Jasper Kent Answers Questions Five

Jasper Kent’s Twelve (US, UK, Canada, my review) hit the stores a couple of months ago to much fanfare – in fact it’s already been through several reprints. In Twelve Kent combines Napoleon’s invasion of Russia with Eastern European-style vampires in an excellent novel that’s part historical fiction, part horror, and part war-novel and ads up to something all its own. While it easily stands on its own, it is also the first book in a planned 5-book series titled the Danilov Quintet that will combine Russian history up to the October Revolution – the second book, Thirteen Years Later, is currently under development.

I’m very pleased that Jasper took the time to answer Questions Five (and as always, reading the author’s bio may help you understand the origin of some of my queries).

If I were going on holiday to Brighton and I can only visit one pub, which pub do you recommend and why?

JK: The Shakespeare’s Head. It has good beer (of the warm, brown variety), serves about a dozen different kinds of sausages (except Sundays – boo!) and it’s within spitting distance of me. It’s not to be confused with the other Shakespeare’s Head, on Spring Street, which is good but not as good.

Joss Whedon, Anne Rice, Steven King, Laurell K. Hamilton, Bram Stoker, and Jasper Kent each walk into a pub with their version of a vampire. What happens next?

JK: I think Anne Rice’s vampires would be a bit snobby about my voordalaki; they’d probably be sitting in the lounge bar while mine were in the saloon, spitting in the sawdust. Joss Whedon’s lot, having lived the past few decades trying to pass themselves off as good, red-blooded American vampires, would suspect mine of being commies, regardless of the geographical and chronological niceties. Dracula would want a quiet word with at least one of my chaps, regarding the unconscionable past behaviour of one Pyetr Alekseevich Romanov. Everyone would laugh at the way Joss Whedon’s creation’s face’s went all funny whenever they were about to bite anybody, with the exception of Stephen King’s, who looks funny all the time.

A fight would undoubtedly break out fairly quickly, in which Dracula would have a certain advantage in not being utterly destroyed by sunlight, but the disadvantage of being vulnerable to a bowie knife, where the rest require a wooden stake. Joss Whedon’s vampire’s might do well since their natural enemies tend to be teenagers and so wouldn’t be allowed in the pub in the first place. My boys would be looking around for anyone French to attack, but if they couldn’t find any they wouldn’t be too fussed.

Luckily, Laurell K. Hamilton’s creations wouldn’t turn up, so I wouldn’t have to reveal I know nothing of her works.

What is the algorithm of Twelve?

JK: The nature of the voordalaki came about by evolution rather than design – intelligent or otherwise. That’s to say I didn’t plan anything much in advance. If the plot requires a particular vampire facet, then they get that facet, and I have to be consistent with it from then on. It’s worked pretty well so far, but by the end of the quintet I’ll be working in a rather tight straitjacket of my own creation.

Does this algorithm allow for vampiric rats in future novels of the DANILOV QUINTET?

JK: As far as I know, for the voordalaki it’s human blood or nothing, so there would be little chance of cross-contamination with another species. On the other hand, that doesn’t preclude an entirely separate but parallel outbreak of vampirism to occur within the rat community. On the third hand, for my vampires the rule is that only a willing victim can be transformed into a vampire and thus the transformees have to be evil in the first place. Since rats are inherently incapable of evil, none could ever become one of the undead.

Why should Twelve be the next novel that everyone reads?

JK: A recent survey in the UK revealed that War and Peace is second most common book for people to say that they have read when they really haven’t (behind 1984 of all things). Twelve is the perfect book to read if you want to bluff you way through a conversation about War and Peace. Just leave out the vampire stuff and everything else is pretty much the same. Honest. And even if it’s not, don’t worry; whoever you’re talking to probably hasn’t read War and Peace either – but they’ve almost certainly read Twelve!

Review: Twelve by Jasper Kent

Jasper Kent’s Twelve (US, UK, Canada) combines the tragic history of the Napoleonic Wars in Russia with an Eastern European vampire tale. This approach has been received with much fanfare – dozens of glowing reviews can be found with ease, the book has already had multiple reprints and the buzz seemingly builds by the day. While I add my voice to the chorus, I hope I’m not lost in the buzz, because I think that Twelve is a very special novel – not just as an unique take on historical fiction, not just as brilliant vampire tale in a tired sub-genre, but most notably as a war novel that deserves deeper discussion than I’ve seen elsewhere and that I can provide in a simple review.

Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov is a Captain in the Russian army and member of a covert team of four thinking soldiers at work behind enemy lines to thwart the French invasion through non-traditional means. As it becomes clear that the French march cannot be halted before reaching Moscow, the group reaches out to a mysterious band of twelve mercenaries, colloquially referred to as the Oprichniki. While the reader is well aware from the beginning that the Oprichniki are in fact vampires, we follow Aleksei as he slowly comes to realize that he has enlisted the help of inhuman monsters and then sets a course for their extermination.

In other discussions of Twelve I’ve noticed emphasis on its clever emplacement of historical context and the successful use of Eastern European vampire folklore (which stands in contrast to most of the vampire fiction in circulation these days). Sadly lacking is the realization that this is a also great war novel in the same vein as classics such as For Whom the Bell Tolls, All Quite on the Western Front, and others (even Jasper Kent’s discussions seem to concentrate on the larger historical context rather than the war). Through Aleksei’s largely internal view of conflict, we see the horrors of war, the camaraderie of soldiers, the pain of being separated from one’s family, and the solace found in the arms of another woman.

The Oprichniki play an important part is the war narrative – their role eerily mirrors that of the French. The plague of their ‘invasion’ of Russia can be clearly tracked, their impact on Moscow is in its own way equally horrific, ending in a retreat from a land that ultimately beat them. It’s easy to imagine how the inhuman and horrific nature of vampires could be utilized as a window into the atrocities committed in war (and they are), but the personal war that Aleksei declares on the Oprichniki reinforces the moral complexity of a soldier at war (and even a man being unfaithful to his wife). Kent’s vision of vampires in Russia’s defense of Napoleon’s invasion creates a complex allegory that had me thinking late into the night.

The success of Twelve lies not in the refreshing tale of vampires, the intelligent integration with historical context, or even the allegoric use of vampires in a war novel, but in its central character, Aleksei. Throughout the novel, the reader only sees events through Aleksei’s eyes and memories. While at times we see the horrors of a battle and vampiric atrocities, it is the internal wanderings of Aleksei that dominate. We follow his journeys through rural Russia, through Moscow, into a brothel and his emerging love for a whore, through the love and betrayal of his comrades, longing for his family, and into battles with faceless enemies and supernatural creatures. This Russian everyman is the wonderfully realized guide through it all and the success of Twelve rests firmly on his shoulders alone.

Whether your are looking for a beautifully told historical novel, a cunning vampire tale, or a stark war novel, Twelve will satisfy. Kent embraces both genre and history, resulting in a book that defies classification and spans multiple boundaries. Early success has already lead to the expectation of more to come – the Danilov Quintet will span important events throughout 19th and early 20th Century Russia, with Thirteen Years Later coming soon. After Twelve, I can’t wait to see what Kent throws at us next. 9/10

Related Posts: Interview with Jasper Kent