The Power of Academia in Epic Storytelling
Raymond Wilkinson redefines fantasy with The Peacebringer Saga, blending alternative history, political intrigue, and mystery. He discusses his inspirations, academic influences, complex characters, and the delicate balance between unity, freedom, and power.
Raymond Wilkinson is a storyteller who dares to defy convention. With The Peacebringer Saga, he has crafted a world that challenges the boundaries of fantasy, weaving together alternative history, political intrigue, and the enduring mysteries of war and peace. His trilogy—To End Every War, All Silence Must Cease, and Until Peace Comes Again—offers readers a richly detailed and deeply intellectual journey, balancing epic storytelling with intricate character development.
A scholar at heart and a writer by passion, Wilkinson brings the depth of academia into his narratives, creating an environment where knowledge, belief, and power collide. His Vespa Academy is not just a setting but a living, breathing force that shapes his characters and their destinies. Rather than relying on tired tropes, he redefines fantasy by blending historical realism with intricate world-building, offering a fresh perspective that captivates both the mind and the imagination.
In this exclusive interview, Wilkinson shares the inspirations behind his groundbreaking work, the philosophical and political questions that drive his storytelling, and his approach to crafting a truly original fantasy epic. As The Peacebringer Saga continues to unfold, readers can expect a thrilling and thought-provoking experience—one that challenges assumptions and redefines the genre itself.
Wilkinson is a masterful storyteller, crafting intricate narratives that challenge conventions, engage the intellect, and redefine fantasy with depth, originality, and intrigue.
What inspired you to create the alternative history setting in The Peacebringer Saga?
Growing up, it always bothered me how fantasy stories rarely tried to be original in their milieus. Everything was stuck in ancient/medieval times for thousands of years or was magically hidden away in a modern, non-fantastical setting. Specific subgenres had excellent exceptions, but it was an otherwise stale offering. To End Every War tries to capture a unique scenario in an exciting time and place.
How did your academic background influence your writing style and themes in your books? The characters in your books are richly developed. How do you approach character creation and development?
I grew up in academia but wanted to write an epic story that didn’t forget its characters and the bonds between them. Many excellent authors are more talented than me in writing epic fantasy, but they typically bite off more than they can chew. There’s a lot of debate about where many great stories went wrong. My decade of research yielded one common denominator: the failure to construct a focal point that connects many characters and plots.
So, instead of dropping characters on different continents and deploying dragons to compensate, I decided to have them all networked together in a realistic place that encourages camaraderie: academia. Vespa Academy is that unifying force that focused my writing skills. However, I still needed to explain the dramatic yet realistic situation while maintaining focus on the characters and their dilemmas.
So, I increased the level of mystery to propel the story forward. What started as mere epic fantasy became an epic, fantastical mystery. But make no mistake; Vespa Academy isn’t a seven-year magical school–it’s the beginning of a grander story about war and peace.
Your work combines elements of fantasy and political intrigue. How do you balance these genres in your storytelling?
I wanted to explore the balancing of unity and freedom, which ties nicely with balancing subgenres. What does unity look like in a world full of division? And how does it work successfully without ending in oppression or chaos? Fantasy races and species always serve as good metaphors for real-world human relations.
In particular, I find the notion of a legacy oppressor species interesting. If you are currently oppressing the historical oppressor, are you just as evil as the old villains in history books? And are the history books we are reading accurate?
What challenges do you face when writing about complex magical systems, and how do you make them accessible to readers?
I desired to present an alternate reality reflecting the religion of the turn-of-the-century era that both clashed and melded with new scientific methods. (My Christian faith significantly impacts my writing, and I thank God for the opportunities he gave me to write this book and its sequels over three years.) So, I created a detailed fictional religion and arcane science that integrated liturgy, history, engineering, and myth. Starting the story in an academic venue allowed me to present lore in a natural, dialectic way.
How do you see the role of women in your books, particularly in a historically and politically charged environment?
Women in fantasy are always pigeonholed in stereotypical ways that make no sense to me. Current fantasy seems to avoid female epic group stories in any era or division. Either it is a group of men doing manly things with a few women sprinkled in for relateable “diversity,” or it’s a sole, heroic woman with no equals receiving obligatory support from lesser, cliched friends of both genders. Perhaps a few epic group female stories are out there, but they get little attention. Maybe I am helping to write a new subgenre!
What advice would you give to new authors trying to blend political themes with fantasy elements?
Have faith in the intelligence and memory of your readers, but remember that they are busy people with limited time and focus! Books 1 and 2 were once a single fantasy book too large for non-epic readers, featuring overlapping scenes that were somewhat patronizing to the reader. I cut the oversized book in half and removed the excessive scenes while adding some additional context.
Book 3, the “real” sequel to the now-split novel, is coming May 31st!
