work could, I admit, be considered fantasy; but I think of it as SF), "Perdido Street Station."

(09/06/2004)

Peter Purcell

I was interested in your response to the magic Mordant's Need vs. magic in the Land.  As an author, you are focused on the *story* you're relaying and magic-used-as-a-metaphor.  As a reader we get absorbed in the story but fall in love with the *universe / world* you've created.  I think that's why you get so many questions on the "rules of the WORLD" that are irrelevant to your author's perspective that the *story* should be the only focus.  [Although you have said that maintaining internal consistency is important to you so that it does not distract from the *story*.]

Am I on track?  Does it matter?!  (smile)

Peter

I don't consider "rules of the world" questions irrelevant at all.  But I get confused (and sometimes exasperated) when the questions don't appear to respect one vital distinction:  we're talking about "rules of the world THAT I MADE UP."  If the questions don't pertain to, or aren't validated by, material contained within the boundaries of the story, I can't answer them.

(And here we have another interesting difference between the "Covenant" books and "Mordant's Need".  In "Covenant," the Land clearly exists in a different kind or order of reality than Covenant's "real world".  In the Platonic sense, the Land is *more* real than Covenant's "real world."  So characters from Covenant's "real world" can expand into the Land, but characters from the Land cannot shrink into Covenant's "real world".  But in "Mordant's Need" the differing realities accessible by Imagery are all pretty much equal, or are "real" in the same way:  they may run by different rules, but the substance of one can exist and function fully in another.)

(09/08/2004)

Paul

Hi there

This is a question my wife asked me... She like me enjoyed all of your series. But one thing that irritated her was Covenant's cursing. ie "Hellfire - what kind of a swear word is that".

So I am curious, was "Hellfire and bloddy damnation" a common curse in the mid sevenites? Or did you go out of your way to try and avoid 'dating' your books by using dialogue or settings (in the real world) that would show up the story for its age?

Incidentally, with 30 years of hindsight, I think that Covenant would pay his phone bill at the postoffice - he would do it online and frequent chatrooms :-)

"Hellfire and bloody damnation" is probably the sort of swearing that only a missionary's kid can truly relate to.  I chose it because:  a) I'm a missionary's kid; b) it's exotic, unfamiliar, dislocated, an apt expression for a man terminally dissociated from his own life; and c) Covenant pretty much lives in Hell, and his story is about damnation (or the escape from damnation, which comes to the same thing).

Need I point out that when I wrote the first "Covenant" books chatrooms didn't exist, and people *did* pay their phone bills at the phone company?

(09/08/2004)

Sean Casey

I suspect that the answer to this is that the question is irrelevant, but it's kind of interesting, I think, so:

What is the composition of Thomas Covenant's ring? Is the gold alloyed with nickel, palladium, silver etc? Is it electroplated with rhodium?

What would happen if someone with white gold of a different composition came to the Land? Would they have the same power, or less or none at all?

The white gold I had in mind is an alloy of gold and platinum (with no doubt various trace metals about which I know nothing).

Your question about "what would happen if ... white gold of a different composition came to the Land" is a good example of something I talked about in answer to an earlier GI question:  a question which comes from completely outside the text, outside the "rules of the world I made up."  So I have no idea how to answer you.  What is the metallic composition of the Earth in which the Land resides?  What kind of metal-working (and refining) skills exist planet-wide?  What exactly did the Creator plan for when he/she/it created the Earth?  Beats the by-products out of me.  None of those issues are germane to the story--and the only "rules" I'm interested in are the ones which *are* germane.

(09/09/2004)

Akaya

This may not be something you want to respond to online, but I thought I'd ask.  I recently (on the advice of a fan or yours I met in my local S-F bookstore) bought the entire Thomas Covenant series.  I'm in the first part of "Lord Foul's Bane" (which I have been completely enjoying) and have come to the part where Thomas rapes Lena, the young woman who saves his life.  He is now about to set off on his journey led by her mother Atiaran (upon whose wisdom and experience I assume he will be dependent).  Before I decide what I will do with the remaining 5 books, it would be helpful to me if you would tell me if Thomas recognizes his violent betrayal of Lena beyond his sense that Lena "purchased precious time for him" (in not speaking of her violation). "Clearly the people of this Land were prepared to make sacrifices --". Does he return to her and make restitution?

I would like to assure you earnestly that during the course of the first "Covenant" trilogy he has his nose rubbed deeply in the consequences of his crime against Lena, that he learns to understand just how vile his actions have been, and that he does put his feet on the road to redemption.

HowEVer--

The author may not be the ideal person to respond to your concerns, feeling (as he does) a fairly natural human desire to justify himself.  You might get more useful answers from fellow readers.  May I suggest that you post your concerns on kevinswatch.com?  The good people there will give you honest reactions from a wide variety of perspectives.

(09/11/2004)

Northcote Coleman

"If literature speaks of bread or wine or stone or tree, it appeals to the whole of these things, to their ideas; yet each hearer will give to them a peculiar personal embodiment in his imagination. Should the story say 'he ate bread' , the dramatic producer or painter can only show 'a piece of bread' according to his taste or fancy, but the hearer of the story will think of bread in general and picture it in some form of his own. If a story says 'he climbed a hill and saw a river in the valley below', the illustrator may catch, or nearly catch his own vision of such a scene; but every hearer of the words will have his own, and it will be made out of all The Hills, The River, The Valley which were for him the first embodiment of the word."

As I read this passage from The Tolkien Reader. By, J.R.R. Tolkien, I thought of your own Thomas Covenant books and how they have been reflected from this extract of Tolkiens. Even in your choice of titles, The One Tree, The Wounded Land. I would like to know if you agree that the visual medium's inherent inadequacy can only debilitate the readers imagination. 

First, let me say that I question the implicit assumptions in phrases like "the visual medium's inherent inadequacy."  (I have to say this first because I actually agree whole-heartedly with Tolkien.  I'm an almost entirely verbal person myself:  I like to say that I see with words.  Whenever words are replaced by visual images, I feel that my own imaginative and emotional responses are being limited and controlled.)  I think it's important to recognize that *every* medium has inherent inadequacies--to go along with its inherent strengths.  It happens (just my opinion) that translating books into movies tends to expose either the inadequacies of film as a medium or the inadequacies of the specific book on which the film is based.  But this tendency confuses the central issue, which is that every medium has its own particular strengths and weaknesses.

I don't want to try to propose an entire philosophy of aesthetics here.  But just take one example:  consider the simple, immutable, and profound fact that verbal language (*all* oral language, but especially written language) is LINEAR.  Words have to be read one at a time in a very specific order or else their meaning either changes or collapses.  Therefore verbal (especially written) language is a means of organizing time.  One of its strengths is that it has direction:  if the words are put together imaginatively and skillfully enough they accumulate over time (as the notes in a piece of music accumulate) until movement in that direction has tremendous force.  But this strength is also a weakness:  words in sequence cannot go in more than one direction at a time, or make more than one statement at a time (except by implication).

Well, OK, film is also a linear medium.  But it has this strength which prose cannot match:  it constantly conveys information to two senses (sight and hearing) simultaneously.  This means that film *can* go in more than one direction at a time, or make more than one statement at a time.  Indeed, because our brains appear to be capable of processing greater degrees of aural complexity than visual (mine is, anyway), film can go in more than one direction at a time, or make more than one statement at a time, with *sound* alone (e.g. the music can convey different information than the dialogue, even when both are happening at the same time).

I could go on at some length (don't even get me started on painting, or on the visual dimension of film), but I hope I've made my point.  For me, movies can be enormously intense experiences; but they can never compete with the way written prose can accumulate richness, complexity, and depth.  But that statement is a description of *me*, not a useful critique of the medium of film.

(09/11/2004)

Peter

Hello Stephen, I'm very happy that you are writing the final part of the series, it was a pleasant suprise mainly because the last series ended perfectly to me so thank you.

My question is, I understand that you grew up in India which is a different culture and for a young child you would have been considered a minority and difficult especiallif if there were only a few  other caucasians.  So do you think that it has affected you, that growing up that way seems to make you think differently?  That sometimes you feel like you look at the world like looking into a zoo exhibit and think why do people do that?  

Over the years I have strongly liked certain books, music and people and on closer inspection have found that they were normally from a different race raised in a different culture and have amazing insight and appear to see the world differently, like T.Dolby who was raised in egypt,  and you who was brought up in India.

I'm just curious on your views on this.  If you're wondering about this strange question It's because  of being part Jamaican and was raised in NZ.

thanks.
Peter.

First, a quick word about my recent silence in this interview.  Everyone knows that life sometimes goes through phases of disarray, when it seems that every conceivably mishap occurs at once.  Well, this has been one of those times.

Now.

My actual experience was a strange variation on your question.  My family first moved to India when I was four; but after my initial trauma (which occurred while my parents were in language school, and to which I could only react with terror), my life there seemed more "normal" than you might expect.  I'll spare you a long riff on the underlying fear that motivates virtually all missionaries:  my present point is that the missionaries did everything possible to isolate their children from the cultures and people they purportedly wished to "save."  So we lived in walled compounds surrounded exclusively by other missionaries, other caucasians (and their servants).  We attended exclusively white missionary schools, again in walled compounds.  And those schools taught an exclusively white mssionary curriculum:  pure US college preparatory, with a heavy dose of religion.  No courses were offered in Indian history, philosophy, language, or culture; and we were discouraged from learning anything on our own.   Yes, we were a tiny minority.  But we weren't alone:  we were surrounded by our own kind, and there were enough of us to make effective insulation.

As a result, I didn't start to feel like I'd landed from the planet Koozbane until I returned to the US for my senior year in high school.  Nevertheless, as you surmise, that sense of alienness has endured throughout my life--and has shaped much of it.  It's hardly a coincidence that *all* of my sf/f novels can be read as "culture shock" stories.

(09/17/2004)

Michael From Santa Fe

I have a question about dukkha Waynhim - specifically, about his name.  The concept of "dukkha" in Buddhism relates to suffering and dukkha Waynhim was certainly a creature of great suffering - so I thought it was a cool name.  But, did giving one of the creatures of the Land a name that relates to a concept from "Covenant's world" give you pause?  I realize it is a rather obscure reference, but if Thomas Covenant had been a Buddhist, or knew something about Buddhism, wouldn't a creature with a name with a reference to his own world cause him to doubt the existence of the Land even more?  

Also, just because I'm curious and asking about names - when you created Linden Avery and her name, did the idea come from the Linden tree, which has heart shaped leaves - thus, Thomas Covenant's love interest?

No, I can't honestly say that it gave me pause.  After all, Herem, Sheol, Jehannum, moksha, turiya, samadhi, several of the Ramen names, and *Kevin* (for God's sake!), not to mention Sunder, are all real words from our world.  And then there's the curious fact that Covenant and Linden experience virtually no language barriers anywhere.  As you point out, such details can't undermine Covenant's insistence that the Land is not real.  If he is effectively "dreaming," what would compose the dream if not the hidden contents of his own mind?

Covenant's Unbelief has its own peculiar integrity, and I deliberately gave it as much support as I could.

Good call about Linden's name.  But I had other intentions as well.  "Linden"=tree.  Avery=aviary=birds.  Both "nature" references.  Which I considered appropriate for a woman who would become the Land's great healer at the end of "The Second Chronicles".

(09/17/2004)

Hello again

"Somehow human societies find ways to keep themselves alive in spite of their own worst impulses."

For some reason this line grabbed me, now, this is in no way intended as an antagonistic question but you sparked my easily kindled curiousity. Okay, here's the question. heh.

Do you view humans, as inherently...negative? Or are you simply stating the fact that inherent in every human, given complex cognitive function (vain attempt at intellect...chuckle), will, and desire, are both the dark and light aspects of a personality, and that the "wants" often outweigh the "shoulds" or "shouldnt's" of a given situation? In other words people have both qualites, good and bad, however it's usually easier to do what you want inspite of the fact that it may be incorrect (in the eyes of the majority).

This isn't a question of morality, because I don't think there are universal morals. People, generally speaking are the sum of their experiences, and the decisions they've made when encountering the opportunity to choose.

So in short I'm not asking for a "so do you think it right? or morally correct?" I'm asking, humans; inherently dark, or given the choice, and little opposition, they will go with what they want despite the way it may be viewed by the public at large.

I ask only because, the sentence made me think, and it may be helpful with a character I have yet to work on, with a deadline coming up. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Have a good one

J. Depp

 

There are a number of questions hidden away in there, none of which I'm actually wise enough to answer.  I'll just express a few opinions.  (Need I add that they're just opinions?)

Leaving out a long discussion of heredity and environment:  I take it as axiomatic that every human being is a mixture of qualities, each of which (the qualities) can be seen as positive or negative, depending on their circumstances and your perspective.  For myself, I find it more useful to think of persons as being very crudely divided into two groups:  those that choose to care about people other than themselves, situations other than their own, issues larger than their own well-being; and those that do not.  The former group tends to evolve ethical structures (however peculiarly defined)--and then live by them.  The latter group tends to be ruled by personal *want* and *need* (in other words, by fear).

However, using the word "group" now in a different sense:  it is a curious characteristic of groups (especially large groups, both spontaneous--e.g. rallies and mobs--and structured--e.g. bureaucracies) that they tend to reinforce the most self-centered and fearful qualities of their individual members.  Only very rarely do human beings in aggregate behave better than they would alone.  I can't begin to tell you how often I've experienced small acts of kindness from people whose group behavior is vicious.  (Missionaries are a good example.)

Like individuals, groups are ultimately guided (if not actively ruled) by an instinct for survival.  This accounts for much of their self-centeredness.  But it may also explain why they so often seem to pull themselves back from the brink of extinction at the last possible moment.  (An interesting case in point:  has anyone else read Thomas Cahill's fascinating "How the Irish Saved Civilization"?  The fact that modern Western civilization exists *at all* is a perfect demonstration of the point I'm trying to make.)

(09/17/2004)

Perry Bell

Hi Stephen,
 I see the original release is calling for Hardcover. Will the new series be released on paperback as well?
 "Fist and Faith"

Publishers decide whether to do a hardcover "original" or a paperback (or a trade paperback) "original" based on whether they think the potential audience justifies the expense of a hardcover (or trade paperback).  However, virtually all (fiction) hardcover "originals" *are* later reissued in paperback, typically a year after the hardcover.  The hardcover then effectively goes out of existence, and the paperback remains the only enduring form of the book--if it endures at all.

(09/17/2004)

Amanda Grey

Dear Stephen,

I have two questions;

I am so excited to be rereading the First and Second Chronicles after 15 years (I am now 37).  I have an 11-year old son who I managed to get reading at the very late age of 8, thanks to Harry Potter.  To what extent has the popularity of HP affected your own and have you read the books / seen the films?

(Incidently my son speaks better French than English, much to my *chagrin* and there doesn't seem to be a translation... I am a translator living in France, Irish born.)

2) I know you are a fan of Gormanghast.  Have you seen the British TV serialisation and do you think this format would be suitable for Covenant?

Thank you so much for the many years of reading pleasure and I am so looking forward to *la suite*.

Harry Potter hasn't had any affect on me that I'm aware of.  (Although the popularity of HP and LOTR on film may have affected the decision to buy an option on "Covenant".)  I've read one of the books and seen the three movies.  I enjoyed them, but they didn't touch me.

Yes, I saw the BBC version of Gormenghast.  As with the LOTR films, I thought they did as good a job as we could have hoped for; but much of the particular richness of those books was lost.  A 12+ hour mini-series of "Covenant" might be the most effective way to bring those books to film, but I still don't really consider "Covenant" to be film-able.  And of course the TV screen loses visual scale--an important aspect of "Covenant".  "Mordant's Need" would make much better movies, as would the GAP books, or some of my novellas (e.g. "Penance," "Daughter of Regals," or "The Killing Stroke").

(09/18/2004)

Scott Byers

Mr. Donaldson, I greatly enjoy reading all your books. I was very glad to hear that we will once again be able to return to the Land. I was wondering if you are planning any book tours to Canada soon?

The answers to all book tour questions are posted elsewhere on this site.  A Canadian tour is exTREMEly unlikely:  the audience isn't large enough to justify the publisher's expense (from the publisher's point of view, anyway).

(09/18/2004)

John McCann

I managed bookstores for years and have always been a bit curious about the publishing process.  It's now about 8-9 weeks until the release of Runes. What stage is the book in now? (eg.  Has the final draft been completed, with the typesetters, or actually been printed and bound and sitting in warehouuses)

Thanks

My experience with "Runes" this year is quite atypical.  Typically publication occurs 12-18 months after delivery and acceptance (what we call D&A) of a final manuscript.  The process takes so long because there are so many different things that have to be done:  cover art commissioned and painted; advertising designed (which usually can't happen until after the cover art and design is complete; but magazines typically require 3 months of lead time to run an ad); promotional campaigns planned and executed; copyediting on the manuscript; proofreading on the manuscript (a very distinct process from copyediting, but both take time, and the author needs to double-check both separately); contracts and schedules with printers negotiated; maps prepared (in my case, anyway).  And I'm sure I've left out a number of details.

The preparation of "Runes" has been cruel because 12-18 months of work--for everyone involved--has been squeezed into 6.  And that was only possible because the book was rushed to D&A (I was required to do a 6 months rewrite in less than 3).  So don't judge what normally happens in publishing by "Runes".

As it happens, my US publisher has had finished copies of the book arriving in their warehouse from the bindery for nearly 10 days now.  And books may very well start to appear in bookstores by early October.  My UK publisher is running about a week behind the US schedule.

(09/18/2004)

James DiBenedetto

A couple of questions about the influence that your work has had:

Are you aware of anything from your works popping up as cultural references (like the very specific references to "Dune" that appear in a couple of Yes songs, or your books being answers on "Jeopardy", etc)?

What do you think your influence has been on the field of fantasy or science fiction over the last 30 years?  

Are there any specific books or authors that you see your influence in?  Any time that you've read something and said "Aha!  He/she must have been reading the Gap series when he/she wrote this..."?  

I'm afraid the answers are no, no, and no.  Perhaps I'm the wrong person to ask.  I'm aware that I live a very "private" life, and that much of what is "public" passes me by.  But until recently I couldn't honestly say that I'd seen my influence anywhere except in, well, my children.  Then, however, I was made aware of Kevinswatch.com.  <grin>  So that's at least *some* influence.  But "cultural influence"?  "Influence on the field"?  "Influence on specific authors"?  If anything like that has happened, I'm unaware of it.

(09/22/2004)

Stephen Wright

Hello.

I’ve been reading your books since shortly after the first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant came out.  I’m very much looking forward to reading the last sequence in my favorite fantasy series.  The book tour is an additional bonus from my point of view, as I’ve been interested in meeting you almost as long as I’ve been reading you.

My question for you is one more of personal nature than one dealing with your works.  Simply put, it is this:  if your interest, time and schedule allows for it, would you be willing to meet people, perhaps before or after your bookstore appearances, in something like a “mini” Elohim-fest, at local public forums, such as a lunch or dinner?

I don’t have any real understanding of how wearing an author’s tour is, but I thought that perhaps a quiet meeting over a meal (or other avenue of your choice) might be a welcome break for you.  Given the way our world is, I completely understand your reluctance to accept earlier offers for meetings at homes…but I thought it could not hurt to ask if something more public and secure would possibly be desirable from your point of view.  Local folks might be able to point out things of regional interest, give you good recommendations of where to eat (since aliantha and springwine are unlikely to be readily available), etc.

Please accept my regrets.  I appreciate both the courtesy and the kindness of your offer.  But the sort of occasion you describe would simply add to my exhaustion.  When I'm out "flogging" books, dealing with travel fatigue, sensory overload, LOTS of work, terminal loneliness, and the strain of comporting myself in an appropriately "public" manner when I'm really a private person, the only thing--and I do mean the *only* thing--that restores me at all is to spend time with people I already know well, like, and am comfortable with.  People like family.  Or friends that I've known for decades.

(09/22/2004)

Peter Hunt

Mr. Donaldson,

In a previous answer, you described the changing POV you employed in the Gap series. During the first two books, the POV doesn't change that much (as evidenced by the chapters being numbered rather than named), while in later books, the POV changes much more often.

While writing the earlier volumes, did you forsee that the POVs would have to multiply in the later ones, or was this something that you discovered along the way? What determined whose POV should be used in chapters that dealt with multiple major characters?

I loved the Ancillary Documentation. I always appreciated the contrast between the very subjective views we get from the characters, and the objective, fact-based views we get from the Ancil. Docs.

Can you talk a bit about how you decided to include them? Was it mainly to avoid "As you know, John, ..." exposition, or did you have this contrast in mind? Did you always intend to omit them from the concluding volume, or was this a decision you made during revisions?

And are they trustworthy accounts? <g>

Thanks once again for being so gracious in answering all of our questions.

I've been putting off this question because I couldn't think of a way to answer it simply.  So please keep in mind with what follows that I'm only talking about *one* aspect of several rather complicated subjects.

Yes, I knew before I ever started on "Forbidden Knowledge" ("The Real Story" was originally written as a stand-alone novella, but it simply didn't work that way) that I would need a vast array of POV characters.  The issue here--as it is in the Ancillary Documentation--is "world-building."  What I call in the case of the GAP books "unrolling the canvas."  I have a systemic dislike for "As you know, John"-style exposition.  In addition, none of the GAP characters is likely to sit around discussing the details of their reality (can you imagine Angus saying, "As you know, Morn, matter cannon work like this"?):  they're all too busy struggling for their own survival.  In addition, the story simply takes place in too many locations at once for any one character, or any small handful of characters, to be an effective POV.  In addition, I've denied myself that wonderful gimmick which is so useful in the "Covenant" books and "Mordant's Need":  the "outsider" who demands the kinds of explanations the reader needs.  In addition, the canvas itself is more complex and contains a wider variety of details than the Land or Mordant.  So many POVs were necessary.

As were the Ancillary Documentation:  those sections are a kind of shorthand exposition which allowed me to *imply* much more world-building than was actually stated.  (And, yes, the AncilDocs were intended to be reliable.)  (They also served several other functions, which--as I said--I'm not discussing at the moment.)  I discontinued them in "This Day All Gods Die" because--as you may have guessed--after "Chaos and Order" I was done "unrolling the canvas."  All of the necessary details and characters were in place.

Both "The Real Story" and "Forbidden Knowledge," in their separate ways, are simpler in POV than the subsequent books because I needed narrative space in which to establish Angus, Morn, and (to a lesser extent) Nick as fully as possible without--in effect--overwhelming the reader with exposition about the larger canvas.  It would have been too much too soon for my intentions.

Determining which POV to use at which moment wasn't easy.  My guidelines, generally in this order, were:  use the character a) who has the most at stake at that moment, b) who has the most important decision to make or action to take at that moment, c) who has the widest perspective on what is going on at that moment (e.g. Koina before the GCES), d) whose subsequent off-stage actions may not be comprehensible without explanation, or e) who may be the only one who knows something that the reader needs to know at that moment.

<whew>

(09/23/2004)

Chris Hawks

Having written you twice already -- and having never really said it before: Thank you so much for doing this; it's really quite a treat to pick one of your favorite author's brain. (Heaven knows how I'd pester Orson Scott Card if he ever opened up a Q&A on his site :) It's a really neat and generous thing you're doing, and I thank you heartily for it.

That said, I recently finished up "Reave the Just and Other Tales" after hearing that the concluding novella ("By Any Other Name") was also a Reave story -- and I loved the first one. I can certainly see the potential for future Reave tales, and, though I know the basic Reave formula is fairly straightforward (protagonist is wronged, Reave arrives and confronts the antagonist, antagonist assaults Reave, protagonist defeats antagonist) I also know that any new story you write will have to pass your own high standards. So I'll keep my fingers crossed. :)

Questions:
1) Whose idea is it to publish a major fiction writer's short stories? Does the author say "Hey, I've got a few things we could collect together..." Does the publisher pester you for any other writings you've got lying around?

2) Also, who controls how the collection is put together? For instance, was it your choice to have the Reave stories headline the collection? (It could easily enough have been "The Woman Who Loved Pigs and Other Tales"...)

Typically, it's the writer's idea to publisher a collection of short stories.  Publishers don't "pester you for any other writings you've got lying around" because short story collections don't make much money.  Even comparatively successful collections have small profit margins, and today's multi-national mega-publishers aren't interested in small profit margins.  So it follows that the writer is entirely responsible for how the collection is put together.  The only detail that an editor has ever argued with me about was the title:  for "Daughter of Regals and Other Tales," I wanted "Ser Visal's Tale and Other Stories"; my editor wanted "Ser Visal's Tale and Other Tales"; I thought that sounded stupid; so we compromised on the actual title.

(09/23/2004)

Bob DeFrank

Mr. Donaldson

I don't have as much time as I would like for reading, but my profession often requires long car trips and I've become acquainted with audio books.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any audiocassette productions of your work, other than an abridged version of “The Real Story.”  I also understand “The Runes of the Earth” will appear in audio format.  Are there any plans to produce unabridged audio versions of your past works?  I would really like to re-read them.

Most sincerely,

Bob DeFrank

As I've said before, there are no plans for audio versions of my previous works, unabridged or otherwise.  And there will be no plans unless the 22-CD version of "Runes" is exTREMEly profitable.  Even then there will probably be no plans unless something happens to raise my "stock" to a whole new level:  e.g. enormously popular "Covenant" movies.  As I said about short story collections, the profit margins on audio books are small, so publishers usually don't do them.  Indeed, the subsequent volumes of "The Last Chronicles" will not be released in audio versions if "Runes" doesn't sell *very* well.

(09/25/2004)

Bob. DeFrank

Mr. Donaldson

I've heard that self-consciousness is among challenges to an artist, as it often leads to self-doubt.  You've achieved some (well-deserved) fame in your career.  Does the thought that millions of people will read your writing make the creative process difficult?  If so, how do you deal with this problem?

Most sincerely,

Bob DeFrank

I have no earthly idea whether or not "millions of people" will read what I write.  And I honestly don't think about things like that while I'm writing:  there my self-consciousness takes the form of "Am I even capable of writing a book this difficult?"  That concern is more than enough to fill me with self-doubt.  *Between* books I worry about things like, "Will this book sell?" but that form of self-consciousness doesn't impinge on my actual creative process--except to the extent that a history of *poor* sales ("Mordant's Need," the GAP books, my mystery novels) reinforces my impulse to doubt myself.

(09/25/2004)

Jerry Erbe

You made a statement in answering your last question that got me to thinking...you wrote:
<i>"The Earth is a whole lot bigger than the Land, and (like the Land) it's full of stories. I can't possibly tell them all."</i>
Given the commercial success of sci-fi and fantasy movies and their subsequent book spin-off's, i.e. Star Wars and Star Trek, etc., have their been any offers from other authors to perhaps write other stories relating to The Land, for instance, stories about the Giants journeys or stories of the Haruchai adventures? Would another author HAVE to get your permission to use your ideas and characters as a basis for a completely new storyline relating to The Land and its characters? / Thanks again for this forum. I know I speak for all your fans when I say that it is a special treat being able to personally hear your responses to our questions, however banal and repetitive they may become.

No one has ever approached me about writing a "spin-off" from the "Covenant" books--or from any of my books.  And yes, anyone who wanted to write a spin-off (for any purpose except their own private amusement) would *require* both my permission (as the holder of the copyright) and my publishers' permission (as holder of the publication rights).  And no, I would never give that permission.  As for my publishers, they probably wouldn't even answer the letter:  even if "Covenant" became a series of enormously popular films, my publishers would want to create their own spin-offs with writers they're already comfortable with.  And they would *still* need my permission, which they won't get.

(09/25/2004)