It is the first volume of a fantastic saga written by Hélder Martins.
What led you to write about fantastic literature? Why a fantastic Saga soon?
Hélder Martins: Actually, it was an old idea. Not that I had ever intended to become a writer, but there was already an adventure in my mind. I remember my childhood, in my games, imagining characters and visualizing their plots and the way they intersected. So much that when I transcribed them, they were not strange to me and I knew exactly how I wanted them to be. So, when I thought I had the tools I needed, thanks also to my school that gave me good feedback on my literary work, I decided to do a real story. I discovered the way that inspired me most to work, which was to sit in the cafe to the sound of Japanese music and make a whole first volume on paper and pen.
Why a fantastic saga?
HM: Because it is in how I see myself. I hardly liked to read until I had in my hands on a subject that most excited me. I crossed from non-reading to devour books of the fantastic. I find it a very complete literature. Has action, suspense, love, comedy, all enveloped in a contagious fantasy. For this reason, I ventured into my own demand, with "The Temple of Borkudan", and give readers what they liked to recognize, a fantastic adventure.
What are the main challenges of this type of writing? What was harder and easier?
HM: I think the most difficult is the rigor due to this type of epic theme. It involves some study and analysis of the architectural details of the time. But it turns out to be interesting to discover certain details that solved at the time what for us today is normal. Where I had more freedom, was in the parts of greater action, where I got a better detail by my practice in the martial arts, namely kickboxing. Thanks to this, it allowed me to be exact in situations of positioning and balance in the fighting that unfolded. Of course, the fanciful part of the theme of my work also becomes a support and to overcome some difficulties.
The epilogue is a struggle of good versus evil. Why did you decide to start your saga like this?
HM: My favorite literature is the fantastic. I delight in departing for an adventure. Distinct characters, united in a cause that makes them common. However, in my readings, I always see epic worlds already created, without any allusion to what led them there. I wanted to innovate. Start my first book in an explanation of what I think was my Bing Bang of the fantastic. In what is the eternal struggle between good and evil, to see in both entities the creation of the world below. And with it the appearance of the first races to a land of the unknown.
Your main character has many flaws, is not the typical selfless hero that is usually enjoyed in this type of reading. Why did you create it like that?
HM: Because in the end it's only human. I wanted a character that each chapter read is just as much as the one who reads it. Who gets annoyed, who says nonsense, who is afraid, who loves, who is shy. That with each step that gives is divided in the choices of the day to day. Thus, giving motto to what I intend to pass to each book of mine: "The eternal battle between the desire to do what is right and what is right to do." This is the real character, which brings the reader closer. Not a superhero, but someone who will grow up with his decisions. Positively and negatively.
You also have an amnesiac dragon, and this leaves the reader somewhat bewildered, with a group of characters who have little or nothing heroic.
HM: The amnesia of the dragon is already a preparation for what will be the end of the saga. But yes, it's a peculiar group of characters. Peculiar, but rich in a human component that binds us to each adventure. With a little of me, with a little of who knows me, with a little of whom I know. At the end of the day, it's a set of characters to evolve with one another, in the best of virtues and in the worst of defects.
When did you start writing the book, did you have any idea that the saga would continue?
HM: When I started to write, I had already idealized end. The saga is long, as I have always enjoyed in the genre of fantasy. These characters and this adventure have much to give readers. It has action, has a curious suspense by the way the outcomes surprise us. Having already a beginning and a foreseen end, the rest is a medium that even surprises me. Incidentally, in my second book, "The Wing of Consequence," I myself was anxious about what was to come in the next chapter.
The names are one of the many curious points of your book, how did you invent them?
HM: Actually, names are the real challenge. But to help me, I use my experience. The places where I have already passed and with great significance for me, as is the case of the island of Madeira, or the names of those who are close to me. I lift them up a little, add some vowels and consonants and I see in my characters and cities what is important to me.
Is it very difficult to be accepted as a writer of the fantastic in a country like ours?
HM: A lot. Perhaps more to be seen on a cover of the fantastic, a national name. Yes, I could have adopted a pseudonym, but I want to be recognized by my own name. I believe it is a theme appreciated by many and even in the feedbacks I have already achieved, I had good criticism even of those who were not fond of the genre. I confess that it is a difficult field to go to, but it has been gratifying and even if there is only one person waiting for my next volume, it is worth writing it.
What can you say about the next part of the saga?
HM: I can advance a more human side of the main character. One side out of what we expect a hero to do. It will surprise readers and we will see the motto of my books at a level that will relate to some time in their lives. Above all, it is a story written with great dedication and passion, for the rest I can only hope you enjoy.
