Farmer, Sailor...

Farmer, Sailor… takes a break from the usual knights and politics stuff that make up the other short stories. It covers a group of thieves and an attempted heist in the heart of the Republic of Elevar. The heist, and what they steal, has implications for the later plot, and also delves into the history of the Order of Atar.

It was originally written towards the end of 2007 and, while it’s been compared to The Lies of Locke Lamora in terms of concept, I hadn’t heard of Scott Lynch at the time of writing. Farmer, Sailor… was heavily influenced by the movie Lucky Number Sleven and the Orphans album by Tom Waits. At the time I wanted to write something which had multiple points of view, with a more complicated plot, and characters who were a long way from wholesome. This is where the Tom Waits influence comes in. He writes fantastic characters and stories, all in song form. Often the entire concept of the character is available from the name — no description, there isn’t the space for that in a song.

If you read Farmer, Sailor… and like it (or even if you don’t like it) I’d appreciate any feedback you have.