Freya Robertson on the inspiration for her new novel, Heartwood [author]

One of my favorite questions to ask authors is to share with me the inspiration for their stories. It seems like such an obvious question, but the more I ask it, the more I am inspired and impressed with the creativity and ability of good writers to create new worlds.

One such author is Freya Robertson, the author of the new book Heartwood, which came out October 29th in the U.S. I had read that Robertson drew her inspiration for the novel–the first in her ambitious and epic Elemental Wars series–from an interest in both the historical monastic knights of medieval Europe and her love for all things Tolkien, so when the opportunity arose, I asked her to share with Attack of the Books! her inspiration for the novel.

Hi Daniel and thanks for featuring me on your blog!

Heartwood was inspired by a great number of things—by books such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon and Terry Brooks’s Shannara stories, by movies such as Kingdom of Heaven, Gladiator and The Lord of the Rings, by historical people and events like the Templar knights and the rise of monasticism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and by English folklore and legends like King Arthur and Robin Hood.

For the purpose of this article, let’s have a look at the historical influences. I’ve always loved the medieval period so giving Heartwood a traditional quasi-medieval European setting was an easy choice for me. I wanted the story to feel familiar for readers of the genre, while also ensuring it has a modern twist, by changing the traditional elves, dwarves and orcs to creatures based on the elements (in this case, the Darkwater Lords who rise from the ocean to steal the tree’s heart) and also by creating more of a gender balance than was usual in the medieval world.

I took a degree in history and archaeology and studied castles and fortifications, battles and sieges, and monasticism in some depth, and to a certain extent, Heartwood is all of these rolled into one. Heartwood itself is a fortified temple, built around the holy tree and defended by the Militis or holy knights who both worship and guard the tree. I very much based these on the Templar knights as I was intrigued by the idea of a holy soldier, one who was part monk and part warrior, and who had to balance these two ideals. Likewise, the temple is recognizably based on a medieval monastery, although instead of the church attached to the cloister and living areas there is the circular temple with its glass dome that houses the Arbor—the holy tree.

The Militis’s day is similar in many ways to a medieval monk’s, with hours set aside for prayer and study, but the Militis also have regular weapons practice and they all have to spend a certain amount of time in the Exercitus—Heartwood’s standing army. The army was created mainly to protect the temple and the tree, but over the years it has also become a peacekeeping force, patrolling the wall between two countries who are constantly on the edge of war.

The word “epic” can be defined as “heroic”, “classic” and “ambitious”, and I think Heartwood contains all these definitions. It’s heroic because it features characters like Chonrad, an ordinary man without magical powers who is nonetheless heroic because of his courage, honesty and integrity, and who has to battle to overcome his resentment and anger of being turned down by Heartwood as a child to rally the Militis and attempt to save the day. It’s classic because it’s meant to read like a traditional epic fantasy, bearing many of the aspects that readers love of that genre, while also hopefully providing a modern flavour. And it’s ambitious, because it’s epic in scale; not only is it the largest book Angry Robot have ever produced, but it covers four vast lands and a large cast of characters.

If you love stories involving epic world-building, medieval knights, armour, weaponry and battles, then hopefully Heartwood will be your sort of thing!

Freya

Don’t miss Heartwood when it hits shelves on October 29th. You can read an excerpt from the book here. Pick it up at a local bookseller or on Amazon, and keep Freya writing. The sequel to Heartwood is Sunstone and will be out on March 25, 2014 (so you won’t have to wait long!).

[GUEST POST] 10 Shows That Turned Freya Robertson Into a Geek (sfsignal.com)
Fiction Affliction: October Releases in Fantasy (tor.com)
Heartwood by Freya Robertson (ARC) (hstoffelbookreviews.wordpress.com)
Review: Heartwood by Freya Robertson (koeur.wordpress.com)

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Title: Heartwood
Series: Elemental Wars, Book One
Author: Freya Robertson
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Angry Robot
Release Date: October 29, 2013
Pages: 528

A dying tree, a desperate quest, a love story, a last stand.

Chonrad, Lord of Barle, comes to the fortified temple of Heartwood for the Congressus peace talks, which Heartwood’s holy knights have called in an attempt to stave off war in Anguis. But the Arbor, Heartwood’s holy tree, is failing, and because the land and its people are one, it is imperative the nations try to make peace.

After the Veriditas, or annual Greening Ceremony, the Congressus takes place. The talks do not go well and tempers are rising when an army of warriors emerges from the river. After a fierce battle, the Heartwood knights discover that the water warriors have stolen the Arbor’s heart. For the first time in history, its leaves begin to fall...

The knights divide into seven groups and begin an epic quest to retrieve the Arbor, and save the land.