An interview with Chris Pierson
Related topics: Turbine Developers#Chris Pierson
January 24, 2002
Original Link (now dead) - http://acdm.turbinegames.com/?cat=0&id=250
An interview with Chris Pierson
By - Les Nelken
Chris Pierson, one of the original designers of “Asheron’s Call”, has been writing fantasy since he was a child. In 1997, after publishing several short stories, he was approached by TSR, then the makers of Dungeons and Dragons, about writing a book for the “Dragonlance” saga, which takes place in the world of Krynn. His first two books, Spirit of the Wind and Dezra’s Quest were part of the “Bridges of Time” series.
It was exciting for Chris to write for the Dragonlance series, since he pretty much grew up with it. Speaking about his first book, Spirit of the Wind, Chris said, “Being able to carve out my own little niche in Krynn, and to be given a chance to work with one of the original Companions, was a true honor. The best part, though, is finding out how much people have liked Spirit.”
Well, all things come to those with talent. (Chris doesn’t act like he has an inflated ego, so it’s safe to say that.)
Chris’ latest novel, Chosen of the Gods, is volume one of a new trilogy about the infamous Kingpriest, ruler of Krynn’s mightiest empire, Istar – a character Dragonlance fans know by reputation, but have never had a proper chance to meet. The second volume in the trilogy, Divine Hammer, is due in fall 2002.
Chosen of the Gods, Spirit of the Wind and Dezra’s Quest are published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. You can check out a sample chapter of Chosen of the Gods here.
Working on a massive game such as Asheron’s Call while trying to meet publishing deadlines makes Chris a busy guy. Asheron waits for no man, but the producers at Turbine, as well as staff in general were supportive of Chris’ endeavor, earning them a dedication in Chosen of the Gods. [Interview questions:]
Chris was able to take some time out of his schedule to answer a few questions::
Q: Besides the “Dragonance” series, what books influenced you while growing up?
A: Well, the first capital-B Book I remember reading was Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which was way back in the first grade. That certainly helped kick me off on the fantasy tack – I wanted to write about knights fighting giants too – and the heck with that windmill stuff: give me the world the way the Don saw it.
Other than that, there was of course Tolkien, and Michael Moorcock’s Elric series, and Fritz Leiber’s stories about Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. I still consider those three to be the writers who gave birth to modern fantasy (with all due respect to the likes of Dunsany, Lewis, Howard, and Eddison).
Q: Who are your favorite authors? Besides Tolkien? (Just a wild guess that he’s on the list)
A: My favorite by far is Guy Gavriel Kay, and not just because he’s a fellow Torontonian. (Editor’s note: a Torontonian is not from a suburb of Istar but from Canada) His command of setting is amazing – every book he writes creates a place and culture as real as anything in our world – and his verisimilitude is something I strive for in my own work. Stephen Brust constantly impresses me with his wit and ability to establish tone, and George R.R. Martin with his total ruthlessness and ability to juggle so many vivid characters. I love Barry Hughart’s Bridge of Birds and its sequels, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, and Martha Wells’s Death of the Necromancer. Outside fantasy, I admit to enjoying a lot of Stephen King’s work, as well as Elmore Leonard and Harry Turtledove. Dumas, Dostoevsky, Hemingway … and Shakespeare, of course. My aim with the villain in Chosen, for instance, was to create a Shakespearean-style tragic bad guy. Aim high, they say.
Q: Has playing computer games and working on “Asheron’s Call” influenced your writing at all in terms of content? We’re essentially trying to tell stories in this interactive medium. Do you find yourself sometimes thinking in terms of a game?
A: I try to leave the game stuff at work. It’s really a different medium, in many ways. For something like Asheron’s Call, you’re creating a story with a limited set of tools, and you have odd problems like not knowing yet who the heroes are, since the players are supposed to provide those. With a book, the storytelling’s different. I have more control – not complete control, because fictional characters don’t always want to do what the story needs them to do – and can pretty much do whatever I want, as long as I think my editor will let me get away with it. Frankly, I think my actual experiences working at Turbine itself, and the people I work with, have had more of an impact on my writing than the game has. And, of course, there are the more mundane things that make life interesting, like 12-hour work days while staring down the throat of a book deadline …
Q: Okay, we know you are an extremely avid moviegoer. What’s your favorite movie?
A: Criminy. There isn’t just one. My desert-island picks, right now, would probably be The Seven Samurai, Blade Runner, The Godfather (parts I and II), Star Wars et al., and Apocalypse Now. But I could easily rattle off a list of 100 films I’d gladly watch over and over.
Q: Did you like Lord of the Rings? Of course you did. Say “woot!”
A: Woot! Woot! A hundred times woot!
Q: One last question- where’s the groupies and what’s this I heard about one in a chainmail bikini?
A: Oh, yeah, the famous Chainmail Bikini Incident. Let’s just say that there was an extremely enthusiastic Dragonlance fan at a convention a few years back, who greatly enjoyed startling various male writers with the scantiness of her garment (and who, unlike a lot of people who wear skimpy chainmail at conventions, could actually pull it off). It made for a more distracting book-signing than average.
But groupies? For writers? On what planet would this be, then?
Find Chosen of the Gods at the Wizards of the Coast store.
Find all of Chris Pierson's novels at amazon.com:
Chosen of the Gods
Spirit of the Wind