An Interview with Don Bassingthwaite
by Chadwick Ginther - Monday Jul 21 2008 2:18 pm
Posted in: Interview, SciFi & Fantasy

Don Bassingthwaite lives in Toronto, and is one of a surprising number of Canadians writing fiction for Wizards of the Coast, set in the worlds of the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. I was fortunate that Don took the time to answer some of my questions about the writing life of a shared world author and his forthcoming novel, The Doom of Kings.

CG: You've recently left your day job to write full time. How are you enjoying the change?

DB: Very much! It?s great because I finally get the chance to focus as much of my attention as I want on my writing. Of course, it comes with the responsibility of keeping myself on target--I don't have the day job to blame for distracting me anymore.

CG: How did you get started writing for Wizards of the Coast?

DB: I happened to be talking to the right people at the right time. Back in 1998, Wizards of the Coast introduced a space opera setting called Star*Drive. I had pitched an editor an idea for a novel based on that setting when an announcement came out that they would be publishing a related dark fantasy-conspiracy based setting, Dark*Matter. I already had experience writing novels based on the dark fantasy games of another company, White Wolf Game Studio, so I got back in touch with the editor at Wizards of the Coast, talked to him some more and landed two novels for Dark*Matter. Unfortunately, the line was short-lived but it was my foot in the door. I still get fan mail asking about those books.

CG: You've written for both Forgotten Realms and Eberron. Is there one world you prefer over the other? If so, why?

DB: I'd say that I have a slight preference for Eberron, though they both have their attractions. Forgotten Realms is a well-developed setting with an incredible back story, so there a lot of rich lore for an author to dip into. Eberron is relatively new--there isn't the same well of lore, but that means I have the opportunity to create more of my own. Eberron also has an edgier approach to fantasy. The atmosphere tends to be darker and the 'monsters' aren?t always what you'd expect. In my first trilogy, The Dragon Below, I had the opportunity to delve into Eberron's orcs and explore them as more than just the typical savage horde. In my new trilogy, Legacy of Dhakaan, I get to play with hobgoblins, a race with a deep and ancient history.

CG: Keeping shared worlds like Eberron and the Forgotten Realms editorially consistent must be difficult. To what degree does Wizards of the Coast dictate plot or story to its authors?

DB: It varies from project to project. Overall, there?s always a process of approval, of course, because a novel I'm writing needs to work with a novel someone else is writing and with what the game developers are working on. For individual projects, it can be more of less specific. For my first Forgotten Realms novel, The Yellow Silk, the basic conditions were that the main character be a bard (a type of character combining elements of thief and wizard), that it be set in a particular location, and the title have a colour in it (because that was the pattern for the series it was a part of). The current trilogy, on the other hand, actually grew out of an idea that came from the game developers but that I had nearly a free hand to expand on.

CG: How do you feel the restrictions and freedoms of writing in a shared world differ from creating every detail of your world?

DB: Working in a shared world can sometimes be frustrating because you have to work with an element of a setting that might not be entirely to your liking. But part of the challenge in writing a shared world and making your story really good is finding the way to turn those frustrations into challenges. Writing in a shared world is also great because you don't necessarily have to worry about the big details of world building. All that is already done and you can get on with telling a story. In some ways it's actually closer to writing fiction set in the real world.

CG: As an author of primarily shared world fiction, do you feel any stigma in how it is viewed by fantasy fans and authors alike?

DB: Yes and no. It's easy to say that shared world fiction (which I?m going to extend to cover all tie-in fiction) is looked down on--it's not likely to win a Hugo or a World Fantasy Award, it usually gets shelved on its own at the end of the Science Fiction/Fantasy section, and so on--but I think a lot of that is more in the heads of fans and writers than anything else. Shared world fiction hits the New York Times bestseller lists on a fairly regular basis. Big name authors are commonly recruited to write tie-ins (James Rollins wrote the new Indiana Jones tie-in, for example). A lot of fans enjoy reading shared world fiction and a lot of writers enjoy writing it. Telling a good story in a shared world takes just as much work, talent, and originality as writing something that's not shared world.

I think maybe readers who haven?t tried shared world fiction are intimidated by the idea of getting into a setting where so much material exists. I'd tell them to treat it like any other fantasy series--chose an author you've heard good things about or that appeals to you and start at the beginning. There are also plenty of standalone titles that tell a complete story in one book. A good tie-in author will tell you everything you need to know (and for fiction based on a game, you really don?t need to know anything about the game itself).

CG: Any thoughts on the Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition? Will your Legacy of Dhaakan trilogy be feeling any effects of the new edition of the game?

DB: I've just had a chance to read the core books for the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I think this is a great improvement on the game. I'm a fan of RPGs that take a light and fast approach to rules and the developers have created some really intriguing, innovative changes to an old standard. However, that said, the rules of a game really don't have as much effect on novels as you might think. Telling a good story takes precedent and the rules just exist as guidelines. I try to avoid blatantly contradicting rules--it would be like ignoring gravity in a real world novel--but I've been known to bend and ignore them when I have to. The best game novels should make any rules completely invisible to the reader.

Of course, there are minor exceptions. In the old edition of D&D, hobgoblins could see even in complete darkness, but in 4th edition, they need at least a little light, so a scene in The Doom of Kings where a goblin fortress is described as pitch black inside (no need for torches) is now inaccurate. Oops. I'll be adding a few windows to the next fortress.

CG: What made Geth and Ashi the breakout characters from The Dragon Below series? Do you have any plans to revisit your other characters, ie. Singe and Dandra, in future novels?

DB: Geth and Ashi (and another character, Ekhaas) carried over to the new series because they had the stories that I wanted to tell. Geth was a natural choice because of an ancient hobgoblin sword he recovered in The Dragon Below that ties to events in Legacy of Dhakaan and because I think a lot of fans just liked him as a character. At the end of The Dragon Below, Ashi was a barbarian entering a strange new world of civilization and I wanted to explore the consequences of that decision for her.

I definitely want to revisit Singe and Dandra at some point, though. I have an idea of where they are and what they?re doing while the Legacy of Dhakaan series is taking place. I?d even like to go back to a number of the bit characters from The Dragon Below--whenever I finish a book, I'm usually stuck with half a dozen little stories ideas begging to be fleshed out.

CG: The Doom of Kings takes place largely in the goblin nation of Darguun. Will we be seeing more of the nation hopping action that Eberron is known for in future volumes of this trilogy?

DB: Only to a limited extent. The story that's unfolding in Legacy of Dhakaan is really about the goblins, so for this particular trilogy instead of skipping across a number of nations, I'm exploring one in greater depth. And having a lot of fun doing it!

CG: Your character Ashi began as an antagonist to Geth, and has since evolved to be his ally and now one of the heroes of The Doom of Kings. Was her story arc a surprise for you, or was it something you had plotted out? How tightly do you outline when you are beginning a novel or trilogy?

DB: I seem to recall that in the earliest outlines of The Binding Stone, 'Ashi' (she might have been a man at that point!) remained an antagonist. By the time I started writing, though, I knew she would become a continuing character, even if some of the details ended up changing as I wrote. I usually script out a trilogy fairly loosely, then each book more tightly as I approach it--the outline needs to be approved by Wizards of the Coast, after all, and scripting it tightly means I have a chance to work out potential problem spots before I hit them. Things do change though. Sometimes a character's actions will suggest something new or force consequences that I hadn't expected. Usually that's a good thing. I feel like it keeps my writing lively.

CG: As yet, none of Eberron's character's seem to have reached the iconic status in the eyes of the fans that Drizzt or Elminster from the Forgotten Realms have done. What other than time and a large body of work do you think is necessary to accomplish this? Is it something you would like for Geth?

DB: I don't know that hitting iconic status is something that can be 'accomplished' as such (unless you happen to have a very, very big marketing budget and even then it's probably only a 50-50 shot), but I'd say the number one thing contributing to turning a character into a real fan favourite is word of mouth. I'd love for this to happen to Geth! If people out there enjoy The Doom of Kings, tell your friends to read it or to go back and start Geth's story in The Binding Stone.

CG: What's the next project on the block after you've completed the Legacy of Dhakaan?

DB: Another Geth story? A book with Singe and Dandra? It's too early to say for any Wizards of the Coast books right now. I've got time penciled in to work on something original of my own though and I'm currently leaning toward a dark fantasy adventure set in the 1930s.

CG: Thanks Don! Much appreciated. Any readers who want to see more of what Don Bassingthwaite is up to can find his website here:

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