GateWorld: It’s often said that great science fiction is about the present, even if the events take place in the future. Stargate is a show that really does takes place in the present, and the events of this novel very much speak to Earth’s past. How can science fiction and franchises like Stargate help us understand ourselves and help us come to grip with the horrors humans are capable of inflicting?
Steven Savile: Reflection. You don’t ever want to be a guy who says, “History teaches us nothing.” There’s that truism about those who don’t understand history are doomed to repeat it. Right now in Sweden we’ve got the rise of the fascist party going on; we’ve got segregated racial communities of immigrants where the “white Swedes” really won’t go, and it’s diabolical. It’s unintentional. The idea of these planned communities was to give immigrants a sense of belonging, grouping them together so they didn’t feel alone in a new country. The result, though, was to build ghettos.
My background is in politics and religion — it’s impossible for me to write without exploring things that I think are important. I may hide all of this under layers of make-believe but I hope some readers, rather than simply dismissing the raven king, will think about stuff he represents.
GW: The ending of the novel is a bit odd. While the events of the novel are wrapped up, there is still much to explore in this story, and the events are so dramatic and so life-changing for SG-1, it feels like another novel is needed to address those issues. And, I understand, you were originally contracted to write a trilogy. Is there any chance you might write a follow-up to “Throne” to explore and continue the story? And why was your deal reduced to a single novel?SS: Indeed. Odd is a way of putting it. We’re veering deeply into the land of spoilers here … but after MGM balked at the idea of exploring Nazism directly we found a compromise, which was an alien world where racial cleansing was in the process of happening, along with death camps, etc. So, really what it came down to was they were happy to have the concepts explored but wanted to avoid the N word. I can understand that — after all, Stargate isn’t a place to preach politics.
With the title change from “The Cold War Kings” to “The Book of Iblis,” I had outlined three novels: “Shadows,” “Shapeshifter,” and “Trickster.” The intention was that these would happen pretty close together, with “Shadows” (which eventually became “The Power Behind the Throne”) culminating in the mother of all cliffhangers — SG-1 returns from liberating the alien world, only for the oppressed to have become the oppressor. Remember, we have a 50-year time jump going on, so as Jack and the others emerge finally from the gate they step out into a Stargate Command unlike any they’ve ever seen before, decked out in the colors of the raven king, with Earth having been conquered and the U.S. becoming an occupied nation … meaning book two would be all about on-Earth scheming, the rise of a charismatic politician who is actually the Mujina, etc.
But there was a massive delay between final delivery and publication, which essentially killed the idea of doing the trilogy — I finished the novel two years ago. It’s very difficult to take six months to write a book, then wait two years for it to appear, and keep any sense of momentum to the series. With Vampire Wars I had a new book hitting the streets every 6 months, meaning you knew it would end twelve months after it began. You weren’t left thinking, “Ah this may never end, it’s been six years already …”
I’ll never say “never, “but the likelihood of “Shapeshifter” happening is slim. I mean, even if I started it tomorrow, it’d be a long time before it hit the shelves. And I couldn’t start it tomorrow because of other commitments, even if I wanted to. Ideally, I would have started book two immediately after delivering book one to keep the voice consistent for the series. The situation hasn’t played out that way, and as a result, the end of the first book was rewritten to be a “complete” story. It’s no one’s fault. Pretty much right up until a few months before publication it was always that way, then it was suggested we should probably keep a little loose end should we want to finish the trilogy at some point — so it was rewritten again, to hint that the story isn’t done yet.
So, like I said, never say “never.” Who knows?
GW: If you were to start this story from the beginning, knowing it would be just one book, would you do anything differently with the story?
SS: Absolutely. As a writer it is inherently unsatisfying to have dangling threads like that. A lot of work went into world building the fascist culture of the Corvani. After rescuing the Mujina from Vasaveda, I think I probably would have unleashed it upon earth straight away — after all, I love the idea of a shapeshifting politician offering the electorate what their heart truly needs, not just desires.GW: I also found it odd that Apophis is mentioned on the cover copy, but he never appears in the novel itself.
SS: There’s a single mention of him basically, when Teal’c first encounters the Mujina… the implication is to imagine how dangerous a Goa’uld would be with the Mujina at his side. And there’s the fact that the Goa’uld are after the creature … they’ve sent a force to recover it. Really, he’s a cypher for just how dangerous Iblis will be with the Mujina at his side. As viewers we know what a nasty piece of work Apophis is. But yes, I won’t argue with you. I was a little surprised, as well.
GW: Before we sign off, Steven, I want to ask you a few questions about your writing career, because it’s been so extraordinary, and your work ethic is second to none. Take us back to winning Writers of the Future and your subsequent explosion of novels.
SS: I work hard, basically. It’s a full-time job. I set aside six to eight hours a day to write, and aim to write around 300 to 325 days a year, at least 1,000 words, or three pages. Which equates to a minimum of three books a year. For several years I actually managed around 500,000 words a year or more, meaning more like five to six books a year. It’s slightly insane.
I’ve slowed down a lot in the last couple of years though, spending a year on my first thriller, “Silver,” and a fabulist Victoriana novel, “London Macabre.” Together, I guess they took about 18 months or so. I think I have something like 20 books now, in or soon to be in about a dozen languages across the world, and about half a million copies sold. It’s not easy to calculate this stuff with sales in Russia and other places, hence the “guess.”
GW: What is on the horizon for you?
SS: I’m currently finishing off an Arthurian novel, “The Black Chalice,” for Abaddon in the U.K. And I am writing the story and internal scenes/dialogue for an F.P.S. for Electronic Arts. After that? I’ve got “Sea of Sorrows,” a novel for Guild Wars 2, and “Gold,” the imaginatively titled follow-up to “Silver.”
GW: Thank you so much for spending some time with GateWorld, Steven. Best of luck in your future projects.
SS: Not a problem. Thanks for taking the time to read the book and the interest in digging a bit deeper. It’s appreciated.