Matthew Reilly: The Great Zoo of China

You know, it just seemed to work for the story, having a female lead. I wasn’t trying to make a statement or anything. With all the stories I have written, the hero has, well, just suited the story. In Ice Station , Scarecrow worked as a US Marine. Jack West Jr and Jason Chaser worked as Aussies. And a thirteen-year-old Queen Elizabeth and her real-life teacher, Roger Ascham, suited The Tournament .

The lead character of The Great Zoo of China could have been a guy—and indeed, I considered this option—but in the end, several things made me make CJ a woman.

First, I hadn’t done it before. That’s a big plus. As an author, you’ve got to keep doing new things. Second, women view the world differently to men, and I liked the idea of seeing the details of the zoo through a smart woman’s eyes. Third, I felt that a trained dragon like Lucky would relate better to a female handler than a male one. The fact that CJ is a woman enhances Lucky ’s character. Fourthly, I also knew that the Chinese Communist Party is a very male-dominated organisation. I felt having CJ as a lone woman among this group of men would create an interesting dynamic.

And, of course, like Scarecrow and Jack, she enters the story with wounds from a previous misadventure. I like the description of her as a pretty woman who men would approach… until they saw the scarring on her face. CJ is as tough as Mother in my humble opinion.

Oh, and for the record, CJ looks like my girlfriend, Kate (except for the scars). But she actually takes her name from a man, a big-hearted golfing buddy of mine from San Francisco named Craig Johnson, who is known to everyone as ‘CJ’.

Tell us about Lucky and how you wrote about her?

I actually love writing about animals. Ever since I wrote the first growls of the Karanadon in the opening scene of Contest , I have found it a challenge to write about the movements and noises of animals, whether real or imagined.

Giving the dragons lithe and deadly movements was one thing, but creating Lucky was another thing entirely. Frankly, this was because Lucky had to have personality. Most of Lucky’s mannerisms and expressions resemble those of my dog, Dido (if you want to see what she looks like, go to YouTube: she made a few unscripted appearances in the web videos I did for The Tournament !). Dido’s ears twitch back when she is happy and her eyes shine when she looks at me. I will often enter a room in which she is lying down; she will register my presence with a lazy wag of her tail without otherwise moving. That’s personality! So while most of the other dragons move like crouched tigers or other big cats, Lucky is actually more dog-like in her movements. Yes, I am a dog person.

Creating Lucky’s voice took many revisions. Because her ‘speech’ comes via a limited database of sounds, I had to make it obviously simple and basic. But given that it would be Lucky who informs the reader about the ‘master’ dragons and the other dragon nest, her speech also had to be very clear. This required many, many revisions. As with many things, if it looks simple, it probably wasn’t.

The story does seem like a simple, straightforward idea: a zoo filled with dragons in China. Was this book simple and straightforward to write?

Not at all. I actually revised The Great Zoo of China more times than I did for any of my previous books, to make sure I got it right.

I knew from the start that I would have to convey many complex ideas in the book—the dragons, the layout of the zoo, the motives of the Chinese in building it, the electromagnetic domes, the dragons’ speech—but it had to flow. I always want my novels to be fast. I didn’t want readers to get bogged down in the technology.

One of the things I have come up against time and again in my career is the notion that because a book is easy to read it was somehow easy to write . This, to me, is one of the greatest blindspots of literary types. Making something fast and easy to read is not easy at all. It takes time and lots and lots of constant revising. If anyone says The Great Zoo of China is easy to read and only takes a few days to get through, then I will take that as a big compliment, because I worked hard to make it that way!

Are there any little secrets in the novel?

There are always a few secrets in my novels. The character of Hamish Cameron is named after a young fan of mine. Hamish’s father, Ewen Cameron, bought the character name in an auction at the Bullant Charity Challenge Ball a few years ago. The money went to charity and I had to find a character to name after Hamish. I hope you liked your character, Hamish!

Similarly, Benjamin Patrick is named after two young gentlemen from my old high school, St Aloysius’ College, Benjamin Liam Lok Yin Chambers and Patrick Laurence Yan Yin Chambers. Ben and Patrick’s parents bought the character name at a charity auction for the school.

Greg Johnson and Kirk Syme are good mates of mine from San Francisco and I just thought they’d like to be in a book. And Bill Lynch from Merion asked me to put his name in a novel. There you go, Bill. You asked for it! Fans often ask me at book signings if they can be in a novel, so there are a few of those in there as well. Happy to help!

Everyone wants to know—will we see Scarecrow or Jack West Jr any time soon?

The answer is: I’m still deciding! Having brought Scarecrow back in Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves , I think it’s time for Jack West Jr to return. And I have a good idea for a fourth Jack West book, but I’m still developing it, and I won’t do it until I am completely happy with the story. I place very high demands on myself and I think my readers respect that.

My readers are awesome. They were very indulgent with me when it came to The Tournament , which was a different kind of novel for me. No matter what I write, they deserve nothing less than my very best efforts and that is what I will always promise to give.

What is coming up in the future for you Matthew?

Having lived my whole life in Sydney, Australia, I am currently looking at moving to the United States to explore some storytelling opportunities there in both books and film. I love Australia dearly but I’m still young and I’d hate to get to fifty and say to myself, ‘Why didn’t I ever give that a go?’ I’ll still write my novels, only from a different place.

Any final words?

I just hope my book took you away from the real world for a while. I hope the dragons scared you and that you liked meeting CJ and her shampoo-stealing brother, Hamish. Like I always say, I just hope you enjoyed it.

Matthew Reilly is the internationally bestselling author of the Scarecrow novels: Ice Station , Area 7 , Scarecrow , Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves and the novella Hell Island ; the Jack West novels: S even Ancient Wonders , The Six Sacred Stone s and The Five Greatest Warriors ; the standalone novels Contest , Temple , Hover Car Racer and The Tournament ; and the ebook Troll Mountain .

His books are published in over 20 languages, with worldwide sales of over 7 million copies.

CONTEST

ICE STATION

TEMPLE

AREA 7

SCARECROW

HOVER CAR RACER

HELL ISLAND

SEVEN ANCIENT WONDERS

THE SIX SACRED STONES

THE FIVE GREATEST WARRIORS

SCARECROW AND THE ARMY OF THIEVES