Questions for Lindsay

[Derek]

Any questions for Lindsay? Feel free to post them here!

[Ammon]

Hey Lindsay! Just finished reading The Beast Hunter, and I had a couple questions about the beasts themselves. Where did they come from? Why were there so many? While monsters seem common in the world, these beasts appeared to be mostly unknown to the hunters. Are they new, or just not so well known?

[Lindsay]

Hi Ammon! Terrific questions. I'll address them one at a time.

As far as where the beasts in the novel come from, I prefer to not give a specific answer. I've heard before that speculative fiction stories will often have a single conceit with no explanation. "Magic is real." "Faster-than-light travel is possible." "Genetic mutation can cause super-powers." etc. If the audience can accept that single conceit, then the rest of the story can be built upon it. Much worse is when the author tries to explain a conceit and fails. Anybody want to talk about metichlorians and the Force? So, for the world of Keltin Moore, my single conceit is that there are beasts and monsters that must be dealt with.

On to your question about why there are so many beasts in The Beast Hunter. Sometimes this gets overlooked, but Mr. Paulsen mentions in chapter one that there is a seasonal increase in beasts in northern Krendaria every year. The reason why it's a bigger problem than usual is an usually high number of beasts combined with a war to the south which has most of the Krendarian army occupied and a revolution at home that's negatively affecting the government's ability to react to the crisis.

Finally, your question about why the hunters don't seem to know many of the beasts. For the most part, we're getting Keltin's point of view exclusively, and since he's never been outside of Riltvin before, he'd be unfamiliar with many of the beasts in Krendaria.

Hope that clears up your questions!

Lindsay

[Ammon]

Sounds good! Thanks for that! I just wasn't sure if there wasn't something more sinister behind it.

[Elicia]

Hi Lindsay! I have a couple of questions for you.
1)What beast killed Elaine's uncle? The closest I can place is a serpent stag, but I always pictured its legs to be like the forest devil. The front limbs those of a stag and the back limb like a serpent. That doesn't quite match up with 'coiling legs and glistening scales', but the serpent stag is the only one that I noticed having scales. Can you confirm or deny my guess?
2)Will we get to learn what beast killed Keltin's father in some future story?

[Lindsay]

1) It's been a little while, but the fact that Elaine specifically uses the term 'coiling' suggests to me that it was intended to be a coiling creeper, though that isn't necessarily the case. Since it happens 'off-screen' I don't think I ever really bothered nailing down what specific monster was the source of his demise.

2) I don't think so. Knowing the specific type of beast wouldn't really add anything to the backstory other than the danger of fixating too much on one species, rather than the idea that the trade of beast hunting itself was what took his life.

[Elicia]

Thank you for answering my questions!