An Interview with Yuri Vinokuroff

Yuri Vinokuroff has authored many popular books in Russian which have subsequently been translated into English and German. His wide readership can be attributed not only to his fast-paced plots full of twists, turns, and cliffhangers, but also his complex, well-developed characters, and, of course, Yuri’s phenomenal sense of humor. So far, Magic Dome has published five series penned by Yuri, two of them solely written by him, and three of which were co-authored. All these series have resonated with readers all over the world, and we are thrilled to be a part of this process, because at Magic Dome we know that, when it comes to fun, exciting stories, our readers can’t get enough.

Right now you have five different series in circulation both in the USA and Germany: The Hunter’s Code, War Eternal, I Will Be Emperor and the two latest series, The Order of Architects, and Kill to Live. You collaborated with Oleg Sapphire on two of them, and George Bor was your co-author on one. How do you personally view each of your series? 

Myself, I see War Eternal as my best series. But yes, I’m biased, perhaps, because it’s my first, and so it’s like my first child. But, hell yes, it’s outstanding! And right after it came The Hunter’s Code, after which Oleg and I were truly famous in the realm of Russian-language fantasy readers. Our fans fell in love with the world we’d created, and also with our heroes. Other writers — colleagues of ours, even wrote books of their own using our universe as the setting. It truly is an amazing world, and Oleg and I are rightfully proud of it. 

What genre do you most enjoy working in, generally speaking?

I love sci fi and space operas. Robert Heinlein, Edmond Hamilton, Harry Harrison, Frank Herbert, Andre Norton, Stanislaw Lem... Actually, the list could go on and on. I grew up on these writers, and am grateful to them for opening up this amazing world to me. By the time I was entering adulthood, I was thoroughly in love with LitRPG and later wrote books in that genre. But no matter what genre I’m “inhabiting” in my works, there’s one trait that links them all: humor. I have to have it, and that includes my “real” life. After all, why limit my sense of humor to my books? (ha ha) Moreover, my readers like it. For sure! They tell me so — I kid you not.

You authored War Eternal, a space LitRPG series. As a genre, LitRPG hasn’t yet taken hold in the USA. This is in contrast to its popularity in Germany. How would you describe the status of LitRPG in the Russian-language market?

That short answer: War Eternal was published over four years ago. And to this day it's a best-seller across genre in space and comic fantasy. But how could it be otherwise? How can you not love my MCs?)

What are your thoughts on how space-based fantasy fits into the latest popular genres: LitRPG, Portal Fantasy, Reincarnation? Or is it that space fantasy is in a class of its own?

First comes the author’s craft, his mastery. True, today's readers have moved far beyond space. After all, the era of adventures in outer space that made up the fantasies of sci fi writers of the past has yet to come to be, and thanks to computer games and movies, today’s youth is into other things. But, that being said, I still cherish ambitions of inspiring dreams of the distant stars among readers yet again!

I remember you said that you were inspired by Robert Asprin when working on War Eternal. When did you first read him? What is it that especially struck you about him? What other writers make your list of important predecessors?

I was around sixteen years old when I first came across Asprin. Unfortunately, back in the days of the USSR, we didn't have access to most foreign authors. And so I was sixteen before I began reading science fiction from abroad en masse. However, I fell in love with space opera at the age of twelve when The Star Kings by Edmond Hamilton was featured in Tekhnika-Molodezhi, a magazine for teens. Right away I was hooked. Thus far I’ve only mentioned the luminaries of sci fi and space opera, but where would we be without high fantasy? Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, Andre Norton (again), Brandon Sanderson... Of course, I’ve read and continue to read a lot; there’s no way I can list everybody here.

You also wrote the I Will Be Emperor series. During our interview with Oleg Sapphire, I asked him about the ceiling for character development in a long series, and he said that there was no need to set super-global goals for the MC right away, and I quote: “Why would [the main character] want to become Emperor himself if he's on first-name terms with the incumbent emperor?” Judging by the title of your series, perhaps you have a different approach? What are your thoughts on this? How do you structure it so that your hero isn't totally “imba” when writing a lengthy series?

Well... I think that the process itself of becoming the main hero is fundamental to a successful series. The most important thing it to maintain the reader’s unflagging interest throughout without slipping into mundane everyday life, or, conversely, without swiftly turning the protagonist into an omnipotent hero. But how? I have no idea! And yet, somehow I manage.

And yes, in both the Emperor series and War Eternal, in the end my MC does, indeed, become emperor. But the way it happens is very logical and natural)

How do you like co-authoring? What would you say is key to collaborative writing?

What I like most about it is the “call a friend” option. Whenever you're stuck or you hit a spot that you’re not sure about, you can always consult with your co-author. And Oleg and I are also friends in real life, which is great.

As for part two of the question, you MUST (caps lock for sure here) like something in his work: his style, humor, plots. Ideally, you enjoy reading his books. And this goes both ways.

If the style/humor matches, it’s generally “bull’s eye.” And generally speaking, you should like him as a person. Where would you be without that). And being honest with each other and always meeting your obligations is important when co-authoring so as to maintain the rhythm and style... Really, otherwise it could all go to hell.

Do you read comments from Western readers? What do you find interesting in them? Are they similar to the comments made by Russian-language readers?

I read them. When I first started selling books via Amazon, based on the first few comments, my first impression was that these were people were totally alien. Literally from another planet! Of course, then more readers and reviews appeared and I realized something. All of us are human, so readers might like the book, or not. End of story. My task is to do what I can to ensure that they like the book. If I succeed, someone out there in the world will like it (that is, if the translator doesn’t botch it, ha-ha).

Do you have anything in the works for English- and German-language readers? If so, what?

A new RealRpg set in the Kill to Live universe is coming out right now, — an extremely good story that has already found appreciative readers in the Russian-language market. I hope that this series finds fans in other countries. Oh, and another series Oleg Sapphire and I are co-authoring will be released on Amazon around the fall. I won’t go into detail now, but I can say that fans of The Hunter's Code and The Order of Architects will definitely be happy. That’s because the main character is....oh, but that would be a spoiler.

Until we meet again between the covers of my books!