Robert S. Stone: At the end of the five books, my intention is that the Chronicles of the Unbinding will be resolved and come to completion in a very satisfying way. That is not to say that, when you have as broad a tapestry as I'm trying to weave here, there that there won't be a lot of interesting characters and territory yet to be explored.

As I said, when I was coming up with the idea for the series, part of the genesis was the question: "What then?" In a lot of cases, the really interesting stuff for me is asking that question: "What would happen next to these characters?" Sometimes the superficially happy endings are enough, but sometimes the nature of that character or the world that's been created makes you say there should be implications down the line. So, we'll see when we get there.

Part of it will be determined by the readers -- whether they want to see any of these characters again, or are five novels enough? There are a couple of characters who will be a little bit peripheral in the first five books, who I'm considering doing other things with.

Crescent Blues: I got the feeling when reading Hazard's Price that I was looking at something that was a complete work but longer than one book. Did you conceive of the series as a unit?

Robert S. Stone: Yes, this is very much as single, overarching event that is happening here. To whatever extent possible, I'm trying to for the sake of a physical binding -- the book kind of binding, not the magical kind of binding -- to present that event in discreet installments that make sense. But, yeah, the books are very, very interrelated.

Crescent Blues: Since this interview will be appearing about the time Dark Waters hits the shelves, could you give our readers a teaser for the second book in the series?

Robert S. Stone: I think that the second book will please anybody who is waiting for some of the big pay-off conclusions from Hazard's Price that don't get paid off within the first book itself. I think Dark Waters moves a pretty brisk rate towards a couple of big finales. I really think the book is a lot of fun. I'm very excited about getting Dark Waters out.

Crescent Blues: And we'll be seeing some very unusual critters. Is that what the cover is saying?

Robert S. Stone: The cover is saying you will be seeing some unusual critters. There were just a couple of magical creatures in the first book and just a couple in this one. That cast of critters is going to grow significantly as we go along. You start to see more of what the world was like before the Binding in this book.

Crescent Blues: So some of the creatures that were supposed to be destroyed in the Binding appear as the partial Unbinding begins.

Robert S. Stone: A lot of creatures that were ostensibly destroyed…. There's that word "ostensibly" again. Well, sometimes you're destroyed, and sometimes you're just licking your wounds and waiting for your next opportunity. There are a couple of creatures that fall into that category.

It's so interesting, after you've worked so long on something, to finally get feedback from people. Going back to the genesis of the endeavor…my mother never reads fantasy. She reads romances almost exclusively -- though it could be historical romances or gothic romances. So, when she picked up the book, I said, "Mom, you don't want to read this. This isn't your stuff."

When she finished it, naturally, she said she liked it, but I will that bracket that aside as clear parental bias. "But," she said, "I wanted more magic." Which I thought was a pretty funny response from a romance reader.

Crescent Blues: Maybe she likes paranormal romance.

Robert S. Stone:[Laughs. ] I think on that metric Dark Waters will satisfy as well. There's a lot more interesting magic going on as we continue to get deeper into the series. You can tell that by the cover. For the reader at home, we're printing out a wonderfully umber brown manticore -- a winged lion.

Crescent Blues: Are you a native of Atlanta?

Robert S. Stone: I am a New York native, and this is my third -- and last -- relocation. I've lived in New York and Chicago; Portland, Ore., and here. I threw away the original packing, so I'm here to stay. All the boxes are in the trash.

Crescent Blues: Do you consider Dragoncon your hometown con, or is this your first Dragoncon?

Robert S. Stone: This is my second Dragoncon. It is now my hometown con, and it's nice to have such a robust convention that happens in my backyard every year. It's clearly a big, big perk -- unless, next year, I'm living in Spain… That would be a tough one. [Laughs.]

Crescent Blues: Is Dragoncon 2001 your first convention since Hazard's Price?

Robert S. Stone: Since the book has sold, this is the first convention I've had the opportunity to attend. I'm looking forward to doing few more of them if time permits. It's a kind of delicate balancing act when you're trying to juggle running a company at the same time. I travel a lot, and I'm trying to weave appearances into my business travel schedule. There's just not enough time in the day.

Crescent Blues: And you've got other projects in the works too. I think you mentioned dark fantasy as well as comedy.

Robert S. Stone: I don't have any pretension that the work that I do is breaking any literary barriers or is trailblazing in any sort of important literary way. I look for it to be good, fun, exciting reads. However, at the same time, there is typically some sort of irritation that I have -- a dark corner of the field that just doesn't get explored properly.

I've always loved humorous fantasy, but at the same time I've felt a little bit of frustration at the fact that there a lot of people who do broad humor exceptionally well -- Terry Pratchett, Robert Asprin, etc., etc. They do a great job with that. But it seems to me that most people have stayed away from humor that is driven by character.

I'd like to explore the possibility of a somewhat more realistic, character-driven humor in the field -- rather than it always being very strange creatures interacting in very strange ways. Though I love that kind of really wonderful, absurdist, surreal fantasy. I was busy reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy all through algebra class in eighth grade. That's what sat on my lap for three solid weeks.

Crescent Blues: No wonder you went into comparative American literature instead of math.

Robert S. Stone: I'm not too bad on the math. But hey, give me a fellowship and tell me to read books and write about them for about ten years. I picked up three masters and a Ph.D. by the time I was done. I spent a good decade of my life avoiding the work place. Ironically, here I am now running a business, instead of being a slacker fantasy writer living off the good graces of my wife -- which was the original plan! It didn't work out!

Crescent Blues: Are there kids in the mix now?

Robert S. Stone: There are two kids in the mix. There's a two-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl. No slacker's life. Between running a business, writing novels and raising kids, there are bags under the eyes. These are the things we wish upon ourselves for very good reasons, so I try not to complain at all.

Crescent Blues: They are good reasons. And look at it this way, you'll be able to write kids. Lot's of people can't get them right.

Robert S. Stone: That's true too. Actually, one of the things I was thinking about is that anyone writes an epic fantasy that includes taking a two-year-old along as part of the plot -- wow. I'm just not seeing that as a logistical possibility, having just traveled a week with the two kids.

Crescent Blues: Yes, there are good tactical reasons why they generally start epic fantasies with heroes of either gender who are unattached or who will soon be unattached. They do not have children with them unless the children drive the plot by being abducted at an early age.

Robert S. Stone: There are all of those little things about the travel epic that we always leave out, which is interesting, because when you look at travel narratives, those details are what people dwell on. The first time that you have to go to the toilet in the woods if you're a city boy -- all those things are just ignored in most epic fantasy. No, we're just a happy fellowship riding through the woods toward wherever our destination is. I try to keep those little logistical details in mind.

Crescent Blues: I notice that Galantine/Brandt is a slob too.

Robert S. Stone: What would you expect from a bachelor in his mid-thirties?

Crescent Blues: It depends on whether or not he's trying to pick up girls.

Robert S. Stone: He's a little bit consciously unattractive. That's the way I would term it.

Crescent Blues: And he goes through a lot of changes over the course of the five books.

Robert S. Stone: That's another thing. When you start out with a hero who's perfectly formed out of the gate, there's not necessarily a lot to follow along with. I'd rather have a bit of a trajectory. Brandt doesn't necessarily start out as the most lovable character in the first few pages.

Crescent Blues: That's what makes him interesting.

Robert S. Stone: I hope so.

Crescent Blues: You put Brandt up against a magician who has a dark purpose, and you're not sure who you want to root for. Brandt starts out with everything in the world, and yet the son of a bitch doesn't have the grace to be grateful for it.

Robert S. Stone: No, he doesn't have the grace to be grateful about just about anything at this point.

Crescent Blues: And that's why I, as a reader, know he's going to go far, because he's not where people wind up at the end of a story.

Robert S. Stone: It will be interesting to see where you think he is at the end of Dark Waters.

Crescent Blues: I look forward to it. But to return to the earlier question, I assume the science fiction comedy you're planning will feature more character-driven humor than situational humor.

Robert S. Stone: Humor is always an interaction between character and situation. There will be tons of situational humor, but I'm trying to moderate the degree of absurd slapstick. I'm really trying to keep it very much grounded in the way that a late 20th century or early 21st century New Yorker would react upon finding himself transported to a very different kind of place -- but also making frequent trips back and forth.

Crescent Blues: Your main character gets to travel back and forth between universes?

Robert S. Stone: For this other project, the two principal locations are New York City and a completely alternate world that's very much not like New York, at all.

Crescent Blues: Any idea when we can look forward to seeing this work on the shelves?

Robert S. Stone: I don't have firm plans for when that's going to come out. I'm writing another one, which I'm hoping to get done too, which I'm very excited about, but I don't have firm publication dates. The schedule for the Chronicles of the Unbinding is very aggressive. The first book came out in August, and the second one is scheduled for release in December. So, for good reason, virtually all of my time has been poured into the Unbinding. But I'm looking forward to getting a little more time to bring those other projects to completion.

Crescent Blues: After the December release of Dark Waters, how quickly can we expect to see the third, fourth and fifth installments in the series?

Robert S. Stone: I don't want to speak out of turn, but I hope that we're targeting the fall of 2002 for the next installment, which is almost done. That's almost in the can. Yeah! I'm not sure what the production schedule will be for numbers four and five.

Crescent Blues: Were you expecting to get the call from your agent or Penguin Putnam about the Chronicles of the Unbinding, or did it come as a complete surprise?

Robert S. Stone: When it finally happened, it came as a surprise. I mentioned before that it took a long time to reach fruition. But there's another issue.

I think that being a bad writer is actually better in some ways, because you can get things rejected very quickly. Whereas I had a manuscript for a different book that had been under serious consideration at five different publishers in a row. One of those publishers took as long as two years to finally make that kind of "No, unless you're going to make these changes to it, the book's not going to quite get there" decision. The timelines are so incredibly long. By the time you finally do get that letter that says, "Oh, yes, this is good, and we will publish it," I think you're just shocked, because it's been ten years of: "It's close, but…"

I'm looking forward to getting every one of my books out there. It's always a little bit of a thrill seeing them on the shelves.

Jean Marie Ward

In addition to editing Crescent Blues, Jean Marie Ward writes for a number of Web-based and print magazines, including Science Fiction Weekly. She is the author of Illumina: the Art of Jean Pierre Targete (Paper Tiger) and several short stories, including "Most Dead Bodies in a Confined Space" in Strange Pleasures 2 (Prime Books). Her first novel, With Nine You Get Vanyr, written with Teri Smith, was published by Samhain Publishing in 2007.

Click here to read the Crescent Blues review of Hazard's Price.