Christopher M. Cevasco is an author of both fantasy and historical fiction. As someone with legs in both worlds, he is frequently surprised by the lack of crossover.
“I don’t see the same faces when I attend the Historical Fiction Association Conference that I did when I attended the World Fantasy Conference,” Cevasco said in Episode 511 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy audio file. “Most people have been to one or the other. I guess I’m the odd bird that goes to both of them.”
Many fantasy writers have read George RR Martin’s Game of thronesrely heavily on The Battle of the Roses, but would never have thought to sample the work of historical novelist Bernard Cornwell, which offers much of the same interest. Cevasco loves both. “I know that George RR Martin is a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell, and vice versa,” he said. “For me, it makes perfect sense for them to enjoy reading each other’s work.”
Cevasco’s biggest effort to bring the two communities together is Paradoxa magazine that he published for six years, starting in 2003. “That was part of what motivated me to start Paradox magazine back in the day,” he said. “I was trying to highlight that overlap and tie the two together under the umbrella of a magazine at the time that was publishing short fiction or historical or fantasy, or a combination of historical and fantasy.”
Historical fiction and fantasy both allow readers to step outside of their everyday reality and see it from a new angle. Cevasco hopes many authors will appreciate the common ground of genres. “I think the best sci-fi and fantasy and the best historical fiction, it’s not just a period drama, it’s something that resonates with the modern world – with the world of us — and somehow comment on it,” he said. “I think it’s an interesting way to explore those kinds of problems in a unique context.”
Listen to the full interview with Christopher M. Cevasco in Episode 511 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (above). And check out some highlights from the discussion below.
Christopher M. Cevasco in his novel Watched: The Story of Godiva:
When [Lady Godiva] passing through town, in legend, most townspeople go into their homes and avoid their gaze so as not to embarrass their beloved noble woman. But a man, named Thomas, stared at her and was instantly blinded – or in some versions, he died – by God for the sake of his sight. And this is of course where we get the concept of “peeping Tom”… If you look at it page by page, only a small percentage of my books have this voyeuristic, erotic content, but it’s certainly a hot topic. Turn on throughout my book. , and it’s far more dangerous than anything else I’ve ever written, short or long. So I’ve been in the dilemma of having to write outside my comfort zone, but I just feel like that’s what myth forces me to do. I had to confront that directly, and make it central in this book.
Christopher M. Cevasco on Norman Conquest:
Everyone tends to think of the Norman Conquest as an event — in 1066 the Battle of Hastings happened and the Normans conquered England. But I think it’s fair to say that battle was only the beginning of their conquest, and indeed for about five to seven years after that battle, there was an active resistance movement among the British followers. many ways parallel to Maquis in France during World War II. They’re doing covert operations, there are all these colorful drawings like Hereward the Wake living in the woods and ravaging the Normans — and in some places fighting and winning fierce battles against William’s armies. It’s a truly amazing period of history, it’s right after the Conquest, and that’s the other big book I’m shopping for right now, which is a horror thriller about the resistance. wartime is set in the background of those resistance people.
Christopher M. Cevasco on Heorot: Beowulf’s Domain of Dread:
If you play Dungeons & Dragons, you know that there’s a setting called Ravenloft, which is basically all different horror pocket sizes—anything under the sun could be on this campus. So I said: “What if there was an installation based on Beowulf where the people in that scene are caught in a never-ending cycle of violence and revenge? And this whole cycle will reset every time Grendel comes and kills everyone, and the mother comes and avenges Grendel’s killing, and then it all resets, and these people are trapped in this never ending cycle? “So I had a lot of fun putting this together. I thought it would be a small 10-page addition, and it ended up being a 125-page gazette of Ravenloft and Beowulf lore. pulls back to Norse mythology and Anglo-Saxon history and all that interesting stuff.
Christopher M. Cevasco on religion:
It’s interesting to me when you write about people and how they interact with their faith — you know, it’s one thing when you have a scene between two or three characters. They will always describe themselves as “characters”—as they want to be seen. But when you have a character interacting with their god, or some other spiritual force, the power of their faith means that they’re stripped bare and you’re seeing the truest version of the character. that you can see because they know that they, in their mind, have nowhere to hide. So it’s really interesting to me when you have a character, in any book, that is spiritual or divine, because it reveals a lot about their inner thoughts.
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