Feel free to email me: robert@robert-low.com. I'll use your comments, queries and resulting answers on this page.
Mr Low, I have just finished The Whale Road, loved it, and look forward to follow-ups. Historical novels are a terrific way to discover history as well as enjoy a rattling good yarn. As a result of reading your book I am going to carry out some research on Vikings. I suspect a Christmas present from her indoors will help - especially as we have just discovered her great grandfather was Norwegian!
One suggestion - some of the terms used are new to me, and a glossary would help. Plus - maps please!
It seems terrible to keep asking people to wait until March for The Wolf Sea - but that's publishing. I resisted a glossary in The Whale Road mainly because I tend to make it clear within the text exactly what some of the Old Norse terms mean. I forgot, of course, that most readers don't know the first thing about all that, so that even references to a 'jarl' leave them bemused! I am told there's no time to remedy this in The Wolf Sea, so I'm going to put one on this website.
Maps every time - and at least I included a glossary of placenames
so readers can orientate themselves with tenth-century geography.
I've been a fan of the latest Bernard Cornwell novels featuring Uhtred. I never really had much appreciation for the Viking thing until now, but I loved your book. Please keep writing - people who do it well and have good stories to tell are far too few!
Thanks for that! It's nice to get letters from people in America
letting me know they appreciate the book.
Hi Robert, can't wait for Wolf Sea to come out
in March 2008. That's the only problem with reading - you miss the characters
between books. Sorry, digressing slightly.
I managed to purchse one of your doodled copies (Viking Head) of Whale
Road and hope to obtain a smilar copy of Wolf Sea. Do you know if there
will be such copies available and if so, where I can purchase one from.
Thanks for the kind words - and for buying a doodled copy, since they are almost always more expensive! I doodled on requested ones for specialist (first-edition) book sellers and for EVERYONE who came up and asked me to sign their copy. The short answer is - yes, there will be similar signed copies of The Wolf Sea but I could not tell you where at this stage, though it is probably the same booksellers as last time. Or, depending on where you live and where I will be, you can get me to sign one personally by shoving it under my beard and asking.
Will your books be published in German, too?
HarperCollins tell the Frankfurt Book Fair is where all such
deals are done, so it's under discussion just now. Germany is among several
countries who have expressed an interest in publishing - including Norway!
- so keep your fingers crossed.
I was doing the old Google thing to find out when your next
novel was going to be released and found your site. I wanted to say what a
fantastic read The Whale Road was. Brilliant characters and scene setting
so descriptive I could smell it - crivens, those Vikings do whiff though!
I am a fan of historical novels, especially the gritty, realistic ones, and
have all Bernard Cornwell's novels (except Sharpe, because I prefer BCE or
early CE). I thought Whale Road was of a similar calibre - I actually liked
it better than most, but don't tell him.
By the way, I was born and raised in Grimsby, before I escaped
to Scotland. Ever read Havelok the Dane? I'd really like to read a realistic
version of that!
Thanks for the excitement.
Your guilty Bernard Cornwell secret is safe
with me - well, almost - but I am sure he won't mind, while I am flattered to
be assumed in the same league. I haven't read Havelok the Dane for years, but
the tale is brilliant and I was pleasantly surprised to find, thanks to you stimulating
my interest, that there is a website www.havelokthedane.com
I live on the Essex coast about 30 miles from Maldon. Us Anglo-Saxons didn't
fair to well last time you north men were in town, with the defeat of Earl
Brithnoth and his men at the Battle of Maldon. Not sure if this is a
battle you re-enact - but it would be great if you did.
Yes, we do re-enact it, as a matter of fact. And Hrothgar's Saga is a favourite
with kids, too, since we get them to join in and play some of the parts.
I was thoroughly absorbed in your book and can't wait for the next one. Even thoughI live in Cornwallum I still know what a Jarl and a torc is, although having a brother who lives and works in Shetland probably helps!
Glad you liked it, and thanks for letting me know. The
Eddas are good, but a little rich for my taste. For that essential bedtime
reading I much prefer the Icelandic Saga - good rip-roaring stuff! Glad
you enjoyed it and took the time to let me know - that is always a help when
you are writing. In the end, I decided the title of the second book will
be The Wolf Sea and it will be out in March 2008, taking the crew on another
long trek. I am quite excited that the audio version will be out this August
- it will be strange to hear it actually being read by someone else.
Really enjoyed The Whale Road. The best I can compare it to is the sense of excitement I felt when I read Henry Treece's Viking's Dawn trilogy, 30 years ago! I stumbled across your first book by accident but I will looking out for the next one. Well done.
I am
honoured to be compared to Henry Treece, so thanks for that. In fact, it
was Henry Treece's books I remembered from my childhood when I started to
write The Whale Road, but I haven't read one for years. That's the problem
with writing a particular genre of historical fiction - you don't dare read
any of the stuff you like in case of what is euphemistically called 'cross-pollination'
issues.
I couldn't believe it, but I really felt I was there with Orn and the rest of ther crew! Thanks for letting me in your world.
Thanks for the appreciative comments - keep reading and look
out for Book 2 sometime next March!
Thank you for writing such a wonderfully engrossing book. It's a long time since I've so looked forward to going to be (which is when I do most of my reading). I've read all kinds of historical fiction and yours is definitely of the very first order. I'd have no hesitation in placing it right up there with the best of Bernard Cornwell's, which for a lifelong BC fan is high praise indeed.
I'm a big fan of the Vikings, particularly since finding out my surname, Doyle, suggests I may be descended from them (the Irish expression 'dugh ghall', 'dark stranger', was the name they gave to invading Danes). I'm reading the Prose Edda to reconnect with the world of my forefathers - so many long lists of names the skalds must have had prodigious memories!
I look forward with great relish to reading the future adventures of the Oathsworn. Keep up the great work and may your sword arm never fail you in the shield wall.
Glad you liked it, and thanks for letting me know. The
Eddas are good, but a little rich for my taste. For that essential bedtime
reading I much prefer the Icelandic Saga - good rip-roaring stuff!
I would really like to by signed first edition of your novel. Do you plan to do any signings so I can visit a bookshop and buy a copy?
Just keep checking the website, or even better, join
the newsgroup. I'll let you know every time I'm doing an appearance – and
if you come, it will be signed!
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed The Whale Road. A real page-turner. I loved the use of narrative to re-educate us about how those no-good Christians nicked all our best rites, beliefs and festivals. Gripping stuff - thank you! PS - The Jarl Torc is a great title!
Thanks for that. The conflict between the early Christian church and the paganism of the north is, arguably, what changed the Norse from a people of scattered jarldoms to a unified kingdom. In the process, of course, some of the fierce driving force of the Vikings (like the Oathsworn) had to be lost.
As for The Jarl Torc... maybe we'll see it on a book-jacket yet.
One thing that was clear from the start was The Whale Road is written by someone who knows about swords and sword fighting, and sword-and-shield fighting. When I read the credits at the end, I understood. I've never done sword-and-shield myself but I've tried to follow I-33 on sword and buckler, and trained in bastard sword and rapier.
I'm no longer in Glasgow and so I'm learning this new trade with the Company of Dawn Duellists in Edinburgh. We tend to focus on later times, when there are books describing techniques on which we base our practice.
I await your next book with interest. Will you, i nthis bicentenary of the abolitiion of the slave trade, allude to the role the trade played in the development of Norse wealth, I wonder?
I know the Dawn Duellists well - I think we're to clash
again at Lanark in June or July. Glad you enjoyed the book too. As to the
slave trade... Sorry, I'm not that PC. I allude to thralls all the time,
but only in passing, as a good Norseman would. It's only rarely that thralls
are considered at all - which is presumably why few, if any, re-eneactors
ever want that role!
Our re-enactment group myself is very particular about the authenticity of our clothes and gear. I have a quesiont about your characters' use of socks. Our understanding is the leg bindings continued down from below the knee to the foot, and were covered by the shoe. In winter dried grass could be placed under the wrapping to keep the feet warm. Do you have any knowledge about the socks in your time period?
BTW our swords come from Armourclass, a re-enactment sword maker par excellence in Scotland.
It's always good to hear from fellow re-enactors of the period who appreciate what I write! Leg-bindings vary - some are no more than puttees, some are cross-gaiters and some, as you point out, continue below the foot. Most people I know wear naal-bind socks, leaving leg-bindings for when we do Saxons at Hastings. Naal-binding is the simplest form of knitting known, a single stitch repeated in a circle, making a long tube which becomes a sock. Warm and comfortable!
And I'll mention you to Boj, who owns Armourclass. He's one of
my group and is also the model for Einar the Black.
I'm glad you mentioned the contribution of the Lord of the Isles to the Bruce's success on your website. I'm too lazy to seriously research myself, and I appreciate greatly the the work of writers like yourself. I also had to smile when you used your acknowledgements page to descibeat Largs' communal guilt on repulsing the Norse in 1263. I used to know the town well and often wonder if the Nardinis are still providing their excellent ice cream. I look forward to your next novel - you're a joy to read.
The Norse connection with Scotland is not one I was ever taught at school. In fact, Scottish history was never taught as a distinct discipline. It was the Tudors, the industrial revolution and WWII - anything else you found out by yourself. So the likes of the Lord of the Isles and the Battle of Largs were a mysteries until Nigel Tranter, bless him.
Sadly, Nardinis went into new ownership two years ago and has
been closed for refurbishment ever since. We live in hope of it opening in
2008.
The book has a real blockbuster feel to it. Did it start that way or is that the result of work with an agent and editor? How much has the book changed from first draft?
Yes, it started that way. I see things in scenes,
like a movie and that’s
how I write. Having edited other people’s work for years, I felt easy about
being edited myself – until it happened. But Susan Watt at HarperCollins
knows her stuff, knows how to make it pacier and leaner – knows how to
make it work. Basically, The Whale Road is what I wrote, though the first Chapter
changed considerably. Peculiarly, Book 2 got the same treatment – so
I am starting Book 3 with an eye to the sort of intro I know Susan would prefer.
How long has The Whale Road been in the making? Do you think parts two and three will come together faster? Did you have a whole story arc prepared before you began part one, and if so, has it changed as you went along?
The genesis of The Whale Road began with the Vike
group I belong to – Glasgow
Vikings. All the characters were there, in part or whole and the more you live
together, sometimes for ten days at a time at some festivals (Largs, Isle of
Man etc) the more of a crew you become. When you join up with other groups,
there is still a sense of belonging to your own people; in a shieldwall, you
fight, as often as not, with your own mates. I wrote The Whale Road in six
weeks and the only thing I had was an outline and the idea that it was a trilogy.
Subsequently, I have had to plot the second and third ones carefully and in
tandem. Book 2 is now written. Book 3 is on the way.
A lot of writers use the device of an older character talking about his younger days. Why did you choose that approach? Has it anything to do with your own experiences?
I have no idea, consciously. In fact, I learned
that writing in the first person is supposed to be incredibly difficult
and not favoured by publishing-house editors, because it limits the point
of view, doesn’t allow for narrative
swoops to different parts of the forest or whatever. To me, it just seemed
natural. However, I am working on a 20th century tale (the love story) which
has three people’s stories in it and spans about 40 years.
How much of you is in Orm? And is that important?
Hard to say. Orm is young yet and, though I can
relate to some of that (I was once, after all) I get closer to him the
older he gets. The young Orm of The Whale Road is more likely to be what
I thought I was. Is it important? Not really. I think it just happens when
any writer visualises a character – you
have to use what you know and what you know best is how you feel.
How helpful has it been to be part of a Viking re-enactment group? What do you think you'd have missed if you hadn't had that experience?
It's been crucial. The sheer weight of expertise and
knowledge, shared enthusiastically by people who love the whole era is invaluable.
You can learn more about the Norse in a weekend than a year of reading books.
What would I have missed? How it feels to stand in a shieldwall while some
psycho berserker hurls down on you screaming. What it feels like to have
an expert with a long-handled axe decide to destroy your shield. How the
dark is really dark and scary, even in the 21st century, when you wander
twenty steps from a lonely fire and your mates in some field somewhere in
the Highlands.
Are there things you'd do differently if you were writing it again?
I would have persisted with it earlier in my career, but allowed rejection
slips to get in the way.
Most journalists would say they have a book in them. If you weren't writing this stuff, what else might you write about? And have you any plans to expand your portfolio?
The most unlikely people have books in them and
don’t write
for a living like journalists do. I like writing historical fiction, but
that covers a wide sweep and I have plans for two books, one of which is
set in the 19th century and one set in the first part of the 20th. And that’s
a love story!
What do you think is the most appealing factor contributing to the explosion of historical fiction?
The most appealing factor is that the likes of
Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden and others have captured the imagination
of the public. The truth is that historical fiction never went away – look
at Mary Stewart, Alfred Duggan and Dorothy Dunnet – but went through
a phase of being hijacked by writers of romantic fiction. It became the
bodice-ripper. That still goes on, but mercifully real authors have reclaimed
it.
What do you think are the most important elements of writing historical fiction?
Same element that make journalism work – get the facts right.
Also, get the period right. There are a lot of writers of historical fiction
who are all story and no lifestyle. Incidentally, that’s what fails
to excite me about all those historical whodunits – these are 21st
century crime fiction tales transposed to medieval/Roman/Aztec eras and you
can’t make it work for many period reasons. Not least of which, in
some cases, is that no-one would give a toss about a dead peasant and, even
if it was someone important, they wouldn’t waste time gathering evidence.
The nearest logical candidate would be fitted for it and if there wasn’t
one, the nearest old crone at the edge of the village, who is clearly in
league with the Devil. Failing that, there is always a possessed pig.
Who are your main influences and why?
Dorothy Dunnet and Alfred Duggan, from when I was
young, for they wrote elegiac historical fiction that has not been bettered.
Writing styles may change, but nothing can beat the Niccolo series by Dunnet – or the less remembered
Crawford of Lymond. Best of all was King Hereafter, which reclaimed Macbeth from
Shakespeare and made him a Norseman again. Brilliantly researched, brilliantly
observed. While you might find her still on library shelves, you probably won’t
find Duggan, which is a shame. He wrote his first – Knight in Armour – in
1946 and went on to cover periods of history from Ancient Greece to the Crusades.
An archaeologist as well as a writer, he visited every battlefield and location
in his books and it shows. They are being reissued, bit by bit, by Phoenix
and you can find them on Amazon again. I highly recommend them.
Where do you think historical fiction fits in a world of genres?
Somewhere left of fantasy, east of action thriller and
elbowing for space with romantic fiction.
What are the most and least enjoyable parts of creating a work like this?
The most enjoyable part is that I am doing it for myself. The least enjoyable
part is that I am doing it by myself.
How do you think you'd have done if you'd lived in the Viking world back then? Is it something that appeals to you?
I think everyone has a moment when they believe that they would have been brilliant if they had lived in such-and-such an era. The truth is, they never see themselves in the same social strata as they are in now – everyone is a noble, or privileged in some way; no-one is a scummy peasant. That’s why romantic fiction works so well and I bought into that for a long time – learned to ride, taught myself horse archery, fencing, all of that. The hard fact is that my father was a train driver and part-time chimney sweep and, if I had been born in the 10th century, I would probably have been an indentured charcoal-burner, or even a thrall, with no teeth, fewer ambitions, unable to read, write or count. What finally clinched it was getting appendicitis at the advanced age of 43 – a death sentence in any era before modern medicine.