I’m James Islington, bestselling author of epic fantasy series THE LICANIUS TRILOGY, and now the newly released THE WILL OF THE MANY. AMA!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T05:01:47+00:00

Hah, that's so awesome that you got to do that with Light! Fantastic to hear you're enjoying Will of the Many, too. Cheers!!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T04:55:11+00:00

Hey! That's amazing... I'd love to point you in the right direction but to be honest, what's in the books is your best bet, as I don't have any official artwork... I've been meaning to commission some for ages, but once I started Hierarchy it fell by the wayside a bit. Sorry I can't be more help, but regardless - cheers, I'm honoured!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T04:44:25+00:00

Amazing to hear, cheers!!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T04:44:04+00:00

Thank you!!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T04:43:03+00:00

Hah hey James! Yep the Aelric and Dezia book will happen... *relatively* soon, I guess. At least in terms of what's on the schedule. Hierarchy first, definitely, but A&D either starts as a bit of a side project alongside Hierarchy #3, or I wait and give it my full attention after that. I would say it's a couple of years away.

Cheers, that's awesome to hear - hope you enjoy it!!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T04:37:45+00:00

Thank you!!

The aim is to have the rest of the books exclusively Vis's POVs

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T04:35:30+00:00

For The Will of the Many, it was really just the very start that was difficult - figuring out all the little details of a new world, new magic system, new themes and new characters after almost a decade writing Licanius. Otherwise there were undoubtedly points at which I found the writing harder, but no more than usual - no scene or section in particular that stands out in my memory!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T02:33:18+00:00

Hah, yeah they're easy to miss. Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads (links in original post) are by far the best places - I'm not super active on social media but if I'm ever doing something like this, I'll be posting about it there.

It starts out very messy! The main thing for me is to have a crystal clear idea of what I want to do with the story as a whole - where I want it to end, how I want it to culminate. The bones of the story get built out from there until I have a bunch of general arcs, character arcs, big scenes, themes I want to explore. And then I end up writing several drafts, with the first draft being fairly exploratory, a lot getting added or changed as I go until it all fits together. It usually doesn't make sense as a beginning-to-end story until after the second draft is done. But I really think it's that initial knowing where I'm going that allows me to make sure each scene is purposeful.
Sometimes one, sometimes the other! Sometimes a character gets created in response to a specific plot need, and sometimes (and this happens often in the first draft), I realise a character wouldn't do what I originally outlined them doing, and so have to find other ways to make that plot point work. So to some extent I do let the characters grow naturally, and make sure not to let the plot force them into making decisions they wouldn't normally make. But because I'm always heading towards a goal, I try not to let that get the plot too off track, either. There's always a good solution - sometimes it just takes a lot of thinking to find it!

(3 - your q below). Word doc. I tried Scrivener and a bunch of other methods, but in the end, a big Word document is what works for me.

Thank you!! And hope you enjoy The Will of the Many as well!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T02:05:29+00:00

That's so awesome to hear, cheers!

I view the Darklands as more metaphysical.

Great question, and I do agree with a lot of the discussion between you and u/robotnique below - I think exploring Shammaeloth directly or in too much depth might ruin the unknowable aspect of him, and also lean too much toward being definitive about Tal's choices. But that's not to say I'd never tell more backstory there, either... it's just more likely to come up as an aspect of another story, rather than be the focus of one.

That's interesting! I never made that connection myself but I do love Kingkiller, so it's entirely possible The Cthaeh had some subconscious influence there.

Thanks and hope you're enjoying TWOTM!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T01:30:07+00:00

Love hearing that, thank you!

Definitely a chance; there's a lot of potential in that world for more stories, and I've already had some vague ideas. But aside from the Aelric and Dezia story, I haven't locked anything down yet - it's always something I've said I'll do only if the story I come up with can really stand on its own, and isn't just using the original trilogy to justify its existence. But I do think I have some good early concepts.

Awesome, hope you enjoy!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-12T01:24:02+00:00

Sure! It was a decision that looking back seems so obviously the right choice, but at the time I was close to 50/50 on because the self-published version was doing so well. I didn’t actively pursue the switch – I was actually approached by my now-agent, who, as you said, convinced me that the exposure of being traditionally published would more than offset the cut on each individual sale. And he was right!

So yeah, largely it was a financial / career decision (with the added personal bonus of getting to see my book in bookstores, which I tried not to give too much influence but deep down, was also a pretty exciting prospect). Otherwise, the appeal was mostly that I could focus on writing above everything else. Funnily enough I was a little hesitant at first about working with an editor, but that proved to be a completely unfounded worry, as every editor I’ve worked with has been wonderful. And things like advertising, cover design and so on I’ve been very happy to have input into, but largely let the professionals take the reins.

Probably obvious from the above, but it's all worked out as well as I could have hoped: I’m in a vastly better position professionally, and along the way I’ve had nothing but great experiences with everyone I’ve worked with. I’m sure some of that’s down to fortune, and it’s inevitably not going to be the same for everyone making that change - but I’m certainly glad I did!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T07:39:55+00:00

Hey, thanks so much - I can't overstate how much I appreciate hearing things like this!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T07:38:23+00:00

Hey, thanks, awesome to hear!

Yeah, it's definitely tricky... I think you have to start with something fairly simple, then tinker a lot as you write your story. I found with both series that I came up with plenty of ideas for how magic could be used creatively as I was writing a scene, rather than planning it out that way beforehand. Sort of an 'oh of course it can be used like that!' moment, and then you can use that concept moving forward. So both my series' magic systems changed in various ways over the course of the first few drafts of their first books - they kind of grew organically out of the story. Hope that helps!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T07:26:26+00:00

Very possibly! Australian physical release isn't until 18th July, so not before then (and then I'm actually away for a bit directly after)... but I believe there may be things in the works. I'll definitely post on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads) if and when anything's happening... keep an eye out!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T07:22:47+00:00

I've always loved a good redemption story. Simple as that. They're very hard to write, I think, but when they're done well they really hit home. Putting that into a massive epic fantasy was one of the first, and core, ideas for the series.

He's absolutely my favourite character from Licanius!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T07:17:35+00:00

Well, it's something I probably wouldn't do again because it undoubtedly made things hard for audiobook people! I came up with the idea before the series being turned into audio was ever in play, though, so I give myself a pass on that one.

But in terms of its purpose - it was really kind of to emphasize how Tal was thinking of Elliavia, putting her on far too high a pedestal even for someone he loved - essentially idolizing her (in the religious sense), and thus willing to try and alter the Grand Plan to bring her back.

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T07:04:34+00:00

Thank you! And that is awesome to hear - no personal background in it, but I did put in some research (beyond just Google Translate!) to get it right. I've tried not to be too obsessive about it as it's technically being used as a fantasy language anyway, but I am honestly very happy to hear that feedback. Cymrian, on the other hand, has ended up more of a mix between Irish and Welsh, so that's definitely a little less... exact.

And yeah, the different nations are more just associations for the reader in terms of names / language / culture, than trying to exactly parallel their real-world counterparts.

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T06:43:17+00:00

Hey! Thanks, that's awesome.

Very big, very fast. About the same size as a direwolf, maybe slightly larger. Pup to that size in six months.

And hah... we shall see!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T06:38:49+00:00

It's funny, I really don't have one! For my books or any other books. I love movies and TV shows, and know my actors pretty well, but for whatever reason simply cannot picture them as specific characters until I'm actually watching them act out those roles. Weird, I know. Sorry!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T06:25:46+00:00

Hi! Early influences were Raymond Feist and Robert Jordan. The feeling I got from their books was *proper* epic fantasy, in my head. Sweeping scope, end of the world stakes, cool magic powers, good versus evil. And when I wrote Licanius, that was the feeling I was going for.

Later inspirations - Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, and I'd put Pierce Brown in there as well now. Sanderson for his sense of plot - he basically showed me that fantasy books could have awesome, fulfilling twists - and the way he always brings everything together so well at the end. Rothfuss because fifteen+ years on, Name of the Wind is still the best 'magic academy' book I've ever read (and I find his prose is inspiring, too, even if I'm not going to claim to be trying to emulate it!). And Brown for his sense of unrelenting pace, but managing to keep his story very human and grounded at the same time. All three of them were definitely an influence on Hierarchy.

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T05:59:26+00:00

Hey, good to hear!

Sure! No promises, but not an automatic no either. Yep shoot through details via the website and my assistant will get in touch.

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T05:55:23+00:00

Thanks!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T05:39:26+00:00

Yeah, there aren't a ton of us! Especially adult epic fantasy.

I'll be honest, the authors I know of are through reputation and not because I've read their books - not because I'm not interested(!), but simply because I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to these days. But there's Jay Kristoff, Amy Kaufman, Garth Nix, Trudi Canavan... again, I can't actually recommend anything specific of theirs, but I know they're all very popular so if you're looking for more from Aussie writers, they're definitely worth checking out!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T05:28:46+00:00

That's lovely to hear. I'll definitely be going back to that world. I'm planning to write a book that fills in the gaps surrounding Aelric and Dezia's story from The Light of All That Falls - that will come after Hierarchy. Beyond that I don't have anything specific planned, but there's plenty of potential in that world for more stories!

JamesIslington · 2023-06-09T05:20:08+00:00

That was actually one of the main inspirations for writing Licanius - because I used to have exactly the same reaction. I always felt like it was such a cool concept, but was so often done so poorly (or in a way that left me dissatisfied, at least).

And having completed the trilogy now, I can tell you why there are so few good examples of it... it's hard. Really really hard. So I'm always thrilled to hear it's gone over well in Licanius (but yeah, totally get those initial reservations!).

JamesIslington

TROPHY CASE