After 5 years of editing Lords of Destiny, Jean Aellen knows the saga and characters as well as anyone. In this interview we take a look back at Jean's thoughts and memories of working with 5 Lords of Destiny books and the 3 new Destiny publications.
I met Jean skiing in Val Thorens and she kindly offered to help improve my weak grammar, punctuation and word use in an attempt to make my stories more accessible. She is not a professional editor, but in my opinion she has an amazing skill of seeing the whole picture, who the characters are and how to make my clumsy words more understandable.
Jean's contribution to the saga has not only given me more confidence in my work it has also made the whole reader experience more enjoyable.
"It is an amazing work of imagination"
"Enjoyment comes from the rotters getting their just desserts"
Steve: Destiny is filled with adventure, battles, journeys, relationships, revenge and self discovery. What parts of the story do you find most enjoyable to work through?
Jean: I enjoy it all but journeys are probably my favourite because I am better able to visualise and relate to the descriptions, which always makes it easier. I particularly like the journey into the Black Mountains to the Abbey of Light and what is found there.
The relationships are intriguing – they are a lusty lot – but some of them do get it very wrong! Enola has been on a voyage of discovery in her relationships, but seems to have it sorted – at the moment.
Could the revenge and how it is so vividly described be ‘enjoyable’? Well written perhaps, but any sense of enjoyment comes from the rotters getting their just desserts.
The battles I sometimes find hard to follow and who is on which flank – I do not have a tactician’s brain!
"The relationships are intriguing"
"Huwel comes across as good natured, and as having a good, if not naughty, sense of humour."
Steve: I've come to know some of the characters as if they were real people and find it emotional when something good or bad happens to them. Who is your favourite character, and what qualities draw you to them?
Jean: I like Davos, Arc and Enola; I am still to make my mind up about Axan – the next book may help provide me with an answer. I decided to exclude these from my list of choices because they are potentially a ‘given’, although none is without flaws.
So, I have made the question not so easy to answer, but I have chosen Huwel.
To me Huwel is one of the larger characters physically; he is used to fighting at sea so is different from the main characters, and he has dazzle ships (and I do have a long-term fondness for sailors). Huwel comes across as good natured, and as having a good, if not naughty, sense of humour. He appears to be honourable. For me, there is an air of light relief when he is the story, even when there is a battle going on. But what is in his favour is that he loves Enola (she is quite special) and she loves him (and at the moment she appears to be one of the better judges of character).
I am not sure if your choice of the word ‘Floridians’ for the pirates has any connection with the word florid, but I think that could describe several aspects of Huwel’s character. Ostentatious, flamboyant, flashy.
Dazzle Ships,
were a way of combining 20th Century technology with wooden ships of the distant past to give the Floridian pirates an advantage on the open seas. It's also one of my favourite OMD albums from the 80's.
"Atropolis – what a depraved religious fanatic."
Steve: There is a real art to playing with the reader's emotions and getting them to hate someone is crucial. Which villain do you love to hate the most or which character would you most like to see meet a gruesome end?
Jean: What a choice to have to make – most of them are appalling. Some villains have met their end already: Al-Jin, Jaak, Sextus, Sonaji have already been done away with, as has the vile Scarrow – that was a particularly gruesome but well deserved end (excuse the pun).
But the one still living that I really do dislike is Atropolis – what a depraved religious fanatic. I cannot imagine what ghastly manner of demise you may have in store for him but it will probably be just what he deserves.
"She gets on with doing what is needed for her country"
Steve: Are there any other characters you think are noteworthy?
Jean: That is another difficult decision to make and I have again excluded the three Lords of Destiny for the time being.
A lot of those I consider noteworthy are the large characters:
Aosta: brave and down to earth; Blistrix: honourable, brave gladiator. Both physically powerful, with humour – both loyal friends to Davos.
Gaius – the gentle giant who is brighter than he was ever given credit for – but I think there is more to be found out about him.
Gavara and Bodkinium – straight-talking, kind and older men who are not soldiers. Generally, they have a constructive role to play but occasionally they use their skills to destroy walls or rock faces / cliffs to help win a battle – in a rather matter of fact manner.
Of the women I think Enola and Bethen are the most noteworthy so far.
Enola for her determination and fearlessness having had a distressing childhood; her confidence and ability in her skills; and her devotion to her Father despite which she still has the ability to defy him – marrying Huwel being one example.
Bethen is gentle and loving and has had to endure the ‘attentions’ of the vile Jaak; she gets on with doing what is needed for her country when she thinks Davos is dead – to the extent of marrying Panus – but she does get to stab him. LORDS OF DESTINY BOOKS
"You couldn’t make it up’, but you did"
Steve: Which is your favourite book and why?
Jean: This will probably surprise you but to date my favourite book is Firebird – and it isn’t just because it has a colourful cover!
Like the other books to date, various characters have horrible things done to them, some are killed, there is fighting and treachery. The difference, to me, is that Firebird is also a book filled with hope, sometimes short lived, but nevertheless hope.
· towards the end of Zodiac, Davos had been hanged but was cut down – your very appropriate expression was that you had ‘cut him some slack’, so when Firebird starts Davos is alive, has a damaged throat and is a galley slave on the Prince Draga which has been captured by the Floridian pirates.
· Davos escapes with other galley slaves who include some of his soldiers
· They meet the Novans – gentle people who lived by the land and have either been taken into slavery by the Axumites or having fled their lands to escape the Mander oppression have been forced to join the Gladiators who rule their camps by fear and have themselves been driven out by Mander expansion.
Davos and his companions train the Novans to fight – they aren’t much good at it but they take orders well and carry them out diligently; they forge weapons – swords, spears, shield rims and bosses, and axes; even the women join the fighting; and they stand their ground at the battle at Raven’s Rock.
"Firebird is also a book filled with hope"
Admittedly Davos is telling the story but he comes across as a man who, despite the terrible things that have happened to him (Draga kidnapped, rubbish wife in Rave, hanged, galley slave) and he needs to get back to his own people, but is prepared to help others try to overcome injustice. He is persuasive, tries to help the Novans help themselves to be free from oppression, and to get them a better deal with the Axumites. When word gets around Novans join from other settlements. At one point he describes himself as a ‘facilitator’. His time with the Novans demonstrates an ability to negotiate with all manner of people.
· The whole myth of the Firebird is interesting. The Novans worship it – the legend being it will come and inflict vengeance on their enemies. Davos is the Eagle Lord and the Novan’s see the bird’s spirit in him. Davos doesn’t miss an opportunity does he, and uses the myth – I am not sure what words could describe Davos and others soaking their capes and horses’ blankets in oil, setting them on fire and galloping towards the Auxmite knights; then the reed beds that have been soaked with fat are set on fire; and to top it all the volcano erupts and the Firebird arrives! I suppose I could say ‘you couldn’t make it up’, but you did. It is good fun, it is certainly beyond belief but conceivable in the context of the saga, and there is something satisfying about what actually happens. It is sad that the battle results in the death of some lovable and admirable characters.
I suppose that is where the hope for the Novans ends – with the eruption of Mt Kraken. They either flee, or are taken prisoner and held as slaves – back where they started? Davos does meet some interesting characters in this particular episode: Joan, Malfi and his dog Pud; Merco and Ted.
After that somewhat miserable end, and the fact that Davos can’t do any more for the Novans and leaves to rescue his son, there is more hope:
· Davos is reunited with his son Draga, after an incredible rescue.
· Davos is reunited with Bethen.
· And while I had thought I would never say anything nice about Rave, she does at least reflect that Davos was her first love, and hopes he survives to find their son Draga. It does raise a spark of hope – will she redeem herself (before she snuffs it or is snuffed out) and not be such a horrible person after all? Now I’m living in hope!
"The tombs are fascinating"
Steve: What was your favourite event in the whole story?
Jean: At the moment there are two similar events that I have enjoyed. It may change as the whole saga is developed to its conclusion.
1. When Davos and Rave are making their way through the mountain tunnels and Davos discovers the tomb with the Eagle Sword.
2. When Axan, Gaius and Loginus discover the tomb with the Zodiac Crown.
The intricacies of the various mechanisms in place to protect the tombs are fascinating, as are the descriptions of the tombs, the water, then the narrow escapes, except for Loginus who stays behind to ensure Axan and Gaius escape.
"I have enjoyed the first audio book very much"
Steve: What would you do differently?
Jean: In terms of the story – absolutely nothing. It is an amazing work of imagination.
In terms of proof-reading – what I have found on reflexion is that because I am reading the words / lines looking for errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation; for typos; inconsistencies; meaning and clarity, by the end of the book my understanding of what has gone on is quite superficial, although I do feel I ‘know’ most of the main characters to whom I have given my own image of appearance.
I am not sure I can do the proof reading differently. It requires attention to detail.
I have enjoyed the first audio book very much – I can listen and not have to worry about anything possibly being wrong.
I will at some point try to read the re-worked novels to enjoy the descriptions, the characters, the humour, and maybe even work out some of the strategies and positions in the battles.
If given other portions of books to read I will try to go through slower to savour the story more.
Steve: What are your favourite books and which authors capture your imagination?
Jean: My favourite books revolve around authors and are mainly history novels:
- C J Sansome’s The Shardlake series
- Almost anything by Phillipa Gregory– at one stage I was reading so many of her books about Plantagenets and Tudors I was dreaming about them so had to give them a rest. I don’t think Richard III was as bad as painted by Shakespeare, who was after all writing at the time of Henry VII
- Ken Follett’s trilogy – Century (and most other books by him)
- Robert Harris – Imperium, Pompeii, An Officer and a Spy. I didn’t like The Second Sleep.
On a lighter note: Jojo Moyes (better known as Mojo Joys)
And more recently:
- A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towler
- I am Pilgrim – Terry Hays
- All the light we cannot see – Anthony Doerr
I am also quite a big fan of Stephen Ricketts and his Lords of Destiny saga
Steve: What has it been like working on this project?
Jean: What is there to say … it has been really enjoyable and it has kept my brain ticking over.
I hope I will be asked to do more.
A bit more about Jean
My Father was a pastry cook (as were his Father and brother); my Mother was a dressmaker. Both became teachers of their trades. I have an older sister, Margaret.
Born in Brixton, London; moved to Brighton when I was a few months old; then to Streatham when I was 6 months old - we lived there until I was nearly seven. At primary school my favourite lesson was when the teacher read us stories from Greek Mythology.
Moved to Hampshire when my Father was appointed as a Lecturer at the technical college in Portsmouth.
Completed diploma in Business Studies, joined the Central Electricity Generating Board
My working life was in the electricity supply industry – 33 years – Bristol / Midlands / Bristol – mainly in Personnel (now called HR aka ‘human remains’)
2003 took voluntary redundancy; trained in massage and aromatherapy, and later reflexology. (When at school I wanted to be a physiotherapist, so this was the nearest to fulfilling that dream). I worked from home, and also did voluntary work using massage etc at the local hospice, and for the Red Cross.
I am a Rambler and enjoy walking, also lead walks – looking forward to group walks after the lockdown restrictions, although having done one today with four others it was exceedingly noisy!
I also try to ski.
