Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I’m chatting to Evan Dicken about his new Legend of the Five Rings novel To Chart the Clouds, which is out soon from Aconyte Books. Previous L5R novels from Aconyte have featured evil spirits, haunted castles, hired assassins and corrupt merchants, but this time it’s a tale of border tensions and a hidden valley, and it sounds great! If you’re a fan of L5R, or you’re just interested in a fantasy setting inspired by feudal Japan, then this is definitely worth checking out – so read on to find out more! First of all, let’s have a look at the book’s synopsis…
When diligent yet unappreciated clerk, Miya Isami, develops a new triangulation technique for map-making, her traditionalist superiors at the Imperial Cartographic Bureau heap scorn upon her. But when her novel approach exposes a swathe of missing land on the border between Scorpion and Lion Clan territories, Isami stumbles onto something far more significant than a mere mapping error. Her discovery offers the prospect of resolution to the seemingly endless territorial squabbling between the proud, warlike Lion and the secretive Scorpion. In a bid to contain the conflict, an Imperial Treasurer dispatches Isami with her fresh insights to the Spine of the World. Yet she is far from welcome in the mountains. She must negotiate between the clans, uncover the truth, and discover the location of a hidden valley before the fragile peace is shattered by war.
With that done, let’s get straight on with the interview.
Track of Words: To start things off, could you give us an overview of what To Chart the Clouds is about?
Evan Dicken: Politics, ambition, treachery, and war – and the people caught in between.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
ED: The novel’s POV character, Miya Isami, is a diligent if underappreciated clerk in the Imperial Cartographic Bureau. She seeks to revolutionize Rokugani mapmaking and win the rank of Imperial Cartographer, but doesn’t initially possess the political or social acumen to navigate the stormy waters of power and courtly privilege. Although Isami’s sheltered upbringing has ill-prepared her to play the game of Rokugani politics, she must somehow chart a course between dangerous and deadly clans, untrustworthy allies, her responsibility to the Empire, and her own desires.
Ikoma Shinzō is a Lion Clan historian and samurai who discovers records proving a strategically important valley, currently claimed by the Scorpion Clan, is actually Lion territory. More philosophical than most Lion samurai, Shinzō nonetheless suffers from a crippling fear of embarrassment, and reacts with anger (and often violence) to even perceived slights.
Bayushi Keisuke seems a typical Scorpion Courtier, conceited and smug. Always ready with a barb or backhanded compliment, Keisuke seems supremely confident in his ability to manipulate any situation to personal advantage; but as tensions grow and the situation begins to spin out of control, Keisuke’s veneer of self-assurance cracks to reveal deep insecurities about his abilities as well as his place in the Scorpion clan.
ToW: If someone’s new to Legend of the Five Rings, how would you describe the setting and what to expect?
ED: I did my best to make To Chart the Clouds accessible for readers new to Rokugan, attempting to explain various historical and cultural flourishes as they are introduced.
That being said, there is a lot of lore.
At its core, L5R is a fantasy version of Japan, filled with spirits, gods, magic, samurai, and all the sorts of conflict and political drama one might expect from such a setting. It’s based on a living card game (that recently ended) which has led to a rather dense and lively historical background.
Without going into too much detail, there are seven great clans and a host of minor ones, all jostling for power and position under the (somewhat) watchful eye of the Emperor. Although outright war between the Clans is forbidden, this doesn’t preclude skirmishes that sometimes include hundreds (even thousands) of warriors – just so long as a Clan doesn’t marshal its full army. Add to this a trio of Imperial houses whose members technically outrank even the most prestigious Clan noble, but in fact depend on the samurai to run the Empire.
Although there are numerous other threats to Rokugan (demons to the south, bloodspeaker cults, secret societies bent on destroying the gods, undead, dark sorcerers, corrupt spirits, etc.) To Chart the Clouds focuses primarily on Clan/Imperial politics, and the friction between various factions, specifically the proud and fractious Lion Clan, the shrewd and ambitious Scorpion Clan, and the Imperial Court attempting to maintain a precarious balance.
ToW: How familiar were you with L5R before you started work on this book? Were you a fan already, or was this your introduction to the setting?
ED: Although I’ve played the RPG a total of three times in my life, over the years I’ve collected perhaps a score of L5R setting and rulebooks ranging from 2nd Edition to the current Fantasy Flight releases. This isn’t to say I’m an expert (far, FAR from it), but I suppose I can claim a more than passing interest in the setting.
As far as fiction goes, I devoured the original Clan War novels back in the early 2000’s, but time, and tide…and graduate degrees, and family responsibilities intervened, and, like many of us, I found myself reading less and less fiction over the years – largely short stories and things I could get through in a few sittings as I just didn’t have the bandwidth for novels.
That being said, I never stopped reading gaming books (L5R included). It’s weird, but I actually read setting books every night to get to sleep. Novels and fiction keep me up (I get locked in on the plot), but gaming books have just the right amount of distance for me to let my mind wander – not to say they are boring. I just love drifting off to sleep thinking of goblins.
ToW: Of all the stories you might have written in the L5R setting, what inspired you to write this one in particular?
ED: Well, I’m pursuing my PhD in the evolution of cartography in nonwestern settings (specifically Early Modern Japan), so I was keen to see if I could thread some of my academic interests into a novel (without boring my readers). Whether that worked out or not isn’t really up to me.
As for tone and characterization, anyone who knows me knows I love darkly-textured political drama. I really wanted to explore the friction between personal desires and personal responsibility, and all the characters reflect that struggle (I hope).
It was also fun to be able to take a look at monolithic, impersonal interests like the Great Clans or the Imperial Bureaucracy, and tease out points of conflict, both political and military. Since maps are the way we represent space, borders (and how we draw them) play a huge role in how groups define themselves and their place in the world. Territory is always political, and it was a delight to have the chance to play with that in a fantasy setting.
ToW: Where did you look for influences and inspiration while writing this? Did you draw from any sources outside of the L5R setting itself?
ED: Apart from my historical research, I don’t think I could ever write anything even vaguely Japan-related without drawing on the works of luminaries such as: Miyamoto Musashi, Natsume Sōseki, Okamoto Kidō, Katsu Kokichi, and Ryunosuke Akutagawa; not to mention historical sources like: Heikei Monogatari and The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon. The scenes they depict of Japanese life over the centuries will always stay with me, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention them. I could also go on at length about a double-fistful of Japanese cartographers, but I don’t think your readers came here for a(n) historical lecture.
Really, my influences are probably the same as any 90’s kid who developed a passion for Japan – Akira Kurosawa’s samurai movies, anime reruns on Toonami, and basically any historical manga I could get my grubby little hands on. More recently, I would probably cite chanbara flicks like Lone Wolf and Cub, Zatoich, etc; and Taiga dramas, specifically: Ii Naotora, Gunshi Kanbei, and Ryōmaden – all of which I watched obsessively while I wrote To Chart the Clouds. This isn’t to say my novel is anywhere near them in quality, only that their fingerprints cover my thoughts.
ToW: Some of the earlier L5R novels have tackled the overt supernatural elements of the setting while others have focused on the day to day realities of life in Rokugani society. Where would you say To Chart the Clouds sits on this spectrum?
ED: Solidly rooted in the mundane. There is mention of the supernatural, as well as a number of scenes that include magical elements such as geomancy and Fortunes; but I largely focus on human interactions, both personal and political.
ToW: Is this your debut novel? You’ve written lots of shorter fiction before, but how have you found the experience of working on your first novel, and seeing it through to publication?
ED: I’ve written novels before (unpublished, thankfully, as I’m a bit embarrassed by them), so I knew what I was in for. That being said, there was a rather tight turnaround on this piece (3-ish months), so I really had to buckle down. Fortunately, my editor (the inestimably wise and patient Lottie Llewellyn-Wells) was always ready to lend insights and answer questions. Not to mention all the fine folks at Fantasy Flight and Asmodee (shout out to the sagely and considerate Katrina Ostrander), who were real champs at responding to odd questions like: “Do Scorpion Clan peasants wear masks?” and: “Does Rokugan have a magnetic north?”
In my personal experience, writing is a manic-depressive endeavor. One moment you’re riding high on a scene you felt went well, the next you can’t even bring yourself to look at the manuscript because one of your plot threads has come untangled and things don’t make sense and everything is getting too complicated and you’ve just written a scene of people talking that doesn’t move anything or anyone forward and oh god now the ending doesn’t make sense and you’ve got to go back and rewrite some character beats from earlier on but if you do that then it’ll unleash a maelstrom of edits through later chapters and you still have twenty-thousand words to go and you’re simultaneously completely sure that: 1) You have far too much plot to cram into the remaining wordcount, and; 2) You don’t have enough to fill those final pages; and either way you’re never going to finish in time; and even if you do everyone will point at the (obvious) plot holes and laugh and your book will bomb and you’ll be so scandalized you’ll never write anything ever again.
So, you know, a pretty mixed bag.
You can find another of Evan’s stories – Running the Night Whiskey – in the Arkham Horror anthology The Devourer Below
ToW: What do you hope readers will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
ED: That’s a tough one. To be completely honest, I just hope my readers have a good time with the novel. It’d be cool as heck if they came away with some sort of broader understanding of Rokugan, or an interest in L5R, or in reading more of my stuff, but I’m a “death of the author” kind of guy. The themes and threads I think I’m weaving into the book – be they examinations of privilege, or entrenched bureaucracy, or our responsibility as citizens and humans – are not necessarily the things readers will walk away with.
Seriously, one of my favorite things about reading reviews and reactions to my work is when someone picks up on something I’d never even thought of. I’d love to claim credit for such flashes of insight, really I would, but ultimately I just sat down to try and write a book I would enjoy reading.
ToW: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on with Aconyte for future release, or anything else you’ve got in the pipeline?
ED: I’m currently working on another novel for Aconyte, and while I can’t tell you what it’s about, I can say it’s not a sequel to To Chart the Clouds. Not that I wouldn’t be open to writing one if the novel finds an audience, just that there aren’t any current plans.
I’ve also got a handful of Black Library stories in the hopper, as well as a novella and (potential) novel in the works. Every time I turn something in, be it for Black Library or Aconyte, I think: “Yep, this is it. They’re never going to contact me again.” Thus far, I’ve been wrong. I’m a devout worrier by birth and background, so I try to take the nerves in stride.
As for other things. I’ve been pretty privileged to have been busy with IP Fiction over the past two years, which hasn’t left much time for other writing. That said, I’ve had a sprinkling of short stories in genre pubs recently, mostly horror mags and podcasts like NoSleep, strangely enough.
ToW: Finally, if you lived in Rokugan, which of the clans would you want to belong to, and why?
ED: Crane, without a doubt. Not only for their sense of style (which I dearly need), but I’ve always leapt at the chance to play a conceited courtier or dispossessed noble trying to reclaim their birthright. I love the uncomfortable friction between public and private–the constant judging, the crushing expectation of family and friends, the constant need to excel, to impress the popular kids.
Yeah, Crane all the way.
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By day, Evan Dicken studies old Japanese maps and crunches numbers for all manner of fascinating research at the Ohio State University. By night, he does neither of these things. His work has most recently appeared in Analog, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Strange Horizons, and he has stories forthcoming from Black Library and Rampant Loon Press.
You can find Evan on Twitter, and on his website.
Check out all of the Evan Dicken reviews on Track of Words.
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Thanks so much to Evan for chatting to me for this interview, and for taking the time to give us the lowdown on To Chart the Clouds! I’ve loved all of the L5R books from Aconyte so far, and I’m really looking forward to reading this. To Chart the Clouds is out as a global ebook and audiobook on the 18th January, US paperback on the 1st February, and UK paperback on the 21st April.
See also: all the other Legends of the Five Rings reviews and interviews on Track of Words.
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