Matthew John Interview
On the eve of publication of Matthew John’s new book in The Maxus Cycle, Within The Weeping Eye, we managed to catch up with Matt and get some insight in his writings and influences.
A lean warrior with a bloody axe stands beneath a pale moon, looking lethal. From the cover of Within The Weeping Eye.
CSP: Matt, everybody’s journey of discovery of Sword and Sorcery fiction is a little bit different. How did you find your way here?
Matthew John: Conan and Masters of the Universe were my first brushes with the genre and/or aesthetic. Conan is clearly S&S, while MOTU is more sword and planet for kids. It was the art by guys like John Buscema, Frank Frazetta, Earl Norem, and Alfredo Alcala that–at an early age–blew my mind wide. It was the aesthetic, mainly. Those paintings on comics, paperbacks, and toy packages were imagination steroids for me. It wasn’t until high school that I actually read Robert E. Howard's Conan yarns. And, well, those changed me.
CSP: If you had to pick just one story as being representative of your sense of Sword & Sorcery, what would be your candidate?
MJ: Tough question! I suppose it has to be Tower of the Elephant, and that’s for one main reason: aliens. Yes, there are sci-fi elements in that story, cosmic flourishes if you will. It seems, at first, like a dungeon crawl–it’s easy to see how this specific story influenced Dungeons and Dragons–but it’s much more. We get a sense of deep time and even deep space. There’s philosophy, pathos, and empathy. A hard-as-nails barbarian lets his mask slip and hints at the human beneath. It’s subtle, but Howard hinted at Conan’s depth-of-character in that story. That’s been a big influence for me.
CSP: We’ve all seen, on the back cover of books, an author described as being, “In the tradition of…” Putting you on the spot here, but who are two authors in whose tradition you follow?
MJ: “In the tradition of Robert E. Howard and Joe Abercrombie”. It sounds so bloody arrogant to label my writing as such, but there you have it. I’ve no delusions of being as good as either of those writers, but I like to think they’re not only my two biggest influences, but also that my stories might please fans of both authors. Howard’s world-building, his low(ish) magic, prehistoric beasts, treacherous sorcerers–that’s the good stuff. From Abercrombie, I learned you can be funny without resorting to quips or parody. You can be a little cynical. From Howard, I learned economy of action, and also that horror and fantasy make the best bedfellows in all of genre fiction.
CSP: I think you do both of them justice in your stories. Tightening our focus just a little, what are the elements you see as defining a “Matthew John story.” What is it readers are going to see in your tales?
MJ: I think it’s the (subtle) humor and horror. Most of my stories contain a little “f*ck it, we’re all gonna die anyway” attitude. Most of my characters are able to find sweetness in sour circumstances. Some are flawed. Some are total bastards. But I like to think they all have heart. Humor. Horror. Heart. That’s my cocktail.
CSP: Your new book, Within The Weeping Eye, where does it come from. What was your inspiration and what fueled the stories?
MJ: To Walk on Worlds (my first book in this series) represents all my favorite aspects of fiction: action, horror, humor, tragedy, moral ambiguity, and maybe even a touch of hope. If you can imagine the world of Conan–the Hyborian Age–combined with the existential themes and body horror from the ‘Alien’ films…those would be my main influences. I like dark stories. I like bleak stories. I like glimmer-of-hope stories. And I like to laugh. I believe all of these elements can work in the context of sword and sorcery. I’ve taken the challenges and tragedies of my personal life and worked through them via the stories in To Walk on Worlds and Within the Weeping Eye. It’s been good therapy.
CSP: Agree, the cathartic aspects of writing are often underappreciated. In a lot of Sword and Sorcery fiction, readers expect to meet a very Conanesque character at the heart of things, but your stories are traveling a somewhat different path.
MJ: I’ve named my series “The Maxus Cycle” in order to represent my immortal, body-stealing, drug-smoking, planet-hopping, megalomaniacal sorcerer, Maxus. My plan is to tell his tale over scores of stories, across a handful of books. He’s at the center of it all, even if some of the stories take places hundreds of years apart. He’s the anchor. Maxus has popped up in Weirdbook, Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Old Moon Quarterly, New Edge Sword & Sorcery, and a slew of others. If you want them all, pick-up my two books and keep an eye peeled for a third next year.
CSP: A third book, definitely something to look forward to. Where are we going to find Within The Weeping Eye and its predecessor?
MJ: To Walk On Worlds is available both in paperback and ebook at the link. Within The Weeping Eye goes on sale on July 24th at the link.
CSP: Matt, thanks for taking some time to talk with us. Where can our audience find out more about you and your work in social media?
MJ: I filter a lot of my social media content through my Rogues in the House Podcast channels.
Website: https://www.roguesinthehousepresents.com/
Instagram: @roguesinthehousepodcast
I also use my personal Facebook profile for my writing and game design promotions: https://www.facebook.com/mattjs2
The wrap-around cover from Within The Weeping Eye
Matthew John is a writer, teacher, game designer and podcasters who has made significant contributions to the resurgence of Sword and Sorcery fiction. Buy his books, review them and definitely keep your eyes peeled for The Maxus Cycle book 3!
