An extra-special treat for you today! Gabrielle Faust, author of Eternal Vigilance (reviewed here) and host of a truly excellent website (here) has decided to grant us an interview for discussing her books.
For those of you unaware, Eternal Vigilance is a supernatural cyberpunk series starring rebel vampire Tynan Llewelyn. Wakening up from a centuries long slumber, he discovers the world has been taken over by a brutal technocracy called the Tyst Empire. The series chronicles his attempts to come to terms with his role in overthrowing them and whether or not he is the right vamp for the job.
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I hope the United Federation of Charles' readers will enjoy her insights as much as I have. Okay, Gabrielle, let's get started.
1. Can you tell us, in your own words, what Eternal Vigilance is all about?
Eternal Vigilance is the tale of an ex-philioreligious leader of the vampire race known as the Immortals named Tynan Llewelyn who finds himself drawn into the midst of a rebel uprising after he awakens from a century-long sleep. Told first-person, Eternal Vigilancefollows Tynan as he explores this new world and the dangers, stemming from both the global war against the Tyst Empire, as well as the treacheries of his own kind.
In the first trilogy Tynan is forced to submit to the combined will of the Phuree, the rebel front, and his blood kin who believe him to be the sole creature who can defeat the Empire and the vampiric god they mean to raise. It is a deeply introspective series and a study of humanity’s nature for repetition in history, the rise and fall of civilizations, the personal struggle we all have with defining our place in the universe and our own strengths, as well as weaknesses. I always like to say that, while vampires play a main role in this series, Eternal Vigilance is not just a “vampire story”.
2. What separates its hero, Tynan Llywelyn, from other vampire protagonists?
I believe what most separates Tynan from other vampire protagonists is his keen observation of the world around him in a deeply contemplative way. He is constantly assessing his own stance in the war and his family, as well as searching on many levels for explanations and insights into the universe that will help him make peace with his own nature and his inner demons. He is a philosopher. He is as much a fighter as he is a romantic. And no matter how much at times he might want to simply cease to exist, he is a survivor. That makes him intensely relatable by those who read this tale.
3. Could you describe for us the themes of your story?
As aforementioned, Eternal Vigilanceexplores a multitude of themes from politics, to the evolution of civilizations as a whole, to the raw human desire for a higher purpose, especially in times of war and crisis.
4. What was the inspiration for Eternal Vigilance?
I actually started writing a short story, which would later become the foundation for the Eternal Vigilance series, the week 9-11 occurred. As everyone was, I was shaken to my core in way I had never experienced before. Reading about wars overseas and watching it happen in your own backyard changes your perspective on a core level. I started contemplating, more and more, humanity’s seemingly endless history of attempting to conquer one another and how we as a race seem damned to commit the same mistakes over and over again. All great empires rise and fall, but not all are committed to memory…
5. The future of 2111 is a pretty grim place, even without the vampires, why set your supernatural story in the future?
Again, this ties back into my themes. I wanted a futuristic setting so that the vampires could become the historians, especially in Tynan’s case. Also, I have a deep affinity for cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic fiction—one of my great author heroes is William Gibson. It seemed a natural and familiar world for me to begin writing my first novel in.
6. What makes vampires such enduring monsters, in your opinion?
Vampires, for the most part, are creatures whose nature is to adapt to the time. In order to survive they must, to an extent, blend in with humanity. Thus, they study humanity intensely, learning all of its subtleties and nuances, its strengths and its weaknesses. They prepare themselves. They are watchers. This combined with their inherent supernatural abilities makes them very tough creatures and able to endure the centuries.
7. The Tyst are extremely hateable. How did you come up with such loathsome villains?
HA! Thank you! Well, honestly, it’s not hard when you simply look at humanity and watch the atrocities it commits on a daily basis towards one another. I simply took that which frightens me most about our species and our governments and combined them into one vast global empire.
8. Mythology plays a big role in Eternal Vigilance. How did you come up with the religions and backstories for it?
I’ve been obsessed with world religions and mythologies since I was a child. In the creation of the vampires’ own mythology I wanted to have something that felt as if it was one of the great Greek or Norse gods, yet indicative of what the Immortals as an evolution of humanity would seek to see within their own pantheon. They were, after all, human at one time.
9. Aside from your lead, do you have any favorite supporting cast members?
I love all of my characters, even the ones I love to hate. But, I suppose, out of the very large cast I would say that Phelan, Khanna, and Loden are my other favorites. They are each such willfully strong and intelligent creatures in their own right and each experience such traumatic loss during the course of the three books that I grew very attached to them as I wrote their stories.
10. What can we expect in future installments of your book series?
You’re definitely in for another epic journey! In the next trilogy Tynan takes on a wholly new type of evil that evolves out humanity’s desire to solve an epidemic of infertility threatening their existence. The creature will be spawned of the pre-recorded DNA segments, much like dreams, of past generations and mutated as it is sliced and diced in the hands of underground musicians. There will be intrigue, scandal, passionate romance, and a lot of bloodshed. And if you’re a fan of industrial music, you’ll have a special appreciation for these next three books. Get ready for a very wild ride!
Thanks, Gabrielle!