Review, Interview, Giveaway: Farworld and J Scott Savage

[I] Review!

When I got sent Farworld: Water Keep, by J. Scott Savage, I didn’t start reading it right away. I had been in the middle of a slough of Terry Pratchett novels (well, no surprise there), and was reading for school as well, and so it hung around on my desk for a week or two before I picked it up. But when I did finally read Farworld — wow! I read it almost straight through without stopping. It’s really, really good. Perhaps it is even great; without arguing too much about loosey-goosey terms, suffice it to say that I very much enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it to both child and adult readers.

Here’s the back jacket:

Other people may see thirteen-year-old Marcus Kanenas as an outcast and a nobody, but he sees himself as a survivor and a dreamer. In fact, his favourite dream is of a world far away, a world where magic is as common as air, where animals tell jokes and trees beg people to pick their fruit. He even has a name for this place — Farworld.

When Marcus magically travels to Farworld, he meets Kyja, a girl without magic in a world where spells, charms, and potions are everywhere, and Master Therapass, a master wizard who has kept a secret hidden for thirteen years, a secret that could change the fate of two worlds.

But the Dark Circle has learned of Master Therapass’s secret and their evil influence and power are growing. Farworld’s only hope is for Marcus and Kyja to find the mythical Elementals–water, land, air, and fire–and convince them to open a drift between the worlds.

As Kyja and Marcus travel to Water Keep, they must face the worst the evil Dark Circle can throw at them — Summoners, who can command the living and the dead; Unmakers, invisible creatures that can destroy both body and soul; and dark mages known as Thrathkin S’Bae.

Along the way, Marcus and Kyja will discover the truth about their own heritage, the strength of their friendship, and the depths of their unique powers.

Farworld: Water Keep is both exciting and charming, if you can conceive of those concepts side-to-side. The action is practically non-stop, the villains are genuinely scary, and the moral message is obvious and positive without being at all syrupy or cloying. I have an ARC and so it doesn’t include pictures, but Scott’s been posting some on his blog and they look fantastic. Plus, the farm animals do actually tell corny jokes — which I quite appreciated, living in a corny joke sort of house.

Farworld: Water Keep is probably the best YA I’ve read this year. It’s fresh and exciting, and funny, and interesting, and exactly thick enough, and I eagerly look forward to reading the next four books, whenever they’re published! If I haven’t convinced you, you can find many more reviews on other blogs. Go check them out.

I give F:WK 4.5/5.

[II] Interview!

J. Scott Savage and I (virtually) sat down to a spicy Vietnamese lunch here in T.O. before a jaunt to the museum. In my imagination, it was fun! I cannot speak for Scott’s imagination, except perhaps as regards Farworld. But he has this to say about my favourite city:

Who wouldn’t love Toronto? It’s a great city. It’s home to the Blue Jays, the Raptors, great museums and restaurants. Let’s burn the heck out of our palettes, then head on over to the dinos.

I agree! Toronto is excellent. Know what else is excellent? A bad segue into an interview:

1) What were your favourite books when you were Kyja and Marcus’s age?

I was the ultimate voracious reader. I actually cut classes to go to the library. I read everything from Judy Blume to Stephen King. One of my favorite things to do was (actually still is) to walk through the library just pulling books off the shelf at random and starting to read. Without even checking the cover blurb. It was like heading into a totally unknown world. If I liked it I kept going (and usually read everything I could find by that author.) If not, I’d move on. I’m probably a little more picky now, but I still love reading a book or seeing a movie with no idea what it’s about.

2) What was the writing process like for Farworld: Water Keep? From first spark to publication, what were some of the best and worst bits of writing this novel?

As I’ve mentioned in some of my other posts, I started writing Farworld to prove to myself I couldn’t write fantasy. Five hours and about five thousand words later, I realized I was writing a fantasy series—and having a ball doing it. I think the most difficult part is getting the new world right. Getting the feel for what it looks like, how things work, how people think. I wanted it different enough that you weren’t quite sure what to think. Is that flower beautiful, dangerous, or both? But at the same time, a horse is a horse—even if it does tell knock-knock jokes. So you can’t try to make everything different. The best part was probably the freedom to build whatever you want. It’s like having someone give you a huge set of Legos but no plans to follow. And you can make the Legos any shape and size you want. You just dig in, and if something doesn’t work, you can rip it apart and start again. Very liberating!

3) Why did you choose to write YA fiction — or, did you choose? Did it “just happen” or was it a deliberate choice?

As I mentioned above, I didn’t think I could write fantasy. It is so different from anything I have ever tried. But I knew if I ever did write fantasy, it would not be the really dense, “Wheel of Time” type fantasy. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the Wheel of Time series. And I can’t wait to see what Brandon Sanderson does with the last book. But reading a series like that is like eating a really rich dessert. You have to concentrate on it. I want to write books you can curl in chair with on a rainy day and eat chips. Or lay out on a beach. The great thing about YA is that if you do it right, it can be enjoyed by everyone from kids to adults. Kind of like Disneyland.

4) If you were trapped on a desert island, what book would you be least likely to take with you?

Wow, a trick question. I’m actually one of those people who will read a book I love over and over. I’ve got some books I’ve probably read twenty times, because I just love the way the author brought it all together. On the other hand, I have very little patience for books that are poorly crafted—that feel like the author rushed it out. Also, I love a good biography of a person he did amazing things, but I hate biographies of people who are mostly just famous for being famous. They can be talented, but their life stories are all, “Me, me, me! Look how great I am. So if I had to pick one book that would bore me to tears, it would probably be a biography of some pop star. Madonna maybe.

5) In Farworld: Water Keep it struck me that there were a number of notes or homages to other YA and/or fantasy works. I got a definite Yoda vibe off of Olden (compare “Bah! See how you look when you’re a thousand years old” to “When 900 years you reach, look as good you will not, hmm?”). And I’m sure that I’ve read another book with an authority figure surnamed “Teagarden” although I can’t remember what it was. Are these references deliberate? Coincidence? A product of my fevered imagination?

A few of each. I drop quite a few little homages in if you read close. Miles Teagarden shows up in several Peter Straub books. He happens to be one of my favorite authors and also co-wrote a book with another of my favorite authors about a boy who jumps between worlds.

6) Little question: how do you pronounce “Kyja”?

Ki (like High) jah (where the j is soft, not like John, but like the French J sound)

7) What is the “J” in “J. Scott Savage”? Jehosephat? John? Jacob? Jingleheimer-Schmidt? Jerubabel? Jebediah? James? Jaws? Jason? Or will you have to kill me if I find out?

Julie. Just kidding. That would really throw people for a loop huh? It’s Jeff. Unfortunately there is already an author named Jeff Savage who has published a gazillion kids sports books. I would be lost in a mountain of his books if I wrote under that same. So Scott it is.

Can you give us any hints as to what you’re working on now? What more can we expect from Marcus and Kyja?

I’m finishing edits on a mystery novel for a series I write for a regional publisher and I’m now putting pen to paper on Land Keep, book two of the Farworld series. It’s bursting to get out, and I’m really excited about what’s going to happen. When I finish that, I plan on starting the first book in an Urban Fantasy series that mostly takes place in Hell.

9) Is your pond still frozen?

Nope. Totally unfrozen. Unfortunately it was a bad winter for the fish. It was such a long hard freeze that even the fish in some of the shallower lakes died. I have to figure out a way to keep the pond oxygenated.

10) Is there anything else you’d like to answer that I haven’t asked?

The answer is Tankum. But you’ll have to figure out the question.

[III] Entirely Arbitrary Giveaway!

I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 1,000,000 (inclusive). You each get three guesses, and the closest will win! If there’s a tie — which I hardly anticipate, all things considered — I will flip a coin. The Grand Winner will get a signed, personalized ARC of Farworld: Water Keep direct from Scott. And the Grand Loser (the guess furthest from my number) will get a copy of Runaway direct from me (bwa ha ha ha…).

The giveaway will stay open until Friday, July 11 at midnight Eastern time. I will announce the winner shortly thereafter.

Farworld: Water Keep will be released in September.

Also reviewed by:

• Musings of a Bookish Kitty