Author Focus – Jacob Sannox
Author Focus (or should that be Arthur Focus? (Did you see what I did there? OK, moving on …)) shines the spotlight on another writer and this time it’s the turn of the talented Jacob Sannox. Sannox has already caused a bit of a splash with two different fantasy series. Dark Oak, first book in the Dark Oak Chronicles, was an SPFBO semi-finalist in 2018 and The Ravenmaster’s Revenge, book one in The Return of King Arthur, repeated that feat in 2019. In a writing contest as competitive as SPFBO, that’s no small achievement.
Sannox has been working hard, with thousands of copies of his work sold since 2017. He’s now reached a milestone with The Return of King Arthur series following the launch of the third and final instalment, Tristan’s Regret, which came out as a paperback and hardback on 15th May and as an ebook on 1st June 2023. To coincide with the release of Tristan’s Regret, Sannox kindly agreed to let me run this feature piece, so here are his thoughts on the questions I posed:
Q What drew you to writing fiction?
It never felt like I had a choice. I’ve always lived in my imagination to a certain extent. My toys had complicated back stories and each day’s play continued the adventure from the last. My parents loved books, read to me and then encouraged me to read. Story is just so important to me. Distilled truth, I’ve heard it called. Everything I see, experience and imagine gets turned into standalone scenes that are often woven into narratives. Perhaps it is just how I understand the world and explore what I love and fear; maybe even how I define my values.
Q The Return of King Arthur is an interesting combination of classic fantasy, English legend and modern thriller. What inspired you to bring those components together?
The truth is that I had two completely distinct ideas and then one of those flashes of inspiration that tied them together.
The first was that I wanted to write about the ravens that live at the Tower of London. I had always been fascinated by the legend that if they left, the Tower would crumble and England would fall. To begin with, I was working on the premise that the ravens were some kind of guardians, who would leave to deal with some external threat. I got a little stuck.
Completely independently and some time later, I was thinking about the legend that King Arthur will return when England is at a time of great need. I wrote a scene in which Arthur and Merlin were talking over an English breakfast, in a grotty cafe.
Cue the flash of inspiration.
What if the moment of great need followed the abandonment of the Tower of London by the ravens?
Two ideas, coming together.
The conversation in the cafe became the result of Merlin seeking Arthur in 2019, after many years apart, to tell him of a new threat from an old enemy, signalled by the disappearance of the ravens. It went from there.
The dual timelines enabled me to weave Merlin, Arthur and his knights into different periods of English history, which I suppose lends it a classic fantasy vibe. Magic was always a big part of Arthurian legend. As for the modern thriller, I’ve always enjoyed the Jack Reacher books, as well as modern TV shows that incorporate paranormal elements, like Supernatural.
I didn’t really think about how I was blending genres. It was necessary to tell the story of a legendary king from the past, who now lives in the twenty-first century!
Q What were the biggest challenges completing this fantasy series?
Sowing supernatural elements into historical events and the modern timeline in a believable way. There are plenty of ‘normal’ characters who are confronted with people straight out of legends. I was keen to pull that off in a credible way. There had to be disbelief, cognitive dissonance and no easy get-outs for Arthur and company.
Personally, 2021 was a challenging year, and things went haywire when I was about a third of the way through Tristan’s Regret. Finishing the book became not only something I wanted to do, but a challenge which would allow me to prove to myself that I could still do it!
Q I’m really glad you completed the novel, as I think Tristan’s Regret is an excellent conclusion to the series. Without giving away any spoilers, do you think you’ll return to the world of King Arthur again in the future?
If I learned anything from Sir Sean Connery, it’s never say never. I’m most likely to write tie-in short stories featuring the same characters, although there is scope for more books, should the mood take me. No plans to do that though, as I have many other projects in mind!
Q Dark Oak is very different in tone and style to the King Arthur books. What were you trying to achieve with each series? Are there any common themes? What are the key differences?
It’s no secret that I came to fantasy through JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. In latter days, the Gormenghast trilogy and A Song of Ice and Fire also struck a chord.
I have always wanted to write an epic fantasy that wasn’t derivative of the works that I love, but did conjure some of the feelings I experienced while reading them. I wanted to write about real people, not heroes, and to include fantasy creatures that I could make my own.
I am drawn to gritty stories, featuring characters I try to make as realistic as possible, with a good deal of thought put into their psychology, and I like to examine old ideas from new angles. It’s turning out that I keep returning to themes of the nature of power, failed fathers, life after death, and rebirth.
Dark Oak has its roots in fairytale, with the protagonist originally being a woodcutter and a key element of the story being lost in the woods, but it was also a gritty follow on from all of those stories where a Dark Lord rises and is fought and defeated. My book starts with that defeat and follows somebody who fought on the wrong side, trying to get back to his family. It also ties in some of the themes I mentioned above, specifically the relationship between fathers and their children, of humanity’s place in nature and of what happens to our souls after we die.
Q No interview is complete without asking you, what is your favourite cheese and why?
This could be a book in itself. Honestly, any sliced cheese with holes in it appeals to the child in me, the little dude that used to watch Tom & Jerry cartoons.
The honest answer is, all the cheese. At once. But I’m partial to something like Emmenthal in a sandwich!
Q Now The Return of King Arthur is finished, what are your plans for the future?
The next publication should be The Anatomy of Fear, a short story anthology funded by a Kickstarter, helmed by HL Tinsley. It’s an exploration of fear and fantasy, with each of twelve authors having written a piece of fiction about, or inspired by, a part of the human body. It’s scheduled for October 2023, all being well. Thanks again to everyone who supported us!
I'm nearly 25% of the way through the last book of The Dark Oak Chronicles. I’m hoping to have completed both of my current trilogies before I turn 40 in 2024! Wish me luck.
Thanks so much for those answers and good luck with completing The Dark Oak Chronicles!
It’s no secret how much I enjoy Sannox’s writing. If you want to find out my detailed thoughts I’ve written Goodreads reviews for Dark Oak, The Ravenmaster’s Revenge, Agravain’s Escape and Tristan’s Regret.
You can find links to all of Sannox’s books and his social media accounts listed below:
The Return of King Arthur
The Ravenmaster’s Revenge: https://www.relinks.me/B07S9GX59K
Agravain’s Escape: https://www.relinks.me/B08CNBD5FT
Tristan’s Regret: https://www.relinks.me/B0BZTFH9G9
The Dark Oak Chronicles
Dark Oak: https://www.relinks.me/B071HBR3VM
Age of the Dryad: https://www.relinks.me/B08QFSXL7P
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