Antonia Hodgson on her new epic fantasy, The Raven Scholar

As much as we love romantasy novels, sometimes we just want an epic fantasy, with fantastic world building, and intriguing politics. Antonia Hodgson is here to answer our wishes with The Raven Scholar. The first book in a brand new series, The Raven Scholar, follows seven contenders who compete to replace Bersun the Brusque’s reign. Except one of them is murdered. And so the emperor’s High Scholar needs to solve the murder, all while competing against the remaining six warriors.

We are so excited to have Antonia Hodgson here today to chat The Raven Scholar.

First of all, The Raven Scholar is a big book with more than 600 pages. How would you convince readers who are intimidated by this to give it a go?

I love a long book but I do understand they can feel daunting. My suggestion: Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Say to yourself: This book is 300 pages long. This book is 300 pages long. Open your eyes and begin. When you reach page 300, repeat exercise.

The Raven Scholar is an epic fantasy, with an immersive world, and complicated politics. Which part do you enjoy writing the most?

They’re intertwined, for me. I created the world and the characters first and the drama flowed naturally from there. I’ve always dreamed of writing an epic fantasy series, so I enjoyed all of it, even when it was difficult.

We love a good competition / trial trope. How did you come up with the trials?

First of all, the Trials are expected to reflect aspects of the Eight Guardians. So the Monkey Trial would naturally test creativity, for example. Then I considered the person who set them. Fenn’s Ox Trial would be practical, with a shrewd lesson at its heart. Cain’s Fox Trial
appears random and playful at first glance, but underneath that he’s done some serious homework. Rivenna’s Tiger Trial shows us exactly how she would like the world to operate.

To chat about The Raven Scholar, we obviously need to talk about the Raven. What’s the inspiration behind it? Can you chat about your meeting with Bran? 

With all eight Guardians, I chose animals with strong symbolic qualities, inspired by their observed behaviour. Ravens are such clever, charismatic birds, universally recognised as highly alert and curious, with astonishing memories and puzzle-solving abilities. These attributes feed into the myths that surround them.

Once I started writing, I realised I had to meet one up close, for similar reasons – to blend personal observation with imagination. I got in touch with Lloyd Buck, who looks after a raven called Bran. Could I chat about that meeting? Yes, for hours! But to spare you that,
here are a couple of lines I scribbled down moments after meeting him instead: Both solid but light on the arm, constant moving/observing. When frustrated, tugs bits of grass out of ground. Can tell when he’s pleased with himself. Makes aark sound when irritated.

Those last three also apply to me, come to think of it.

The story features an omniscient POV. Were there any particular challenges in doing so? 

The POV certainly thinks it’s all-knowing (!), but it does have some limits. There are places it’s not supposed to go, and when it does transgress, it pulls back somewhat chastened. Which is not unlike the challenges of writing from this POV – I had to work out the parameters and keep to them.

Finally, despite being such an intense epic fantasy, humour plays such a key role and makes us love the book even more. Were you ever worried that mixing in humour would take away the seriousness? 

Well thank you! I thought a lot about the tone, but I never worried about the humour. It’s a part of life, even (maybe especially) in the worst of times. If I’m creating a world, I want it to be as immersive and credible as possible. A world without humour… nothing’s impossible, but I’d struggle to write it! And I’m sure Cain, who is a specialist on the subject, would argue that there is a deep seriousness to humour. And a deep humour to seriousness, for that matter.