SHADOWBANE: An Interview with Erik Scott de Bie
Here to talk about his new Forgotten Realms novel Shadowbane, launching the end of this month from Wizards of the Coast, is rising Realms star and When the Hero Comes Home contributor, Erik Scott de Bie. From the searing, tragic romance of Ghostwalker to the endless fight against evil that is the path of Kalen “Shadowbane” Dren of the Shadowbane series, de Bie offers us stirring examples of sword-and-sorcery fantasy at its best.
Q. Tell us a little about the book. What challenges does your hero face?
A. Kalen, that gritty vigilante paladin of a fallen God, returns to the plague-ridden thieves’ city of his youth—Luskan—on a quest to rescue the woman he loves, Myrin. Along the way, he faces treacheries from those he thought allies, a crisis of faith in his cause, and a horrifying epidemic that is anything but natural. But Kalen’s greatest struggle lies within himself: can he reconcile the brutal thief he used to be with the noble paladin he has sworn to be?
For readers familiar with my work, Shadowbane follows up several of the characters from my previous novel, Downshadow. Kalen “Shadowbane” Dren makes an appearance as the helmed vigilante paladin, leaving his territory in Waterdeep to carry the fight to Luskan. The amnesiac wizard Myrin comes into her own in this book, finding some of her lost memories as well as some extremely powerful magic spells that come along with them. There are new faces as well, in particular the halfling Toytere, the butcher of Luskan and King of the Dead Rats gang, and the dark avenger Sithe, whose power originates from the absolute void inside her soul. I also particularly like the villain of this novel—a priestess of both Tymora and Beshaba—but lest I throw out too many spoilers, I’ll leave it at that.
I liken the tone of the novel to a cross between Gangs of New York and Batman: No Man’s Land. Our heroic vigilante comes to a burned out, plague-ridden city run by thief gangs and must walk the line between victory and compromising his principles. Inspired by the moral ambiguity that is at the heart of Kalen and Myrin’s story, I watched/read those works quite a bit during the writing process.
Q. Where does Shadowbane fit into D&D and the Realms universe? Is there anything I need to have read to “get it”?
A. I try to write all my novels and short stories for a completely new reader, as well as weave in things to appeal to old-school readers. Shadowbane fits into the Shadowbane series, which began with my novel Downshadow and will continue next year with Eye of Justice. It also fits into the world-spanning Abyssal Plague event, and follows close on the heels of Bruce Cordell’s book, Sword of the Gods. It’s also deeply stewed in Realmslore as only a life-long fan of the Forgotten Realms can accomplish, so I hope it’s appealing to hardcore fans of the setting. If you play D&D, particularly the newest edition, you will see echoes of game mechanics and pick up thoughts for how you might run a D&D game, particularly with paladins and avengers. Basically, if you fall into any of those categories, you will enjoy the heck out of this book (I hope!).
And if you’re brand new to the Realms, you’re in luck as well: the story is very self-contained and can be enjoyed as a stand-alone or a springboard to my other work. All you need to know about Kalen and Myrin is presented in those first two chapters, and you are good to go.
Quick note: You’ll also notice certain ties between the Shadowbane series and my Forgotten Realms design work. The Dead Rats gang in Luskan features in the Neverwinter Campaign Setting and the current D&D Encounters season, “The Lost Crown of Neverwinter.” Toytere even appears in the adventure, albeit in statue form. Also, one particular character in Kalen’s orbit might spark the memories of veterans of the first season of D&D Encounters, “Halaster’s Lost Apprentice.” But to reveal too much would be telling. :)
Q. What do you offer here that will make Realms fans perk up and take notice?
A. Well, the biggest win is Vindicator, Shadowbane’s sword. It’s magical, obviously, shedding a grey light to reflect the soul of its wielder. But the most significant facet of the blade is the symbol engraved on its hilt: a gauntlet with a stylized eye in the center.
That’s right, Vindicator is sacred to the church of long-vanished Helm, the god of guardians killed a hundred years ago, even before the Spellplague ravaged the land. And Shadowbane is his one last worshipper—the Champion of a Dead God. So this series is a particular win for all those fans of Helm . . . and potentially other dead gods as well. (Ahem!)
I could say more about Myrin also, but that will come up later in the series. For now, suffice it to say that she is as tied to old-school Forgotten Realms as Kalen is, if not more so. We’ll just see when her memories return, as they start to do in this book.
Q. I hear Shadowbane is an e-book only release. What prompted that decision?
A. Wizards of the Coast is undertaking a daring experiment to test the waters of the e-book market. They’ve released e-books before, of course, but none have exploited the benefits of the format quite like Shadowbane does, with significantly expanded content and links to even more downloads for free stuff.
Shadowbane is the first of its kind to get this treatment, and I’m hoping it goes well. We’ve seen e-book sales skyrocketing in the last year, and I expect that trend to continue. I’m excited!
Q. You mentioned expanded content. How much extra bang do we get for our bucks?
A. Shadowbane is stuffed full of expanded content: there’s a short story from me called “A New Purpose,” which takes place shortly before Shadowbane itself (basically the same night as the first chapter); details on Luskan, the novel’s setting; stats on Abyssal Plague demons, an Abyssal Plague overview written by James Wyatt, The Gates of Madness novella (which sets off the Abyssal Plague), and sample chapters from no less than THREE other novels in the Abyssal Plague series.
Speaking of which, the sample chapter of Shadowbane is up for download from the Wizards site. Check it out at Shadowbane’s product page.
Q. How about free stuff?
A. You clearly know me. :)
There’s also a 85-page e-novella I wrote—”Chosen of the Sword“—which you can download and read for free here. This fills in some of the 1-year gap between Downshadow and Shadowbane, and specifically answers some of the big questions Shadowbane raises. You won’t have to have read the novella to understand and enjoy the book, but similarly to other of my work or Realms/Abyssal Plague pieces, it will help you pick up more that another reader might have glossed past.
I’ve also updated my Downshadow companion story, “The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane,” for readers interested in learning more about Kalen’s backstory, particularly the sword Vindicator.
And as if that weren’t enough, I also fought the first ever Forgotten Realms Twitter Duel between Kalen and his nemesis, Arrath “Rath” Vir, the infamous dwarf monk/assassin from Downshadow. The link to the transcript is here.
Q. Where does Shadowbane go from here?
A. The series continues in the next novel, Eye of Justice, where Kalen must return to Westgate, the city where he trained to become the avenger Shadowbane. There, he finds both friends and enemies from his past, as well as new dangers that seek to destroy or supplant him.
Myrin has more memories to recover, not the least of which is that her ancestral home lies in Westgate, and her family is tied to some of the dark powers that stalk the city. She tries so hard to recover her former power, but is that truly a good thing?
The shadowy manipulators lurking behind the scenes, playing a game against one another for Myrin’s fate, finally come out into the open, and chaos ensues. Hard choices from the past resurface as old enemies return to take a shot at vengeance.
And added to the gathering darkness, a certain shadow-dancing, heart-breaking elf woman arrives to tip the scales—but in which direction?
Q. And finally, where can I find this irresistible adventure?
You can download it on Amazon Kindle or Barnes and Noble Nook, or (I believe) straight through the Wizards site.
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About Erik Scott de Bie:
Erik Scott de Bie is the author of five fantasy novels in the Forgotten Realms world, including Shadowbane (September 2011) and its sequel, Eye of Justice (2012). He has contributed to many scifi/fantasy collections, such as the anthologies When the Hero Comes Home, Human for a Day, Close Encounters of the Urban Kind, and Beauty Has Her Way. He is also a known quantity in the hobby gaming industry, having contributed to such successful Dungeons and Dragons products as Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea, Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond, and the popular Neverwinter Campaign Setting. He lives in Seattle, where he is married and has many pets.
Catch up with Erik on his website (erikscottdebie.com) or find him on Twitter (@erikscottdebie) or Facebook (Erik Scott de Bie)
Links:
* Shadowbane on Kindle
* Shadowbane on Nook
* Shadowbane Product Page on Wizards of the Coast
* Shadowbane Expanded Content List
* “Chosen of the Sword,” an e-novella by Erik Scott de Bie
* “Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane,” Companion story to Downshadow
* Twitter Transcript
* Erik’s website