Article content continued

De Castell may write in the fantasy genre, but he says he’s really exploring our real-world issues.

“It’s a response to the times we live in,” de Castell said. “[Saint’s Blood] ultimately is about the distinction between faith and idealism. In a fantasy setting you can explore that in a more literal way. I decided the way that gods and saints work in Tristia is almost the way that on a metaphorical or social level they work in our world, which is that what people fundamentally believe in kind of manifests. We get the gods we deserve.”

But where do you go with a series like the Greatcoats when the gods are dead?

“[The next book] can only ultimately be about one thing: the fight for the soul of the Greatcoats,” de Castell said. “What if it turns out [Falcio’s] own personal myths about the Greatcoats — maybe they’re not what he thought they were. It’s the battle for the soul of the Greatcoats.”

We get the gods we deserve.

De Castell’s interest in exploring our real-world issues through fantasy may have its roots in another classic series: the Narnia books, which also have ties to our world.

“Narnia was the first fantasy world I was ever exposed to,” he said. “The way I was introduced to it was my older sister reading me the books. My sister has a remarkable capacity for enchanting the world. Which is one of the things fantasy does — it’s not that we escape to it, it’s that it helps us re-enchant the world.”

De Castell is negotiating to write four more Greatcoats novels after the next one, and six young adult novels for his new Spellsinger series, plus two other books. He’s certainly beginning to rival Martin in terms of popular success, if not gruffness.

So did he go to the losers’ party? De Castell admits he did attend, although he didn’t linger.

“I stayed just long enough to eat as much ice cream as I could and then I ran out of there,” he said, laughing. “I couldn’t bring myself to see him again.”

pdarbyshire@postmedia.com