Meet Solea Razvan, Author of Balada: A Symphony of Eternity
BBB: Tell us about yourself.
SR: Well I'm a pharmacist in Eastern Europe and I've always been a great fan of SF/High fantasy and great comedy.
Currently I'm trying very hard to become a full-time writer, since it has always been my dream job.
BBB: What inspired your book, Balada: A Symphony of Eternity?
SR: BALADA: A Symphony of Eternity is the love child of a thousand mother's and fathers, but the main couple in this was the animated series Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Discworld and George Mcdonald Frasier's Flashman.
Before LOGH I did not think that it would be possible to write something like that, let alone have a success of it, but once i discovered the series, i was determined to write my own.
Flashman was the second inspiration, because within the book, there is no hero, there is no vilian, in fact everything is grey and grey, giving it a feel of authenticity that showed me that you can write something that's both moraly ambiguos and funny as hell!
Finnaly Discworld showed me just how far you can take your imagination, combin it with absurd humor and yet still serious and dramatic moments that makes you ponder existance and the meaning of life, but all the whiel doing it with a smile on your face.
But the final drop that opened the floodgates to BALADA, was the ideea that was swinging around in my head:
Why does magic alwasy die out, why does it always happen in a medievel seting and finaly: What if magic didn't die out, but contineud to grow and expand!
And that was how i got the basic premise of the series, a SF epic with MAGIC!
SR: Well I'm a pharmacist in Eastern Europe and I've always been a great fan of SF/High fantasy and great comedy.
Currently I'm trying very hard to become a full-time writer, since it has always been my dream job.
BBB: What inspired your book, Balada: A Symphony of Eternity?
SR: BALADA: A Symphony of Eternity is the love child of a thousand mother's and fathers, but the main couple in this was the animated series Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Discworld and George Mcdonald Frasier's Flashman.
Before LOGH I did not think that it would be possible to write something like that, let alone have a success of it, but once i discovered the series, i was determined to write my own.
Flashman was the second inspiration, because within the book, there is no hero, there is no vilian, in fact everything is grey and grey, giving it a feel of authenticity that showed me that you can write something that's both moraly ambiguos and funny as hell!
Finnaly Discworld showed me just how far you can take your imagination, combin it with absurd humor and yet still serious and dramatic moments that makes you ponder existance and the meaning of life, but all the whiel doing it with a smile on your face.
But the final drop that opened the floodgates to BALADA, was the ideea that was swinging around in my head:
Why does magic alwasy die out, why does it always happen in a medievel seting and finaly: What if magic didn't die out, but contineud to grow and expand!
And that was how i got the basic premise of the series, a SF epic with MAGIC!
BBB: Tell us about your main character.
SR: The series doesn't have main character, rather it has several central characters: like Game of Thrones, but the first amongst equals has got to be Metternich per Pelasgiammus.
Admiral Metternich is a civilian who, after being drafted by the space fleet after a pirate raid, distinguish himself in battle with astoundign victories, rising trough the ranks and becoming the most feared and most powerfull Imperial Admiral.
Tall, handsome, scary and above all victorious, he seems like the perfect soldiers, but the truth is that he is a lyar, a coward and a rake.
He would like nothign more than to get himself discharged from the military or be transfered to an isolated post where he can escape the war.
To this end he tries as hard as he can to avoid battle at all costs, bellitle his achievements, while glorifying that of his subordinates so they may take the spotlight and often implement battle plans that are insanely risky.
The only problem with that is that he is not only a coward, but a coward who is also a real military progidy! His avoidance of unecesarry fights make his sailors devoted to him, his constant gloryfication of his subordinates earn him their devotion and undying loyalty, his bellitlement of himself is interpreted by his peers and superiors as piety and he earns their respect and bortherhood and his insane battle plans are so looney, that they work! And whenever he tries avoid battle he either manuevers his fleet into a position of suge tactical and strategic advantage that victory is assured, making him look like a genius.
And finnaly he tries to place himself in the 'safest' areas of the battle, but he always manages to end up in the hotzone, thus he always has to face the hardest part of the battle and survive.
But the most distinct thing about him is that he is respecteb by friend or foe and has the reputation and an honourable man, who speaks ill of no one, but in truth he is a racist, xenophobe, homofobic and sexist pig.
But he is not that by choice, for he has a constant mental battle with the darkside of his soul, and always tries to judge other's by their actions and that alone, he constantly fights the prejudices in his soul.
He is also under no delusion, that there are heroes and villians in war, to him war is not a fight between good and evil, but rather two sides, nothing more, nothing less.
SR: The series doesn't have main character, rather it has several central characters: like Game of Thrones, but the first amongst equals has got to be Metternich per Pelasgiammus.
Admiral Metternich is a civilian who, after being drafted by the space fleet after a pirate raid, distinguish himself in battle with astoundign victories, rising trough the ranks and becoming the most feared and most powerfull Imperial Admiral.
Tall, handsome, scary and above all victorious, he seems like the perfect soldiers, but the truth is that he is a lyar, a coward and a rake.
He would like nothign more than to get himself discharged from the military or be transfered to an isolated post where he can escape the war.
To this end he tries as hard as he can to avoid battle at all costs, bellitle his achievements, while glorifying that of his subordinates so they may take the spotlight and often implement battle plans that are insanely risky.
The only problem with that is that he is not only a coward, but a coward who is also a real military progidy! His avoidance of unecesarry fights make his sailors devoted to him, his constant gloryfication of his subordinates earn him their devotion and undying loyalty, his bellitlement of himself is interpreted by his peers and superiors as piety and he earns their respect and bortherhood and his insane battle plans are so looney, that they work! And whenever he tries avoid battle he either manuevers his fleet into a position of suge tactical and strategic advantage that victory is assured, making him look like a genius.
And finnaly he tries to place himself in the 'safest' areas of the battle, but he always manages to end up in the hotzone, thus he always has to face the hardest part of the battle and survive.
But the most distinct thing about him is that he is respecteb by friend or foe and has the reputation and an honourable man, who speaks ill of no one, but in truth he is a racist, xenophobe, homofobic and sexist pig.
But he is not that by choice, for he has a constant mental battle with the darkside of his soul, and always tries to judge other's by their actions and that alone, he constantly fights the prejudices in his soul.
He is also under no delusion, that there are heroes and villians in war, to him war is not a fight between good and evil, but rather two sides, nothing more, nothing less.
BBB: What are you currently working on?
SR: Currently I'm working on the 4th 5th, 6th 7th 8ght and 9th books and have at least 15 more planned this year.
BBB: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
SR: Those who are interested about the series can email me at:
razvanm1989@yahoo.com
or check out my author page on amazon, where my facebook and twitter link is posted.
SR: Currently I'm working on the 4th 5th, 6th 7th 8ght and 9th books and have at least 15 more planned this year.
BBB: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
SR: Those who are interested about the series can email me at:
razvanm1989@yahoo.com
or check out my author page on amazon, where my facebook and twitter link is posted.
