Jeremy Szal is joining us today to talk about his novel, Wolfskin. Here’s the publisher’s description:
Vakov Fukasawa is a Reaper. An elite soldier injected with a dangerous drug called stormtech: the DNA of a genocidal alien race, the Shenoi. It makes him stronger, faster, more aggressive. At a price.
A price that, if the House of Suns cult and the dangerous Shenoi alien race behind it, isn’t stopped, all of humanity will have to pay…
What’s Jeremy favorite bit?
Nothing compares to a relationship between siblings.
You can do and say things to a brother or sister that you’d never get away with if you tried it with anyone else (test this at your own peril). The bond between siblings can be messy and complex, and yet it can tolerate huge strain like few other personal relationships can.
And this is no different for Vakov and Artyom Fukasawa, the protagonist and deuteragonist of Wolfskin, the third book in the Common Saga.
I’ll try to avoid spoilers: they’ve gone through immense, nerve-shredding challenges over the years that have tested them physically and mentally. And while things are more grounded in Wolfskin, things aren’t always smooth either. There’s plenty of situations where the brothers find themselves fighting violently, brutally, over a disagreement, and then discussing things calmly, even with their knuckles marked by each other’s blood.
He tried to trip me up, but I tackled him and we both hit the ground with spine-rattling force, then two of us were rolling along the floor, smashing into low-rise furniture, clawing and slugging at each other in a fury of teeth and blood and hair.
I don’t know how long we fought before we both collapsed with exhaustion. We propped ourselves up against the wall, chests heaving, gasping for breath. My face and chest were throbbing in two dozen places. Blood snaked down Artyom’s face, mingling with his sweat.
Artyom spat blood out of his mouth. ‘You done?’
‘Yeah. You?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You want a drink?’
‘Sure.’
Writing these things has been immensely fun. I would not always know who would say what, or how extreme it would be, or how they’d untangle themselves afterwards. Because they’re siblings, things are allowed to go from hot to cold, from exchanging fists to exchanging apologies (or the other way around!) at the drop of a hat. This is how growing up with a sibling can be – I speak from experience.
Banter is one of my favourite things to write, and since these two had grown up together, knew each other better than anyone else, I could cut as close to the bone as I liked, whether or not they were training together, or enjoying some expensive ramen at an upmarket restaurant (Vakov always has to pay).
Underneath all the snark and one-liners, there’s an intimacy. A deep, unflinching love that these two brothers have for each other. I liked that I was able to show this in a multitude of ways: in the big, dramatic moments when one of them was suffering from mental anguish and rage, and in the smaller, more intimidate moments where you realise how deep their relationship runs. Whether that’s in the middle of a conversation or the middle of combat.
‘I know you’re in pain. I know the world’s hurt you so badly it feels like you’re going to die. I would die for you. I’d die for you a thousand times, if it meant taking this pain away. But I can’t. Only you can fix that. We need you. I need you.’
I love being able to “feel” a scene. Where the words on the page describing the relationship between characters is barely even the tip of the iceberg, and there’s a sense of verisimilitude, a richness that helps to define these characters as real people who could have a million more stories and scenes potentially play out. I’m not always able to listen to music while writing, but for the crucial scenes between the brothers doing so added a bouquet of flavours and textures into understand who they are, how they work with each other, and how those relationships evolve.
I love being able to see shifts in the relationships between characters, when there’s a definitive sense that a new mutual understanding has been reached, when things are never going to be the same. And as the creator and architect of these two feral, unhinged boys, being able to guide them to those points and beyond, was a real joy.
While their relationship was rocky for a long time, I’m glad that they have each others backs now. Because with the monsters, both human and not, waiting for them in Wolfskin, they’re going to need it.
There’d challenges and darkness waiting for us ahead, pain and agonies, but that didn’t matter. In this moment, with everything feeling so bright and happy, the world was ours.
LINKS:
BIO:
Jeremy Szal was raised by wild dingoes, which should explain a lot. He writes epic fantasy and dark space opera of a character-driven, morally grey nature. He sold The Common trilogy to Gollancz/Orion when he was 23, which includes STORMBLOOD, BLINDSPACE, and WOLFSKIN, about a drug harvested from alien DNA that makes users permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. He’s the author of over forty short stories, translated into seventeen languages, many of which appear in his short fiction collection BROKEN STARS. He was the editor for the Hugo-winning StarShipSofa until 2020 and has a BA in Film Studies and Creative Writing from UNSW. He carves out a living in Sydney, Australia with his family, where he loves watching weird movies, eating Japanese food, exploring cities, learning languages, cold weather and dark humour. Find him at https://jeremyszal.substack.com/ or @JeremySzal
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