After author Charles E. Gannon broke into fantasy with his Vortex of Worlds series, I wanted to know the method behind this madness. Gannon’s bestselling books have been honored by Dragon, ALA Choice, and Compton Crook Awards. Two of his series—one hard SF, Caine Riordan, and the other epic fantasy, the aforesaid Vortex of Worlds—have multiple Nebula and Dragon Awards nominations. He is also the showrunner for Eric Flint’s 1632 series.
How does he glide so easily between genres?
Daily Dragon (DD): After your successes in writing science fiction and alternate history novels, what challenges of the fantasy genre prompted you to create the Vortex of Worlds series?
Charles E. Gannon (CEG): Actually, the desire to write fantasy predates my desire to write science fiction. The ideas for the Vortex of Worlds series existed in semi-organized form over 30 years ago, took more concrete shape in about 2015, and was contracted in 2017. So it was a matter of clearing the extant professional commitments before I could start it. I have known what I wanted to do with fantasy, and where it was headed, from my earliest years as a writer.
DD: How did world-building in your prior science fiction and alternate history works inform or help in structuring your fantasy world?
CEG: If anything, the world-building methods I use in science fiction and alternate history become even more rigorous when applied to fantasy. I do not mean that they are more empirically exacting. Rather, I mean that there are even more questions that need to be asked, andthe answers have to also explain why the world’s fantastic elements are present.
If that sounds contradictory, consider it this way. Let us assume that in your fantasy world, objects thrown into the air are still pulled down by gravity, water boils at 100 degrees centigrade, and all the other physical constants of our natural world are observed. Conversely, the very definition of a fantasy world is that these (and/or other physical constants) can be superseded or altered. And that begs the question: what is doing so and how does it do it? And on the assumption that none of the responsible creatures or entities have infinite power to achieve these effects, then what motivates them to expend that power?
Logically, the more that it is in the interest of the of the entities/creatures to do so, the power they would be willing to expend.
In essence, my first step in creating a fantasy world is to not merely establish how this power operates (and informs the shape of the magic system), but how the actions of those entities which possess it are tied to their priorities, needs, and desires.
DD: Did any elements of fantasy especially affect the characters, their traits, and goals as imagined for your fantasy series?
CEG: There are many ways in which the dynamics and customary tropes of fantasy not only allow, but often compel, an author to develop characters differently.
To give just one example, in fantasy worlds there are often higher powers that can supersede the typical limits of natural laws, such as deities, oracles, and beings/creatures with inexplicable powers. Characters in such a world grow up with the knowledge and possibly personal witness of the existence of these “supernatural” events.
In one sense, this makes it a world of unthinkable certitude. Deities may prove their existence, and power. Prophecy may typically prove to be accurate. Consequently, people growing up in such a world know that such powers are not merely possible but actual and shape their world by transcending natural law.
On the other hand, the price of that certitude is an equivalent certainty regarding the comparative limits of humankind. Specifically, though our world has innumerable unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions about the cosmos, it is also possible that we are the most knowledgeable and capable beings in that universe. But for a person coming of age in a fantasy universe, they become painfully aware that humanity is not at the apex of power, or the top of the food chain in any meaningful fashion. This changes not only individual psyches, but the societies to which they give rise. So whereas the motto on US currency (“In God We Trust”) is a profession of hopeful faith, in a fantasy world, this might be a statement of routinely-confirmed fact. Which is, in turn, a reminder that human existence continues at the whim of the entities which possess those insuperable powers.
DD: What advice can you offer for writers trying out their skills in a new genre?
CEG: Probably the most commonly advice given to a writer about to embark upon a new genre is some version of this: “Think about all the things that could be different.” It’s not bad advice, but it can have some problematic consequences.
Firstly, being open-ended, it can spawn too many responses by encouraging the writer to think of *all* the things that could be different, followed by brainstorming how they might be. That will create an interesting list of possibilities, but there is no inherent consistency or pattern among those observations.
That’s why I will risk sounding a contrarian note by suggesting that a writer begins by asking what elements are assuredly the same in both our world and this fantasy world … because if this question is asked incisively enough, it could tease out concrete (and profound) changes that give it added depth.
Here’s an example: let us assume that an authorinitially asserts that our concepts and experience of human love is a constant in both worlds. But what if this is a world in which individuals know that there is life after death? Does courting danger in battle require as much courage? And if that person loses their life, do those close to him or her feel the same degree of grief…because they know their loved one lives on?
This could change not merely the psyche and interactions of individuals, but strongly impact many of the most basic institutions and traditions of society as we know it. And that is a very useful thing to know about a new fantasy world.
For more news about Charles Gannon and his work, visit Charles E. Gannon.
