Guardian of the God
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God's Appearance
Afterword
This is the first novel I’ve ever had to split in half.
I love reading long stories, and I love writing them, too. Up until now I’ve written nothing but long novels, but this was the first one ever that got split into two parts due to sheer length. It’s been an unusual experience for me. As I imagined Balsa and Asra fleeing from the Kashal, the ancient history and legends of the Rota kingdom spread over and around them like the branches of a tree. The branches of this tree that I cultivated spread so much that the book could no longer fit into a single volume.
In many ways, this book mirrors my experience with the entire Guardian of the Spirit series. I never imagined when I began writing it that I would spend so many pleasant years nurturing the growth of this story tree I created. To all the fans of all ages from around the world, I hope this book comes as a welcome addition to the series.
Balsa and her friends still have a hard road ahead, but it would make me happy if you’d continue to walk it with them.
Uehashi Nahoko
Story Notes on Guardian of the God
Author’s notes on the story’s origin
I can remember the original inspiration for a lot of my stories, though not all of them. Guardian of the God’s genesis is something I remember quite clearly. Can you guess how I first thought of it? I was at a little cafe in the mountains at the time. If I recall correctly, I was talking with an editor from the Kaseisha company. I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I came back the idea just hit me out of nowhere.
There was a literary competition going on at a hotel nearby; they were taking submissions that would be considered for an award. I’d been thinking of submitting something or other, but even though I remember talking to the editor I don’t remember what I was going to submit at all.
Anyway, the authors submitting their work were all highly respected and brilliant; many of them read their works aloud at the hotel. It was a remarkable experience seeing so many talented people bringing their works to life. I’ve said that Guardian of the God had its genesis in that place, but I didn’t read any of it aloud there--I thought its tone was too different from the rest of what I was hearing.
I wanted to tell a story with swords and battles, which was a bit of a strange impulse for me. Balsa fights to protect people, so I needed to showcase that--but I also felt like this story would be an epic chase. I could clearly see Balsa running from something. And with that, I started writing. The ideas didn’t come too easily after that--it was hard to figure a lot of things out. Sometimes I felt like my ideas bounced back at me in rejection.
So there you have it: where this book came from, and why it’s in two parts. The working title was Guardian of the Approaching God, but that seemed a little long compared to the other titles in the series.
As soon as I delivered the manuscript for both parts of the book to my editor, I had to leave for field work in Australia for several weeks. The day I was set to go home, there was a series of awful terrorist attacks that left me stranded. I was struck by the synchronicity of Balsa’s journey and my own. Let’s hope that, like me, Balsa arrives safely at home someday.
Uehashi Nahoko
May 24, 2007, Abiko
This afterword is so short compared to the one in Void - maybe because it's in the middle of the story, so she can't spoil stuff? Except the illustrator spoiled stuff in the other afterword? ALSO, can I just say, PROFESSOR UEHASHI, that you did not answer your own question! "Where'd you get the idea?" doesn't mean the literal location where, lol. Is she trolling us?! What did she see in that bathroom that made her want to write about a chase? WTH Professor, WTH
ReplyDeleteAlso I keep forgetting she's, y'know, still doing research and stuff cuz she's a professor. Lol.
Some writers really do get an "impression" of a thing and write. I suspect Uehashi is one of these. She does go into more detail at the end Return from the Hard Journey (specifically, she never planned out the plot this far...oops) and we get more commentary there as well. Some authors are really good at explaining exactly which idea provided the spark, but those tend to be authors who think in words. I think Uehashi is a conceptual thinker, in which case the seeds of this novel were (1) Balsa being chased and (2) large-scale battle/conflict in a foreign land.
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