I’m always on the lookout for the next great fantasy epic, so when I discovered Scott Drakeford’s debut, Rise of the Mages, I couldn’t wait to find out how this one came to fruition. Herein, we discuss epic fantasy, literary agents, what he’s learned along the way, and much more!
Favorite fantasy
What do you love most about epic fantasy?
I could say a lot about epic fantasy because I love it dearly and I think it still has an unfair perception in mainstream circles. But the thing that I love most about epic fantasy is the potential for exploration of a wide range of ideas, from ultra-controversial to universally accepted. I love an epic fantasy (or sci-fi!) that challenges current cultural norms in a setting free of the baggage that comes with doing so in our own world/reality.
Biggest Influences
Who are your biggest influences in the genre and why?
Robert Jordan is always the first name I mention when asked this question. The Wheel of Time was the first series to really provide a fully immersive experience that went beyond simple entertainment value and became something that inspired and influenced how I lived my real life. More recent influences that convinced me to become a writer myself: Pat Rothfuss, Pierce Brown, Bernard Cornwell, and Jim Butcher.
Each does nearly everything well but does at least one thing extremely well: Rothfuss’s characters and prose; Brown’s relentless pace; Cornwell’s battles; Butcher’s charisma and mystery. They are quite different from each other as writers, but each writes well enough in their own way that I become fully immersed in their stories. That’s fairly rare for me and is the primary goal I hope to achieve with my own writing.
Hardest and Easiest to write
In your debut novel, Rise of the Mages, who was the hardest character to write and why? Who was the easiest?
You know, I really didn’t find any character harder (or easier) to write than the others. I think the hardest part about writing different characters and especially POV characters, though, is making sure you as the writer are fully aware of that character and what makes them a whole person. I think that becomes a challenge when you have a large cast of characters.
I think Rise of the Mages has less than fifty characters that play any significant role in my story, however, around a dozen are primary actors and 8 (I think?) that have a POV. Somewhere around 80% of the book is from one POV, however, so it really wasn’t so complex that I couldn’t construct holistic characters and write them well (I hope).
Writing Process
How has your writing process changed or evolved over the course of your writing journey thus far?
I went from being a full “pantser”, aka writing without an outline, to being a very dedicated outliner, to now living somewhere in the middle. I certainly find value in understanding my characters, my world, and the general vectors of the plot and character progressions. I change my outline so often as I’m writing, however, that I just ended up slowing myself down with large complex outlines. I need some direction, but I also need the flexibility to write from the heart.
Favorite Games
What are some of your favorite video games and how have they influenced Rise of the Mages?
I think this answer will be pretty different from most SFF authors. I don’t really play any RPG or exploration-type games these days, I certainly don’t have anything against them, I just struggle to immerse myself in that kind of game, and I get very frustrated with setbacks and repeated attempts at tasks, etc. I get enough of that in my own life, I guess, and I’ve become more impatient as I’ve aged. Honestly, I envy people (like my wife) who can play and enjoy such games.
I *do* play a solid amount of FPS and RTS games, though. I really love the competitive aspect, I play to win. I especially love squad-based games and playing with close friends – I play a lot of Call of Duty Warzone with my brothers, for example, and I used to play a lot of Warcraft 3, some Starcraft, and even a mobile turn-based game with a good friend of mine that was somewhat like Risk but faster-paced, more complex, and team-based.
It might seem silly to compare games that seem quite superficial to something as complex as an epic fantasy story with fully-fleshed-out characters, but I think there’s a lot to take from these games in terms of the emotions they elicit. A story with ambitious characters moving through a fast-paced story (thrilleresque, even) can feel a lot like a competitive team-based game.
Take-away from Writing?
What’s something you learned writing Rise of the Mages that you hope to bring with you to your future books?
Oh god. Well, I spent ten years writing and rewriting Rise of the Mages. Writing this book was itself a learning exercise for most of those years. One of the biggest things I’m better at now that I’m on the other side of writing Rise of the Mages and its sequel, however, is being able to weave character growth, plot setup, and meaningful payoff into a cohesive story without needing to do nearly ten years of rewrites. Becoming a better writer isn’t so much one amazing revelation as it is an accumulation of thousands of small things that go into writing a compelling story.
World Building
What was your approach to world-building?
I’ve gone into more detail on this here and here, but it started with two basic premises: electromagnetism as a primary natural energy source (and source for “magic” powers), and an exploration of what a god might really look like if it were real and interacted with a world and humans similar to those found in our own reality. In terms of worldbuilding, everything really flowed downhill pretty naturally from those two starting points. The electromagnetic energy, called infusori in Rise of the Mages, heavily influences the economics and geopolitical landscape much like any overwhelmingly valuable natural resource has in our own world.
Cities are established near energy sources and on trade routes. Wars are fought over said resources and the cities and towns reflect that. The presence and influence of a god naturally have quite an effect on the religious and therefore sociological aspects of the various societies in the world of RotM. And I obviously threw quite a few worldbuilding tidbits in based on the characters and stories I wanted to tell. But the energy, magic, and theology were the real foundations of my worldbuilding.
Mechanical Engineering?
How has your background in Mechanical Engineering impacted your writing?
Rise of the Mages features technology at least as much as it does traditional “magic”, and tech will continue to be a pivotal part of the story throughout the series. In fact, I made my magic system quite limited in scope on purpose, and it will become clearer as the story goes on that tech scales far better than magic, and will thus be the primary factor in success on any large scale. My experience with and passion for technology of all shapes and sizes factor heavily into my writing, and I hope that shows through in Rise of the Mages pretty clearly.
Working with Others?
Your agent Matt Bialer has represented many genre authors from Patrick Rothfuss to Brian Lee Durfee. What has it been like for you working with Mr. Bialer and what made him the best fit for Rise of the Mages?
Matt is just an awesome person. It’s so hard to really know what you’re getting into in the publishing industry, other than whatever you can look up on the internet or glean from a quick chat with an agent when they’re offering on your work. I got VERY lucky with Matt. I submitted to him primarily because I am such a big fan of Pat’s, and because everything else I could find about him online was very positive. But everything from help editing, to submitting to publishers, and everything that comes afterward has been so much easier because I know I can count on Matt.
I don’t know whether he’s open to submissions right now, but if he is I highly recommend him for authors looking for a kind, caring, and highly intelligent agent. He’ll help you make your book better, and he’ll help you stay sane through the often-frustrating publishing process.
A word on a couple of my agent siblings, since you mentioned them: I have been fortunate to spend time with Brian Lee Durfee and Tad Williams in person a few times, and they are some of the coolest people I know. I highly recommend their work, but I was just blown away by how kind, interesting, and talented they both were.
Future Projects?
What are you working on next and where can people find out more about you and your work?
I’m working on book two of The Age of Ire, which continues the same action/adventure feel from Rise of the Mages, but has a decidedly broader scope. Where I hoped Rise of the Mages would feel something like the lovechild of a Brad Thor political thriller and traditional fantasy like The Eye of the World, book 2 has a decidedly more Bernard Cornwellian flavor. I hope I do those comparisons justice!
Folks can find me on Twitter @TheDrakeford and on my website https://scottdrakeford.com/
My book should be in most bookstores, but Amazon certainly has it: https://bit.ly/RiseoftheMages
For other interviews, check out our Gods and Dragons interview.
