Curses Doesn't Need Humans

Fantasy author A. Lee Martinez told SCI FI Wire that his latest novel, Too Many Curses, was inspired by his love of monsters and his desire to write a story that was nearly devoid of any humans at all.

"I came up with a castle filled with cursed people and weird monsters, all captured by a mad wizard," Martinez said in an interview. "Then I removed the pesky wizard from the equation and let things run their course."

Most fantasy stories are about ordinary people becoming powerful god-like heroes, Martinez said. "They start out toiling in the fields, but you just know by the end they'll be throwing lightning bolts and blowing up universes with their minds," he said. "So I decided that my heroine would start out normal and stay normal. She would save the day not by becoming a powerhouse, but just by being herself, by using her organizational skills to get the job done."

The heroine, Nessy, is a Kobold, a short canine-like humanoid. "Most Kobolds spend their time in caves, but some assist wizards, and that's her job," Martinez said. "She's actually very good at it. She's just not very flashy."

Martinez thinks of her as the background character in most stories--the dishwasher, the scullery maid, the character most often overlooked. "Unless they suddenly blossom into a superhero at some point in the story," he said. "But Nessy doesn't gain superpowers. She changes a bit, naturally, but in the end, she's still the same character she was when she started: kind, level-headed and heroically practical. And, yes, practicality can be a heroic quality."

Too Many Curses didn't require any research, Martinez said. "I'm not supposed to admit that, but I don't think it's necessary for most of the stories I write," he said. "This is a story about a talking skulls and magic swords. I'm not obsessed with realism. ... The entire story takes place in a magical castle; we never even go outside. And the monsters are my monsters. I don't care what a traditional ghost or talking owl is like. I'll play by my own rules."

Next up for Martinez is Monster, which he described as "a contemporary fantasy about a guy who catches monsters, kind of like a dogcatcher for mythological creatures."

-John Joseph Adams