In spring this year I already received an ARC of Swords of Good Men, Snorri Kristjansson's debut, but was asked to not read it before July. Well that took some discipline, as the Viking on the cover kept trying to win me over to pick it up! Swords of Good Men proved to go above my expectations. Snorri wrote up this story in a perfect manner; Swords of Good Men has Vikings, Scandinavian lore, brutal action and leaves the first book on a cliffhanger. I'm eager to see how this series will unfold
Read my review on Swords of Good Men here
Author bio:
Snorri
Kristjansson was born in Reykjavik in 1974. He moved to Norway in 1983,
where he lived for 7 years and found a passionate aversion to skiing.
Since 2005, Snorri has been London-based, dabbling in classical acting
and stand-up comedy while teaching children about Shakespeare and Drama.
Swords of Good Men is his first novel, and the first installment of the Valhalla Saga. It has Vikings in it, so expect moderate cursing and beards.
BP: Hi Snorri, welcome to my blog The
Book Plank and thank you taking your time to answer these few questions for us.
SK: Thank you
for having me!
BP: First of all, can you tell who Snorri
is? What are your likes and dislikes, hobbies, etc?
SK: Wow. You
don't start with the easy ones, do you? I'll have to think about this one a
bit. I have been many things in my life, I suppose, switching professions and
fields of study more often than a Viking changes his undergarments, but for the
moment I am a teacher who writes. I like conversation and chocolate but dislike
dogmatism and celery. Hobbies include very passive support of Arsenal FC and
running (in the very loosest of terms - what I do is more like a middle-aged
shuffle), but as I work full time as a teacher to support my ever more
intensive writing habit, most of my 'spare time' tends to be spent hanging out
with my awesome Wife.
BP: Swords of Good Men is your debut book,
when did you decide that you wanted to write a book?
SK: I wrote my
first book when I was five. It was four pages long, stapled together and
started with the words 'The wheels of fortune for boys and girls turn in many a
way'. I was a very precocious child. Since then I've written all kinds of
things, but never leapt into proper long form until prodded to do so by
literary agent Geraldine Cooke, who saw me do stand-up comedy in a London
basement.
BP: Being new to writing a book how did you
go about this and tackle the writing?
SK: I sat
down, said '...well then!' and started writing. Shortly after I said '...hang on
a minute - this is hard!'. What followed was a long period of cursing, shouting
and shaking of metaphorical fists, and slowly the stuff started getting better.
It probably helped that I completely unreasonably expect myself to be
effortlessly brilliant at everything I do, and tend to get grumpy and try very
hard to prove the world wrong when it turns out I'm not.
BP:Swords of Good Men is Epic Fantasy but
Vikings aren’t often seen in this theme, for me this promised an interesting
storyline. But where do you think that Swords of Good Men draws it’s strength
from?
SK: I am
ill-equipped to judge this, and it isn't really my job. Different readers will
see different things they like or dislike, and they will be just as right as I
am. For what it's worth, I don't think there's much story left if you take out
people making mistakes, so let's go with that as the book's strength - a frank
discussion of human failings in a historical setting.
BP: What was your biggest challenge in
writing Swords of Good Men?
SK: Generally
- making it good and knowing when to stop for the day. Specifically - writing
Jorn was quite tricky, but I think I found him in the end. Writing Lilia was of
course a massive undertaking, and one I did not approach lightly, but I think I
got her to where she needed to be, more or less.
BP: Did you encounter any specific problems
while writing Swords of Good Men?
SK: I suppose
I've had all the ones a rookie writer can expect - bad pacing, exposition
trouble, wooden dialogue - but problems are there to be learned from, so I
haven't minded them so much.
BP: What was for you the coolest part to
write in Swords of Good Men?
SK: Writing
'the end' felt pretty darn amazing. Of the characters, I had a soft spot for
Sven and Thora, but by the end I was getting quite a buzz when I felt I was
getting the people right.
BP: You introduced Scandinavian lore in
Swords of Good Men, did you carry out specific research for this topic?
SK: Most of it
was based on stuff I already knew, with details and texture added along the
way. I had to step up my research a bit for Book 2.
BP: You introduced us to a few perspectives
in Sword of Good Men, but kept the possible destiny of Ulfar quite obscure all
along the story, was this done intentionally?
SK: Yes. I
wanted to give the reader the chance to pick a side for as long as possible.
BP: Swords of Good Men has different
influences in the storyline like the political part in Stenvik, the bold
fighting of the Vikings and the mythical and magical of the Norse gods. Did you
plan this out in this way or did this come along as you progressed with writing
the story?
SK: The whole
thing was woven together and outlined after I ran aground with the first 50.000
words. After that I kept a colour-coded excel document to keep track of scenes,
storylines and characters. My writing tutor Nick Bain, who taught me to write,
pretty much, still shakes his head at that.
BP: Do you have a favourite character in the
series already?
SK: I try not
to pick sides, which is just another way to say that I am a fickle and
faithless beast.
BP: If you would be given the chance to
rewrite any scenes of the book would you do so? And
if yes, which part?
SK: Oh. All of
it? With a hammer? The Writer's Curse (one of many, weak tea being another) is
that since I let that manuscript go I've written somewhere north of 250.000
words at a conservative estimate, and hope I am a better writer than the one
who handed in Swords of Good Men. That being said, I think quite a lot of the
book stands up to scrutiny. I might leave the hammer and instead tweak a little
here and there, maybe tune a few things - mostly to do with pacing.
BP: Can you tell a bit more about what is in
store for us in The Valhalla Saga
SK: In order
not to give the game away, I might need to get a bit cryptic. Events have been
set in motion, so motion is required. There will be moments of doubt and pain,
madness and fury. There will be scheming on many levels, unwanted advice and
dangerous gifts. Our heroes will meet a mysterious, older man.
BP: What do you like most about writing
fantasy and science fiction?
SK: I like the
people that write and publish the kinds of stories I like to read - but most of
all I like the readers. I feel great harmony with people that sink so far into
a book that they can burst out going '...YEAH! That's cool!' - only to
realize that they are on public transport.
BP: Do you have any other side projects
beside The Valhalla Saga?
SK: For my
sins, I do. I'm never happy doing one thing at a time, and so I've gotten
mysellf entangled in the glittering tentacles of writing for film. I'm still
learning, but it is loads of fun and feeds back directly into the novels. I
also have a YA thing in development, along with my application for a 27-hour,
9-day week.
BP: What can we expect from you in the near
future?
SK: A Reddit
AMA on August 8th, a book launch at 9 Worlds on August 9th and a reading at 9
Worlds on August 10th. A couple of blog posts along the lines of 'oh deary,
it's actually happened' on www.snorrikristjansson.com,
a few tweets, the odd Facebook update and then silence as I prepare for the
autumn by editing book 2, outlining book 3 and getting ready to teach with one
prose and one film project on the go.
BP: If you would have to recommend your five
favourite books which would they be.
SK: Hm. Five,
you say? Well, then five you shall get. These are my five favourite books of
the moment:
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - witty, snappy
and a masterclass in style.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - a beautiful,
beautiful book. Lean and mean.
Everything by Joe Abercrombie, stapled into one
three-foot-tall SUPERBOOK that is also a weapon of mass destruction.
The City's Son by Tom Pollock - vividly, deliciously and
annoyingly good.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - the
paper-and-ink version of expensive red wine. Served in a barrel.
BP: Thank you for your time Snorri and good
luck with the next book in line!
SK: Thank you
for having me!
*charges into sunset, wielding axe*