Blog Archives
A Broader Canvas
Broken centers around a shapeshifter plagued by the chaos of living as a human and enduring her own lost sense of self. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I have to admit that my own experience has partly led to Alira’s story. While I don’t have dozens of voices in my head (other than the characters in my stories, that is), I always felt like an outsider among those around me. It took me many years to find my tribe, and to reach a place in my life where I felt I could be myself and not struggle to fit in.
I’ve known many others like this, and it’s hard. For all of us. Struggling to be the kind of person you think others expect of you can be soul-draining. That’s what started Alira’s tale for me. From there, it took off on its own.
What is it that draws you to the science fiction genre?
I like science fiction because it allows me to stretch reality in ways that drive home the point of the story. I feel like The Founder’s Seed books could also be called science fantasy, since there are elements of it (the harvesting of souls, for one) that can’t be supported by science. But these genres expand the boundaries of what is possible or probable, and allow the reader a greater leeway for suspension of disbelief.
My stories usually ask big questions; so far, science fiction and science fantasy have both offered a broader canvas for that work.
Do you have a favorite character in The Founder’s Seed series? One that his especially enjoyable to craft?
Of course, Alira is my favorite. She’s me in so many ways that count. She’s definitely the hardest to write, but also the most rewarding.
A very close second favorite is Botha; he’s a joy to write! Putting myself in his head, so that I can write him with authenticity, is always fun!
Where will the next book in the series take readers? When can we expect to see it released?
The next book, Driven, picks up where Broken left off; it gives a closer—and thoroughly raw—look at the new antagonist, Knøfa; follows Alira’s journey through her time with Botha, and what comes after (no spoilers!); settles Thrace/Galen in her/his role; and sets the threads for the follow-up trilogy that is already in the works.
Driven was released in late June and is now available for readers.
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To make matters worse, the harvests of knowledge and memories she’s gathered from the dead aren’t adequate to fully understand her assumed role—unless she surrenders control to the one internal voice she thinks can make things right. But that harvest isn’t willing to share the space in her head, and soon Alira is no longer sure which voice is his, and which is her own.
Galen has vowed to help Alira succeed and follows her increasingly unbalanced directives, until he realizes that her harvests have corrupted her conscience, maybe even her sanity. Galen has never been a leader. But as the crisis screams toward them, he must make a choice: abandon their people to save Alira or sacrifice her to save them all.
Restrictive Societies
Fallen is an immersive sci-fi tale following a young woman torn between duty and defiance, navigating political intrigue, alien traditions, and the weight of inherited secrets that could reshape her entire civilization. What were some sources that informed this novel’s development?
I have always been a huge fan of Frank Herbert’s Dune trilogy (as well as the books that fleshed out the series after his death). I can’t even remember how many times I read that first book. Each time, I found Paul Atreides’ journey inspiring and motivational, especially the way he took each apparent challenge and turned it to his advantage, making him stronger and more resilient. I hope that Alira’s journey in The Founder’s Seed would offer that same kind of feeling to readers.
What inspired Alira’s character arc from idealist to survivor, and how much of her journey reflects personal experiences or broader themes you wanted to explore?
A lot of Alira’s journey reflects my own, only without the sci-fi details. Like Alira, I’ve never felt like I “fit” with others around me, regardless of how I tried. Both Alira and I stood firm in our belief that things could be (can be) different. Better. Both of us feel like an island in a vast sea of opinions and views that don’t reflect our own or, if they do, their opposition is too strong to resist. I know Alira and I are not alone in that.
It’s hard—sometimes impossible—to stay silent in the face of clear violations of a perceived Truth. Alira learns the consequences of speaking out and, eventually (by the end of book 3, Driven), she finds strength, balance, and peace with herself and those around her, but on her own terms. This is what I hope for myself, and for everyone like me who finds it challenging to be true to who we are inside while operating in a world that sometimes feels alien to us. I wanted to offer Alira as an inspirational hero, one who can show us that it isn’t easy to be true to yourself, but in the end, it is absolutely worth it.
In Alira, I also wanted to explore what would happen when something catastrophic broke down the walls that held her back and gave her the opportunity to stretch into her authentic self. I think that part worked quite well, though her journey to find that authentic self is…circuitous. But that’s like real life, isn’t it?
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I wanted to explore the concept of restrictive societies, where there’s no room for those who don’t blend in, and how it affects not just those who are exiled (or otherwise penalized), but those who manage to hide their differences. I also wanted to explore how those many individual prices cost the society overall.
The theme of personal growth under pressure was also important to me in this trilogy. Most of us have a “line in the sand,” boundaries we’ve defined for ourselves and those we allow into our lives. I wanted to explore crossing that line, and what might motivate someone to push past that point of no return. Sometimes, the best and strongest growth happens in adverse circumstances and while it might not be predictable or proceed in expected ways, it’s often rugged and enduring. One doesn’t have to be carrying signs or weapons to be a revolutionary. Sometimes all it takes is to step off the beaten path toward the perception of a “better way,” and refuse to go back to accepted standards. It isn’t an easy choice, but it can be a very powerful one.
I also wanted to explore, to a lesser degree (at least in this trilogy), the long-term effects of the reasons for humans’ Earth exodus—the environmental destruction and resulting wars—and what that result would look like in their colonial world structures. These details are mostly in the background, but they are definitely there, if you look closely.
(The backstory of all this is in the works and will eventually be published as part of the Founder’s Seed universe saga.)
The inherited memories in the story are fascinating—what influenced your decision to weave the past so tightly into the narrative?
Well, the present is always built on the foundations of the past. What happened then will always affect what happens now, sometimes in subtle unseen ways. I wanted to make that a bit more stark, more jarring. Hearing about the past is one thing; actually seeing it through the eyes of someone who was there brings a whole new understanding to the situation. Lurien serves as the unammi’s historian, which is one reason why hers is the first voice on the council.
I also wanted that aspect of the story to serve as a fragile thread of connection between the “before” and “after” for the unammi. Since Alira’s view of that history is fragmented, she can only bring a portion of that history forward. Imagine what would happen if the human race was nearly wiped out, and all our history erased. We would have to start over from scratch. Alira’s inherited memories, incomplete as they are, give her people at least a whisper of hope that some of their past could be remembered, if not recreated. And her memories inherited from others widen the unammi perspective, at least for her. This more comprehensive view offers the potential to rebuild unammi society with a broader base, and a more accepting perspective.
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Alira knows the pilots—including her brother—who live among the humans will be the next target for enemies of the unammi, unless someone flies to the nearest colony world to warn them of the threat. And since Alira Harvested the last pilot on Iridos, she’s the only one who can do it. If she leaves, she’ll be outcast. If she doesn’t, her brother and the other pilots will die. To Alira, there’s no choice. She’s never going to fit in anyway.
As a shapeshifter, looking human is easy. Acting human is far more difficult, especially once her Harvests start arguing in her head. But she has to succeed. If her species is to have any chance at survival, Alira must take the form of her nemesis, Harvest souls never intended for her, and shelter the remnants of her race where her enemies would never look, in a place only a lunatic would go.
Can she succeed without going insane?
Inspired by Odysseus
Allan Batchelder Author Interview
Steel, Blood and Fire is a genre-crossing novel with elements of a fantasy, military, and history as well. Did you start writing with this in mind, or did this happen organically as you were writing?
I was, in part, inspired by Glenn Cook’s Black Company series, along with the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson. So much so that I wanted to try my own hand at it.
I found Vykers to be a very well written and in depth character. What was your inspiration for his emotional turmoil through the story?
Here, I think I was most inspired by Odysseus, and his long journey home from Troy. Vykers has a lot of Odysseus’ arrogance — and deadly competence, as well.
The supporting characters in this novel, I felt, were intriguing and well developed. Who was your favorite character to write for?
That’s a tough one! Of course Vykers is fun to write. But so is Rem, the actor. That character allowed me to poke fun at the acting profession and relive a few of my own foibles. Then there is Spirk, the idiot. I have a special place in my heart for characters who are not quite up-to-speed, for want of a better term. He also provides a lot of the story’s comic relief. Finally, Aoife was enjoyable for me, because she reminds me of my sisters and wife, to some degree. I really liked looking at the story through her Earth Mother’s eyes.
I understand that you’re also an actor and stand-up comedian. How have those experiences helped you write your stories?
I think those things definitely shape my voice as a writer, the way I hear dialogue, and indulge in opportunities to shameless nonsense. But being an actor has also given me a fair amount of experience wielding a long sword, which comes in handy when writing fight scenes.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be published?
Actually, you have (kindly) review the first book in an existing four-book series. Steel, Blood & Fire is followed by As Flies to Wanton Boys, Corpse Cold, and, most recently, The Abject God. I am currently working on the series finale, The End of All Things, which I expect will to release in late 2018.
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![Steel, Blood & Fire (Immortal Treachery Book 1) by [Batchelder, Allan]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61yePxmmb%2BL.jpg)
On the march, around the campfire, and in the taverns, they tell incredible stories about Tarmun Vykers, the Reaper – how he’s never been cut in battle, how he once defeated hundreds of men by himself, how he exterminated an entire people over an insult. These stories make Vykers seem like a god, but he is a man, an arrogant, ruthless and bloodthirsty man. For all that, he may be the only thing standing between the human race and utter annihilation at the hands of the mad wizard who calls himself the End-of-All-Things. Against this backdrop, smaller, lesser folks struggle to fulfill their own destinies, folks like Aoife, burdened with a secret so dark she is driven to do the unimaginable and seek an alliance with fey powers no mortal has ever encountered.
LITERARY TITAN 