The Barbary Pirates Q&A
William Dietrich
Q: Is Ethan Gage ever going to get back together with Astiza?
A: Not only does The Barbary Pirates bring the two
lovers back together, but Ethan also once more finds himself
entangled with Napoleon and Aurora Somerset, the temptress from
The Dakota Cipher. Throw in three real-life savants � zoologist
Georges Cuvier, geologist William Smith, and inventor Robert Fulton
� and the surprise of a young son, and there�s tumult aplenty. Even
French voyageur Pierre Radisson will once more play a role.
Q: What is Ethan doing back in
Paris after his adventure in America?
A: Ethan persuades Thomas Jefferson to let him try to get
Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States. But
before you can say �purchase� he embroils himself in misadventure in
a Palais Royal brothel, finds himself under arrest by the French
secret police, and is soon on the way with his new scientist friends
to the Mediterranean on a mystic mission for Bonaparte.
Q: Does electricity play a role again?
A: This time the quest involves two inventions, one ancient
and one new. Legend has it that in 212 B.C., the Greek mathematician
Archimedes used a gigantic mirror as a death ray to set Roman ships
on fire during the siege of Syracuse. The Barbary pirates think the
mirror still exists, and want to force Ethan to help them find it.
The novel also employs Robert Fulton�s real-life submarine, the
Nautilus, in the rousing climax of the book.
Q: Did you visit the locales of the book?
A: A trip to Greece to teach writing on the isle of Ithaca
gave me the opportunity to visit Santorini, or Thira, and get an
idea of using the shattered volcano in a novel. Geologists believe
the eruption of this island may have destroyed Minoan civilization
and led to the legend of Atlantis. I also visited Syracuse, on the
island of Sicily, and used real-life locations, including a fort
that dates from the 212 B.C. siege, in the action of the novel. And
it�s always necessary to do research in Paris, of course�
Q: What daunts Ethan the most?
A: Responsibility for a son and family. He has to find a
different kind of courage in this book.
Q: This is the fourth book in a series. Will there be more?
A: I hope so, but my next book is very different, a thriller
set in the 1930s and the present-day. Writing that one is keeping me
on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how it all comes out! |
