Interview with Fantasy Icons Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

If you've ever heard of a little series called Dragonlance, you know Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. If you've ever played an RPG style video game, you've experienced how far reaching their influence has been. Weis and Hickman are the bestselling fantasy co-authors of all time, collaborating on thirty novels and writing or co-authoring over one hundred. The duo, who have launched one of the biggest fantasy empires of all time, have just released the first book in their brand new series, Dragonships of Vindras. In Bones of the Dragon eighteen-year-old Skylan Ivorson feels like a hero. He's blessed by the God Torval, he's handsome, he's strong, he excels in all forms of combat...and his intended bride is in secretly in love with his best friend. His people, the Vindrasi, once ruled the seas, traveling in mighty ships powered by dragons...but their glory days were long ago. Now they battle poor harvests, bad weather and angry winds. When the word comes in from their enemies that their gods have been slain, the brave but reckless Skylan must lead his warriors to battle against these new gods and recover the mysterious Five Bones of the Vektan Dragons to save his people. The fate of the world depends on it.

I recently got the chance to catch up with the authors to chat about their new novel. I've been a fan since their first book. Hey, I play Dungeons & Dragons, I've read the Dragonlance books seven times, I've read the annotated versions...and I have to tell you, Bones of the Dragon is a fantastic read. Their mastery of character and excellent storytelling skills will keep you reading long after your bedtime. Are you fans? I'd love you hear what you think.



Q: You based the world on Nordic mythology in your new series. What is the appeal of this particular culture?

Margaret Weis: The Norsemen were far from being the savage barbarians some history has portrayed them. They had an extremely interesting culture and we have tried to reflect some of that in our story. A wife was permitted to divorce an abusive husband. Even though marriages were arranged, a daughter had final say on whether or not she would marry the man her family had chosen. Honor and courage were valued.

Tracy Hickman: That being true, the Norse culture remains iconic – if misunderstood – around the world. ‘Dragonships’ gives us the opportunity to explore this fascinating culture as well as a host of others as well, in this fantasy setting. People think they know Vikings and I hope we get to surprise them.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for dragonships?

MW: The Norse raiders often put carved prows in the form of dragons on their ships in order to intimidate their enemies. These prows could be removed when in friendly territory so that they would not frighten the spirits of the land. Tracy came up with the concept of the spiritbones and how these relate to the dragonships.
TH: In fact, more than a quarter of a century ago, before Margaret and I had even met, I had drawn a dragonship, complete with the sails and its rigging. I’ve still got that drawing. It’s a wonder to me that dreams and ideas from so long ago can resurface in new and powerful ways years later.

Q: Since role playing the story line for Dragonlance, how has your writing style changed? Do you still role play for any plot points?

TH: It is something of a legend that we actually role-played the storyline when we wrote the original Dragonlance novels. While we were simultaneously writing the books and the games back in those days there were only a handful of elements that crossed from the playing of the game into the books – although some of those elements did prove to be timeless. The character Bupuh came from a role playing session, as did much of Raistlin’s behaviors and voice.

MW: We learned a lot with the first Dragonlance books about writing novels to games. The first and foremost lesson for me is that the novel takes precedent over the game! We would like to develop an RPG to go with this world, but we haven't done so yet. So no role playing for Dragonships (though I think playing in this world would be fun!).

Q: You killed off main characters long before Joss Whedon and Lost made it the norm for long term story telling. Why do you think that's become so mainstream and do people still write you letters about it like they did when you killed off Sturm in Dragonlance?

MW: Actually we were amazed when people were so upset and shocked by Sturm's death. (Though I still remember how I cried when Beth died in Little Women!). But we have also had people who tell us how they were inspired by his story. I'll let Tracy tell that story.

TH: Well, Margaret knows that I actually don’t tell that story often – more because it is too special to me to share than any other reason. But, since Margaret has asked, I’ll make this one exception and tell it as briefly as I can.

As you mentioned, Sturm’s death was a traumatic and pivotal point in the story. This one man exemplified all the virtues of the knighthood and yet had been denied acceptance by the other knights of the order to which he aspired. We wept at Sturm’s death – especially because he stood up and sacrificed his life to protect his fellow knights and the ideals for which they stood.

Many years later, at a book signing on a military base, we were approached by a young man in a wheel chair. He handed us his Dragonlance Chronicles then told us that while on patrol in Afghanistan, he had been shot at the base of the spine. He could see the enemy setting up to wipe out his entire patrol from the opposing ridge. In this terrible moment as he fell to the ground, the thought that came into his head was this.

“What would Sturm do?”

So that young man stood up with his terrible wound, warned his squad and likely saved many men that day.

This young man then pushed his Bronze Star and his Purple Heart across the table to us. I keep them on my desk now in a special box as a reminder that the meager words we write can occasionally be translated into great actions by those who read them.

Q: You always have such strong female characters (thank you, by the way). How much of that is from your Dungeons & Dragons background?
MW: Since I didn't have much of a D&D background (I was hired at TSR, Inc. as book editor. And to this day, someone always has to tell me what dice to roll!), I think for me that came from my childhood, growing up in the fifties. I first became aware of discrimination against women in the third grade, when I was told that I could not play softball with the boys, because "girls didn't play softball". Girls were supposed to jump rope. I was furious. In the fourth grade, I rounded up some other girls who wanted to play softball and we were at last allowed to play ball during recess, though we had to play in petticoats (dress code at my school!) and we could not use ball gloves. (I have no idea why.) I jammed my fingers so many times catching the balls and to this day, I can't play softball with a glove. But we were allowed to play! I've been a strong proponent of strong women ever since!

TH: With my name, I’ve often been mistaken for a female author. I delight in strong female characters.

Q: Bones of the Dragon is the first book in a six book series. What can you tell us about where the series is going and what we'll see?

MW: The series is an odyssey, that will take our warriors to many parts of the known world, introduce them to many different cultures, including those of the ogres and the Cyclops and even the people who dwell beneath the sea.


TH: Further than that, it will introduce us to a number of competing pantheons of gods, each vying for control of the world that was not theirs in the first place. It’s going to be quite a ride!


Q: One of the things people love about your writing is the balance of your characters. One of the main reasons Dragonlance's Raistlin is so well loved because you're never quite sure he's 100% evil. You keep hoping he'll do the right thing and the possibility is always there. How do you top Raistlin as a villain? What can you tell us about the villains in this series? On the same note, your hero's are often flawed. Talk a bit about the character of Skylan.

MW: I don't think we can ever top Raistlin. He was one of those characters, like Sherlock Holmes, that an author comes across once in a lifetime. That said, I really like Skylan. He is young and arrogant, courageous, a skilled warrior. And he's going to get slapped up the side of his head by his god. And unlike Tanis and Sturm, no one chose Skylan to be a hero!

TH: Skylan might have chosen himself, however, but only because he has a distorted idea of what makes a true hero – and the painful responsibilities that office entails.

Q: The new book begins with the news that the Gods have had a battle and some of them may be dead. Your series often feature gods who really influence the lives of humans, etc. Why is that?

MW: Religion plays such an immense role in the lives of people who live in the real world. Throughout history, men have killed each other over conflicts dealing with religion. Is this right? Is this wise? We encourage our readers to ask questions.

TH: And the gods in mythology have always played a large role, in no small part due to their representing the personification of forces or ideas which the characters are trying to grapple with in the world. A few years ago there was a film called Troy based on the Trojan Wars. However, someone decided that the whole idea of the gods being involved in the Trojan War was somehow outdated and so they stripped the story of the gods and tried to tell it as a political conflict. It was a sad mess and despite its epic scenery became pitifully smaller without the gods and the forces of nature that they represented.

Q: Will there be any cross-overs from other series you've done?

MW: No, Fizban will not be seen sailing in a dragonship! :)

TH: Wait! What about that one gray bearded oarsman third down on the starboard side? He looks rather familiar ... no, I’m mistaken.

Q: The battle scenes in this book are incredibly detailed, and you're very clear about how each character moves, what type of armor they have and how it affects them. As someone who still plays D&D, I recognize this from the game and character creation. How much does your D&D past influence how you write?

MW: Again, D&D didn't influence me! Tracy and I did a lot of research on the ways Norsemen fought and the type of armor and shields they used.

TH: That’s right! Blame all those D&D designers who apparently took their research from the Norsemen as well! How rude of them to do it ahead of us!

Q: I have to ask what you think of the new version of Dungeons & Dragons. My readers would never forgive me if I didn't.

MW: I haven't played it. Sorry!

TH: I took a look at the price tag and asked myself, “What is here that I don’t already have that would justify my spending this money?” I just put the books back and walked away. I haven’t played it either.

Q: The changing of warriors to rabbits is an old story, but not, I recall, from the Nordic myth cycle. What other cultures and mythologies do you borrow from for the new series?

MW: Actually I was thinking of Odysseus and how his men were turned into pigs! We're going to use a lot of various mythologies in this book, because we're going to explore a lot of different cultures. Right now I'm researching Roman ghosts.

TH: I’m especially looking forward to meeting the gods of the Ogres. They are a set of refined and forward thinking gods whose followers are backward, barbaric, brutish, and not quite ready for the egalitarian program their gods would like to enact. These gods are constantly frustrated by the followers to whom they are saddled.

Q: Any chance of a new RPG from this series? And if so, will you wait until another or all the books are finished?
MW: Yes, we'd love to do an RPG. That's Tracy's line of work! I'll leave it to him to answer.

TH: Actually, we’re looking into a variety of game possibilities beyond just role playing. I’d like to find ways to involve not just hobby game fans but readers and their families as well. We’ll let you know as soon as we have anything ready to go.

Q: How soon can we expect the second book?

MW: We're working on it now. I don't think Tor has set a pub date yet.

TH: Oh but what an adventure it will be!