Greg - Glyn, your series, The Adventures of Odysseus, is a retelling / reworking of the epic poems of Homer. What is it about Odysseus that makes his story the one that you wanted to follow?
Glyn - For me, Odysseus was the logical choice for two reasons:
1. My original goal was to tell the story of the Trojan War from start to finish, and Odysseus was the perfect vehicle for that. The seeds of the war were sown at the wedding of Helen of Sparta, where Odysseus was one of her many suitors and played a key role in the events that took place. (I won’t say any more as I don’t want to give the plot away for those who haven’t read King of Ithaca). Ten years later, when Helen ran away to Troy with her lover, Paris, Odysseus was instrumental in bringing together the Greek army that was determined to bring her back. He was heavily involved in the fighting that took place over the ensuing ten years, and even came up with the idea for the Trojan Horse. The clincher for me, though, was his lengthy voyage home, as retold in my most recent book, The Voyage of Odysseus. He is famous for his encounters with the Cyclops, the Sirens and other supernatural beings, and his struggle to return to Ithaca is the closing chapter in the cycle of Trojan War myths.
2. If you’re going to base a series of books on a Greek hero, I think Odysseus is the one to choose. In my opinion he is the most interesting and complex of them all. The others are usually all out for the glory and honour, but he’s a bit more ambiguous. He’s an excellent warrior, but no match for an Achilles or a Hector. Rather his strength lies in his cunning and the power of his speech. He will lie, cheat and deceive to achieve his goals, but because his consuming ambition is to return home to his family we can forgive him his methods - mostly. In fact, Odysseus’s aim of ending the war and resuming his happy, quiet life on Ithaca is more suited to the modern reader’s mind than the typical Greek hero’s desire for martial glory at all costs. And as with all historical fiction, if the reader can’t relate to the character’s ambitions (regardless of his/her era or nationality) then they will quickly lose interest.
Greg– In addition to being a huge fan of Greek and Roman history, I am also a huge fan of English history. I also know that I rarely visit the great landmarks in my own backyard. What is the most significant landmark in your “backyard” that you take for granted?
Glyn - History is my greatest passion and I love visiting places that act as portals to the past. Living in the heart of England is great for that, because history is everywhere here. Even in my insignificant (but beautiful) home town there is history all around. Two minutes walk from my doorstep is a derelict church from the 12th century. The church sits next to a Victorian train station that witnessed the steam-powered revolution that propelled Britain - and the world - into the modern era. The town also accommodated the Royalist army the night before the Battle of Naseby, 5 miles away; and housed the victorious Parliamentarians the night after the battle (with their Royalist prisoners held in the church overnight). But when an American refers to their “backyard”, that’s very different to what an Englishman might call his “back garden” (if only because the USA is so much bigger). If I limit myself to a 30 mile radius then the real gem is Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s home town, which I visit once a year. Naturally it’s a tourist trap, but because of its association with the great bard it has retained much of its original architecture and feel. It’s also just a nice place for a day out!
Greg – Since he is not one of the characters from Homer’s works, what was your inspiration in creating the character Eperitus?
Glyn - The problem with choosing Odysseus as my main character for retelling the Trojan War myths is that his personal story is so well known. Which leaves very few surprises for most readers. That’s why I created Eperitus - someone that readers can care about, but have no idea whether he will survive even to the next chapter, let alone the end of the series. He also acts as a contrast to Odysseus. Though they are firm friends - and their friendship gets tested repeatedly - they are very different people. Eperitus is a warrior of modest rank but with the highest ideals; Odysseus is a king for whom honour and glory are not rigid principles, and who is prepared to bend the rules when necessary. Eperitus is loyal, honest and lets his sword do his talking; Odysseus is smart, cunning and has a persuasive tongue that can get him through most situations. Eperitus’s ambition is to restore his family’s honour by killing the man who destroyed it; Odysseus’s is to do everything possible to end the war and return home to Ithaca. Finally, though I’ve enjoyed weaving the various myths in to a single story that remains faithful to the original, having Eperitus in that story has given my creative instincts a little more liberty than they might have had if Odysseus was the only principal character.
Greg – Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few historical sites. I have to say that Stonehenge was a bit of a disappointment, while I can appreciate the monumental work that went into the construction, visitors are kept far back and I found that I really didn’t get to appreciate the site. What historical site have you visited that you found to be disappointing or underwhelming?
Glyn - Tough question. I know what you mean about Stonehenge because you can no longer access the site itself (though when I first visited in the 1970s you were allowed to climb on the stones, which made it much more fun!) If you go again, try nearby Avebury stone circle; it’s very hands-on and has much more atmosphere.
Usually, I find something I like in all historical sites. The most disappointing thing for me is not so much the site as what tourism has done to it. This usually has two detrimental effects. First, the volume of visitors makes it almost impossible to appreciate what the place may have looked and felt like centuries before - all those clamouring voices, flashing cameras, screaming children… The second is the protective interference of the site’s owners/caretakers. Far too many sites are fenced off, often with glass panels etc. that prevent visitors from imagining what the place once looked like. Walking round them is more akin to paying your respects to a corpse that is lying in state: what was once a living thing is now dead, even beyond the reviving breath of our imaginations. Entry to these places is also far too expensive. But if I have to pin it to one site, I’d say the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. I love the humility and humanity of the Christmas story, so plonking a huge church on top of such an evocative site wasn’t a great idea.
Greg – Glyn, when you sit back and relax with a good book, what are you reading?
Glyn - I’ve been having an unplanned sabbatical from fiction for the past year. On the centenary of the Great War I decided I should increase my knowledge about the conflict, so bought a book called Somme by Lynn Macdonald. This brought the war to life for me and helped dispel some of the myths that had repulsed me before. I suddenly realised there was so much more to the Great War than the horror of the trenches. So I’ve been buying and reading book after book on the subject ever since, which has squeezed fiction out. However, I’ve recently bought Rod Duncan’s The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire series (three books so far) and am looking forward to starting them. I’d roughly class them as steam punk, which isn’t my usual thing, but Rod is a fellow member of the Leicester Writers’ Club and I enjoyed hearing him read several excerpts aloud when they were still at the manuscript stage.
Greg – The Adventures of Odysseus started out as a traditionally published series, but now you are publishing independently. What has been the biggest transition for you in this process?
Glyn - Independent publishing wasn’t something I chose. Bigger UK publishers are obsessed with getting titles on to supermarket bookshelves, and The Armour of Achilles didn’t do as well in that area as they had hoped - so they decided not to carry on with the rest of the series! That was a big shock and a disappointment to me, but after a couple of years I decided to explore the independent route. It’s been a struggle, as I find marketing very difficult - I’m just not very gifted in that area! On the other hand, self-marketing has forced me to set up a website and enter into the world of social media (I didn’t do either when I was published by Pan Macmillan, because I was too busy with the writing and keeping down a full-time job). The great thing about this is that I now have so much more interaction with readers of the series. I get to hear their opinions about my writing and even discuss scenes and characters with them. It makes the process much more rewarding and far less lonely.
Greg - Imagine you were a librarian in The Great Library, someone yells “Fire!” What section of The Trojan Cycle would you have grabbed and saved that was lost forever that day?
Glyn - Because we only have fragments and summaries left and we don’t know what the originals were really like, that’s a difficult question. The Epic Cycle of (non-Homeric) poems about the Trojan War included - in order of events - the Cypria (the build up to the war and the nine years before Homer’s Iliad), the Aethiopis (the arrival of Memnon and the Amazons), the Little Iliad (from the death of Achilles to the building of the Trojan Horse), the Iliuo Persis (the end of the war), the Nostoi (the homeward voyages of the other Greek leaders), and the Telegony (Odysseus’s return to Ithaca and his eventual death). Based on what they might add to my understanding of the Trojan War, I’m torn between the Cypria, Little Iliad, Iliuo Persis and the Nostoi, but would probably opt for the Little Iliad.
Greg - Besides Homer, what other ancient sources did you use to fill in the gaps around The Iliad, and The Odyssey?
Glyn - Summaries of the above, but mostly the Greek dramatists and the Roman poets. Aeschylus’s Oresteia is the only surviving trilogy from Greek drama (usually they were always written in threes) and focuses on the murder of Agamemnon and its aftermath. Sophocles’s Ajax and Philoctetes are great depictions of Odysseus’s darker side. Euripedes’s Iphigenia in Aulis, Helen and Women of Troy were also invaluable for different points in my series. Virgil’s Aeneid brought much to my understanding of the Trojan myths. The best thing was that I studied them all in some depth at university, so I already had a good knowledge of the sources when I was developing my ideas for The Adventures of Odysseus.
Greg – Besides the classics, which authors have had the biggest influence on your writing?
Glyn - The sorts of books and films I like are the ones that bring out the best and most interesting elements of their characters by subjecting them to a challenging plotline. The most captivating stories I came across when younger (and it’s when we are young that we are most heavily influenced) were The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien, Watership Down by Richard Adams, Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Martian series and Stephen King’s early novels. I would say my eye for detail came from Tolkien, my enjoyment of telling a story on a large scale from Adams (and Tolkien), my love of swashbuckling action from Burroughs, and my interest in character from King. I was always a big fan of Hemingway, too, but rather than influencing my writing I think he just encouraged me to travel more and be a bit more adventurous with my life.
Greg – In addition to being a huge fan of Greek and Roman fiction, I love zombies, and while I realize it may not necessarily be your thing, I always have to ask this question. Do you have a zombie apocalypse plan, or will you just wing it?
Glyn - I’m very drawn to anything apocalyptic. Perhaps it’s an inert feeling that there’s too much wrong with this world and one day nature will just wipe 99% of us out and start again. As for zombies, I can’t get enough of The Walking Dead, and if that series is anything to go by I think my chances of survival will be slim. One disadvantage we Brits have is a total lack of guns - something you Americans don’t suffer from! However, we have plenty of “old tech” lying around, so if I survive the initial chaos I’ll head to Rockingham Castle, ten miles away from where I live, and find myself a suit of armour. There are a few halberds, pikestaffs and swords, too, so I could hack zombies all day long without worrying about being bitten. At night the thick walls should give plenty of protection from roaming zombies - and other humans.
Greg – The fact that your protagonist is Eperitus, and Odysseus arrives home alone has tormented me since the King of Ithaca. Has this been a major point of turmoil for yourself? Please do not give anything away.
Glyn - No. I’ve known Eperitus’s ultimate fate from the moment I conceived him. He hasn’t always followed the detail of my original plotline (it’s a wonderful thing for a writer when the character becomes so fully formed and individual that he or she starts to change your view of how they should react in certain situations), but I’ve never doubted what will happen to him and how much of Odysseus’s journey he will share. The great thing about the Trojan War myths is that there are so many gaps that I have always had enough room to play with things a little. I can’t say any more than that…
Greg– Once Odysseus’ story is complete and everyone gets their happily ever after or whatever does happen. What plans do you have as an author? Is there a new series or other books in the works?
Glyn - As you know, the Adventures of Odysseus series has one book left, which I’m still planning out. That should take me a couple of years to finish, which is my usual turnaround time for a novel. After that I have a few ideas. The first is for a couple of books aimed at the young adult market, which will be set in the present day. I’m also flirting with ideas for a novel about the Great War. However, that was such a static conflict that it might prove too restrictive for the sort of thing I’m considering. If not, I’ve always been tempted by the labours of Heracles. He doesn’t have the complexities that Odysseus does and his motives might be harder for a modern audience to sympathise with, but if I can give him a few suitable weaknesses then who knows?
2 Book Lovers Reviews
Interview with Glyn Iliffe
Author of The Adventures of Odysseus
Author Info:
Glyn Iliffe studied English and Classics at Reading University, where he developed a passion for the stories of ancient Greek mythology. Well travelled, Glyn has visited nearly forty countries, trekked in the Himalayas, spent six weeks hitchhiking across North America and had his collarbone broken by a bull in Pamplona.
He is married with two daughters and lives in Leicestershire, England. King of Ithaca was his first novel, followed by The Gates of Troy and The Armour of Achilles. He launched The Oracles of Troy in October 2013 and is currently working on the fifth book in the series, The Voyage of Odysseus.
For more information about Glyn Iliffe or The Adventures of Odysseus series visit www.glyniliffe.com.
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2 Book Lovers Reviews
2 Book Lovers Reviews