I went to a number of schools but did all my high schooling at Catholic Girls High in Braddon, in the Australian Capital Territory. I had a terrible time at school. I was a loner with few friends and have no happy memories of school at all. At my first primary school I was beaten savagely by a nun, and my second, I was bullied unmercifully, and the others just blur into misery. I remember returning to school the day after my mother died, when I was 13, being confident that at least on that day, the sympathy vote would mean the others would leave me alone.
4. Medalon sets the scene with the Sisterhood, ruled by R'shiel's mother, as a rigid bureaucratic religion. Do you think a religion run by women would be like this, or is any religion likely to become rigidly controlling?
I have issues with most organised religions. I think they have all lost the plot. Generally, I think any organisation arrogant enough to claim it knows the mind of God is bound to run into trouble sooner or later.
5. Tarja and Damin are, of course, favourites of your female fans. I am sure they would like to know if you know any “real” Tarjas and Damins! (Sorry, just had to ask this one!)
I wish! No, they are total fantasies... if I knew any guys like that, I wouldn't spend all my time in front of a computer imagining them!
6. Tarja and R'shiel have a complex relationship. They have been brought up by their mother as brother and sister. Then they discover that R'shiel is from a totally different family. Tarja is unsure who his father is, although his mother is still the same person. Then, because of interference from the gods, they begin to fall in love. Because of Tarja's near-death experience when R'shiel saved him by using demons, Tarja then begins to hate her. Are human relationships quite so complex, in your experience?
Absolutely. I think there is no such thing as a “simple” human relationship and that all of us go through different phases which alter how we react to other people. The effect is extreme in Tarja and R'shiel's case, but by no means is it unique.
7. The politics of Medalon, Karien, Fardohnya, etc, are also quite complex. Did you base any particular country on your knowledge of this world?
Yes and no. I have always been interested in politics so I just sort of played a bit of political “what if” based around a few different premises, i.e., ruled by women, by warlords, kings, etc...
8. Did you fully realise the landscape politically, emotionally and socially before beginning to write the trilogy?
I had a pretty good idea of the overall scene, but a lot of the detail evolved as I wrote.
9. Do you think of your world as a parallel world, a future world or an alien land? Or something else entirely?
Probably a parallel world, although in the very beginning, Medalon was a world colonised by humans far in the future.
10. Did you have characters act in certain ways in the first book that you would have wanted to change when you began to write the second book? Did you wish you had begun certain plotlines earlier?
I was fortunate in that I was writing Book Three before Book One went to print, so I was able to sneak a few things in at the last minute that gave the series a much more coherent feel than it would have had I started Book Three any later. Generally, though, I'm happy with the way it resolved itself.
11. Change through the three books is by individual action, military might and political dealing and chicanery. Is this how you see world politics and change in our societies in the present day?
Absolutely! I believe politics is a far more powerful force than war, which is why my character only have two major battles, neither of which are particularly glorious. I think much more is achieved (and destroyed) through politics than by any other form of manipulation.
12. What are you writing next?
I am working on a new trilogy called Second Sons. It is much darker than The Demon Child Trilogy and follows the story of a young man who must prove that a goddess doesn't exist, in order to save his world. It is very complex and I am (at the time of writing) working on the final draft of Book One.
13. Who are you reading at the moment? What are your favourite books?
I'm reading Betrayal by Fiona McIntosh. Have just finished The Magicians' Guild by another first-time author, Trudi Canavan.
14. Why do you think fantasy is one of the fastest-growing genres in the world today? Do you think there are more males than females reading the genre, or vice versa... or is it about an even split?
I think the more complex our world gets, the more we yearn for a simpler world, where problems are solved through the courage and resources of people, rather than relying on technology. As for the gender bias, I'm not really sure. I seem to have a fair smattering of both male and female readers.
15. Has fantasy or science-fiction been your favourite reading through your life? Do you have any books in either of these genres that you feel helped to change your life in any particular direction?
I have always been a devoted sci-fi fan. I re-read the Lensmen series so many times I wore it out. I discovered fantasy a lot later, but find that I love losing myself in places other than the world I live in - no doubt a hangover from my childhood.
16. Do you have any advice for readers who might want to ask how to begin writing, and how to get published?
Write!!!!! I meet so many people who tell me they have a great idea for a book, but they never get around to putting it on paper. In my opinion, the writers who will eventually get published are those for whom writing is an obsession. These are the writers who NEVER give up. Other than that, my advice is to get an agent, and develop a very thick hide!
Visit www.voyageronline.com.au where Jennifer Fallon answers more questions from the multimedia department of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia.
Reading Notes
1. Tarja wakes to find the geas that made him love R'shiel no longer in place. Why is his reaction so ambivalent?
2. R'shiel realises she cannot face Xaphista head on, but must find a more subtle way of breaking his power? What does she use and why is it so effective?
3. Damin decides to let the son of his enemy live, to be raised in the house of Tejat Lionsclaw. Why does he do this?
4. Why is it so important to Brak that Damin Wolfblade believes Mikel is dead, and why does he go to such trouble to prevent Damin from striking the killing blow?
5. Discuss the changes likely to happen in the Citadel with the return of the Harshini.
6. With the disbursement of the Sisterhood, Garet Warner wishes to give Medalon a democratic government. Discuss some of the problems likely to arise during this period.
7. In the end, R'shiel chooses not to kill Loclon, but to let him live on the Isle of Slarn. Is this a fitting punishment?
8. Shananara offers to place Harshini advisors in the courts of each ruler, to prevent further war. How would this affect each nation?
9. When the story ends, R'shiel plans to retrieve Mikel from the God of Music. What do you think the boy's reaction would be to all that has happened to him?
10. Will Death release Brak?