I explore many of his themes but on a somewhat larger canvas. I tend to think of these particular books as “epic heroic fantasy.” Heroic fantasy really begins with the work of Conan creator Robert E Howard, but probably reached its apogee in the books of the late David Gemmell, who has been a big influence on my work. But are there any other genres or subgenres or combinations of them at work in them as well? Like the Raven’s Shadow trilogy, The Wolf’s Call and the Raven’s Blade series are telling an epic fantasy tale.

I wanted Vaelin to journey to an unfamiliar land where his legend isn’t that well known so the Far West seemed the perfect place. I’m rarely if ever able to pin down the moment of inspiration for a story but, like most of my work, the setting and plot came out of my reading of history. I knew writing the last Raven’s Shadow book that I wanted revisit the characters in my first series, but it took a couple of years to gain a clear idea of the story. Where did you get the idea for The Wolf’s Call and the Raven’s Blade series, and when in relation to writing the Raven’s Shadow trilogy did you come up with it? Vaelin is mainly concerned with seeking out Sister Sherin, the woman he loved and lost in Blood Song, but soon finds himself embroiled in a vast barbarian invasion of the Merchant Realms led by a man who believes he’s a god. It concerns Vaelin’s journey to the Merchant Realms of the Far West, a region in this world roughly analogous to China in the Ten Kingdoms period. The Wolf’s Call is a mostly single point of view narrative continuing Vaelin’s story five years after the end of Queen Of Fire. The next two books, Tower Lord and Queen Of Fire, broaden the scope of the narrative to include other characters and their role in a near-genocidal war between nations.Īnd then what is The Wolf’s Call and the Raven’s Blade series about, and what is its relation, both narrative and chronological, to the Raven’s Shadow trilogy? What is the Raven’s Shadow trilogy about?īlood Song, the first book in the Raven’s Shadow trilogy, charts the early life of my main character Vaelin Al Sorna from the moment he is inducted into a militant religious order and trained to become the most fearsome warrior of his age. I’d like to start with a little background, if I may. In the following email interview, Ryan discusses how The Wolf’s Call and the Raven’s Blade books connect to the Raven’s Shadow trilogy, what influenced this epic tale, and his plans for it moving forward. Take epic heroic fantasy writer Anthony Ryan, who finished his Raven’s Shadow trilogy with 2006’s Queen Of Fire, but is now expanding upon it with The Wolf’s Call ( hardcover, Kindle), the first in a new but connected series, Raven’s Blade. Just because you end a saga doesn’t mean people are done with it.

Raven's shadow series