After reading through the latest Aconyte Books release, The Rebels of Vanaheim: A Legends of Asgard Novel, I sat down for a chat with the author, Richard Lee Byers. My review for the book can be found here.
This is your second book in the Legends of Asgard series, how did you come about writing more than one book in the series, did you plan for this story when writing the first one, or was thing something you planned after?
From the start, I knew I wanted to do more than one novel about Heimdall. So, assuming I received approval from Aconyte Books and Marvel, there was always going to be a Book Two. But when writing The Head of Mimir, I hadn’t yet figured out what specific story problems, settings, antagonist, etc. would be in The Rebels of Vanaheim. That came later.
The Rebels of Vanaheim once again focuses on Heimdall as your previous entry in the series did. What is it about this character that you enjoy writing so much?
Well, for one thing, I focused on Heimdall partly because it seemed to me that Marvel had told less about his early career than it had told about those of some other characters. So there was room to create his origin, and origin stories are usually interesting.
Also, I enjoy writing intelligent characters who solve mysteries and puzzles and generally figure things out. Heimdall is the character who literally sees farther than others, so I thought, why not build on that and make him someone who also thinks more deeply and clearly than many of his Asgardian compatriots? So that’s the take you get in these books. (Although he’s not always right as The Rebels of Vanaheim demonstrates.)
Uschi featured briefly in The Head of Mimir, why did you choose to bring her back and give her more of a focus, and did you ever consider using Sif again too?
It’s quite convenient if a hero has a sidekick, someone to explain himself to and argue with. So I went with that in both The Head of Mimir and The Rebels of Vanaheim.
In the first book, I went with Sif. She’s Heimdall’s sister, so it made sense to use her. She’s also someone familiar to Marvel fans, and I figured that was an asset. Uschi was a character I conceived over the course of the writing because the plot required that there be someone who does the things she does.
When I started planning The Rebels of Vanaheim, I did indeed consider using Sif again. But I’d already discovered I liked Uschi, and she had the advantage of being a character I created. That meant I could do whatever I liked with her. That wasn’t true of Sif because she was already an established character being used by other novelists and in the comics, too.
This book has more of a horror theme than most of the other books in the series, yet manages to include a lot of mystery and intrigue as well as character moments. Did you find it difficult to balance out the various aspects of the plot? And was there one side of the story that you enjoyed writing over the others?
I’ve written a lot of horror and a lot of fantasy, so combining the two doesn’t feel especially difficult to me. (Of course, I’m scarcely the first writer to do this. The works of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Karl Edward Wagner, and C. L. Moore all do it, too.) I don’t know that one side of the story seemed more fun than the others. I was fortunate enough to enjoy writing all of it.
There seems to be a big focus on family in this book, and how parents can place undue expectations on their children. You explore this in two different ways with how both Heimdall and Uschi are viewed by their families. Is this a theme that particularly appeals to you?
I don’t know that it’s a theme that particularly appeals to me. It’s a theme that developed organically given that Heimdall and Uschi are going back to Vanaheim to visit their parents.
Considering how many fantasy-adventure novels I’ve written over the years, it’s obvious that I like the Good Guy vs. Bad Guy template. But in a novel, there has to be more than that or the story feels superficial and unsatisfactory. In addition to all the supernatural brouhaha, you have to make the central characters multi-dimensional by giving them other issues to address, ideally, issues that will resonate with readers. This relatability is part of the reason for the success of Marvel Comics. Teenage Peter Parker, for example, is a bullied nerd when he acquires the powers of Spider-Man, and venturing forth as a superhero doesn’t make his mundane problems go away.
Your story includes some creatures that would go on to become a part of the Thor mythos in the comics, the thing that’s behind everything (trying not to say its name due to spoilers) was it exciting to get to go back and explore how a part of the comic mythology came to be in that way?
It was fun, and I think that explaining how things in the contemporary Marvel Universe came to be as they are is part of the appeal of these particular novels. At the same time, you don’t want a sense of familiarity to blunt the excitement and suspense. Keeping the ultimate antagonist behind the curtain for a while was my attempt to work within the Marvel canon while also pulling out some surprises.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about the book was the way in which we got to see how different peoples and different realms behave and operate, especially when we get to delve into the dwarves. Did you have many strict rules you needed to follow in order to keep things in line with existing canon, or did you have a lot of free reign?
I try to work within existing canon, and there are reviewers at Marvel who’ll ask for revisions if I accidentally deviate. That doesn’t cramp my style as much as you might think, though, because it’s in the nature of comics that they do a wonderful job of laying down the broad strokes but don’t cover a number of the details. In the case of Vanaheim and Nidavellir, there’s less established lore than you might think, so by setting much of the story in those Realms, I could give my imagination pretty free rein.
Whilst the Legends of Asgard series is set within the Marvel Universe the books seem to draw more heavily from real world Norse myths and culture than the comics do. Did you find yourself doing more research into the real-world legends and stories to help with writing The Rebels of Vanaheim?
As noted above, even after decades of stories, there are things about the Nine Realms that Marvel Comics hasn’t really gotten around to explaining. My books get into some of the subjects, and I figured it only made sense to draw on “real” Norse mythology to do it. Where applicable, I also drew on real Viking history and real details of life in Scandinavia to paint a vivid, convincing picture. In The Head of Mimir, for example, when Heimdall and Sif are traveling across Asgard, the trees and other plants they see along the way are ones you might see when hiking in Norway.
As this very much feels like the next step in Heimdall’s journey to becoming the god and protector of the Bifrost as we know him, but he’s still yet to attain those things, will you be returning to write more stories for him?
There’s nothing I can announce at this time, but I will say your question is a shrewd one.
Are there any other characters from the Thor stories that you’d like to write for but haven’t had the chance yet?
No doubt everyone contributing to Marvel Legends of Asgard would like a shot at the Big Two, Thor himself and Loki, separately or together, and I’m not exception. Beyond that, it would be fun to tackle the Warriors Three (I already have a Volstagg cameo in The Head of Mimir and a Hogun cameo in The Rebels of Vanaheim), Hela, and definitely Amora. (The Enchantress is the antagonist in The Head of Mimir, but in a different story, she’d make a fine antihero.)
Are there any other projects that you’re working on at the moment, what can fans hope to see from you soon?
I don’t have too much else I can talk about that’s absolutely, positively lined up at the moment. Some people may know I’m a frequent contributor to the “Basil & Moebius” series of books and graphic novels. I did three novelettes for the next volume, which series creator Ryan Schifrin advised me will be out soon.
Beyond that, someone has commissioned a short story from me, but I don’t know how soon that anthology will be available. I’ve also got pitches in for a couple other projects, so keep your fingers crossed for me.
Anyone interested in seeing more of Richard and his work can head over to his website to learn more.
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