Dan Forrester

So, what’s Havock all about, and why is it spelled wrong?

Havock is the setting of my first novel. I wanted the name to reflect something of the medieval and violent nature of the land, but also one that has been corrupted slightly over time, as many place names are in the real world.

Low Havock, the home of our hero, Dill, and his grudging companions, is dominated by the fortress school, the Stronghold of Reluctant Education. The school is designed to keep the students from leaving, in the hope that they might, for the love of the gods, learn something before they escape. It’s a dog eat dog environment, and when there are no dogs left, it’s a student eat student environment, and learning to fight is a must from day one. As a result, the school has a better track record of turning out warriors than it does geniuses.

High Havock is its hilly neighbour and home to the barbarian Sabre tribe and its chief, the insatiably violent Lord Gorab. The Sabres have conquered many of the surrounding lands, and now Gorab is bored and looking to Low Havock…

So, why fantasy? I think my first introduction to fantasy was Hugh Cook’s Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series, with The Wizards and the Warriors volume still holding a special place on my bookcase. The disparaging way that wizards are referred to as ‘pox doctors’ in Havock is a loving nod to the series, which stayed with me as such a simple way to sum up the attitude of an entire population to a once-revered group.

Once I discovered Terry Pratchett’s Discworld in my teens, I couldn’t get through them quick enough. He brought such unlikely characters to life and pitted them against many of the problems we face in the real world: ambitious colleagues, petty criminals, mid-life crises… Obviously we don’t have the worry of dragons but that wasn’t going to stop me transporting myself into their world.

Fantasy lends itself to be poked now and again, or at least tickled on the soles of its feet. Some people (not me, of course) might accuse it of occasionally taking itself too seriously over the decades. The genre is filled with characters that can so easily be dropped in ‘fish out of water’ scenarios that it’s tempting to oblige. I only hope it comes through in my writing that I do this with love and respect for the genre and its readers.